How to improve your wildlife photography?
Here are a few tips to enhance your wildlife photography skills
Gear up

Your objective is to capture the wildlife, of course, you have your gear in place, but what matters is, do you know the capabilities of your equipment? Get to know what your camera and lens can deliver and how much. It’s the small fleeting moments that are crucial to capturing an action-packed scene, therefore, getting familiar with your camera, lens and the other supporting gear is going to help you way better.

Know your subject

All species are different, therefore it goes without saying that so are their behaviors. While out in the wild one must stay patient in order to capture that beautiful moment or just let it pass by as you sit there cursing your horrible timing.

Spend time with your surrounding subjects, understand the behavior of one subject at a time and don’t lose focus, don’t get distracted. Most moments are lost because the photographer doesn’t have enough patience and tends to move from one subject to another losing out on all crucial shots of the abandoned subject.

Blend in

While observing your subject, you must make sure to camouflage yourself within your surroundings without any outside disturbance even more in when you are in tropical area like Costa Rica for example; imagine losing a beautiful Jaguar with a baby , just before the perfect shot, to the sound of your camera shutter chirping, oh the agony. Camouflage is beneficial and, more than just clothing and face paint, camouflage-patterned gear and accessories are important to getting the shots you want and keeping your equipment in good shape.

Follow the light

When going out for photography outside, stick to the best light hours which are named the golden hours that a lot of professional photographers adhere to. Leaving early in the morning before sunrise and posting 1600 hours is the best time for photographing your subject. The light between 1200 hrs to 1600 hrs is generally the one that doesn’t do much for the picture rather overpower and kills the photo. So it’s best to work with the blue or golden light.
Having said that, in wildlife photography there is liberty to move around that much. There are times when one may be faced with the dilemma of working against the light, but this can be worked with if only one is familiar with their camera and knows of the different settings that can make the best of the available light.

Work with the background

Backdrops play a vital role in wildlife photography, as it gives a context to the rest of the image and an opportunity to communicate with the viewer. One can enhance the shot by using simple non-distracting backdrops or by capturing the subject in its natural habitat to give a context of its day to day life.

Practice

Practice makes the Master and when it comes to wildlife photography, the more you shoot the better you become at it. Explore your surroundings, backyard of your house, the neighbourhood and shoot a lot. You never know the interesting subjects one can find closer than you can imagine.

Getting the right angle

How you position your subject in your shots can make a lot of difference. The angle you choose to shoot your subject in can get your viewer in the scene. Staying at eye level of your subject or sometimes going lower, gives depth to your pictures.

Keep shooting

When you’re out on the field, every moment is crucial. The best way to capture a fantastic moment is to never stop capturing. When looking for a still, try and set your camera to the ideal ISO and aperture and along with that set it on a burst setting. This way you won’t miss out any crucial moment of your subject.

Composition is the key

Play with different perspectives and try not to centre your images. Use the rule of thirds to get a more interesting composition.

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