My Top Wildlife Photography Tips
Great wildlife photography isn’t just about owning a good camera. It is about knowing how to use your camera, seeing the image you want to capture and understanding your subject, where to find it and how to anticipate it’s behaviour. Here I share my top wildlife photography tips.
For me, it comes down to three fundamental skills: Science, Art and Fieldcraft.
The Science of Photography
This is about understanding your camera and knowing how to use it. Which settings should be your default starting point and why? And when should you change from these default and why?
It is also about mastering the exposure triangle. Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO together control the overall exposure of your image.
Alongside the exposure triangle having an out of focus shot is the main mistake that can ruin an image. So mastering focus is another key technical skill.
The technical stuff matters. But the aim isn’t to master complicated camera settings for their own sake. It is to understand them well enough so that your camera becomes a tool rather than a barrier to getting the fantastic wildlife images you want.
Read more wildlife photography tips about the science of photography
The Art of Photography
This is where you stop simply taking a photograph and start creating one.
It is less about having a correct shot that shows what you saw and more a creative shot that communicates how you felt or want your viewer to feel.
Here we move from good (technically correct) photography to great (artistic) photography.
Composition. Light. Creativity. Perspective. Story.
It’s about deciding what you want your photograph to say and how you want it to make people feel. The best wildlife photograph isn’t always the sharpest or most technically perfect. It’s the one that makes you stop and look and remember.
Read more wildlife photography tips about the Art of Photography
Fieldcraft in Wildlife Photography
Both the science and art apply to all forms of photography (landscape to portrait etc). But wildlife photography has the extra dimension of fieldcraft due to the unique nature of our chosen subject.
Finding your subject. Getting close without disturbing it. Understanding behaviour. Anticipating what might happen next. This all demands excellent fieldcraft.
The better you understand wildlife, the better your chances of being in the right place when something special happens. And that’s when wildlife photography gets really exciting.
Read more wildlife photography tips about Fieldcraft.
Take your photography further
You can learn a lot from reading wildlife photography tips. But there is no substitute for putting these wildlife photography tips into practice in the field with someone who can help you learn and implement these practices.
My wildlife photography workshops combine Science, Art and Fieldcraft, helping you develop your skills while photographing Scotland’s wildlife.