Sunday, August 8, 2010

Wildlife Photography: Tip #1

This week I'll attempt to post some excerpts from a piece I sent to Matador Travel Network's Media School. My Five Tips For Shooting Wildlife.

There's a typhoon blowing around my little island so, if I don't get out to shoot some new material, I can kill the week, Monday through Friday just posting a tip a day and answering hate mail from folks who've seen all these photos 100 times before. Here's my intro and TIP #1:

If you enjoy getting up before the sun, going for long hikes and spending hours in the great outdoors, observing what nature has to offer, you might want to consider wildlife photography as a hobby or, even a way of life. Tourist attractions, architecture, landscapes, farm animals, aquariums, zoos, offer some great photographic opportunities and may present challenges, even to the best photographers, but, to me, nothing compares to the satisfaction I get out of clicking my camera’s shutter in the wild.




Tip #1. Use the Burst Mode for Wildlife in Motion.


Memory cards will fill up faster, so make sure you carry plenty. Use Continuous Auto Focus and pan the camera keeping a bead on the subject’s eye, if you can. Your camera may shoot 3-10 frames per second, but use Burst Mode sparingly; long bursts fill up memory fast and your camera will process the shots more slowly. You don’t want to miss the shot where your critter hits the perfect light or pounces on its prey because you’re waiting for your camera to recuperate.



4 comments:

ensemble5 said...

One word sublime!

RyukyuMike said...

Ensamble5,
Thank you very much! The typhoon is headed towards northern Japan. The sun is shining for the first time this week. Now, I'm committed to finishing this five-part post. Hope you return and enjoy all of them.

Cheers,
Mike

Sumitran said...

Mike, read all your tips on wildlife photography and this is what I liked the most about them. They are all pithy and to-the-point. Made for interesting reading and also easy to assimilate. Thanks a ton for tipping !!

RyukyuMike said...

Sumitran,
Well thank you forb taking the time to read them all and comment, as well. I know you're a very busy man. One of these days, I may put together an Ebook, so you can download it and read my tips while you're supposed to be working!

Cheers,
Mike