Wildlife Photography Tips

krono9

krono9

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Hi, Im going on a day trip safari this weekend... but only have my first dslr Canon 700d a month now... I have a 120-400mm Sigma Lens.. Those of you that have taken/done some wildlife photography.. any tips for great photos? Like settings suggestions? I suppose not too slow shutter speed? 1/500 min?

On the aperture side of things.. I don't have enough experience yet... what f-stop value is recommended? Say you taking photo of Lion about 30m away at 400mm ?

Dont want to take a thousand photo's and not one of them are sharp :)

Any tips are welcome
 
I found that F6.3 and my ISO at 400 normally gives me what I am looking for. I use a 100-400mm Canon. Just watch the shutter speed which will change in different lighting conditions, try keep the shutter speed above 1/500. If you find it dropping just bump up the ISO.
 
krono9 said:
On the aperture side of things.. I don't have enough experience yet... what f-stop value is recommended? Say you taking photo of Lion about 30m away at 400mm ?
Click to expand...

Lenstip testing seems to indicate peak sharpness at 400 mm can be found between f/8 and f/11. (review here).

But sharpness at f/5.6 is not that much lower than f/8 for that specific lens, so do not be afraid to drop down to f/5.6 in lower light. Shooting at 400mm f/5.6 at a distance of about 29m gives you about 1.14m DOF, and about 1.11m of subject size vertically, which seems entirely workable for a lion, IMHO. You can get about 2.2m of DOF by stopping down to f/11, should you need it (e.g. multiple lions)


I do not know what auto-ISO modes are available on the 700D, but I rather like Nikon's fixed minimum shutter speed coupled with aperture-priority mode for wildlife. This type of mode will increase your shutter speed above your minimum (say, 1/500s) if your subject moves from shade into bright light --- whereas "full manual" will keep the shutter speed at 1/500s, which may overexpose once you are down to minimum ISO (say, ISO100).
 
A few things I learnt...

With regards to composition is... don't "zoom" too much. Rather get some of the background in as well. Photos of animals that fill the whole frame are boring.

If there is grass or branches around the animal, be careful to use a wide aperture, as the DOF will be shallow, and you might miss the perfect focus point, and only have the grass/branch in focus, not the animal.

Also, you'll never have enough reach from any telephoto lens - learn to live with it. Great shots will always be when the animal is closest.

Use a higher shutter speed for very small animals and birds - around 1/1000.

In the early mornings / evenings, use higher ISOs. A bit of ISO noise is better than a blurry image.
 
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