Wildlife Photography_ From Snapshots to Great Shots - Laurie Excell [17]
I begin to acquire focus as soon as I can get my lens on the subject, no matter how far away the subject is. This gives me ample time to find the subject, focus, and get the rhythm of its movement as it approaches, so I am panning at the same speed as my subject (Figure 2.19). I continue to pan with the subject keeping the shutter partially depressed to enable continuous focus as my subject nears the firing zone. Once the subject is within firing range, I gently depress the shutter, continue panning, and follow through until the subject has passed the zone. I then lift my finger from the shutter while continuing the panning motion beyond the last click to ensure that I don’t jerk the camera on the last frame, potentially missing the best shot.
Figure 2.19 Smooth panning at the same speed as your subject is key to making clear images of moving subjects.
Chapter Assignments
By now you have a good idea of some key settings to make on your camera and the proper shooting techniques to capture wildlife. It’s now time to get down to business and practice what you’ve learned. Take some time to work through each of the assignments. Look for your strong points and where you need the most work, and spend time becoming proficient with your camera’s settings and managing your equipment.
Basic Camera Settings
Sit down with your instruction manual and camera and get to know them both. Go step by step through the book and set the buttons, dials, and menus on your camera to suit your shooting style. Some features you might never use, so just pass them by. But there are also features that you might use occasionally, so it’s good to know that they are available and accessible at some point when you need them.
Proper Handholding/Long Lens Technique
Part A: Using your camera with one lens, carefully hand hold the camera and shoot a series of images from the slowest shutter speed to the fastest. Compare the images to see just how slow a shutter speed you feel comfortable with. Then keep practicing until you can shoot at even slower shutter speeds while hand holding the camera.
Part B: Mount your camera and longest lens on your tripod, and follow the same steps as in Part A using the proper long lens technique you learned in this chapter. Compare the images to see how slow you can comfortably shoot a stationary subject with your camera mounted on a tripod.
Panning Techniques
Mount your camera and longest lens on your tripod, and do the preceding Part B exercise, only this time pan with a moving subject. Once you find your comfort level as far as shutter speed, keep practicing panning until your image keeper ratio is higher than the number of your throwaway images. You will find that you have a higher keeper ratio with a fast shutter speed, and that the keeper count dwindles as your shutter speed decreases. Keep practicing your panning technique until you can consistently capture sharp images.
Share your results with the book’s Flickr group!
Join the group here: flickr.com/groups/wildlifephotographyfromsnapshotstogreatshots.
3. Exposure Simplified
Understanding ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed: Their Relationship to Each Other and to Light
Photography is the language of light. The quality, quantity, and direction of light adds drama and mood to your images. If a picture is worth a thousands words, then exposure must be the dictionary filled with rich vocabulary from which you find the “words” that so eloquently tell your story of wild and wonderful encounters with nature through your images. Understanding the elements that make up the exposure triangle (ISO, aperture, shutter speed) allows you to control depth of field (aperture), stop action or blur motion (shutter speed), and your sensor’s sensitivity to light (ISO).
Poring Over the Picture
When faced with an exposure challenge of small, light subjects against a large, dark background, a decision must be made as to what creative exposure combination will best capture the essence of the Black-legged Kittiwakes precariously nesting on