A Guide to Nature Photography
by Bob Atkins
Q1: What's the best camera for nature photography?

A: There isn't one, or better, there isn't one. You can't even say that there is a best format. For scenic work, everything from 35mm to 8x10 plate cameras can be used. Each format is something of a trade off between cost, convenience and quality. For wildlife work, most people chose 35mm, though some photographers do use medium format even for wildlife!

Q3: Do you need autofocus and autoexposure modes?

A: No, you don't need them. Superb photographs have been taken for the last 100 years without autofocus or autoexposure. However, both features are very nice to have available and may get you shots you would otherwise miss. This is probably much more important to wildlife photographers than to landscape photographers. If you have time to work, you don't need automation. However, if you are buying a new camera today, there is really no good reason not to buy an autofocus model. Just about every camera has autoexposure modes. Just be sure you can overide both AF and AE when you want to!

Q4: What's the best lens?

A: There isn't one, or better, there isn't one (sound familiar?). Landscape photographers use everything from super wide angle lenses to super telephoto lenses. A good all-round starting lens would be a 28-70 or 28-105 zoom. 28mm is wide enough to be a true wide angle. Zooms which start at 35mm aren't so useful in my opinion. Wildlife photographers can never get long enough lenses! 300mm is the shortest focal length that is really useful for most wildlife work. A good starting lens would be a 75-300 or 100-300mm zoom. When 300mm is too short (and if you are a wildlife photographer, it will be!), think about a 400mm f5.6 lens. You can get a decent 3rd party lens like the Sigma 400/5.6 APO, or you can go with a more expensive lens from a camera manufacturer if you can afford it.

Q10: What's the most important accessory to buy?

A: Easy. The biggest, heaviest tripod you are prepared to carry around with you! Normally that means something around 5lbs. The Bogen 3021/3221 tripods are very popular, quite sturdy and not expensive. Most wildlife photographers like ball heads. The Arca Swiss B1 has a great reputation (smooth, light) but costs $350. The Bogen 3038 is a very sturdy head that will hold the biggest lenses. It's heavier than a B1 and not so smooth, but costs less than $150 (I use one). The Bogen 3055 is cheap (under $40) and OK for lenses up to about a 300/4 or 400/5.6. It will take a 300/2.8 at a push, but I wouldn't really recommend it for use with a lens that large and heavy. Landscape photographers might prefer a 3-way head. The Bogen 3047 does a good job for under $60. Gitzo tripods (but not tripod heads) are popular with many pros. They are very sturdy but significantly more expensive than similar Bogen models. They have a strong but light carbon fiber leg set (model 1228 - $500).

See also the photo.net tripod section.

Q11: What's the best film to use?

A: There's that "best" question again! Film is a tool and what's "best" for one application may not be best for another. In general, the best results come from using the slowest speed film. Slower films are usually sharper and have better color. Most serious nature photographers shoot slides but if you just want prints, there's nothing wrong in shooting print film. In slide film, Fujichrome Velvia is often chosen for it's highly saturated colors and high sharpness. It's nominaly an ISO 50 speed film, but some people prefer to shoot it at ISO 40. There are no hard rules here and the speed you shoot it at depends on your taste and yout metering system. Experiment and see what you like best. ISO 40/50 can be a bit slow for wildlife work, so many people use a faster ISO 100 film. I like Fujichrome Sensia/Provia 100, but others prefer the Kodak Elite/Lumiere ISO 100 films. At ISO 200 I like Kodachrome 200. It's very sharp for a fast slide film and I've always been pleased with the results. The quality of fast slide films isn't all that great. Something like Fujichrome Sensia 400 is about the limit for me, and then only when there is no way to use a slower film. Print films of ISO 400 can be quite good, and I hear that the ISO 800 Fujicolor is very good indeed for an ISO 800 film.

Q12: Are there any nature photography "rules"?

A: There is really only one "rule" - do no harm. That means not harming your subject. Harming covers a lot of ground from picking flowers to harassing wildlife. It's easy to do harm even when you don't mean to. If you step on an alpine flower it may take 10 years or more to grow back. If you disturb an animal you may harm it by preventing it from getting food or exposing it to predators. Remember that you may only disturb the animal for one minute, but if the next photographer does the same, and the next, and the next, the cumulative effect can be severe. If you feed an animal you may harm it by habituating it to humans. "Begging" animals are frequently hit by cars and even the ones who aren't may suffer from eating an unnatural diet. Feeding birds in your garden at a feeder is generally taken as an exception to the "no feeding" rule though!

Q13: Are there any good books on nature and wildlife photography?

A: Yes. Just about anything that John Shaw has written for a start! Specifically his Close-ups in Nature for macro work and his The Nature Photographers Complete guide to Professional Field Techniques for all aspects of nature photography (if you get only one book, get this one!). Also, one of my favorite books is Galen Rowell's Mountain Light. Though it's not really a "how-to" book, it's one of the best insights into how a nature photographer works and thinks.

Q14: My pictures aren't very good. What should I do to improve them?

A: Take more pictures! Take notes. Study what works and what doesn't. Read books, maybe even take a workshop, but in the end there is no substitute for taking pictures. If it's the technical quality of the pictures, and you are working with prints, try a better photofinisher or try shooting slides. Many low end "drug store" photofinishers are truely aweful and no-one could be happy with their work. Maybe you aren't as bad as you think!

Also, consider the effects of lighting. Most of the really great pictures are taken in great light, and that usually means when the sun is low in the sky, i.e. dawn and dusk. One of the reasons that nature pros spend large amounts of money on fast lenses is to give them the ability to work in low light. If you can't afford the fast lenses, you can at least try fast film (maybe Kodachrome 200) to catch the "good light".

Q16: What's the best way to photograph nesting birds?

A: This needs great care so as not to harm the birds. You can easily cause damage without ever knowing it. One example is that of a photographer who returned to a nest site he had been working at the previous day. It had been destroyed by a predator (Racoon??). The probability was that his presence (food, disturbed vegetation,smell?) had attracted a predator to the area who had discovered the nest. Moving branches so a nest is more visible can have the same effect.

As far as equipment goes, the longer the lens, the less disturbance you will cause. A 400mm lens is probably the absolute minimum you should consider. Serious bird photographers usually have at least a 500mm lens, sometimes even a 600mm or 800mm.

Q17: What's the best place for wildlife photography?

A: Well, the easiest place for wildlife photography is an a place where the animals don't fear humans. This means somwhere they don't get shot at several times a year! In the US, this means the National Parks. The best park for wildlife is probably Yellowstone, and the best time is anytime but summer (unless you want pictures of tourists and traffic!). Many other parks are good too. I've had good luck in Rocky Mountain NP several times and Yosemite can be interesting (even when there's no wildlife around, Yosemite isn't at all bad for scenic and landscape work!). For bird Photography, Ding Darling NWR and the Everglades in Florida are hard to beat. The ultimate in approchable wildlife is probably found on the Galapagos Islands where most of the wildlife has virtually no fear of man at all.

"Popular Photography", major magazine, available at most book/magazine stores. Quality varies from good to bad, but subscription is cheap! (ca. $10/year for 12 issues). Good magazine for advertisements. Best equipment tests of any of the major (high circulation) US magazines (just don't believe everything they say!). Some nature articles and a semi-regular nature column


Credit :: ninothemew