Digital Wildlife Photography Basics Tutorial

Before setting out, practice taking shots of moving targets. By learning how to pan the camera to capture a moving target, it will allow you to get the best possible shots.

Always keep your camera at the ready - unexpected things can happen when out in the wild. If using a digital camera, make sure it has enough memory and is fully charged. Ensuring you have batteries on hand is also a must.

Before arriving at your intended destination, become familiar with what kinds of animals and/or birds you can expect to find there. By doing this, you can then take the time prior to going there to learn all you can about that particular wildlife. Having this knowledge will help you in anticipating both where to look for your intended targets as well as what type of behavior you can expect from them.

Once you have reached your destination, make sure to walk and move quietly as you search for animals and birds to photograph. By learning to be immobile, you will ensure that your presence doesn't startle or threaten the wildlife around you.

Use all your senses and be as observant as possible to everything happening around you. Through ongoing practice, you can learn to detect movement, unusual colors and sounds and even certain smells that can help you detect an animal or bird that has carefully camouflaged itself. Without these skills, you may find yourself walking right by the wildlife you intend to photograph without even noticing it was there. Having a heightened awareness of your surroundings when hiking to photograph wildlife, can go a long way to enhancing your experience.

The use of telephoto lenses is a must when shooting wildlife. A telephoto lens is the best thing to have to bring you in as close as possible to the intended target without scaring it away. By the same token, a tripod is not always a necessity. If you're lucky enough to have an abundance of light and have practiced enough in advance, you will be able to take pictures at a fast shutter speed thereby eliminating shaking of the camera. You can also invest in a camera equipped with a telephoto lens that has vibration reduced technology, but keep in mind these are considerably more expensive to buy.

Make sure when photographing animals and/or birds, you place the sharpest focus on their eyes.

Make a habit of photographing small animals from a lower angle.

The best times of the day for both viewing and photographing wildlife are early mornings or just before dark; it is at this time where the light is the most dramatic and animals are most active.

Do your best to keep the sun at your back so as to ensure the light will fall directly on the subject.

All of the above tips will go a long way to improving your photography of nature. The key to it all is practice, practice and more practice. And, beyond anything else, enjoy yourself!