BEGINNER: HOW TO GET STARTED WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY
A common misconception when it comes to wildlife photography is
that you need specialist kit and to travel to an exotic location.
But that's not the case.
I'm here to meet Canon ambassador and
professional wildlife photographer.
Radomir to teach us and show us just how to get started.
Let's go meet him.
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Hi, my name is Radomir Jakubowski.
I'm Canon ambassador and professional wildlife photographer.
Today, we were talk how to start with wildlife photography.
We will talk about the lens choice, the camera choice, and of course,
how you can prepare for wildlife photography.
CHAPTER 2: HOW TO GET STARTED
Radomir, so as a professional wildlife photographer, how long have
you been doing it for?
Now I'm photographing since 20 years.
How did you get into it?
I was going to the park, to the forest and also to the garden and
looking what can i shoot here?
Start with little flowers, with macro photography and also
beginning to be interested in the birds and the other wildlife,
you know?
And for our beginners at home,
what do you recommend when it comes to
getting started?
The most important thing is go outside, start.
Maybe don't take the perfect image on the first day, but
you start to see animals, you see the behaviour you
start to be interested in.
You are making the first photos of birds
or of mammals, and then later you start maybe to figure out
what kind of animal was this.
And how do you pick which ones to take photos of?
When I started, I picked that one which was the closest to
the camera so.
The ones that are friendly that stay?
Yes, and that's, I think the biggest point because you can start
to learn shooting technique on it and you start to to
know how you want to shoot the animal.
You start playing with the background.
Any do's and don'ts to worry about?
I think that the most important thing is don't make any pressure
on nature.
Just wait for it and they will come to you.
CHAPTER 2: SUMMARY
- MAKE A START, CAPTURE NATURE THAT IS LOCAL TO YOU
- EXPERIMENT WITH SHOOTING TECHNIQUES
- DON’T PUT PRESSURE ON NATURE AND BE PATIENT
CHAPTER 3: EQUIPMENT AND TIPS
Radomir so when getting started with wildlife photography, what
equipment are we using?
I'm going now with the Canon EOS R7.
I think the decision at the starting point is do I want to use
APS-C or full frame cameras?
What are the differences and how does that benefit?
The difference is the size of the sensor.
So with the APS-C camera you have something called
the crop factor.
The sensor is a little bit smaller, but it can be a benefit because
you are taking a crop out of the image, so you're extending
your focal range.
And what lenses are we going to be using?
Today we are going with the Canon RF 100-400mm,
F5.6 to F8.0 with built in stabilisation.
And I bring here a second lens.
That's the 800mm F11.0 also with
optical stabilisation.
So you mentioned F11.0 and F5.6
What are those?
That are the apertures, so if it's a smaller aperture,
you can get more light and if it's a bigger number you are
less light.
So why the 100-400mm for lens choice for
a beginner?
It's the perfect focal length and it's light, it's flexible,
and it give you tech sharp results.
How do you pick the spot?
What do you look out for?
I am looking always out that I am getting a blurred background.
I think that you have to think about the composition of the image.
So try that trees are not growing out of the head
of the animal.
Try that, the lines behind are not
crushing also the head of the animal.
Right.
So you're looking out for the background when picking the spot?
Yes,I think it's very important that you have a nice and clean
background when you're shooting wildlife.
Talking about lights and how you use it.
So what kind of style does that give you
when you use your backlights and the frontlights.
So with the classic front light I get the classic animal shot
with great details and contrast in it and with the backlight, you can
do more things like silhouetting or something like this.
So we have our camera, we have our lenses,
we know what to do with lighting,
What kind of settings or mode on the camera do we need
to be using as a beginner?
Normally I'm starting with the aperture priority because
I open the aperture to the maximum, so I get the most
light of it and the best blurred background.
How about the shutter speed?
I think you have two factors limiting you on the one hand side,
how much you are shaking around.
So I think a good starting point
would be 1/400 of a second.
And then on the other hand side, it’s depending how fast
is your subject moving.
So when the deer is staying in front of you,
maybe 1/100 of second would be enough.
But when you have a fast moving subject like a bird, then maybe you
need 1/200 of a second.
Is there anything else that the camera offers you in terms of
focusing?
If you have full animal eye detection and that's
the best mode you can shoot.
What exactly is that?
What does that do?
That means that the camera will recognise your subject.
So if it's a bird or if it's a deer, it will recognise the
eye and focus directly on the eye and if it don't see the eye
it which choose the head, so it's incredible.
Well, I think we know about our camera, we know about lighting,
we know, about lenses, we know about getting ready.
I think we should go get the shot, right?
Yeah, let's go out.
Okay, let's find a spot.
CHAPTER 3: SUMMARY
- THINK ABOUT COMPOSITION AND FOCAL RANGE
- ADAPT SHUTTER SPEED TO THE PACE OF YOUR ANIMAL AND HOW MUCH YOU ARE MOVING
- ANIMAL DETECTION MODE WILL KEEP YOUR SUBJECT IN FOCUS
CHAPTER 4: GETTING THE SHOT
What kind of shots are we going to be getting here today?
Could you describe that for us?
Yeah, I think about some shots of the deers.
The deers that are just there.
How important is it with, you know, go with the flow and, you know,
you might not get the shot that you want.
We talked about coming with a plan.
We will sit down at a place so that they are coming in front
of us and then we can take some good shots because we
will be on eye level and they will look at us.
I think it's a slow process, l come back again and again and
you never know when you are getting the best shot.
Yeah, so like you said, it's all about being open minded and
having the patience to get the shot that you want.
So I think what we've learned here is all about patience,
picking the right lenses, coming prepared
and still be open minded as well right?
Well, I'll let you get on with, taking your photos.
CHAPTER 4: SUMMARY
- PICK THE RIGHT LENSES
- PREPARE THE EQUIPMENT YOU NEED TO GET THE SHOTS THAT YOU WANT
- BE OPEN MINDED AND PATIENT
CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY
Thank you very much for those useful tips
for our beginners out there
who are looking to start out in the world of wildlife photography.
Any final tips and tricks?
Yeah, I think stay patient and learn more about
the animals you want to shoot.
There you go.
Stay patient and educate yourself.
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in the next one.