15.08.12
Photography Monthly's tip week: Mastering wildlife photography, tip 3
It’s mid-week and that means it’s time for the third tip in our Mastering wildlife photography themed week.
On Monday we looked at the importance of getting up close and personal with our wild subjects, but today’s tip is for those instances when face-to-face photography just won’t work.
Today’s tip is about the trusty telephoto lens:
Telephoto lenses help to make distant subjects appear bigger in the viewfinder and in the final image, which is obvious, but renowned wildlife photographer, Moose Peterson says, “That’s not making the most of the gifts these lenses offer.
“We want to take advantage of the angle of view and the perspective they bring to our photography. The 70-300mm has an angle of view of 8 to 34 degrees; the 600mm, 4 degrees, and it's because of these factors that the 70-300mm is the perfect lens for big game and the 600mm is the perfect lens for birds,” says Moose.
“A lens like the 70-300mm will compress an image—in effect, making the background appear closer to the subject. That's exactly what you want to express: these subjects are powerful parts of the landscape,” says Moose.
A 600mm is good for photographing birds as its very narrow angle of view permits us to make big visual changes with very small physical moves. This is good for not disturbing the birds but at the same time enables you to readjust the image to make the bird really stand out.
How about shooting big game with the 600mm? What about getting close and using the 70-300mm for birds? In certain situations that will work.
Moose Peterson uses a combination of both lenses to get the perfect telephoto wildlife results, “My favourite setup is to have the 600mm on my D3X, carried over my shoulder on the tripod, and the 70-300mm on my D3, hanging from my other shoulder. Wildlife is unpredictable, and when I go out to photograph mule deer, a mountain bluebird might perch on a post nearby. Or when I'm out photographing an upland sandpiper, a pronghorn buck might come over the rise to say hello. With those two lenses, I'll have the long and short of it covered.”
Whatever lens you decide to use to get the perfect shot, always remember the trusty tripod, as holding a big telephoto for hours while you wait for the animal to emerge can be a struggle without one. Patience is a virtue, as we’ll discuss in tomorrow’s tip, and aching arms won’t help!
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