Practice. Practice. Practice.
One of the best tips I can give is to be prepared. Being prepared includes knowing how to change the settings on your camera, understanding what settings you’ve chosen, and understanding the scene you are trying to capture. If you like shooting wildlife, you are occasionally presented those special ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunites to get a great image. If you are busy fiddling with camera settings – the shot will likely evaporate before your very eyes.
One of the things I like to do to combat that is is to practice my technique at the local zoo. Being able to take your time and practice in a controlled environment will help build skills that will become second nature to you. With that in mind, I headed to the Denver Zoo this past weekend to hone my wildlife photography skills!
The temperature was perfect – for January anyways! It was mid 50′s but unfortunately, it was also fairly overcast. It’s always a struggle to make images that don’t appear flat and lifeless when the clouds are out – or to a photographer who likes a challenge, a perfect opportunity to practice new techniques to better prepare for real life situations.
After several hundred captures, these three are my favorite. The top image is of an infant hyena playing. The middle image is of a napping black bear, and the bottom image is a close-up of a male lion’s eye. By using different focal lengths, exposure settings, and lighting conditions, I was able to capture images that weren’t flat and lifeless. I can certainly take what I learned from this trip and put it in practice the next time I’m in the mountains on some obscure trail. Practice. Practice. Practice.
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