Digital Photography Tutorial - Looking At How To Photograph Wildlife

If you look on the shelves of any book or magazine stores you will find many that are dedicated to wildlife photography. In addition to the countless books and magazines there are thousands of web sites and blogs related to photographing wildlife and mastering the techniques of just how to photograph wildlife.

This is one of the areas of digital photography where the better the equipment you have, the better the results. That said, it takes more than a long lens and a silent camera. It also requires a lot of practice and a huge amount of patience.

It doesn't matter whether you are taking pictures of birds of prey in your local woods or lions on the Serengeti plains, you will struggle to take good photographs of wildlife if you don't own an interchangeable-lens SLR. Capturing birds in mid-flight is one of the most challenging things for a photographer to attempt. An SLR makes this so much easier.

It is a different matter of course, if you want to photograph farm animals or are on an organized safari where you can get up and close with the animals and they are used to a human presence. In cases like this, you are much more likely to have better success with a compact camera, especially if it has a decent zoom range.

Zoos and wildlife parks are an ideal place to snap exotic animals.

Top Digital Photography Tutorial Tip: Try to zoom in on the animal itself by using the long end of your lens. If you use a long lens and wide aperture (small f-number) you will usually find that the limited depth of field makes the wire fences magically disappear.

Obviously if you are going to shoot between the bars make sure you are not taking any risks and you are keeping tight hold of your camera.

I have witnessed on several occasions mischievous monkeys grab cameras from over eager snappers in Gibraltar where they virtually have the freedom of the rock.