Learning wildlife photography

[merkaba]

Can anyone please recommend some valuable resources (videos, books, etc) that I could get into to guide/improve my way as a wildlife photographer?

Thanks for your time and help

 

[Snapshott]

Can anyone please recommend some valuable resources (videos, books, etc) that I could get into to guide/improve my way as a wildlife photographer?

Thanks for your time and help

Steve Perry's ebook Secrets to Stunning Wildlife Photography is really good for $12.97. http://www.backcountrygallery.com/secrets-to-stunning-wildlife-photography/

He also has a few videos on youtube.

--

Snapshott

Wildlife

jeffscottshots.smugmug.com

 

[MrMcMonkeyMcBean]

+1

 

[merkaba]

thanks a lot, checking it out

 

[1elementin7groups]

+ another vote for Steve Perry's book which is downloadable.

Also, post processing: look up Steve Perry's tutorial on processing the eyes in your wildlife photos. It can make the difference between a good image and a great image. His tutorial is on YouTube.

Dave

 

[merkaba]

thank you. I am reading through his ebook right now. On page 17 and already learned a bit. I really like it so far. Will check out those videos. I had actually seen a few videos before but didn't match up the name with this book until now.

 

[merkaba]

thanks

 

[Ken Gosden]

I really liked George Lepp's "Wildlife Photography, Stories From the Field" although it is really less technical than many books. It is as more a story about his journey in wildlife photography, but with good technical tidbits.

Moose Peterson's "Captured: Behind the Lens of a Legendary Wildlife Photographer" is a similar book.

 

[Chris R-UK]

There is more than one aspect to wildlife photography:

1. The technical side, e.g. what settings to use, what lenses to use, etc. Most of this isn't that different to other kinds of photography.
2. Knowing where and when to go to find wildlife to photograph.
3. Understanding wildlife behaviour and how to get close to animals and birds.
4. Learning what makes for a great wildlife shot.
5. Having the time and money to wait for the opportunity to take that great shot.
6. Having the patience to wait for the opportunity to take that great shot

Personally I find (1) to be relatively easy and there are available resources (including this forum) for (2).

I have problems with (3), (4), (5) and especially (6).

 

[nimtree]

Can anyone please recommend some valuable resources (videos, books, etc) that I could get into to guide/improve my way as a wildlife photographer?

Thanks for your time and help

Andy Biggs

Andy Biggs 2

Arthur Morris

David Lloyd

 

[Paul B Jones]

Really excellent suggestions so far. A couple more that are from a different direction:

- Log on to Flickr and do some basic searches for "wildlife" or "birds" and scroll through the endless selection of images. Assess what you like and don't like about about the photos you see - and apply the same standards to your own work.

- Hang out with some wildlife photographers (approach and smile when they are not stalking/shooting something) and listen for some actual pearls of wisdom that might emerge from a conversation.

- Just take lots and lots of pictures, display them, absorb the hurtful feedback, and go out and take some more and more and more.

 

[Cakeshoppe]

As someone here mentioned already, one of the unique challenges in wildlife photography is finding when and where various species are. Fortunately, there's many resources for this both online and offline.I will be giving examples of North American resources, since that is my continent. I would assume that in many cases an equivalent resource is available for other continents.

The first thing to do is get yourself a good field guide for the animals you wish to photograph. A good field guide will give you coarse maps of species distribution and descriptions of habitat and behavior.

Field Guides:

Birds (general): Sibley, Peterson, National Geographic. All these are pretty common and you can probably expect that any decently stocked bookstore should have them. Go and see which one seems most intuitive to you. Sibley is generally regarded to have excellent bird shapes, while the other two may have more accurate colors. There are also half-continent versions available, which have all species seen on the Eastern or Western half of North America. These are generally smaller, which is especially helpful in the case of Sibley, which is a very large book to bring in the field. I use the Western North America version of Sibley.

Mammals: Peterson Guide to North American Mammals by Fiona Reid is probably the best one out there. Kays and Wilson's North American Mammals is also well-regarded, but I prefer the Illustrations in Reid

Herps: Peterson Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians. This comes in half-continent versions. Get the one that suits your area. The setup is a little weird with maps in the back, but this is probably the best guide out there for herps.

I'm not a big insect or wildflower guy, so you'd have to ask someone else about those.

You will also find Field guides for particular taxonomic groups out there. I know Lone Pine has a guide to Squirrels of the West and Peterson has guides to Raptors, etc.. If you have a special interest in one of these groups, you would probably do well to pick up a field guide dedicated to it. They generally have more in-depth descriptions of behavior and identifying marks, and are tailored to distinguishing similar species within the groups. The Peterson guide to Raptors, for instance, has detailed descriptions about using whitewashing and other signs to locate raptors.

Broad Location Resources:

There's several websites out there that record species sightings on maps, which you can search. ebird.com and iNaturalist.com both allow you to search either by location or by taxonomic group (species, etc.), and will give you a map showing where others have reported sightings, and what those sightings are. ebird has better data, but it is restricted only to birds. iNaturalist includes all species, but generally has less observations recorded (especially for non-birds), and can often include observations of domestic species like cats and dogs. When looking at either of these sites, make sure you check the dates of the sightings and it can be useful to read the observation descriptions for more detailed information, especially with rare or rarely-seen species. ebird has some nice date/season information built in that you can use for planning visits. Remember that these sites only tell you where people made sightings, though, and often times it tells you more about where people go than where wildlife goes.

The Peterson Field Guide to Finding North American Mammals by Vladimr Dinets is a brand new and unique book dedicated to helping readers locate mammals. It is separated into two sections. The first goes state-by-state detailing locations and the species that can be found there, while the second is sorted by species, listing the locations where they can be found. Tips about how to locate them within the listed locations are also given. Very useful resource.

Local Resources:

The first place to check is your local Audubon Society chapter. My local chapter, Sacramento, has a couple great resources, including a checklist that with graphs showing abundance of each species over each month of the year and locations for rarer species, and a guidebook with detailed maps and descriptions of birdwatching locations. Not all chapters have as detailed information, but it's worth checking. Many have a newsletter that includes trip reports, which are also useful.

If you are going to an area that is well-known as a wildlife watching location, look for specific books about finding wildlife there. I know there are several available for Yellowstone, and I'd guess at least some are available for other spots. Yellowstone also has websites with ebird/inaturalist-type observation maps. Also check to see if your area has watchable wildlife information available. cawatchablewildlife.com, for example, lists the locations designated as Watchable Wildlife spots in the state. The information is not particularly detailed, but it does list species seen there and information about parking, etc., which is nice.

Mammalwatching.com has trip reports from all over the world. It's worth checking out if you are interested in mammals and planning a trip. There are several forums out there with trip reports from birdwatchers or herpers. Several other websites inlcude information on particular species or locations, for instance this page on California river otters, or this one about SF Bay area mountain lions.

Lastly, you can always ask a local. Local park rangers, Audubon Society members, or wildlife scientists can point you in the right direction.

Good luck!

 

[TheBlackGrouse]

As someone here mentioned already, one of the unique challenges in wildlife photography is finding when and where various species are. Fortunately, there's many resources for this both online and offline.I will be giving examples of North American resources, since that is my continent. I would assume that in many cases an equivalent resource is available for other continents.

The first thing to do is get yourself a good field guide for the animals you wish to photograph. A good field guide will give you coarse maps of species distribution and descriptions of habitat and behavior.

Field Guides:

Birds (general): Sibley, Peterson, National Geographic. All these are pretty common and you can probably expect that any decently stocked bookstore should have them. Go and see which one seems most intuitive to you. Sibley is generally regarded to have excellent bird shapes, while the other two may have more accurate colors. There are also half-continent versions available, which have all species seen on the Eastern or Western half of North America. These are generally smaller, which is especially helpful in the case of Sibley, which is a very large book to bring in the field. I use the Western North America version of Sibley.

Mammals: Peterson Guide to North American Mammals by Fiona Reid is probably the best one out there. Kays and Wilson's North American Mammals is also well-regarded, but I prefer the Illustrations in Reid

Herps: Peterson Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians. This comes in half-continent versions. Get the one that suits your area. The setup is a little weird with maps in the back, but this is probably the best guide out there for herps.

I'm not a big insect or wildflower guy, so you'd have to ask someone else about those.

You will also find Field guides for particular taxonomic groups out there. I know Lone Pine has a guide to Squirrels of the West and Peterson has guides to Raptors, etc.. If you have a special interest in one of these groups, you would probably do well to pick up a field guide dedicated to it. They generally have more in-depth descriptions of behavior and identifying marks, and are tailored to distinguishing similar species within the groups. The Peterson guide to Raptors, for instance, has detailed descriptions about using whitewashing and other signs to locate raptors.

Broad Location Resources:

There's several websites out there that record species sightings on maps, which you can search. ebird.com and iNaturalist.com both allow you to search either by location or by taxonomic group (species, etc.), and will give you a map showing where others have reported sightings, and what those sightings are. ebird has better data, but it is restricted only to birds. iNaturalist includes all species, but generally has less observations recorded (especially for non-birds), and can often include observations of domestic species like cats and dogs. When looking at either of these sites, make sure you check the dates of the sightings and it can be useful to read the observation descriptions for more detailed information, especially with rare or rarely-seen species. ebird has some nice date/season information built in that you can use for planning visits. Remember that these sites only tell you where people made sightings, though, and often times it tells you more about where people go than where wildlife goes.

The Peterson Field Guide to Finding North American Mammals by Vladimr Dinets is a brand new and unique book dedicated to helping readers locate mammals. It is separated into two sections. The first goes state-by-state detailing locations and the species that can be found there, while the second is sorted by species, listing the locations where they can be found. Tips about how to locate them within the listed locations are also given. Very useful resource.

Local Resources:

The first place to check is your local Audubon Society chapter. My local chapter, Sacramento, has a couple great resources, including a checklist that with graphs showing abundance of each species over each month of the year and locations for rarer species, and a guidebook with detailed maps and descriptions of birdwatching locations. Not all chapters have as detailed information, but it's worth checking. Many have a newsletter that includes trip reports, which are also useful.

If you are going to an area that is well-known as a wildlife watching location, look for specific books about finding wildlife there. I know there are several available for Yellowstone, and I'd guess at least some are available for other spots. Yellowstone also has websites with ebird/inaturalist-type observation maps. Also check to see if your area has watchable wildlife information available. cawatchablewildlife.com, for example, lists the locations designated as Watchable Wildlife spots in the state. The information is not particularly detailed, but it does list species seen there and information about parking, etc., which is nice.

Mammalwatching.com has trip reports from all over the world. It's worth checking out if you are interested in mammals and planning a trip. There are several forums out there with trip reports from birdwatchers or herpers. Several other websites inlcude information on particular species or locations, for instance this page on California river otters, or this one about SF Bay area mountain lions.

Lastly, you can always ask a local. Local park rangers, Audubon Society members, or wildlife scientists can point you in the right direction.

Good luck!

--
My Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/131127204@N03/

Good description!!!

Don'forget the binoculars. There are good for scanning if you walk around.

You can see if there is a path, what's the best approach, where raptors are flying etc.

In the early morning, when it's still dark, with binos you can see mammals before they notice you.

--
TheBlackGrouse
Active outdoor photographer, searching for wildlife, studying user experience.

 

[merkaba]

yeah I've been looking at binoculars lately just for this reason. Thanks for the input and also thanks to everyone else who I have not managed to reply to. Every reply has been great.