WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY CAMERA SETTINGS: Focusing and Exposure
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 4 май 2019
- In this video I talk about my thoughts on the best camera settings for wildlife photography.
I concentrate on Focusing and Exposure. These are the two areas that seem to cause the most confusion especially for beginners and when I do 1-2-1 tuition.
PLEASE NOTE: As I say in the video, THERE ARE NO PERFECT SETTINGS so these are my thoughts on what has worked for me over many years in the field and what I think is a good approach for someone new to wildlife photography or anyone struggling with any aspects of focusing or exposure. The key is to start simply and then evolve in to more complicated options as your skills and results improve.
I start with Focusing and suggest some "No Brainer" settings and chat about the issues effecting efficient focus.
Then I move on to Exposure and begin with a sensible "Go To" setting that works in most situations and then move on to more advanced settings such as Manual exposure and finally the setting I l really like to use if it's an option for me at the time, which is Manual with Auto Iso.
I have added some examples to illustrate the various settings and discuss why they helped for the photos concerned.
I wanted to keep the length of this video to about 15-16 minutes but failed miserably !!! so apologies for it's length but I thought it better to keep it in one video as a sort of reference guide rather than breaking it to say 3 separate videos.
To make it easier here are the start times for various topics if you just want to skip to the bit relevant for you.
02:16 Three No Brainer settings your camera should be set to.
04:17 Focusing
06:25 Focus Points. How many and why?
07:59 Exposure
09:41 Aperture Priority (with EV compensation)
11:05 Examples of AP
12:09 Why Aperture Priority and not Shutter Priority
13:44 Examples of staying in Aperture Priority but using shutter speeds creatively
14:36 Using Exposure Compensation for Special Situations
16:57 Examples where dialling in Exposure Compensation was vital
18:17 How much EV compensation to dial in
19:44 Manual Exposure mode
21:28 A classic example of when Manual Exposure makes sense
22:31 AUTO ISO (in Manual exposure and Aperture Priority)
Please SUBSCRIBE to this channel if you'd like to and I always appreciate constructive comments and questions as it really helps to know people are watching !! (Click the "bell" to get notification of new stuff as I make it)
I'm proud to be a member of represent NATURE FIRST: The Alliance for Responsible Photography where as photographers we agree to adhere to and educate others on the need to practice sustainable photography that minimises impact on the environment and helps to preserve nature's beautiful locations. There are 7 guiding principles that mean a lot to me and exactly fit my approach to photography. Find out more at www.naturefirstphotography.org/
My Instagram account: / nigelpmorley
My website: www.nigelmorley.co.uk
MUSIC: All supplied by Epidemic Sound
ABOUT ME: A long time passionate wildlife/landscape photographer and conservationist, I have always shot different genres of photography but now my subjects are largely driven by love of countryside and wildlife/landscapes especially in the UK. I have a long term conservation project ongoing involving restoring land that was previously arable farmland back to wildlife friendly set aside with wildflower meadows and zero spraying etc
Simple and concise. Perfectly delivered. I learned a lot. Thank you.
O ok 98
Thank you nigel, since buying my lumix G80 in april thie year I have been struggling but watching your very informative video, I was impressed Thank you again.
Nigel, I am delighted that I found your channel! I look forward to trying out your tips and trying aperture instead of shutter priority. Also looking forward to more tutorials! Thank you for the time and work that you put into these videos!
Thanks Louise
Great video! Love your relaxed, informed style and how natural you are infront of the camera! Great photographic tips and learnt a lot. Thanks Nigel.
Many thanks Gail..glad you found it helpful
Thanks for sharing your experience in approaching wildlife photography and capturing shots of birds in flight. This is one of the best videos on the subject.
Many thanks William
Thank you for this. It has been the most useful video I've watched so far, (and I've watched a lot since getting a new camera and 400mm lens at the start of the year.) I aim to improve my wildlife photography, and really appreciate everything you've gone through here. I've subscribed in case you do any more, and will sit and watch this again in the hopes that it all sinks in!
Thanks for your kind comment, much appreciated
Understandable and in plain language, thank you.
I shoot mostly manual on my D3s but if I'm in rapidly changing lighting conditions I'll turn on auto ISO as it really helps.
Auto ISO is also really useful in situations with a lot of highlights and shadows as you can't change manual settings quickly enough, for example, to capture a bird flying from a dark wooded area into an open field.
Nigel fantastic video, superb information and done in a very easy going and understandable way. So glad to have found your channel and have enjoyed all of the videos you’ve posted & will definitely be recommending your content to others. Already looking forward to seeing what you have next for us.
Cheers Stephen. Thanks for watching and commenting and glad it was helpful.
Very informative Nigel, I enjoyed that.
There was a lot of information there but very sensible and not dumbed down. Thanks.
Been watching photo videos most of today, with lots of good info ... but Nigel's video is outstanding! The use of real-world photo examples to explain and reinforce each of his points makes everything so clear to me ... keep up the great videos Nigel, and thanks!!
Thanks David..glad it helped
Thank you for a great video, I've been photographing birds for the last few years and got some great tips from you...never stop learning!
Thanks Roberto..very true, there's always something new to learn !!
I've been a photographer for several decades but only recently started the BIF and other action photography learning curve with my Olympus MFT system. You are a great teacher....thank you!
Bill R YE! OLYMPUS TEAM 😉
Thanks Nigel, this was really helpful. I am trying to train myself to think instinctively and quickly, but it is a challenge for sure! I have only been doing this for two months now and have seriously got the bug and seem to be improving well. Please keep doing these videos for people like me. They are invaluable! Thank you.
Thanks Robert...glad it helped
Thanks so much...great teaching, especially for those of us still learning the basics!
Thanks for watching Mkal, happy it helps
Stumbled across this great video, which would teach any new photographer about all manner of genres, but especially wild life.
A great teacher !
Thanks Gary..much appreciated
I have been shooting in manual mostly and after watching your video I shot with aperture priority and it really freed me up to enjoy taking the shots and not worrying about my shutter speed for a while. I'll be using it more and I got some great well exposed images in a variety of situations. Thank you so much for making a great video.
Thanks for watching Forrest and glad it helped
Great advice. When shooting birds in flight I will meter on a med green lighted background in manual. The bird no matter if they fly low with the trees in the background or into a bright sky will always be exposed right. On a scattered cloudy day however you will have to redo your settings depending on the suns brightness. It may just be a one stop toggle.
Well done Nigel. Just started learning and you were very clear. Much appreciated.
Glad to be of help Ken. Thanks for watching and your comments
Thanks, Nige - very clearly presented and very understandable. Now I need to practice, practice, practice
Great tutorial and very well presented. I was captivated from start to finish. Thank you .Subscribed
Many thanks Tony
Great tube & information for photographers new to wildlife. Auto ISO improved my keeper rate no end. Thank-you for sharing.
Thanks Steve..much appreciated
Comprehensive and very useful. Thanks Nige
Thank you. A great explanation of a variety of methods to experiment with.
Thanks Phillip
Really helpful...your easy explanation, with examples, of something somewhat complicated is a real gift to a new photographer. Keep it up!
Thanks Michael, much appreciated and thanks for commenting
Great video with good practical advice. I use auto ISO in Aperture Priority, took me a while to move from what i thought was the more intuitive Shutter priority. Still haven't made the full time switch to BBAF. I tried it but kept forgetting to press it after years of the focus being on the shutter release button. I am a big fan of Steve Perry's books and you advice is almost the same. Thanks for the no nonsense approach.
Fantastic tips. I experiment a lot with settings. Looking forward to these. Thanks.
Thanks for your kind words Bruce..I hope the info helps ..
Excellent video,definitely giving me ideas for my next photography tutorial and photoshoot!👌
A well done video and very helpful info. You explain the conditions and reasons very well, Thanks!
Thanks Neil..
The medal would be going to you Mr.Morley for explaining all this very clearly and in a very calm way. I will be looking at this a second time with my camera in my hands! Thank you very much!!
No problem. Glad it was helpful
Thank you for a great video on camera setting for wildlife photography!
Nigel, this is an excellent explanation of why and how best to use Auto ISO. When I first saw that feature on my camera, I thought who in their right mind would let the camera select an ISO that would introduce a bunch of noise. However, you explained in such clear detail the max and min parameters that can be set to control the Auto ISO selection. This is excellent. Much appreciated. I look forward to seeing you other videos.
Many thanks for your kind comments and feedback Art..Auto ISO I think one of the best yet under utilised features on cameras and is now on even lower priced models. Once you now where on your individual camera noise gets too "noisy" for you then you can use that as a ceiling but it gives you loads of flexibility in the field to concentrate on composition and focusing etc. Good luck with your photography
Probably the most informative video I have seen, thanks for sharing your experience Nigel, never used Matrix with exposure compensation in all my years will give it a try. . Kind Regards Gary
Glad it was helpful Gary..there's no Holy Grail of perfect settings of course as every situation re subject/light is different but happy it helped. Thanks for watching/commenting
Well done on going through the options and settings, thank you. You reinforced what I understand and added nuances to getting it right for me. I do use spot metering if the conditions are real contrasty or if the subject has more whites the darks.
Cheers Bruce, thanks for taking the time to comment
Thank you, Nigel. Excellent tutorial and great tips. Unbeknownst to me, I have been taking photos with EV+7 all the time! No wonder I wasn't getting the right results... I look forward to your next tutorial :)
Thanks Pili.. don't worry, we all make mistakes !!
Thanks for your interesting movie, I felt learned a lot. And thanks for your humble way to learn others :)
This is the clearest spoken You Tube video I have watched on any subject. Very enjoyable and clear despite being almost word for word what I do with my Nikon D500! Nice to know you are doing it right though!
Much appreciated your kind words . thanks
This was a wonderful tutorial and I really appreciate that you put this out there for me to find. I most always use shutter speed priority and now I will actually attempt to use AP for my birding photography. I must admit it scares me a bit to try it, but your explanations helped me to see how it works and give it go.
Hi Becky. Thanks very much for watching and your comments. Really glad it's helped you, never forget there's no one perfect way to use your camera, it's just a tool to get you the desired result so really get to know the effect each setting has and then use whatever works best for you. If you have access to garden birds or say ducks in a local park they are a great way to experiment and learn. Good luck with your photography
Hi Nigel
Great explanation of the various techniques. I just upgraded my 70-200 to 100-400mm inspired somewhat by your beautiful owl (and other wildlife) images. I look forward to trying these out.
Thanks Chris, good luck with the new lens. So much about getting those images is just spending hours out in the field and studying your subject so sure your efforts will pay dividends
Brilliant video and explanation Nigel. Really easy to understand. I always shoot shutter priority at Silverstone, but will definitely try out aperture priority. Thanks
Thanks Paul...worth experimenting..no perfect solution but glad it helped
Very well explained, Nigel...........I'm subscribing!
Thanks for watching, much appreciated
At the beginning I thought it was a green background and then added on post...but you really went outside to do it! Grand video Nigel, very informative and clear with those examples :-)
Haha...Yeah it was all done in a studio in London !! Hope you're enjoying Dublin .
Thank you so much. Great advise that has helped me a lot to make a plan, as I was changing from one mode to the other when none was really working properly. I have the gear but not the knowledge. And, I am dealing where I am with very difficult weather situations. Always moody and raining, so I am shooting either indoors or outside at night. This is China. And I love Wild life and landscape. Small note. the background of your shooting video is so wonderful. I will not miss any of your videos. Many many thanks again.
Thanks Flora..yes making a plan and trying things to see how your camera handles different conditions is a great thing to do. Good luck with your photography, China is an amazing place (if you haven't seen them i recommend Adam Gibbs's recent videos from the Gobi desert)
Backgound of your office is breathking. I have started folliwing your channel when one year ago you posted your tutorial about Bluebbels photography. Thank you for great tip for setting up minimum shutter speed. Auto ISO in manual mode is very convenient for me when photographing birds on the overcast day. Best regards and thank you for sharing your knowaldge.
Thanks Maria and great to have your support. I can't believe those Bluebell videos were a year ago now !! Auto ISO in Manual is a great setting and you are obviously an experienced photographer but I think it's a tough one for beginners hence my chatting about using Aperture Priority etc. Thanks again
Excellent video that I keep coming back to as I continue to master my camera. I'm a Canon user but even though a Nikon is featured, the narrative is universal and easy to follow.
Thanks Rod..I tried to make not "brand" specific as the principles apply to all types of cameras/makes..appreciate you watching.
Many thanks for your tips and clear delivery. I found them so helpful and look forward to putting them into practice. I have an old Canon 600D, and a 7D and a 100-400mm telephoto. I'd like to part exchange the former and get a 7D Mark2. Am just a keen amateur trying to improve. The high standards you set are an inspiration.
Thanks Jimmy. The 7DMk2 is a great camera and still used by a lot of wildlife photographers and will help a bit but the best tool is your own fieldcraft, choose one or two species and study how they behave and it'll make a huge difference in your results as you can anticipate what they'll do. Good luck with all your photography and thanks for commenting
Great tutorial very helpful & easy to understand for a beginner. Thanks and keep doing them
Thank you Karen
out standing video i have learnt quite a lot from this and going to enjoy trying things out, and changing quite a lot of the settings i use many thanks for the information very well put together many thanks Alan
Thanks for watching and your comments Alan
Excellent. As a comparative beginner and into wildlife photography it was especially beneficial. The aperture priority section was interesting as something to work on. Thank you very much.
Thanks Emile, glad it was helpful
Thank you. This makes so much sense. My son (better photographer than I) shoots aperture priority. I'm using auto iso in M more and more, but you opened my mind.
Thanks Rob...as I mentioned in the video there isn't a single perfect method and it's what works for you that counts....and getting familiar with the images you want to create and understanding what the camera is able to do are the most important things...good luck to you and your son with your photography
Your explanation on focusing was easy for me to understand. It was very helpful.
Thanks Janice, glad to be of help
What a clever man and a great help I shall watch this video over and over so kind of you to share this knowledge I hope you get rich it's better than learning in uni
Thanks Chris...its not the way to make my fortune but glad it helped !!
Really informative, thank you!
Wow, thank you so much, great tutorial in settings!
My pleasure Dania, glad it was helpful
First class advice from someone who walks the talk. Wish I knew all of this long ago!!! Thanks Nigel. I would be interested in what lens/shutter speed /aperture you settled on for each image as you display them.
Thanks Ian..on my other videos I nearly always do put the technical stuff at the end with the accompanying images but I just thought on this one I was trying to illustrate the occasions when certain techniques might be used so the specific settings didn't seem so relevant but point taken.
Still consider myself a virgin birder but an experienced photographer. Going birding in S. Arizona next month and your video was invaluable in helping me to get my settings adjusted for birding. Thanks Nigel.
Many thanks Dick..have a great trip to Arizona
Great video, covers lots of useful stuff, thanks. From personal experience I'd put a caveat on combining high speed shutter release with continuous auto focus though: to get maximum release rate you need to set AF-C to "release" (Custom Setting Menu/a1 on my Nikon D7200), but this means auto focus stops tracking as soon as you start firing. A moving subject can quickly get out of focus (especially with a large aperture setting on a long lens) so only the first couple of frames are keepers. The alternative is to use the "focus" option in a1 menu, this keeps the tracking active during the firing burst but can drastically slow down the shutter release rate, which rather defeats to objective. I've had success and failure using both options! For those tricky shots I generally opt for "release" option (to get an uninterrupted high speed burst), a manual exposure set up using fast shutter and small aperture (to freeze motion and get maximum depth of field) and auto ISO . Then hope for the best.
Nice video, on many levels. You should have more subscribers!
Great advice,i have just started in wildlife photography and this is the first time settings have been explained in 'ENGLISH' (Thanks)
Thanks Alan..good luck with your photography
Absolutely brilliant thanks
Very useful video, thanks, i'll be trying the new settings plus back button focus.
Cheers Carl
Thank you very much for the "baby steps" when it comes to having your camera on standby mode. To set it to AI SERVO (I'm a Canon shooter) etc... This information may sound somewhat simple for a few others but for the begginer wildlife photographer, this information is incredibly important (golden!) for a new wildlife photographer.
God bless!!
Also, at 5:40 you mentioned that one should learn how to 'breathe' while taking the shot....
This is also a very important lesson to learn.
Much like hunting and finding that 1200 IBS bull moose unaware of your presence... Take your time, breathing in and out. Trying to make yourself inconspicuous as possible. ( This is when camouflage or drab color clothing comes into play!)
The less you move about, the better you have for success in getting that unique shot!!
Thank you for a most enlightening explanation.
Glad it helped Jeffrey
Great video thanks. You just helped me identify that I have too many focus points enabled for taking photos of birds in flight. I was thinking the more the better then wondered why the D7100 was unable to focus. Need to reduce them and practice better panning. Thanks again and I’ve subscribed to your channel. Chris.
Thanks Christopher...If you have the right conditions then things like 21/51 focus points are amazing so don't rule them out but if struggling then definitely reduce. Bear in mind that cameras are good but still can struggle so sometimes its just impossible !!
Very informative video! Thank you!
Thank you so much for the wonderful tips..
Great tips on camera settings Nigel and thank you.
Thanks for watching Dennis, glad it was helpful
Good one. Very well explained. Great
Very informative and helpful, Many Thanks
Thanks Paul. Glad it was useful
Fantastic. Video 👍👍👍
Nigel thanks for sharing, I have recently gone from landscape to wildlife especially birds, now retired, I don’t wish to drive to far, I have countryside all around and parks about 20 minutes, full of BirdLife. I have subscribed to your channel and look forward to more videos.
Thanks for watching and your comments Bob..good luck with your photography
i quite enjoyed this video, and found it very helpful especially for the exposure compensation explanation
Thanks Todd
This was great! Thanks!
Really helpful video to explain different techniques - I learnt a lot
Many thanks Peter..
Thank you so much for making this video.
Thanks Raymond. Hope it was helpful
Very instructive!
Thanks Nigel I have learnt a lot.I am obsessed with focus and have binned lots of photos spoilt by bad focusing
We've all gone through that learning stage Patrick, it can drive you mad !!..happy if this helped a bit, thanks for watching n commenting
Excellent information, thank you
Outstanding video for a novice and a pro, Cheers!
Many thanks
Thanks Nigel, really good I love shooting birds and this has helped a lot
Thanks Ralph, glad to be of some help
Great and informative video Nigel 😍👍 it would be great if same subject could be covered with mirrorless cameras. Thank you for the many tips and good advise
Thank you Peter....I don't own mirrorless bodies yet but I have tried a Sony A9 and if Nikon produced something similar/better then I'd certainly be considering it (Z7 just not quite there for me yet so maybe the Z8/9 !!)
Good advice and very helpful video!
Sorry for all the responses!!
Your video really really needs to be a prerequisite for begginer wildlife photographers. Absolutely perfect!!
You don't miss a beat!!👍👍
Many thanks Will..much appreciated
Thank you, I have mostly shot in Manual Mode, but, I think I ought to take a step back and use Av (Canon) mode more to get a better understanding of what it does. Also thank you for explaining everything well, whether a photographer is Canon, Nikon, Sony etc. I think you have explained it well enough that I can understand this, no matter what camera I am using. I have subscribed to your RUclips feed and look forward to seeing other videos you have produced. Very helpful with shooting of birds where they are darker compared to the background, the 'EV' button will help with this. Thank you for sharing your information.
Thanks Norman. Glad it was helpful for you.
Very detailed and informative. Thanks 👏🏼
Thanks for watching Ryan, glad it was helpful
Many thanks, very helpful Nigel. I am coming back to photography as a result of working as a vol with historic Army aircraft. I always carried a camera in the Army and was an avid aircraft photographer. I also love birds and living near the coast in the new forest, both subjects cross fertilize quite well. I use Panasonic's G7, and am getting a GH5 and 100-400 lens as I also do video... Utterly mad.
The challenges of aerial photography and on a busy dispersal are different, and some may wonder why the micro 4/3 format, but I have found the slightly smaller and lighter form is handier and safer in a confined space or at 1000ft with the doors off. Works well with a gimbal too which in a vibrating beast works great damping out vibes on video.
After 35mm the options with digital are stunning, but also bewildering....this has lifted the fog somewhat and will help me stray from AI.... Appreciated.
Thanks for commenting. Great work as a volunteer..I have Spitfires regularly from an airfield near me...never get tired of the Merlin engine ! I started on film and your experience with that will actually be very useful with digital ..and never query whether full frame, 4/3rds, crop sensors etc is best/worst..its all about what works for you
Thanks very much for this informative video, I will certainly check out the auto ISO and set my D4 and D500 to that right now.
Hope it helps Ray, experiment as much as you can and then you'll really feel comfortable with the options you have..still using my D4, great camera and tough as anything
very helpful indeed, thank you!!
Happy that it helped. thanks for watching
Danke Nigel, habe durch dein Video viel gelernt
Wonderful video , extremely helpful , complex subject very well explained .
Thanks for watching and your kind words Richard, glad it was helpful
So this was a very good presentation for me because it brought all the elements together in a practical, not just theoretical way. I am an amateur photographer that has spent lots of money on the best gear, pretty good at composition but frankly, poor at pulling off those amazing shots that we see in your portfolio. What I like is that we are getting insights into your thought process, not just how to use the tools. You can't buy that at Sony with your A7iii. Thank you!
Thanks very much Richard. I'm glad to be of help. Photography (especially wildlife) is very much a learning curve and it takes time to understand the impact the settings have on the final images and of course with wildlife you often only get a few seconds for an image ..my best recommendation to students I teach is to find one subject/genre you really like (could be macro with butterflies or maybe seabirds or just one species you have locally (something like a Robin) and really try to get the best images of that one thing)..you'll be forced to experiment but you can do lots of hours fine tuning those skills and they will apply to other subjects later. And with say a Robin that always visits your garden you can try different backgrounds/lighting/times of day and they are what makes an average image a great one. Thanks for watching
I mostly capture birds and I use Manual with Auto ISO with a single point focus and spot metering. When I got the D850 I really like the dedicated ISO button when I need to change to fully manual for those special occasions you mention in your video. Also, I have assigned one programmable button to lock the exposure for those situations like shooting a bird that has the sky in the background, which will cause the bird to be a silhouette. What I do is point the camera to a darker area and press and hold the programmed exposure lock button then capture the bird. Also for those fast Swallows, I programmed a button to change the single point focus to 4 points. This also works well for birds in flight
Great video. I learned a lot about my camera. I've been shooting in all manual. My Canon has Aperture Priority listed as Av. I tried this and OMG, where has this been all my life. I'll be definitely using Aperture Priority starting tomorrow. Thank You
Glad it was helpful, thanks for watching/commenting
Very helpful. I'm fairly advanced and have been manually setting ISO using the SET and dial buttons. I did find AUTO ISO was most times operating too high but I'll give it another go with my 1DX Mk II's.
Thanks Charlie...
Thank you that was helpful!
Thanks very much for doing this; very useful.
Thanks Robin, hope it helped
So good I've watched it twice. Pitched at my level I feel.
Thanks for watching...hopefully there is something in there for everybody
Manual aperture and shutter with auto ISO is definitely the way to go for me! My camera allows me to have 'setting banks' with my usual settings for different scenarios available at the touch of a button.
Excellent tuition. Thank u.
Many thanks