Wildlife Photography Tips and Tricks - How to Get CLOSE to Wildlife
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- Опубликовано: 19 июн 2024
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How do we get close to Wildlife? Once you've figured out how close you need to be for reasonable photographs, it's then a case of deciding the best option to employ. If you have any experiences of stalking, hide use and other techniques as mentioned in this video then please share with everyone in the Comments Box below. Please, always remember, nothing should come above the Welfare of the bird or animal you are trying to photograph.
Filmed with Canon M50 and 15-45mm lens.
Equipment: Canon 1DX Mark i; Canon 400mm f/5.6 lens; Canon 500mm f4 lens
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Music:
Birdseye Blues by Chris Haugen
Play-Doh Meets Dora by Carmen Maria & Edu Espinal
Once you've got close to your subject, use my downloadable Photo Guides to capture your best images: koji.to/k/9jxs
I’ve seen the “I don’t care” technique described as the “lost wallet” method (by an American wildlife photographer): You pretend to have dropped your wallet, and you walk in an apparently random zigzag direction looking down, slowly approaching the animal.
Love it!
I consider my photography as part of my daily exercise, so I hike with my camera and keep vigilant. Just sitting still in a hide /camo or car is definitely not for me. Keep up the good work.
15:18 This didn't really hit home to me until very recently. I was walking down an alleyway on a high-street and i realised that there was a beautiful magpie about a metre away from me. I kept my cool and just kept walking, but holy shit i wish i had my camera with me. It did not give a single fuck that i was literally within touching distance of it, because it "knew" i hadn't seen it.
People take for granted how intelligent that kind of bird is. It "Knew" that i hadn't seen it, so it had no concern for me being so close. Considering the location, that bird is genuinely knowledgeable on human behaviour.
I decided to change my approach. I used to be a walk around opportunistic photographer. I now take a chair, using my old army skills and ‘make like a tree’. After a few hours the wildlife comes to me. I was sat minding my own business and a Bank Vole appeared, a first for me and the best photo I’ve ever taken from 12” away.. great tips. Tomorrow I’m testing being further away with a remote trigger on where I know the Vole lives.
It's a joy when you can sit and wait and the wildlife comes to you. Probably the best way for the most natural images.
I find with things like oyster catchers, as I slowly move towards them they slowly move away! This is repeated across the mud bank : ) I have convinced myself it's not a fear circle but just doing it to annoy me!
Haha! Possibly.. I would love to photograph Oystercatchers piping..
Pretend you don't notice the animal works amazingly well. During the Rocky Mountain National Park rut, I watched thousands of photographers stalking animals and failing. Meanwhile, Elk was walking right up to me as I just took landscape photos, then I'd move slowly to grab stellar Elk shots when they were just feet away. I had large groups of people asking what I was wearing. Some people were upset saying I had to be using hunting urine or some BS. Same thing with black bears. After building trust with Mama, I've spent hours watching cubs play from my car. I pay attention to other things like birds and such, advance slowly over time, and eventually get close enough that with a 500 I can get pretty cool shots. Doesn't work always but works a lot better than stalking the animal hunting the pic above anything else.
I need to find a good spot. Most places near me in the US are private property or "stay on the trail!" parks. I miss the days when I was a kid and I'd roam through the woods on an adventure. I think I found a good trail near some water with some room to explore but haven't been over there yet to check it out. And I need to invest in tick repellant.
Great video, Paul! Thanks for sharing these excellent tips!
You're welcome, thank you.
Thanks for another great video!
Jeden z najlepszych kanałów pokazujących piękno przyrody. Brawo. Pozdrawiam serdecznie i zapraszam do polskich lasów. Rafał.
At last! Thank you. This should be the first video on every bird photography playlist; none of the technical skills matter if you can't get close enough to the subject.
@ Tatra Scambler: Totally agree! Taking photos since 40 years and the technical skills are since long no big deal, but getting close enough to wildlife continuous being a challenge and being patient again and again and again…
Glad you enjoyed it!
Yes, I would agree that is the biggest challenge.
Great tips! I am not a wildlife photographer but I am an opportunist, and when the moment arises hopefully I can capture it. Your viewers may like Wildlife in my Back Yard! Images shot over the past 30 years have provided some very unique photos.
The “oakey doke”, head fake works well for shore birds. It also works sometimes with raptors, but as soon as raptors see that lens and your face pointed at them, the shift, the mute and off into the wind. Mike Lane’s channel is excellent. His knowledge and passion for bird photography is on full display in his videos.
Smart birds raptors. You are right about Mike - amazing knowledge.
Once more a very informative and high interesting video with helpful tips, Paul Miguel! Kind regards, Thomas
You’re amazing, Paul. Thank you again for sharing. ✌️❤️
So are you Tom! thank you
Very nice video and entertaining too in parts 😂thanks for the great info👍
Another great video Paul 👍full of useful tips as always great teacher keep them coming 👏👏👏love the fox great photo👌
Cheers Paul. I though this video would be useful. The foxes are from Slovenia.. semi-tame.
Cracking video, great tips we all can use. About pretending not to pay attention/noticing the bird I’ve tried this and I think it mostly works 👍
Cheers. I think it does work, yes!
That last tip is so funny but apt! I do it with park squirrels all the time, they usually circle around your back, so if you don't care they'll go for the seeds/nuts immediately. But the times I have my fisheye near the food, and actively looking, no bueno.
Okey Dokey definitely works for deer in California. I like how you put the camera up before turning your eyes to the animal. Definitely going to incorporate that.
Good job Paul !
Great Video could you maybe do a Video about how to find Owls for Photography in the future. There are a few out there on RUclips but i really like your style of teaching people about photography and it would be great to see something like that in the future. Ps i really enjoyed the video and i´m sure your tips and trocks will help me on future phototrips
thank you very much for the feedback and suggestions. Greatly appreciated.
That smile at 4:16 warmed my heart so much.
Thank you so much James!
keyifli dakikalar
Good One Paul.
I had an interesting experience today. I often shoot in a cemetery over the road from my house. I don't use camouflage or a hide as the birds are quite tame. There is a great spotted woodpecker that I regularly see, but it always stays right in the top of the trees, and never close enough to photograph. I went over there today for the RSPB Birdwatch, so quietly sat with pen and paper on a little portable stool. Twice during the hour, it landed on a branch less than 10 feet away. I had my camera in my bag, but for that hour had decided just to observe, so was delighted to see it so close, but also silently cursing.
After the hour was up, I got my camera out, but didn't see it again. I plan to go back there again and just sit quietly with the camera on a tripod and see if that works. I do have one of those bag hides, but I'm not sure how comfortable I would feel using it in a cemetery.
That's amazing. It just shows what can happen when you are quiet and relaxed. Also, sometimes, it's good to put the camera away.. and just watch. Thanks for sharing that Paul.
i have a few pairs of woodpeckers in my local london cemetery, greens and gs also a family of daytime foxes, i often just use a 100-400mm on a crop camera and i get some nice images, cemeteries make a great back drop to wild life, personally i wouldnt use a tripod or hide, for one i don't think its necessary and the obvious 'its a cemetery'
i find more times than not you can wander around to where you think the bird went and its a game of cat and mouse you never win at, sit in one spot on a bench and eventually they come closer to you
My nightmare is when I set up my long lens a funeral comes in near me. I think how is it in this very large cemetery are they coming to a grave close to me. Then on days I don’t have my camera, I see the most birds. Camera in hand, no birds. Aghghghgh😳
First of all I love your videos. Clear explanation in simple language. and watch almost all of them. Thanks for that. I regularly drive through the polder by car. photographing from the car is not that easy. Drive along at your normal speed, the birds will stay there, but as soon as you slow down, they quickly increase the distance or are gone. And with my 100-400mm they are soon too far away. So often a lot of cropping, which does not benefit the photos. But the polder and especially those along large lakes are very interesting. love to walk on the dike with the shrubs and reed forests along the water on one side and the polder on the other side where a group of farmers optimize their land for meadow birds, so I keep trying.
Thank you very much indeed. And thank you for sharing your experiences too
400mm on a 35mm camera - that's great, but 300mm on APS-C (DX) is even better, it's equal to 450mm on Nikon or 480mm on Canon!!! =)
Nice interesting Video Paul, cheers
Thank you Ian.
The whole camo this g feels a little ridiculous to me, especially in places like Richmond park, I saw a guy the other day in a full on Ghillie suit and face paint. It just made him stand out even more 🤣
But thank you for taking the time to make this video, it's definitely given me a few ideas.
yep, I totally get that
Your the Best on RUclips👌
Cheers!
I once had a close encounter with an apparently “tame” Great Blue Heron” here at the Evergreen Brickworks in Toronto. I was looking out at a pond for wildlife subjects when I noticed this GBHeron standing on the patio area not ten feet from me. He was just nonchalantly looking around oblivious to everyone around him. There were adults, children and a few dogs, but he just didn’t care. So I got a fair number of very close shots and a good flight sequence. Very satisfying.
Absolutely fantastic. A very enjoyable encounter
Hi Paul enjoyed your tips. Couple to add - for some birds making a "wren" like noise seems to attract their attention and prevent them flying away . ( some people use bird recordings too eg nightjar. Also Simon King has a YT video with Barn owls where he lies down in a field making a vole sound ! )
I've made a mobile umbrella hide with a ground spike ( cross between hide and bag hide ) it acts as a comfortable way to approach and settle near wildlife, also packs small for carrying.
There are also "Feeding Stations" for birds like Red Kites etc.
Hides sounds very clever.. Some people use the 'pishing' method for birds. Similar to what you mentioned
Thank you Paul for another video with lots of useful tips. Regarding aproachable foxes I would like to mention that what you said applies to the UK but on the continent a "tame" fox may be infected by rabies and thus you probably should not approach "tame" foxes at least here in Germany.
Thank you for sharing. I think I have heard that.
Sometimes one gets lucky and much more tame one comes along and allows you to get much closer. I have been lucky a few time over the years. This year, I have had a few migrating warblers comes with 2 feet of, too close to get a photo. As you said, respect the subject and watch it's body language. Over hear, the Belted Kingfisher is extremely skittish bird.
Excellent video Paul. Another good way to get close to the birds is to set up your camera and use remote trigger or mobile phone app to remain at a distance.
It's a good alternative.. and will cause less disturbance
Right but may or may not safe for the camera.
I use camouflage in my local city park, you've got to just not care about the funny looks. If they are not smart enough to work out what you are up to due to the tripod on your back then there's not much hope for them anyway. I tried using camo mesh for hides but find that I can see more of what's going on around me without all that.
Love it. Fair play! I do prefer standard hides but it's usually a case of what suits the situation.. and the subject.
Great Video, Thank You, I am Fortunate to live near open marsh land and in order to get my Wildlife Photos, I started leaving Small Amounts of Food About, and have managed to get some Nice Shots of The Local Foxes From less than three feet away from me, Just using a Nikon 3300 with a 55-200 lens , it took a lot of trust, patience and time for them to get use to me, However i am always mindful to the fact that these are Wild Animals and need to be respected, Their safety and wellbeing are more important than the shot itself. Once again Thanks Great Video.
Wow, fantastic. And I appreciate your attitude towards the foxes.
Awesome video as usual. My best advice on getting close to interesting and unique animals is to fail to have a camera with you! "The things you see when you haven't got your gun" etc.
+1
So true!
15:36 that was clever 😀
Haha! Got to have a bit of fun...
Great video! I have had great success shooting remotely too (placing the camera near where I expect the subject and release the shutter from the distance), very easy nowadays.
This is a great idea and reduces disturbance.
@@PaulMiguelPhotography And it's a lot of fun. I have a few badger and pine marten pictures on my Instagram (truly wild, no hide) that I took with my compact camera using that technique.
right. Especially with silent shutter in the new cameras.
Another way to approach your subject is the walk backwards toward them. It appears that you are walking away as you have your back to them. I have found that this sometimes works. You must do it slowly though. Just be careful that you don't fall over any branches on the ground.
Wow, that's brilliant. Never tried this!
Providing food or finding a carcass birds are feeding on often allows a much closer approach.
Definitely. Not something I spoke about much in this video. I have photographed various species with food
one of the tips you missed was smell, most animals will smell you before they or you see each other
the " not interested " approach works with birds for sure, i can get close to some if i just keep walking, as soon as i stop then they take flight so having a shutter speed fast enough for a walk by shot works well.
the very best way to get the perfect distance to wildlife esp birds is to leave the camera at home!!! sure enough that bird you been trying to get for months that flies away just before you get scoped up will happily sit on a fence a few feet away if you don't have your camera with you
I would concur about leaving the camera at home, lol!
Smell is a factor, but noise/sounds are huge factors. A fox is rumored to be able to hear a ticking wristwatch from 40 yards away.
what are you setting your camera on in your car window?
If you want to get down and dirty, for example for various ducks etc. try a roll up workout mat to lie on and a basic camo net thrown over you. You will need a skimmer for this and you can make one for little money out of an old frying pan and a tripod ball head.
yes, I do this John! Got my own 'frypod'.
I agree with some of the comments below; e.g. I throw a picnic blanket or equivalent on the ground wear acamo and lie down and wait. I use a 3D camo poncho with a hood and camo gloves which is much lighter than a Ghillie suit. Also in the 'do not care routine' try to walk/approach on a zig zag direction. Finally, best advice for walking around wildlife photography is to try to figure out where the animal will be next and try to get there before it. So instead of following the wildlife, you position at the right spot and it shows up. And for the record tame wildlife is usually the result of feeding. I sit at the edge of some parks and birds come near me because they think I'll feed them. Once I had a small piece from a broken branch in my hand pretending to be food and the birds would not hesitate to try and take it from my hand thinking it was food and I wouldn't let go and we will play for a while like that. I do not feed wildlife but I've been in many places even in reserve in Africa where visitors or they guides do and so the animals become very tame and flock towards visitors.
Great advice Dimitris - particularly getting 'ahead' of the subject - so true. I respect your views on feeding wildlife - I think in some places it has become too much and detrimental.
I subscribed to you although I watch your RUclips & thought I would make you aware if you change camera brand. Are you aware that Canon do not share their lens protocols with 3rd party manufacturers, however Sony & Nikon do. Now, there is an alternative which is the OM-1, I know it's micro fourthirds but if its good enough for Mike Lane then that surely is a recommendation in itself. I am a wildlife photographer in Sussex originally using the GH5 but delays in the release of the GH6 ( unfortunately it went too video bias) & a windfall allowed me to go for the Sony a1. It is superb & I do not regret it one bit but the weight is a small draw back if you come from a micro 4/3rds background. it also allows 3rd party sharing. I use the Sony 200-600mm, Tamron 28-75 & an old Panagor 90mm macro lens in manual mode.
Thanks for the info. Hilary. Yes, I had heard that about Canon. There's some great cameras out there these days - certainly includes Olympus and Sony. Sony A1 looks superb.
Another great video. With lots of good tips which I know work. On the subject of paid hides, yes you knew someone would have a rant. But no I am not against them, most of them mean that wildlife is being less disturbed and that has to be a good thing. No, my question to you a pro snapper is that if a magazine had a Kingfisher shot from both of us on their desk and they were both fantastic. Your image was achieved by studying a local bird, learning its habitat and behaviour, then spending hours getting the right composition and weather conditions. Mine was taken in a paid hide, and because i was closer and the composition set up with great meant it was a much better image they chose mine. In other words do the two images hold the same value? My tip for getting close to wildlife is get up early, animals are no different to us they have to warm up and feed and when they are doing these early morning tasks they pay less attention to humans. I also think winter is the best time to get great wildlife shots. Animals and birds need to feed almost continuously, so even nocturnal ones can be seen throughout the day.
What a great question!! (You also make a very good point about disturbance.. which some people don't consider). So this is my opinion based on years of experience: For the majority of magazines.. they won't give a stuff. The image will be to illustrate an article or as a front cover to make people buy the mag. It is about impact. There will be the odd publication that will care, and also if there is a story to tell about taking the pics. e.g., I wrote a full article for Birdwatching magazine about photographing red kites in snow - that wouldn't have been possible if they weren't wild. I agree about early morning and yes winter can be useful indeed.
I believe as images they would hold the same "value". But as a photographer the levels of satisfaction in obtaining these would be vastly different.
@@AndyTychon Interesting. I think you're absolutely right. It probably the route problem with society these days, in as much as everyone just wants the end result and if that is via cut a paste they are not bothered. It's why credit works.
Paul, do you use noise reduction softwares when you post process photographs?
I don't use any noise reduction software. Occasionally I do a little in photoshop. Bear in mind the images I share are at their largest 2048 pixels wide. That said, I don't feel I have many images that are too noisy.
sometimes one needs to crawl to get near the subject
Can you give me any tips so now I’m on the way to 2627 how to do wildlife photography
Robbins in uk they just love to pose, they will sit on my tripod 😀😀
They do!
Uh-oh if a scratch of the nose can be seen, no wonder all birds disappear when I get out there. I physically wrestle w/ my tripod& curse like a sailor. Thanks for the tip. 😳🥴
Lol! I actually swear quite a lot in the field..
I am just amazed you still haven't switched to mirrorless.
So am I! In all seriousness, it will be done. But only for the right reasons.
@@PaulMiguelPhotography I have been shooting with the R5 for about 10 months now. It really does make your life easier especially with BIF. But, I am planning to switch brands as I am just not happy with the Canon lens situation. The RF 100-500mm is a rip-off and there is nothing in between before you get to the big primes.
Using a car to get Redwing might just be worthwhile, because they are flighty along the Leeds Liverpool canal and they always go further than you want them to when they scarper
I have tried using a car on a number of occasions with Fieldfare and Redwing but have only had success once, and that was when the car was static for some time with the engine off. They flew off when i approached in the car and I only got shots when they came back. Every time a car went past the flock flew off again.
I think if you can find the right place it could work well. The problem would be finding somewhere where you weren't always shooting upwards.
Very interesting, thanks Ian. Guess they were a bit flighty. There will be somewhere quiet where it works... just a case of finding it!
Hello I am looking to get people interested in doing a group live stream in photography for a different perspective planned for 03/12/22 9pm gmt. I would like to get a reply to see if you would be interested in attending it.
I think that most of wildlife phtographers out there use hide or rent hide to shoot wildlife. And I think that it still wildlife phtography (speaking about rent an hide), the animals still a wild animals not captivity, so there are no problem to rent an hide, is the same things that put a tend or a camo on. The one that i dont like is workshop done in place where are used animals in captivity (exampe bird of pray center), I think is not even a workshop as a true workshop should be done in the wild and not in a center. For example if you go to Africa, what people think is that photographers go in the savana and start to walk around? No way, they are most of the times on cars and this is not meaning is not anymore wildlife, as the animal still wild and not captivity.