Wildlife Photography across the Water: Being a wide Boy

Monday 16 February 2009

Being a wide Boy

We have mentioned long lenses a few times and they really are the main arsenal of the wildlife photographer, But its not the be all and end all and wide angle lenses play a very important part as well, Not just for landscapes but to show a different perspective to your normal image and to help show the animal in habitat, I love it when i get an opportunity to shoot with a wide lens and am at present putting corn out next to my hide/blind in the hope that a deer will come close enough whilst there is enough light to photograph it with a wide angle lens, To use wide lenses you need the camera/lens to be very close to the subject,You can do this in a variety of ways, Use a remote release cord with extension so that you can tuck yourself out of the way and not spook the animal,Use a cordless release or just find animals that are used to humans and approach very slowly

In this image i took of a Red Squirrel (same place as martins squirrel images) i used a Canon LC4 (Now a LC5) Which can fire a camera up to 100m away, I placed the camera/lens on a beanbag and put some peanuts in a crack in the tree stump and waited for the squirrels to come for a feed,The sound of the shutter made the squirrel curious and he came and looked right into the 16-35 that i was using, I had a long lens on the tripod so i could get both types of shot

In this image i was in Yosemite NP in California, It was my first trip there and we found some Mule deer close to the road, I didn't know how the deer would react so i started with a 500+1.4x and made my way closer,Take of the 1.4x and move closer,ok now take the 500 off and put on a 70-200 and move closer,wow the deer is taking no notice and not showing any signs of stress so move closer and shoot at 70mm, Now this is ridiculous-take the 70-200 off and put on a 16-35, I lay down flat and move commando style towards the deer, The deer knows i am there and i speak softly to it all the time, In the end it comes over and stands over me,eating all the time before moving off and crossing the road,I had positioned myself to get El Capitan mountain in the background-great stuff-if only there had been a blue sky
So don't be blinkered when it come to shooting wildlife-try to get different shots from different lenses

Dave

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Bio's

David Courtenay, a self taught wildlife and nature photographer, has been capturing images for over 30 years. He has had a passion for wildlife since early childhood and remembers being glued to the television whenever Survival, Wildlife on One and other natural history documentaries were shown. In the 2006 he swapped his established career for the life of a wildlife photographer, such a move demands a measure of uncompromising passion and commitment.

David has travelled extensively throughout Europe as well as spending more than 7 months in India working with local guides and trackers in search of Bengal Tiger, Asian One horned Rhino and Asian Elephant. He has also photographed Wildlife in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sumatra, Africa, Canada and America. Working closely with Conservation companies he tries to raise funds to help Wildlife that has been put on the endangered list by poaching and habitation loss

Martin Dyer has had a passion for avian wildlife since childhood, particularly raptors. Photography was also another keen interest and it was with the specific availability and control of the whole process that digital offers that Martin was then able to combine the two in 2003. Based in the UK, Martin is a regular visitor to Scotland, specifically the Isle of Mull to watch the Eagles resident there. Other trips to Europe and around the UK are usually part of Martin’s agenda in a typical year.

However, as a firm believer on making the most of the local patch, Martin has spent a lot of time and hard work creating a wildlife garden which is reaping the rewards with many new species and varieties of wildlife. A keen member of a number of wildlife photographic groups, Martin is keen to expand his portfolio into other areas of wildlife, and has already established a wide portfolio of images of fungi.