first lens for specific wildlife

Joined
Oct 22, 2017
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Can others edit my Photos
Photos OK to edit
Hi everyone,
I thought I'd introduce myself before my questions so you now how i got it.

I'm 35 and always loved photography. I purchase National Geographic & Canadian National Geographic, just to view the photos. I already know what I want to photograph, as they are a passion of mine. Bears, including polar bears (which I can get to in a few hours due to my location in Canada), and wolves. This will be my main animal focus. Now how did I get here. I have ended up with a medical condition leaving me on long term disability while I wait for a heart transplant. So now I decided to jump into something that I've waited a long time to have the time for. I have also learnt life is short so I dont' want to waste any time.

What I HAVE decided on

- Canon 7D Mark II (thoughts appreciated)
- I have also decided to take a diploma at Burnwell Schoold of Photgrapthy specializing in nature and wildlife.


Now what question/advice am I looking for.
For the animals I want to shoot, listed above, what would you recommend.

- Prime or telephoto?

- Regardless if you are telephoto or prime, what lens would you recommend for what I am looking to shoot? My guess is minimum 400mm? I'm also thinking prime 600mm or 800mm? But I want your inputs



Thank you in advance
 
Firstly I'm jealous that you get to shoot bears/wolves! (sadly the UK has neither outside of zoos).


A few thoughts now and questions

1) With regard to your medical condition and state of health, and I mean this in a really nice way, but how is your physical condition? I don't mean to get into specifics only to highlight that many of the good quality (and going by your camera choice I'm guessing you're not aiming at budget gear?) lenses can be quite heavy. Even on normally healthy people this can take time to get used to.
Of course how you gain access to the wilds is also important to consider; if your'e able to travel via vehicle and shoot from it as well then weight is less of an issue. Cars are also not daft to shoot from - they are warmer and safer and many animals often ignore them whilst a human they are either going to flee from or charge at. Of course, as I'm sure you appreciate, some (bears) will also go for a car too if they have a mind too.

So that point has kind of raised three elements
a) What kind of budget you are thinking of - some of these long lenses can cost a small fortune.
b) How you are planning on getting into the wilds to take the photographs
c) How physically able you are - within safe tolerances of your condition.

There are a lot of lenses on the market and whilst the top end are the top end there are some very very good performing lenses now that are cheaper and lighter which are well worth considering based on each persons situation.
Also you might find that, based on the answers above, that two lenses and two camera bodies might work better than one camera body and two lenses or even one camera one lens etc.... A lot of that will hinge on how you're getting out into the wilds.


2) The course - courses are great and can be a good structure to learning. However do go through the course outlines and content. It sounds like you're more keen to get out and take photos rather than be at home writing essays. The actual mechanics of photography are not hard to self-learn with the right reference material and support and many people here have learned most of their skill through self learning and support from forums and other photographers/clubs.

So by all means if you want to do it do it - but do read through what its offering you exactly so that you don't lose money going for something that might not quite be what you're after in the long run.

I would say that the most valuable thing any course could teach you is the mechanics/theory of art and composition. And don't just read the course outline for that one, go look at past works of previous students. That should give you an idea of the standard that they aim for and the kind of quality that the instruction might have you walk out with.

Again composition can be learned yourself; its a bit trickier as reference material and general awareness of art/composition tends to be a little thinner on the ground but it can be done.




EDIT - forgot to say - in wildlife photography, the skill tree is;
Camera - art - wilderness skills

The first is easy; the second tricky; the latter much harder. Wilderness skills are, depending on how much of an outdoors person you are, what I'd consider investing in teaching in because its the one thing on that list that you cannot learn easily or much from a book or forums or chat. It's one of those in the moment skills.
 
I have the Canon 7D Mark ii and the 100-400 new version and I love it. I use it mostly for birds and it's very sharp wide open at all focal lengths. I know the Nikon D500 and 200-500 is a fantastic combo as well. I shoot Canon because my dad had some Canon lenses so I bought a Canon body and used his until I got my own. There are so many good choices out there.
 

Most reactions

Back
Top