Columbus Ohio Wildlife Photography Introduction

jjh221 · Apr 12, 2013

Hi guys my name is John and I am excited to join TPF my goals are to learn as much as possible from everyone here so just introducing myself and saying Hi! I am 31yrs old/young? and interested in wildlife photography and I'm the type of guy that can sit for hours in a tree stand or on the ground waiting for the right shot but my knowledge level is below par and right now my photographs show that. It may also be due to my equipment. I recently picked up a Canon t3i so I'm excited to get out and see what I can do with it. If anyone has any advice on where to start I'm all ears! well...eyes...

Hope to get to know many of you and learn from a lot of you.

IceCanAm · Apr 12, 2013

Welcome to the site.

snowbear · Apr 12, 2013

Welcome to the madness, John.

The best place to start is the camera manual. After that, just start shooting. There are a number of resources where you can learn about composition, exposure, post processing, etc.

Designer · Apr 12, 2013

Welcome!

May I suggest that you don't try to take the long shots until you get a telephoto lens. For now, you can work much closer to the camera taking pictures of whatever is small and close. Then, when you get a telephoto lens, be sure to also get a tripod or at least a monopod to keep your camera movement to a minimum.

smalltowngirl13 · Apr 12, 2013

Welcome aboard John!

jjh221 · Apr 13, 2013

Thanks guys and gals

. @ Designer- I have a 70-300mm and 18-55mm lens. I've been testing out settings and right now im just using the fly wheel to adjust shutter speed to my shots am I right for doing this?

Designer · Apr 13, 2013

jjh221 said:
Thanks guys and gals . @ Designer- I have a 70-300mm and 18-55mm lens. I've been testing out settings and right now im just using the fly wheel to adjust shutter speed to my shots am I right for doing this?

Sure, if shutter speed is the prime variable.

BlackSheep · Apr 13, 2013

jjh221 said:
Thanks guys and gals . @ Designer- I have a 70-300mm and 18-55mm lens. I've been testing out settings and right now im just using the fly wheel to adjust shutter speed to my shots am I right for doing this?

You'll find the 70-300 will be good for wildlife, especially at the 300 range. I'm not sure what exactly you are doing with the flywheel for adjusting shutter speed (not a Canon girl), but it sounds like you are working on getting a proper exposure so that's good. If you don't know about basic exposure settings in terms of balancing your aperature, shutter speed and ISO, do a quick search on here and you'll find the info you need on that.

Another pointer that is not photography related but is wildlife related; you mentioned tree stands so you may already know this stuff, but just in case you don't- be sure to research the habits of whatever you are trying to shoot. Your chances of getting a good shot will depend on knowing what their habits are.