First Wildlife pics

rhodeislandhntr · Feb 25, 2013

Please be easy, this is my first camera and only my 3rd day owning it but I wanted to start off with some easy wildlife pics.

dxqcanada · Feb 25, 2013

Not bad for your first time.

Think about maintaining high shutter speed ... if you want to stay in an "auto" mode, choose Shutter Priority.
Work on getting sharp images first ... then work on your composition.

rhodeislandhntr · Feb 25, 2013

Thanks for the tips, unfortunatly I will need to learn how to do all that. I shot 500 photos today in the sports mode using a Nikon D3100 with the 55-200mm lens. I have a long road ahead, alot of reading and learning to do.

dxqcanada · Feb 25, 2013

You want to take control. Shutter speed is important to freeze motion.

rhodeislandhntr · Feb 25, 2013

OK, just did a little reading. I just set my camera to shutter priority and put it at 1/4000. This would give me better action/outdoor pictures, i hope.

dxqcanada · Feb 25, 2013

Try it out on a number of moving subjects ... you will eventually get a feel for what shutter speed will be appropriate.
You do not want to always use the max speed, as you may push the ISO up or lose DoF.

rhodeislandhntr · Feb 25, 2013

Will do. Like I mentioned, I have no real idea yet what I am doing, just trying this out and I know it will take time.

matthewo · Feb 25, 2013

yeah try shutter priority. most bird action shots need to be at least 1/1000 and even higher if possible. i like the colors and lighting in #9 the swan picture. a little tip for composition try to keep out of focus stuff behind the main subject of focus, its more visually appealing.

also with wildlife most people like to see a nice sharp head. sometimes focusing on the head is hard. you may need to up you aperature a little to gain DOF is you have good lighting. and you can focus on the body but still have head in focus, for action photos.

also try to shoot raw. gives you more leverage with post processing and sharpening. if you are resizing for web like most everyone does. resize then sharpen will give a sharp looking image.

just a few tips, good luck, wildlife photography is fun, and addicting

coastalconn · Feb 25, 2013

Welcome to the forum. I'd say pretty good for your first attempts. I'm right down 95 from you in CT! You probably noticed your shots with stationary birds came out the best as far as sharpness? Moving birds are one of the toughest things to shoot. Digital cameras have what is called exif information embedded. If you can review it, it shows you what the camera has decided on for shutter speed, aperture and ISO speed. I am pretty much dedicated bird photographer. Instead of sports mode, I would recommend Aperture Priority "A" on your dial. In your menus find "auto iso" To start set your minimum shutter speed to 1/1250th and max ISO to 800. When you are shooting set your lens to F6.3 . This will allow you to focus on well focus... This will give you a pretty fast shutter speed for moving birds of several types and give you a good place to start. Another thing to keep in mind, if possible keep the sun behind you. Light plays a huge rule in getting details in feathers...

matthewo · Feb 25, 2013

just plan to learn and get used to shooting manual. its difficult to get optimal results in any other mode once you understand and get comfortable with it.

its not something to learn over night, take time, but the majority of people i know wished they had started sooner once they did.

rhodeislandhntr · Feb 25, 2013

All great info, and I really appreciate it. I am sitting here trying to go through the camera as I type. I will try some more tommorow.

rhodeislandhntr · Feb 25, 2013

I am almost 40 and have always wanted a camera but never spent the money, boy was i dumb.

dxqcanada · Feb 25, 2013

... also, not bad for an up to 200mm lens (unless you are doing some heavy cropping).
If you really want to shot birds, you will eventually be wanted more focal length ... just a warning.