Elvin siew chun wai - Wildlife and Nature Photography Wildlife traditionally refers to non-domesticated animal species, but has come to include all plants, fungi, and other organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans.

1. Wildlife and Nature
Photography
Presentation by
Elvin Siew Chun Wai

2. • Some people view it as
easy
• More to it than just
being at the right place
at the right time.
• Being prepared with the
right equipment and
knowing how to use it is
essential.

3. Know your location
• Where are you shooting and what time of day will be
best for the location
– Use a compass to track the sun and determine how the lighting
might change through out the day.
– Check sun and moon charts to know the exact time

4. • What will you be shooting
– Determine living habits.
• Food
– Does it feed in the tree or on the ground
• Does it sing at the tops of trees, what kind of sounds
does it make so you can flush it out
• What are it’s mating habits – Cardinals mate for life
and usually hang out together…but not to close to
each other
• Dragonflies tend to return back to the same spot
Know your subject

5. Equip consideration
• Some obvious:
– Buy cheap stuff to get started, but budget to
upgrade.
• Most of my first lenses came from pawn shops.
• Canon 500d vs. dedicated Macro
– Buy used…if it was good enough for a pro
yesterday, it is good enough for me today.
– Find alternative uses of non-traditional
items, making items if possible.
– Get extra lens caps
– Use UV filters for hazardous conditions.
– Camouflage netting, build a blind
– Hire a sherper to carry your equipment

6. Packing for a Trip
• Photography is always about compromises
– Will you benefit from any given piece of equipment on
any given day?
– If it all possible, drive rather than fly so you can take all of
your gear…different hikes dictate different gear.
• Hiking 1-5 miles in to a remote location in Big Bend is going to be
vastly different than driving up to the road side and taking
pictures at the scenic overlook.
– Bring enough memory cards to try not to format
– Back up in the field to a portable device, like a laptop,
portable hard drive or device that records DVDs in the
field.
– Bring wet weather gear – economy lens rain suit…saran
wrap, or shower cap from the hotel room

7. Understanding Exposure
Why use different
Shutter Speeds and Apertures.

8. Silhouettes • Any time you have the sun in your picture,
you are going to have a tough exposure.

9. Using Exposure Compensation
Program and Automatic Exposure Modes do a pretty good job when
the subject is evenly lit. But when the subject is off center…or much
darker/bright than the back ground, you have to use the Manual exposure
mode…or dial +/- Exposure Compensation.

10. When hiking, try to walk by yourself
• Birds tend to
come back out
quickly after
people have
passed by.
• Just stop and
wait.

11. Equipment Considerations
• Every hike is different. Unfortunately, there is no
easy answer, and much of my equipment is
duplicate in function but serves different
purpose.
• Drive by vs. walking to
• Terrain
• Lighting
• Protection to equipment
– 70-200/2.8 vs. 70-300/4-5.6
– 70-200/2.8 with 1.7x vs. 150-500
– 400mm with 1.7x vs 600mm or 800mm
Have your camera with you
• Heat is bad for the camera…but
not having a camera is worse.
Just protect the camera from
extreme heat.
On the way to work…
spare camera in car.
A Quote I shared with my students today:
Pictures hold life's experiences.
And I feel that with every experience you
learn something.
Therefore, you learn something with every
picture you take.
- Anonymous

12. Thank You