WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY CAMERA SETTINGS: Focusing and Exposure
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
- In this video I talk about my thoughts on the best camera settings for wildlife photography.
I concentrate on Focusing and Exposure. These are the two areas that seem to cause the most confusion especially for beginners and when I do 1-2-1 tuition.
PLEASE NOTE: As I say in the video, THERE ARE NO PERFECT SETTINGS so these are my thoughts on what has worked for me over many years in the field and what I think is a good approach for someone new to wildlife photography or anyone struggling with any aspects of focusing or exposure. The key is to start simply and then evolve in to more complicated options as your skills and results improve.
I start with Focusing and suggest some "No Brainer" settings and chat about the issues effecting efficient focus.
Then I move on to Exposure and begin with a sensible "Go To" setting that works in most situations and then move on to more advanced settings such as Manual exposure and finally the setting I l really like to use if it's an option for me at the time, which is Manual with Auto Iso.
I have added some examples to illustrate the various settings and discuss why they helped for the photos concerned.
I wanted to keep the length of this video to about 15-16 minutes but failed miserably !!! so apologies for it's length but I thought it better to keep it in one video as a sort of reference guide rather than breaking it to say 3 separate videos.
To make it easier here are the start times for various topics if you just want to skip to the bit relevant for you.
02:16 Three No Brainer settings your camera should be set to.
04:17 Focusing
06:25 Focus Points. How many and why?
07:59 Exposure
09:41 Aperture Priority (with EV compensation)
11:05 Examples of AP
12:09 Why Aperture Priority and not Shutter Priority
13:44 Examples of staying in Aperture Priority but using shutter speeds creatively
14:36 Using Exposure Compensation for Special Situations
16:57 Examples where dialling in Exposure Compensation was vital
18:17 How much EV compensation to dial in
19:44 Manual Exposure mode
21:28 A classic example of when Manual Exposure makes sense
22:31 AUTO ISO (in Manual exposure and Aperture Priority)
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I'm proud to be a member of represent NATURE FIRST: The Alliance for Responsible Photography where as photographers we agree to adhere to and educate others on the need to practice sustainable photography that minimises impact on the environment and helps to preserve nature's beautiful locations. There are 7 guiding principles that mean a lot to me and exactly fit my approach to photography. Find out more at www.naturefirstphotography.org/
My Instagram account: / nigelpmorley
My website: www.nigelmorley.co.uk
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ABOUT ME: A long time passionate wildlife/landscape photographer and conservationist, I have always shot different genres of photography but now my subjects are largely driven by love of countryside and wildlife/landscapes especially in the UK. I have a long term conservation project ongoing involving restoring land that was previously arable farmland back to wildlife friendly set aside with wildflower meadows and zero spraying etc
Only one thing to add to this excellent video is that on the most modern Nikon cameras it is possible to turn auto-ISO on or off by depressing the ISO button and rotating the command dial. It can be done, with practise, without taking your eye from the viewfinder. It sounds pedantic but is useful if photographing a perched bird that then takes off. Thanks for the video Nigel, great work, glad I discovered your channel.
Thanks Rik..I do use that function quite regularly.. I think a lot of people find it by accident as they accidentally turn auto-iso on by mistake but you are correct it is a neat time saving feature
I shoot mostly manual on my D3s but if I'm in rapidly changing lighting conditions I'll turn on auto ISO as it really helps.
Auto ISO is also really useful in situations with a lot of highlights and shadows as you can't change manual settings quickly enough, for example, to capture a bird flying from a dark wooded area into an open field.
Thank you very much for the "baby steps" when it comes to having your camera on standby mode. To set it to AI SERVO (I'm a Canon shooter) etc... This information may sound somewhat simple for a few others but for the begginer wildlife photographer, this information is incredibly important (golden!) for a new wildlife photographer.
God bless!!
Also, at 5:40 you mentioned that one should learn how to 'breathe' while taking the shot....
This is also a very important lesson to learn.
Much like hunting and finding that 1200 IBS bull moose unaware of your presence... Take your time, breathing in and out. Trying to make yourself inconspicuous as possible. ( This is when camouflage or drab color clothing comes into play!)
The less you move about, the better you have for success in getting that unique shot!!
Great advice. When shooting birds in flight I will meter on a med green lighted background in manual. The bird no matter if they fly low with the trees in the background or into a bright sky will always be exposed right. On a scattered cloudy day however you will have to redo your settings depending on the suns brightness. It may just be a one stop toggle.
I've been a photographer for several decades but only recently started the BIF and other action photography learning curve with my Olympus MFT system. You are a great teacher....thank you!
Bill R YE! OLYMPUS TEAM 😉
The medal would be going to you Mr.Morley for explaining all this very clearly and in a very calm way. I will be looking at this a second time with my camera in my hands! Thank you very much!!
No problem. Glad it was helpful
I tried your manual setting with auto ISO suggestion and really like it. I’ve been going back and forth between aperture priority and shutter priority and couldn’t decide which was the better choice. Manual with auto ISO is a genius solution. Thank you.
Thanks for commenting Joe...we all go through that experimenting stage and , as I mentioned in the video, I don't believe there is one "perfect" solution, its about finding one that works for you in any given situation...I think you'll like manual with auto iso, gives you a lot of flexibility and you're obviously very comfortable with your camera so sure it will work well...the only reason I don't recommend it to people new to wildlife photography is if they aren't totally aware of the impact of setting different apertures and shutter speeds it can be confusing..... hope you get some great results..
@@nigelmorley8092 With a Pentax camera you can choose aperture and shutter speed and the camera chooses the ISO
Still consider myself a virgin birder but an experienced photographer. Going birding in S. Arizona next month and your video was invaluable in helping me to get my settings adjusted for birding. Thanks Nigel.
Many thanks Dick..have a great trip to Arizona
I have been shooting in manual mostly and after watching your video I shot with aperture priority and it really freed me up to enjoy taking the shots and not worrying about my shutter speed for a while. I'll be using it more and I got some great well exposed images in a variety of situations. Thank you so much for making a great video.
Thanks for watching Forrest and glad it helped
Excellent video for wildlife photographers! I would add one hint, however. When it comes to dealing with tough exposure decisions use your histogram!!! I do a lot of gull and bald eagle photography along the Maine seacoast and both the bald eagle and herring gull's white areas are very easy to overexpose. What I generally do is guess at exposure compensation, take a few shots of the birds at noncritical moments and then look at the histogram. Think of the birds as flying exposure test targets, and think of the histograms as your best friend and you will quickly come up with the correct exposure. It never ceases to amaze me how few folks take advantage of photography's greatest innovation, the histogram! If Ansel Adams were alive today he wouldn't even own an exposure meter!
Thanks for commenting..you're right, histogram a great tool and I always say to be people it's much better to check histogram rather than the preview screen whenever it's possible but I was aware of this video trying to give a good overview of the options available without trying to be too technical but also I was trying to keep it down to a manageable length and it's never possible to get everything in but glad it was helpful
Backgound of your office is breathking. I have started folliwing your channel when one year ago you posted your tutorial about Bluebbels photography. Thank you for great tip for setting up minimum shutter speed. Auto ISO in manual mode is very convenient for me when photographing birds on the overcast day. Best regards and thank you for sharing your knowaldge.
Thanks Maria and great to have your support. I can't believe those Bluebell videos were a year ago now !! Auto ISO in Manual is a great setting and you are obviously an experienced photographer but I think it's a tough one for beginners hence my chatting about using Aperture Priority etc. Thanks again
Sorry for all the responses!!
Your video really really needs to be a prerequisite for begginer wildlife photographers. Absolutely perfect!!
You don't miss a beat!!👍👍
Many thanks Will..much appreciated
Great advice,i have just started in wildlife photography and this is the first time settings have been explained in 'ENGLISH' (Thanks)
Thanks Alan..good luck with your photography
I prefer a.f. on/off button to stop continuous a.f. and finger half depress for focus tracking. This way I use my right thumb to press a.f. button to stop focus for static subject or shoot recompose. And if my subject flies use right finger halfpress for continuously focus track.
So this was a very good presentation for me because it brought all the elements together in a practical, not just theoretical way. I am an amateur photographer that has spent lots of money on the best gear, pretty good at composition but frankly, poor at pulling off those amazing shots that we see in your portfolio. What I like is that we are getting insights into your thought process, not just how to use the tools. You can't buy that at Sony with your A7iii. Thank you!
Thanks very much Richard. I'm glad to be of help. Photography (especially wildlife) is very much a learning curve and it takes time to understand the impact the settings have on the final images and of course with wildlife you often only get a few seconds for an image ..my best recommendation to students I teach is to find one subject/genre you really like (could be macro with butterflies or maybe seabirds or just one species you have locally (something like a Robin) and really try to get the best images of that one thing)..you'll be forced to experiment but you can do lots of hours fine tuning those skills and they will apply to other subjects later. And with say a Robin that always visits your garden you can try different backgrounds/lighting/times of day and they are what makes an average image a great one. Thanks for watching
In decent or great lighting conditions... manual mode, full control of aperture and shutter speed, auto iso... works every time... group AF for action, with a shortcut assigned single-button press to switch while depressed to single point AF ( works on the Nikon D500)
Sir - i love your "setting" of your office.
It was very interesting to hear your insight of aperture/shutter speed as a "high action photographer" that a burd is.
So different to how I was paid to take "action" of extreme sport as "freeze" as God solution of how I learnt it back in the days.
Thank you nigel, since buying my lumix G80 in april thie year I have been struggling but watching your very informative video, I was impressed Thank you again.
Many thanks, very helpful Nigel. I am coming back to photography as a result of working as a vol with historic Army aircraft. I always carried a camera in the Army and was an avid aircraft photographer. I also love birds and living near the coast in the new forest, both subjects cross fertilize quite well. I use Panasonic's G7, and am getting a GH5 and 100-400 lens as I also do video... Utterly mad.
The challenges of aerial photography and on a busy dispersal are different, and some may wonder why the micro 4/3 format, but I have found the slightly smaller and lighter form is handier and safer in a confined space or at 1000ft with the doors off. Works well with a gimbal too which in a vibrating beast works great damping out vibes on video.
After 35mm the options with digital are stunning, but also bewildering....this has lifted the fog somewhat and will help me stray from AI.... Appreciated.
Thanks for commenting. Great work as a volunteer..I have Spitfires regularly from an airfield near me...never get tired of the Merlin engine ! I started on film and your experience with that will actually be very useful with digital ..and never query whether full frame, 4/3rds, crop sensors etc is best/worst..its all about what works for you
Thanks Nigel I have learnt a lot.I am obsessed with focus and have binned lots of photos spoilt by bad focusing
We've all gone through that learning stage Patrick, it can drive you mad !!..happy if this helped a bit, thanks for watching n commenting
Nigel, this is an excellent explanation of why and how best to use Auto ISO. When I first saw that feature on my camera, I thought who in their right mind would let the camera select an ISO that would introduce a bunch of noise. However, you explained in such clear detail the max and min parameters that can be set to control the Auto ISO selection. This is excellent. Much appreciated. I look forward to seeing you other videos.
Many thanks for your kind comments and feedback Art..Auto ISO I think one of the best yet under utilised features on cameras and is now on even lower priced models. Once you now where on your individual camera noise gets too "noisy" for you then you can use that as a ceiling but it gives you loads of flexibility in the field to concentrate on composition and focusing etc. Good luck with your photography
Pleasant mix of speech and explained examples, and of course - brilliant shots of fantastic birds.
I have no bird lens and will probably never be sufficiently interested ($$$) in tele shooting. So my amateur opinion about some of the bird images (in general) taken with very long focal lengths is, that the totally blurred background can tend to be a bit boring. Of course the narrow dof is focusing the attention upon the bird, but I could dream of the perfect compromise where a hint of the actual background is rendered in the shape of a pleasant bokeh. I realize that this would mean higher aperture, which again means less light for a fast exposure.
Personally I fake it (somewhat) with the opposite scenario, where the background is too close to be sufficiently blurred. When I can do the cutout of the main subject without any visual traces of the fakery - I do it, to add surface blur for example to the background. It often improve the image a lot. I know I could probably cause a true bird-photographer to drop unconscious by suggesting such a manipulation, but to me it's not a real crime as long as parts of the (remaining) image have not been removed or added. With the long lenses the fakery would take another nature, as we had to go from absolute blur and add structure! What about that?
Fantastic. Video 👍👍👍
Back Button focusing is good to a point - That is providing the subject stays at the same distance all the time. If subject moves or flies closer you are then out of focus, making the need to focus again. Using the back button then pressing shutter becomes difficult. This is why I prefer to just hold the shutter halfway focus then full press to shoot.
It is great if the bird is perched openly, but finding it difficult when flying. If perched in a heavily branched tree, continue focusing is impossible.
Or am I missing something
Hi Hanz..thx for watching...The AF-C system on most dslr's is obviously designed to track objects moving in any direction and if moving towards to you most cameras struggle more than if going sideways but the algorithm/system used by the camera is the same one whether you have it working through the shutter release, the AF back button or indeed another allocated function button so it won't work on one different to another. However as I mentioned if you have just moved to back button from shutter button then it can take some getting used to (and it isn't for everyone and neither way is right or wrong despite what some people insist) but it might be worth practicing on some local subjects (gulls/dogs etc) ...equally any bird in amongst trees and branches is tough but again the camera can only do so much and if there objects around the bird and they fall within a given focus area then the camera will focus on then as well as the bird. The solution in that situation is reduce your focus points until you can get focus on just the bird, invariably that is one single focus point then the camera can't be confused..hope that helps
Well done Nigel. Just started learning and you were very clear. Much appreciated.
Glad to be of help Ken. Thanks for watching and your comments
This is the clearest spoken You Tube video I have watched on any subject. Very enjoyable and clear despite being almost word for word what I do with my Nikon D500! Nice to know you are doing it right though!
Much appreciated your kind words . thanks
Stumbled across this great video, which would teach any new photographer about all manner of genres, but especially wild life.
A great teacher !
Thanks Gary..much appreciated
Thanks Nigel, this was really helpful. I am trying to train myself to think instinctively and quickly, but it is a challenge for sure! I have only been doing this for two months now and have seriously got the bug and seem to be improving well. Please keep doing these videos for people like me. They are invaluable! Thank you.
Thanks Robert...glad it helped
Nigel thanks for sharing, I have recently gone from landscape to wildlife especially birds, now retired, I don’t wish to drive to far, I have countryside all around and parks about 20 minutes, full of BirdLife. I have subscribed to your channel and look forward to more videos.
Thanks for watching and your comments Bob..good luck with your photography
Great video, thank you Nigel. I have noticed that I must control the shutter speed, otherwise my camera is shooting everything with too slow shutter speed and all I get is blur. That is because I don't have an option to choose minimum shutter speed in auto ISO mode.
Manual aperture and shutter with auto ISO is definitely the way to go for me! My camera allows me to have 'setting banks' with my usual settings for different scenarios available at the touch of a button.
Thank you for this. Damn. If only you had posted this 2 years ago. That is how long it has taken me to learn the brilliant advice you have posted for myself. This has to be the best video ever posted about how to photograph birds/ wildlife or even moving steam locos. I was using bracketing to compensate for exposure, I have just started using auto ISO rather than bracketing which slows the camera down. You have taught me something new! Exposure compensation button and dial, THANK YOU, I will be giving it a try tomorrow, it will improve my photography along with the auto ISO.
I use a lot of spot metering as I photograph birds in the same places/conditions, but thanks to you I will practice with the average/evaluative (?) metering and see how that goes, no doubt your advice will see an improvement in my work. Once again, thank you for this great tutorial.
I have learned something from you, I have learned a great deal of things from speaking to other photographers, so Karma dictates that I pass something on to you; Tripod & a gimbal head like a Wimberley 200 type (I use a Movo as it's got bearings like the Wimberley an ££££££s cheaper) reduces the effort of working with big telephoto lenses. Flash photography for for birds using a flash extender, I use a mag mod, it reduces recycle time on flash/ increases distance/ freezes motion in sync mode. keep up the good worl
Thanks for watching and your comments. Good luck with your practice. Yes I use a Wimberley head with my 500mm f/4 (you can see it in use in my Barn Owl and Short Eared Owl videos) and they make a huge difference
Your explanation on focusing was easy for me to understand. It was very helpful.
Thanks Janice, glad to be of help
Hi Nigel - this video was fantastic. Yesterday a friend and I were shooting Cedar WaxWing Brids feasting on apple blossoms. The light was poor, which was in our favor, as the apple blossoms probably would have been blowen out. I have never been one to use shutter speed...and really don't know why I decided to use shutter speed, as the WaxWing Brids were not even moveing! I did use the auto ISO sensitivity control, but did not completely understand that I should have set the maximum setting and the minimum setting...(how stupid of me!) Wish I had watch this video prior to going on the bird shooting yesterday. Now I can learn from my mistakes. You mentioned puffins, and that is why I am watching as many bird and wildlife videos as possible. Going on a puffin tour in two weeks...I shot with Nikon D500 and will be using the Nikon 200-500 mm lens, which is very good, but very heavy, resulting in lots of camera shake, even with image stabilization...plus the fact that we will be on a small boat! I was glad to head that you used exposure compensation for the white chest of the birds. Do you have any other tips or suggested UA-cam video's to watch. You have made what was pretty complicated very easy to understand...can't thank you enough!! Thanks ...Sheila
Hello Sheila,,apologies, somehow I missed your comment (the joys of UA-cam !)...and of course I notice you have probably done your Puffin trip by now which I hope was excellent. Amazing little birds. I just hope my video and any others you found really ensured you got some shots you are happy with. The D500 with that lens is an excellent flexible combination so although slightly heavy, it gives lots of options in one lens. Re videos on YT, you might try Mark Smith, he is based in Florida but does lots of bird photography and uses a D500 (and a D850 and Sony A9 !) so may be worth checking him out. Hope you had a great trip
@@nigelmorley8092 Hi Nigel...suprising I managed to crank the shutter speed up, and the ISO was pretty good...until about 8:00 pm, cliffs, rocks and etc...didn't help ...but we had already got our cute little puffin pictures...amazingly fast and small
Cheers Sheila
Been watching photo videos most of today, with lots of good info ... but Nigel's video is outstanding! The use of real-world photo examples to explain and reinforce each of his points makes everything so clear to me ... keep up the great videos Nigel, and thanks!!
Thanks David..glad it helped
I mostly capture birds and I use Manual with Auto ISO with a single point focus and spot metering. When I got the D850 I really like the dedicated ISO button when I need to change to fully manual for those special occasions you mention in your video. Also, I have assigned one programmable button to lock the exposure for those situations like shooting a bird that has the sky in the background, which will cause the bird to be a silhouette. What I do is point the camera to a darker area and press and hold the programmed exposure lock button then capture the bird. Also for those fast Swallows, I programmed a button to change the single point focus to 4 points. This also works well for birds in flight
Excellent video that I keep coming back to as I continue to master my camera. I'm a Canon user but even though a Nikon is featured, the narrative is universal and easy to follow.
Thanks Rod..I tried to make not "brand" specific as the principles apply to all types of cameras/makes..appreciate you watching.
Many thanks for your tips and clear delivery. I found them so helpful and look forward to putting them into practice. I have an old Canon 600D, and a 7D and a 100-400mm telephoto. I'd like to part exchange the former and get a 7D Mark2. Am just a keen amateur trying to improve. The high standards you set are an inspiration.
Thanks Jimmy. The 7DMk2 is a great camera and still used by a lot of wildlife photographers and will help a bit but the best tool is your own fieldcraft, choose one or two species and study how they behave and it'll make a huge difference in your results as you can anticipate what they'll do. Good luck with all your photography and thanks for commenting
What a clever man and a great help I shall watch this video over and over so kind of you to share this knowledge I hope you get rich it's better than learning in uni
Thanks Chris...its not the way to make my fortune but glad it helped !!
Great tips on camera settings Nigel and thank you.
Thanks for watching Dennis, glad it was helpful
At the beginning I thought it was a green background and then added on post...but you really went outside to do it! Grand video Nigel, very informative and clear with those examples :-)
Haha...Yeah it was all done in a studio in London !! Hope you're enjoying Dublin .
Manual exposure is simple. I test the setting at regular intervals on the background. Shoot, check, delete.
I use manual when the background varies so much that exposure compensation does not really work.
Mainly photographing seabirds against varied backgrounds.
Thanks. I have been struggling with a new Nikon D500 and Tamron 150-600 lens, shooting birds and getting really frustrated. This is SO MUCH help!
Glad its helpful.. D500 and the 150-600 a very good combo so good luck with it
There was a lot of information there but very sensible and not dumbed down. Thanks.
With Nikon (maybe other make cameras) there is an option for easy exposure compensation while in aperture priority, you don't have to push the compensation button before adjusting the compensation, you just turn the main command dial; makes it that little bit quicker.
Excellent
Manual with AP I’ll be trying. That sounds good for me. Camera shake is my biggest problem. A real amateur.
Tracey Pye so relatable
Some really handy tips for a novice like me, thank you sir.
Thanks for watching Dave and glad it helped
I prefer shutter speed as a default wildlife setting. For example, I may have a wood duck on the water and set the shutter speed to 1/500 sec, but see ducks flying towards me, so quickly increase the shutter speed to 1/2000 second for birds-in-flight photo.
So good I've watched it twice. Pitched at my level I feel.
Thanks for watching...hopefully there is something in there for everybody
Interesten ideas I never thought of.
This was a wonderful tutorial and I really appreciate that you put this out there for me to find. I most always use shutter speed priority and now I will actually attempt to use AP for my birding photography. I must admit it scares me a bit to try it, but your explanations helped me to see how it works and give it go.
Hi Becky. Thanks very much for watching and your comments. Really glad it's helped you, never forget there's no one perfect way to use your camera, it's just a tool to get you the desired result so really get to know the effect each setting has and then use whatever works best for you. If you have access to garden birds or say ducks in a local park they are a great way to experiment and learn. Good luck with your photography
People pay big money for this kind of advice,
Thanks for this!
Please,
Do you have advice on how to photograph a king fisher, fishing?
With age in loosing a bit of reaction needed 🤷♂️
Hi Etienne. sorry but missed your question before. Kingfishers are tricky due to be small, extremely fast etc. Also they are also quite rare and for example I have very few near me that I am aware of despite looking for years (not enough suitable habitat etc). Perching Kingfisher shots are just a matter of finding a location and spending many hours studying their behaviour and maybe putting a suitable perch in place for them so you know where they might land and hiding yourself suitably so as not to disturb. Diving Kingfishers of course are very tricky but again if you can find a location where you can put perches and if it over a suitable area of water for hunting the you can start from there. I have found the best way is to put a camera in place on a pre-focused spot and use a remote release button to activate the camera from a distance away. This way you can prepare yourself and try and anticipate the dive. But you'll a camera with a reasonable frames per second (the more the better)...it's not easy !! but good luck with it
The best way to shoot Kingfishers or anything else relatively difficult is to book a dedicated shoot with a pro like Nigel, or in my case Tom Way.
Well, it depends what camera u have.....
Very helpful. I'm fairly advanced and have been manually setting ISO using the SET and dial buttons. I did find AUTO ISO was most times operating too high but I'll give it another go with my 1DX Mk II's.
Thanks Charlie...
I personally prefer shutter priority, simply because it doesn't matter how good an artistic shot is if the entire image is blurred. I have had issues due to shallow depth of field, but I've had more missed shots due to motion blur.
Thanks for commenting Peter..I think you illustrate the point I made at the beginning of the video that there is no perfect setting and it's way more important to find what works for you and really get comfortable with that which you obviously have. Good luck with your photography and thanks for watching
90% of my wildlife shots are best at my widest available aperture. You can't get any faster shutter speed than that will give without raising the ISO. SO there is no advantage for me to be in shutter priority 90% of the time. That is also the great reason for auto ISO and auto aperture/manual. The only time I would use shutter priority if I knew before hand I would have to freeze motion.
Good information. Thank you
Hello Nigel, I'm new to photography so excuse me if I am missing something. When your explaining aperture priority on all your examples of photos you mention the shutter speed but not what Fstop you selected. isn't the shutter speed automatically adjusted and your aperture is what you have control of? Thanks for your help. And WOW! I'm so inspired by the photos of the Sqirl, Kingfisher, and geese. Thanks! the kind of creativity I'm striving for.
Hi Andrea. Thanks for the question. I understand why that my seem strange. I didn't mention the individual apertures for each image as the point I was making was that you, as the photographer, will choose what you think you need given the situation you are photographing and of course they'd be different for each occasion. So I couldn't just say "a shot like this Kingfisher must be at f/4" because there are lots of things that effect my/your choice. Things like how much light do I have, what focal length lens I'm using etc etc but my point with aperture priority is that by having control of that I can dictate the look of the image or indeed control things like depth of field that are critical in things like the Kingfisher where I need to ensure there is enough depth to get all the desired bits of the bird sharp . (if I was using shutter priority I'd give the Depth of Field control back to the camera which could really effect my image)..It's why a lot of experienced photographers like to try and use Manual with Auto ISO if the situation allows so they can control both and the camera just adjusts the ISO to balance the exposure. Hope that makes things a little bit clearer and good luck with your photography
@@nigelmorley8092 thats clear! I apriciate the responce and love the inspiring work you do. this new venture is so exiting for me.
Thanks Andrea and good luck with all your photography. A great way to improve I found is to give yourself a project and work on that and look at other people's images in the same field and never be afraid to "copy" a style as no two images are the same but to capture a specific style of shot makes you quickly learn the process re apertures/focusing /composition and then you'll find your own style develops. Remember to shoot what you really like and just please yourself not others
This is an awesome tutorial for what to think about when setting up your camera settings for wildlife/action photography! I am Doing my homework ahead before getting the gears in my hands, I'm learning a lot from this tutorial! I am getting Canon M50 with Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II USM to start my journey into wildlife + nature photography. I think Canon M50 might be limited to have top-notch settings and capabilities but it should suit the needs for beginners like me, to train and experiment for wildlife photography.
Sir Nigel and viewers, if you have any tips on Canon camera settings for these objectives, please let me know. Anything particular for Canon M50 would be even better :) Happy shooting 📷
Thanks for watching....glad it was useful information for you. Sadly I have never used the M50 but I tried to make the video fairly broad based to show the principles that may help so hopefully you can apply these to the M50 as you get used to it. I am sure there will be some M50 specific videos on UA-cam as well that should really help.
Very useful and clearly explained.
Many thanks Allen
Thank you so much. Great advise that has helped me a lot to make a plan, as I was changing from one mode to the other when none was really working properly. I have the gear but not the knowledge. And, I am dealing where I am with very difficult weather situations. Always moody and raining, so I am shooting either indoors or outside at night. This is China. And I love Wild life and landscape. Small note. the background of your shooting video is so wonderful. I will not miss any of your videos. Many many thanks again.
Thanks Flora..yes making a plan and trying things to see how your camera handles different conditions is a great thing to do. Good luck with your photography, China is an amazing place (if you haven't seen them i recommend Adam Gibbs's recent videos from the Gobi desert)
Thank you. This makes so much sense. My son (better photographer than I) shoots aperture priority. I'm using auto iso in M more and more, but you opened my mind.
Thanks Rob...as I mentioned in the video there isn't a single perfect method and it's what works for you that counts....and getting familiar with the images you want to create and understanding what the camera is able to do are the most important things...good luck to you and your son with your photography
Thanks for sharing your experience in approaching wildlife photography and capturing shots of birds in flight. This is one of the best videos on the subject.
Many thanks William
Hi Nigel
Great explanation of the various techniques. I just upgraded my 70-200 to 100-400mm inspired somewhat by your beautiful owl (and other wildlife) images. I look forward to trying these out.
Thanks Chris, good luck with the new lens. So much about getting those images is just spending hours out in the field and studying your subject so sure your efforts will pay dividends
Thank you for this. It has been the most useful video I've watched so far, (and I've watched a lot since getting a new camera and 400mm lens at the start of the year.) I aim to improve my wildlife photography, and really appreciate everything you've gone through here. I've subscribed in case you do any more, and will sit and watch this again in the hopes that it all sinks in!
Thanks for your kind comment, much appreciated
Hi Nigel, Just to add, I was informed to use my camera in Shutter priority until I met a couple of photographers that are in a club in Ashford kent and they both advised me to use shutter priority. You have said in your video use aperture priority which I am going to use Thank you
Hi Vi..thanks for watching...I hope the key message of my video (which I mention early on) is that there is "no one perfect setting" you use every time..the key is to know what effect the aperture/shutter speed/iso have on your final image and then use the right mode for the subject you are shooting and the image you are trying to get..BUT...what I do say is that aperture priority is a great place to start and a good default especially if you are starting out...I must admit its the kind of advice you get in places like camera clubs that I think causes lots of problems...whoever said "only use shutter speed" priority" should show you there wildlife work and explain his methods...I've had landscape photographers advise me on wildlife photography not knowing I'd been doing it for 15 years and talking nonsense to me !! Assuming shutter priority is the right setting for a fast subject feels very logical and its why many beginners assume its right but cameras have huge technical and creative abilities and hopefully my video explains the journey for you ..take your time and experiment on easy subjects like garden birds and you'll get there... hope that helps a little bit..
Thank you Nigel, I bought my Lumix G80 in April this year and it has been a struggle to get clear photos. I Have been a keen wild bird observer but only camera work this year. I am trying to run 1/300 shutter speed, F/8 and Auto iso. I think I have managed to set these settings in C1 on my camera ,fingers crossed.Thanks for the Info Nigel.
Hi Vi..if you're photos aren't clear its usually one of two things..either camera shake or out of focus...camera shake is simply using too slow a shutter speed and whole image will be blurry. If it's a focusing issue then normally some part of the image will be sharp but maybe not the bit you want. If you aren't sure then set up the camera on a tripod/solid surface, set a fast shutter speed like 1/1000th, focus on your subject and take a photo. This will at least tell you if it is simply camera shake and then adjust. Bear in mind the G80 has a crop factor so using say a 50mm focal length I think you'd need at least a 1/125th (as crop factor I think is 2.4X ??) to reduce chance of camera shake to a sensible level.... If it doesn't seem to be camera shake and you think you are setting focus ok, just check there is nothing set wrong in the focus part of the menus. Hope that helps a bit.
just a note for sony, don't use the hi+ continuous shooting. It doesn't refocus between frames.
Excellent. As a comparative beginner and into wildlife photography it was especially beneficial. The aperture priority section was interesting as something to work on. Thank you very much.
Thanks Emile, glad it was helpful
Nigel fantastic video, superb information and done in a very easy going and understandable way. So glad to have found your channel and have enjoyed all of the videos you’ve posted & will definitely be recommending your content to others. Already looking forward to seeing what you have next for us.
Cheers Stephen. Thanks for watching and commenting and glad it was helpful.
Thank you, I have mostly shot in Manual Mode, but, I think I ought to take a step back and use Av (Canon) mode more to get a better understanding of what it does. Also thank you for explaining everything well, whether a photographer is Canon, Nikon, Sony etc. I think you have explained it well enough that I can understand this, no matter what camera I am using. I have subscribed to your UA-cam feed and look forward to seeing other videos you have produced. Very helpful with shooting of birds where they are darker compared to the background, the 'EV' button will help with this. Thank you for sharing your information.
Thanks Norman. Glad it was helpful for you.
Great informative video. I mainly shoot motorsports, but due the lockdown have moved onto wildlife.
Happy it helped Mike...I used to do a lot of motorsport photography at Brands Hatch in my youth and there are a lot of cross overs between the two genres (creative use of shutter speeds/fast focusing sometimes etc etc) so good luck with the wildlife
Great video. I learned a lot about my camera. I've been shooting in all manual. My Canon has Aperture Priority listed as Av. I tried this and OMG, where has this been all my life. I'll be definitely using Aperture Priority starting tomorrow. Thank You
Glad it was helpful, thanks for watching/commenting
I think the AF-C depends on the subject and where it is. Both my 70-300 and 55-300 struggle in AF-C at times with perched birds, the lens will just randomly focus on a branch or something around the bird when I'm trying to focus on it, so I wind up having to use AF-S for those shots at a distance.
Simple and concise. Perfectly delivered. I learned a lot. Thank you.
O ok 98
Excellent teaching thank you sir 👍
Much appreciated thanks Abdul
Great insight, have Buzzards locally but never get sharp images. Found this really helpful!! 👍🏻
Glad it helped Andy..good luck with the Buzzards as they are tough to capture well
Well done on going through the options and settings, thank you. You reinforced what I understand and added nuances to getting it right for me. I do use spot metering if the conditions are real contrasty or if the subject has more whites the darks.
Cheers Bruce, thanks for taking the time to comment
out standing video i have learnt quite a lot from this and going to enjoy trying things out, and changing quite a lot of the settings i use many thanks for the information very well put together many thanks Alan
Thanks for watching and your comments Alan
Very instructive!
very helpful indeed, thank you!!
Happy that it helped. thanks for watching
Great video, covers lots of useful stuff, thanks. From personal experience I'd put a caveat on combining high speed shutter release with continuous auto focus though: to get maximum release rate you need to set AF-C to "release" (Custom Setting Menu/a1 on my Nikon D7200), but this means auto focus stops tracking as soon as you start firing. A moving subject can quickly get out of focus (especially with a large aperture setting on a long lens) so only the first couple of frames are keepers. The alternative is to use the "focus" option in a1 menu, this keeps the tracking active during the firing burst but can drastically slow down the shutter release rate, which rather defeats to objective. I've had success and failure using both options! For those tricky shots I generally opt for "release" option (to get an uninterrupted high speed burst), a manual exposure set up using fast shutter and small aperture (to freeze motion and get maximum depth of field) and auto ISO . Then hope for the best.
Brilliant video and explanation Nigel. Really easy to understand. I always shoot shutter priority at Silverstone, but will definitely try out aperture priority. Thanks
Thanks Paul...worth experimenting..no perfect solution but glad it helped
Auto ISO with Manual is great but as always keep your eye on the meter. I was too excited at a great Lion sighting and didn't look at the meter. I was in bright light and with the lens wide open and a low shutter speed the ISO couldn't go low enough to prevent overexposure. My images were overexposed by about 2 stops. Luckily with RAW I could save most of the important shots. Thanks for the video!
Thanks for watching...as I mentioned in the video any degree of manual setting requires the photographer to be constantly aware if the situation/conditions are changing and its why its good in "constant" situations..glad you managed to rescue the data,,the joys of modern technology !
I really liked this video. I have 2 questions. Q1: I have a Cannon Rebel T3i and a Nikon P900. I don't believe I can set "Back Button" focus on either of these. Do you agree?
Q2: I have 2 scenarios I would like your comment on for camera settings and mode. 1st is a shot of a cannon firing from across a field on a relative sunny day. The object is to capture the flame coming out of the cannon. 2nd Pictures of a bird in flight. I appreciate the advice.
Hi Bob..I can't comment on the 2 cameras as never used/owned them but a look in the instruction book or on google will answer your back button question...re the cannon firing, two things to think about,,the flash will be very bright so if you want detail in the flame you'll need to think about exposing correctly for that and secondly the flash will obviously look very different if you choose a fast or a slow shutter speed..so understanding your controls and then experimenting with the cannon is all i can really suggest . (for me I'd go with aperture priority, and then experiment to get different shutter speeds and also you may have to dial down the exposure compensation as the flash will be a bright highlight in the image.....Re the birds in flight, tbh I deal with this a lot in the video but they key to all these things is to get to know your camera and learn the effect say 1/125th on for example a 300mm if panning on a flying bird gives you..is there too much wing blur for you, is 1/2000th too sharp so gives no impression of speed?..think about the image you want and work towards that....practice with one lens on an easy subject like ducks in the park or running dogs etc....its only when you understand what your camera is capable of and the effects you can get that it becomes second nature in the field.Hope that helps a bit
This was super helpful. I've been taking bird pics for a few years, but struggle to get sharp pics.
Thanks Brent....glad it was useful
Thanks very much for this informative video, I will certainly check out the auto ISO and set my D4 and D500 to that right now.
Hope it helps Ray, experiment as much as you can and then you'll really feel comfortable with the options you have..still using my D4, great camera and tough as anything
Awesome thank you!
No problem Kirstie, glad it was helpful
Really helpful...your easy explanation, with examples, of something somewhat complicated is a real gift to a new photographer. Keep it up!
Thanks Michael, much appreciated and thanks for commenting
Really helpful video to explain different techniques - I learnt a lot
Many thanks Peter..
Nigel, I am delighted that I found your channel! I look forward to trying out your tips and trying aperture instead of shutter priority. Also looking forward to more tutorials! Thank you for the time and work that you put into these videos!
Thanks Louise
Great video! Love your relaxed, informed style and how natural you are infront of the camera! Great photographic tips and learnt a lot. Thanks Nigel.
Many thanks Gail..glad you found it helpful
Great video with good practical advice. I use auto ISO in Aperture Priority, took me a while to move from what i thought was the more intuitive Shutter priority. Still haven't made the full time switch to BBAF. I tried it but kept forgetting to press it after years of the focus being on the shutter release button. I am a big fan of Steve Perry's books and you advice is almost the same. Thanks for the no nonsense approach.
A bit of a late comment Nigel I have my Nikon set with back button focus + easy EV compensation on my back wheel so I don't need to press the compensation button while adjusting
A good solution Michael..I customise my buttons quite a bit but as I was aiming the video at those who might be struggling a bit I think if I had mentioned "button customisation" it might have been too much !!..you're obviously well beyond the struggling stage..thanks for watching
Thanks so much...great teaching, especially for those of us still learning the basics!
Thanks for watching Mkal, happy it helps
You explained everything in a very clear, logical way. I've watched other videos from other wildlife photographers who explain things in a vague, unhelpful way. Thanks man!
Thanks for watching Jo and glad it helped
Thanks for your interesting movie, I felt learned a lot. And thanks for your humble way to learn others :)
Good tutorial
3:45 back button focusing has been helping me alot lately with birds in flight photos. Incase anyone new to wildlife photography is reading this comment. I highly recommend it!!! 👌
Thank you Nigel. Some great tips on settings as I do struggle with the rules of settings to magnification. I have a Canon 90d with a 100-400ii I think I am scared of upping the iso and shutter speed sometimes and getting dark or OOF pics. Keep up the good work kindest regards Vince.
Thanks Vince...always be happy to up the ISO if it means you get the fast enough shutter speed..of course you will get bit more noise but thats way better than the blur from a too slow shutter speed..The single most common problem when I do tuition is my students and nearly all of us (including me ) is that we think we can CONSISTENTLY hold a camera steadier than we can !! Also if you haven't already, find some UA-cam videos on reducing noise as well as possible when editing (Lightroom etc) ...thanks for watching and commenting
Very useful video, thanks, i'll be trying the new settings plus back button focus.
Cheers Carl
Fantastic tips. I experiment a lot with settings. Looking forward to these. Thanks.
Thanks for your kind words Bruce..I hope the info helps ..