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Guide to Outdoor Photography

It’s clear that, although there are numerous ways of approaching the subject of portraiture outside of the controlled studio environment, the emphasis placed on maintaining a high level of professionalism and paying attention to detail is paramount. It’s also of the utmost importance that you perfect your people skills: learn how to communicate with your subjects and put them at ease, and you’ve already won half the battle. Make a connection and portraits will instantly take on a life of their own, free from the constraints imposed by confinement to a sterile, artificially lit environment.

Wildlife is another subject best shot in its own, natural environment and one that is constantly moving, changing and evolving. This makes nature shots an exciting but rewarding genre to try your hand at.

As with every genre, wildlife photography has its hazards and the main problem you’re likely to encounter is being in the right place, at the right time, to actually see your subject. Animals are unlikely to appear on cue so ensure you practice your photographic skills on wildlife you have a little more day to day contact with – your pets for example. At home, test your skills on action shots, panning after birds flying through your garden or experiment with different perspectives and lenses with your domestic cats and dogs, until operating your camera equipment has become second nature. The more practise you put in, the better prepared you’ll be when you’re out, and the more ‘keepers’ you’ll go home with.

Getting started will mean finding a location, and this will depend a lot on the type of animal you wish to capture. Your local wildlife conservation park can be a good place to start for bigger, and more exotic animals. For local wildlife, visit sites such as the BBC’s Science and Nature pages (www.bbc.co.uk) that are a great source of local information and helpful guides. Local forests, coastal paths and parks are also likely to throw up an abundance of native creatures.
Once you’ve picked your location and have found your subject, there are many factors to take into consideration – not least the lighting. The first and last hours of the day work especially well, and although you can use a flash gun or your camera’s own rear curtain sync flash, you’re most likely to be using a telephoto lens, which means you’ll have to work with natural light where possible.

To maximise the potential of the available light, invest in a fast lens – that is, a lens with a large aperture. A lens with a maximum aperture of f1.2-2.8 will gather more light and allow you to shoot at faster shutter speeds in low lights.

Now you have your subject, location and kit sorted out it’s time to think about safety: both yours and the animals. It is vital to respect wildlife and never make any move towards a creature that would cause it stress. Avoid sudden movements and watch out for movements that suggest the animal is distressed.  No shot is worth causing harm to an animal, or indeed yourself. Prepare for the worst, look out for unexpected opportunities and – above all – enjoy yourself.

No matter what you choose to point your lens at in the great outdoors, take pride in your photos – the more people that become enthused about the beauty on our world, the greater chance we have of protecting it for future generations to enjoy.

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