A
Beginner's Guide to Wildlife and Nature Photography
Choosing
a Lens
If you’re
thinking of purchasing an SLR or DSLR, you must consider the sorts of
lenses which you will purchase, as they are very expensive themselves.
Lenses are measured in millimeters (mm), and this measurement is
indicative of how far they will ‘zoom’. A 28 mm
lens would
be considered ‘wide angle’ and allow you to take
landscape
shots which encompass much more of what you actually see into the shot.
400 mm would be a large telephoto requiring the use of a tripod for
stabilization, and could easily be too much for many wildlife shots
(actually zoom in too far). The more money you have, the more lenses
you can buy, and the greater the odds of having a lens which will fit
the given situation. So, if you can, go for it and buy lenses from wide
angle to a large telephoto. If you are like most people though,
you’ll have to make some compromises and sacrifices.
I’d
recommend a wide-angle lens for landscape and macro, a zoom
lens
(you can adjust the amount of zoom) for midrange shots, and a telephoto
(300mm or greater) for long distance shots. If budget does not permit
this still, either consider just buying one piece at a time, or two
lenses: a wide-angle zoom, and a telephoto zoom. It can be very
difficult to get within range of wildlife if you don’t have a
telephoto, so if this is going to be your focus point (no pun intended)
then I would suggest a good telephoto above all the other lenses. I
actually do not have a telephoto for my digital camera (being only a
mock SLR); it uses a zoom lens to 135 mm. The chapter See and Be will
partly discuss methods of getting close to wildlife, alleviating the
need for a telephoto. So if you don’t have a telephoto or
SLR,
don’t despair. You will probably become a better
photographer,
and definitely more in tune with your environment because of it.
The diameter of a
lens is measured in mm as well and dictates the amount of light the
lens can capture. The larger the diameter of the lens, the more light
there will be, and the faster a shutter speed/lower ISO/higher aperture
you can use, making better photographs. Even bright light will be dim
through the eyes of a telephoto, so this is very important to keep in
mind while selecting them. This measurement also dictates the types of
filters which can be used with your lens. If all of your lenses are of
the same diameter, you can use one set of filters to fit all of them.
Following brand
names is a good idea when selecting lenses. If possible, buy lenses
made by the same company as your camera. Generally, they will work
better since they were designed specifically for each other. The law of
‘getting what you pay for’ holds in this area as
well, so
don’t be afraid to spend more than the absolute minimum. As
I’ve said before: you’ll want to upgrade
eventually, so
there’s nothing wrong with starting out with good equipment.