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Home → Photography Tutorials → The Ultimate Wildlife Photography Tutorial

The Ultimate Wildlife Photography Tutorial

By Robert Andersen 382 Comments
Last Updated On April 17, 2020

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Roybon
Roybon
October 13, 2019 10:55 am

Very nice article, well written and we perfectly feel ground experience talking :)
one point : why taking care of WB if shooting raw during the golden hour ?

cheers

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Benurs
Benurs
April 14, 2019 5:31 pm

Robert, I have just recently started with wildlife photography and I found this article truly inspiring; I feel highly identified with all you wrote about all the feelings you describe in the article.

Thanks.

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Robert
Robert
February 22, 2019 1:44 pm

If you are shooting on a 600mm focal length and a shutter speed of 160, how is it possible to have a clear image when you are capturing wildlife handheld? What white balances do you recommend during magic hour with a Nikon Full frame camera?

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D Banerjee
D Banerjee
August 6, 2018 9:30 pm

Hi, Great Post. I really appreciate your blog post. Thanks for sharing.

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Rabin
Rabin
March 29, 2017 11:36 am

I am so much enlightened and encouraged by going through this article and almost all the articles in Photography Life.
I find articles by Nasim Mansurov, Spensor Cox so lucid and easy to understand and follow.
I have Nikon D3300 with AF-P 18-55mm, AF-P 70-300mm and AF-S 35mm f/2.8 lenses. I am an amateur photographer. I wonder how Robert was able to shoot such magnificent photographs of birds and wild animals !!
Wish all the PL teams all the best.
Please keep writing for the beginners and amateurs….
Good night !!

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Deepa
Deepa
March 29, 2017 1:43 am

Awesome blog! Thanks for posting and keep sharing such helpful blogs.

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Fenton Cotterill http://fb.me/geoecodynamics
Fenton Cotterill http://fb.me/geoecodynamics
March 26, 2017 5:55 am

Thanks so very much for sharing your enthusiasm and expertise. An important message is the accrual of Experience cannot be fast tracked :-) Beautiful images and you exhibit impressive proficiency with the Nikkor 600 on FX cameras. I use the 300 f2.8 with TC’s on either a Nikon Df and D500 , where the DX format confers narrower fields of view.

I work mainly in central and southern Africa, where all these principles apply, albeit it pays to be extra aware when privileged to walk in habitats still populated by large mammals. I have found working regular beats, so returning to “focal nodes” reaps dividends. So one can revisit organisms that use a patch of habit, where their occurrences are timed to particular seasons.

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rich cower
rich cower
March 25, 2017 1:30 pm

Robert,

Beautiful photographs. I was reading this article and at almost every photo I got up and showed my wife your incredible work. It’s inspirational to see what you have done. Thanks for penning this excellent article and for sharing your wonderful photos.

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Robert Andersen
Robert Andersen
Author
Reply to  rich cower
March 27, 2017 2:54 pm

Thanks Rich

very nice compliment, I try hard and one day when I get rid of the day job, I can spend more time on photography :)

Rob

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Murli Ranganathan
Murli Ranganathan
March 24, 2017 11:37 pm

Robert:
Thanks for sharing your experiences. Your narrative and the photographs are both so crisp and beautiful. I particularly like the BIF photographs – since i know how difficult they can be to take. The right light, angle, frame, moment do not come by luck – though i always pray for luck when i am out in the woods!
Many of your experiences are familiar: That rapid beating of the heart ( and in my case, heavy breathing too), that moment of panic, that feeling of frustration, that “wanting to kick yourself for that silly mistake” feeling during PP.
Could i add just one advise that you have not covered? You are not getting any younger and age would slow down your responses and ability ( to carry all that gear). So the bottom line is: Do not wait to engage in this pursuit when you would have the time, when you have ‘retired’ – Go out and shoot while the sun is shining!

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Robert Andersen
Robert Andersen
Author
Reply to  Murli Ranganathan
March 27, 2017 2:59 pm

Hello Murli

No, I am not getting any younger, but my determination still has me carrying all that gear. Normally two backpacks worth of gear. ! day it will not be possible, but for now, while willing and able I always bring my 70-200mm, 200-400mm, 600mm, 24-70mm and two pro bodies. I do it because I want the best camera\lens selection for each opportunity. Its tough, but I am not scared of hard yakka (Australian for hard work)

Thanks mate

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MC
MC
March 24, 2017 1:20 pm

I come back to this article often just to view the beautiful images and re-read the information so I can apply it in my own photography.

I just wanted to commend you on your view about keeping your distance from breeding and nesting birds, I often see many images from professional photographers that are obviously baited and set-up in such a way to provide them with the best possible images that would to be honest not achievable very often naturally. A tell tale sign for me is when I see a shot of a bird heading straight at the camera in a motion where it is about to hit it’s prey. In the wild this would never happen and as you know birds tend to fly away from you and not directly at the camera.

I have witnessed one of the top bird photographers in the country within a few feet of Loons with their young following them around as they tried to find food. If you view their websites you will see incredible images as they sell their photo tours for huge fees. Very unethical in my opinion as someone who has spend days and days trying to get the perfect image naturally without ever entering the birds comfort zones.

Thanks again for this inspiring article

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