You want your subject to be both impressive and visible! If you use all the techniques below, your images will look much better.

1. Shoot in a shallow depth of field. Open your aperture wide, use a big tele-lens and don’t be too far.
2. Shoot from a low angle. This makes your subject look bigger and more impressive.
3. Use the natural lighting. Get that side light or even back light to add depth to your subject.
4. Shoot with a dark background. Search the surrounding area to find the best background to complement your subject.
5. Wait for the right moment! Look for when your subject delivers a unique expression or behavior. Take the shot.

Wildlife photography and big lenses go hand-in-hand. Managing these huge lenses in the wild can be challenging. Here’s how Roie does it.

1. Use a Tripod: It eases the weight and helps you work for long hours without getting tired. I recommend using a fluid head, especially for video making.
2. Use a Bean Bag for the Camera: This gives you more stability when you need to lean into your camera, and it’s still really easy to pick the camera when you need to move.
3. Hold Your Camera Properly: For the best flexibility and mobility, prepare yourself to withstand long periods and avoid shaking hands. Try adjusting your breathing and leaning the camera or supporting with your elbow when possible.
4. Match Your Shutter Speed: Every tiny vibration in a big lens will translate to a motion blur in the final image. Keep your shutter speed at a minimum of 1/(focal length). E.g. For 500mm distance, you need at least 1/500. A stabilizer may help, but don’t rely on it.
5. Watch Your Depth of Field: The more milimeters used, the shallower your DOF will be. Try to get a smaller aperture when you’re up close. Make sure the focus is right on the correct spot (usually the eyes)!

Wildlife photographers take many (and I mean MANY) photos during an everyday shoot. It can be anywhere between 500 to 3000 images per day. How do you cope with that?

1. Daily Downloads: Everyday, download your day’s images onto your laptop. Note: Don’t format your card until after Step 3!
2. The Screening Process: Use lightroom (or any creative software) to mark the bad images that you’ll never edit. Use ratings to mark the best images for further editing. Once finished, you can delete the rejected images.
3. Backup: Copy the clean folder of images to your external SSD (G-DRIVE Mobile SSD) or Hard-drive (ArmorATD). Don’t backup your bad images!
4. A Second Backup: Always keep a second backup on another physical drive. Your first drive could get lost (or get eaten).
    

Your images are the most prized possession from your project, so I take the best care of them using G-Technology’s rugged SSDs.