Guide: Getting started with wildlife photography

Wildlife photography can be hugely rewarding, and there's nothing quite like the feeling of looking at your camera screen and seeing a really special photo. Some of this comes down to luck - wildlife is wild after all, but there are ways you can increase your chances of being in the right place at the right time. If you're already an experienced wildlife photographer or naturalist, then these tips will hopefully be familiar already (and I'd love to hear yours if you have more!), but if you're just starting out, here's a few tips that I think will help you get started.

Spend time in nature and pay attention. This is probably the first step in any kind of wildlife photography. Chances are, if you're in any way interested in photographing wildlife, you already enjoy spending time out in nature and have a pretty good idea of the kinds of wildlife you're excited by, whether it's underwater life, birds of prey, macro photography of insects or whatever it might be. I like marine life, so that's my focus (obviously!) but whatever you are interested in, it's worth spending some time figuring out where to find those organisms you care about, and (if it's different) what organisms live locally to you that you can watch, learn about, and practice on.

Your ability to predict behaviours is your superpower: Much like how good sports photographers can learn to predict the next play, simply paying attention with a bit of patience will help you predict what wild animals are likely to do, where, and when. Being able to predict patterns of activity is basically the superpower that will get you those really interesting action shots, and maybe capture a unique photograph.

Once you get your eye in, you can usually track marine life moving below the surface just before it breaks through, which means you'll be able to grab a photo at just the right moment. Learning to predict where the action is about to be is key.

Be respectful of the wildlife you're photographing and work to minimize your impact on it: as wildlife photographers I would argue that we have an obligation to make sure we're not stressing out the animals we're shooting or doing damage to their habitats. But, ethics aside, figuring out how to approach an animal in a way that allows it to stay relaxed will often allow you to observe more interesting behaviours and then get better photographs so it's really a win-win. Learning what it looks like when different animals are starting to feel threatened by you does take time and practice, but talking to local experts will be helpful. If you're just starting out, I would suggest starting with animals that are already somewhat used to humans (e.g., in urban or touristy areas) and then pay attention to how they react to you, as well as how they react to other people wandering through the area.

These fan worms are usually incredibly sensitive to water movement because predators will try and nip the fronds. I found this one in an area with more wave action that usual though, and managed to get close enough to line up this cool shot. The same idea holds for all kinds of animals - once they are habituated to a (non-harmful) situation, they won't react so quickly or strongly to it.

Practice good fieldcraft: Unless your subjects are very used to humans (and they might well be), they're likely to try and keep at least some distance away from you - the closer you get, the more stressed they will become, and the more they'll switch from displaying relaxed, natural behaviours to watching you, behaving aggressively, or fleeing.

You're going to see a lot of birds flying away from you when you start out.

Assuming you don't have a hide or some other kind of camouflage, you can always practice walking quietly and softly, approach animals at an oblique angle (not head-on), and practice watching animals with your peripheral vision without making direct eye contact. All of these tips will make you look less like a predator (which tend to stare and approach quickly and directly) and therefore less of a threat. Be careful with your camera lens too - a bright flash of a reflection can also spook birds that are paying attention. Once you get as close as possible, sit down comfortably, stay still, and wait and see if the animal approaches any closer. If you happen to be photographing from a boat, that boat will often act as a hide of sorts and can let you approach some animals a bit closer.

A fiddler crab next to its burrow in a mangrove (left) and a ghost crab emerging from its burrow (right). I think they're both adorable and good fun to photograph!

Animals like ghost or fiddler crabs are REALLY good to practice on if you have a local population of them because they are incredibly sensitive to tremors in the sand. You can only photograph them if you sit still and quietly, but they're also not so sensitive or rare that you have to wait hours for them to come back if they get accidentally spooked.

Spotted!

Similarly, if you're out in nature around other people (in a bird hide for example), or photographing animals that will be disturbed by noise, it's worth putting your phone on silent. You for sure want to carry some communication with you into the field in case you need it, but equally, don't be a disturbance.

What kit to use?

Choosing a camera and lens setup is a really personal choice, but if you're just starting out, I would recommend getting a DSLR body and a decent but relatively cheap lens that suits what type of wildlife photography you want to try (e.g., macro, birds, underwater), and spend some time learning on that. You'll likely hit the limits of what it can do fairly quickly, but by hitting those limits you'll learn where you want to start upgrading (e.g., faster burst mode, sharper images, a longer lens). There's no need to spend thousands up front while you're still figuring out if you even enjoy the hobby! That goes doubly if underwater photography is your passion, I STRONGLY recommend starting with a decent compact camera and housing or even a GoPro as your starter kit. The cost of underwater housings can be as much as a car these days so unless you're minted, I'd suggest you try it out first and see if it suits you.

You don't need a crazy expensive camera to take really nice photos, you just have to lean into the kinds of photos it takes well

You can read about my camera gear and what I think of it elsewhere in the blog, but there's a TON of options out there. Also: don't forget to check ebay or other local marketplaces for deals - there's plenty of excellent second-hand gear out there.

Know your camera and lenses

Once you have your gear, you'll get far better results once you learn to use it intuitively. Wildlife photography comes with a lot of surprises and unique moments happen unexpectedly all the time. I will absolutely say that sometimes it's worth putting the camera down to just enjoy a special moment: some of my most memorable wildlife moments were ones I would have completely missed if I'd tried to get the camera out in time (for the curious they were a baby Minke whale breaching, and a 12-foot basking shark breaching!).

Seabird colonies are fantastic places to practice bird photography. The birds are fairly used to people; they are large and can be approached relatively close (pay attention to signs and paths), and there's so many of them doing all kinds of different things, you'll get a ton of practice!

Some kinds of wildlife for sure don't require you to be particularly nimble, and other species are likely too fast to reliably track by hand and will likely require you to target a likely action spot and wait. Saying that, if you are trying to photograph e.g., birds in flight, or marine mammals leaping about, and you want to be ready to capture whatever comes your way, then preparation is key. Building up your muscle memory by learning where the controls are on your camera body and lens are will help you make basic adjustments on the fly without looking, and will make you way more capable of reacting quickly when something cool happens.

Oh hi there

In my opinion, manual mode is also your friend. A little bit of learning up front will massively reduce your task loading once you're in the field, and I think it's really worth learning how to do it.

Fast shutter speeds need good lighting, but will freeze a fast-moving scene.

There's no one-size fits all approach to getting the best settings for your photo, but you will want to decide whether to prioritize depth of field (aperture), shutter speed (simplistically: low = more likely to get motion blur; lets more light into your sensor; high = freeze the action; let's less light into your sensor), or ISO (the higher you go, the more grainy your photos will be). What you set your camera to will depend on the effect you're trying to achieve, the subject and behaviour you're trying to shoot, the amount of available light, and the 'quality' (graininess) of the end image. Different settings can also produce wildly different end results, and really, the only limit once you've got the hang of the technicalities is your creativity! Saying all of that, if you have a particular type of photo in mind, and the light stays consistent, you can set your camera up and then forget about it, and that's the real benefit.

This was taken in natural light at 40m under Scottish seas and required a pretty high ISO. You can see the grain in the image, but I honestly really like the atmosphere it gives to the photographs of the wrecks. For other image styles I think it's too much and would affect the sharpness.

Put it all together: As with all of these kinds of skills: practice makes permanent. Practice forming good habits with your gear, and how you pay attention to the wildlife around you and you'll find all kinds of opportunities to take great photographs.