Nature Photography How To

It's often said that it's OK to make mistakes as long as you only make them once and learn from the errors of your ways. That's the topic of this quick tutorial from the Wildlife in Focus YouTube channel, specifically as it pertains to photographing birds and other forms of wildlife.

Instructor Adrien Coquelle is a notable French pro specializing in nature and wildlife photography whose popular YouTube channel features numerous videos designed help elevate your skills when shooting in the field. This episode reveals what Coquelle says are the "seven worst mistakes in wildlife photography." He then demonstrates straightforward solutions for each.

Whether your images are soft, underexposed, too dull, or poorly composed, you'll learn how to change your approach in less than 10-minutes to create striking photos that grab attention and make you proud. Coquelle promises that "once these mistakes are corrected (and it doesn't take long) I assure you than your photography will really level up."

Coquelle begins with what he says is the biggest error and the one he wants you to correct; namely not raising the ISO sensitivity enough—despite conventional wisdom that you should always use the lowest setting possible. You'll see when and why this familiar "rule" is one to be ignored—especially when a subject is in motion or liable to move at any moment.

The second mistake is not paying close attention and blowing out the highlights so that they're virtually devoid of important detail, like when photographing white birds in bright conditions. One simple solution is paying close attention to the camera's histogram and making the obvious adjustments to get the exposure right.

Coquelle describes the third wildlife photography faux pas like this: "Not checking focus on the camera's rear screen immediately after tripping the shutter"—a process known as chimping that we're often told to ignore. As he explains, "A blurry result due to inaccurate focus or a focus shift can really ruin a shot." That's because this mistake can be difficult, or even impossible, to fix in post-processing.

At this point you're only midway through the lesson, with four more mistakes and their solutions to learn. So watch until the end and make yourself a checklist to guide you through these straightforward procedures until they become second nature. Then head over to Coquelle's popular YouTube channel where there are many more instructional videos to be found.

And don't miss a tutorial we featured recently with another top pro who demonstrates why it's essential that you stop ruining photographs with heavy-handed sharpening and use his preferred method that delivers precise results every time.