Wildlife Photography How To

Attaining fast and precise focus is a primary goal of just about every photographer, regardless of the type of images they shoot. When soft photos result with regularity, the first thing that comes to mind is, "I must be doing something wrong."

One specification that's important to many photographers when shopping for a new camera is the number of focus points available. But do you really know how to choose the best focus point(s) at your disposal when shooting different types of images? If not, read on.

Many photographers think of cropping as a simple and incidental task. But if you want to create images with maximum impact, the act of cropping an image requires careful and thoughtful techniques.

Wildlife and portrait photographers face similar challenges when it comes to editing their images. That’s because dealing with feathers and fur requires comparable techniques to those used for processing photos of models with flyaway hair.

There are numerous reasons you may want to extend the background of a photo, either side-to-side or up-and-down. Perhaps you shot an image in portrait mode and you realize it would look better as a horizontal image. Or maybe it’s the reverse.

Inexperienced wildlife photographers often struggle to properly expose birds, whether they're sitting still on a tree or in flight, and underexposed subjects are the typical concern. This problem is particular acute when our feathered friends are depicted against a bright sky.

On my recent visit to Africa as a photo tour pro, I decided to capture the beauty and the wildlife of the Serengeti totally mirrorless. Considering my recent move to the format, the trip was confirmation of how committed I am to it, as I took only my mirrorless Nikon Z cameras—three of them, in fact: my Z6, Z7, and the Z7 I had converted to infrared. Yes, I'm all in.