Wildlife Photography How To

One of the few mistakes that can totally ruin a photo is failing to achieve precise focus on the primary subject in a scene. There are a variety of camera settings and shooting techniques for increasing your odds of success, and today we’re going to concentrate on one of the most helpful.

Most of my columns for this website concern the ideas and purposes behind the photographs I take. I always include information about the technology used to achieve the photos, which could be as basic as the f/stop chosen to direct your attention, or the use of a ND filter to make a long exposure possible. That approach is not incidental or coincidental; the stories are planned along those lines because my ideas come first, and technology’s purpose is to support those ideas.

Whether you’re an accomplished wildlife shooter or you just enjoy photographing birds in the backyard, it’s likely you pop off dozens of images when an interesting subject appears. If so, the video below will be a big help.

Back-button focus is a popular technique among experienced wildlife, sports, and nature photographers. The tutorial below demystifies this powerful focusing method and explains how to use it for faster, more precise results. 

Whether you’re photographing birds in the backyard, planning an outing to a local zoo, or shooting big cats on safari, achieving correct exposures is absolutely essential. This task is often challenging, as subjects move in and out of ever-changing light.

All photographers strive for maximum photo quality, no matter what type of images they shoot. One way to achieve optimum results is to use the lowest ISO setting that conditions permit.