The Challenge of Wildlife Photography

Photographing wildlife can be a challenge and not all wildlife or wildlife situations are equal.  In 2013, when I took my first trip to specifically photograph wildlife in South Africa, I was not proficient in photographing action type subjects.  I set a goal for myself to concentrate on getting decently composed and focused portrait shots instead of trying to get action shots as I knew next to nothing about photographing wildlife much less photographing action shots.  Since 2013 I’ve photographed many birds in flight as well as several other animal species in action.  I’ve learned over the last seven years that each time I photograph wildlife the situation differs and the difference is more than just the action taking place.  I recently photographed wild animals in the jungles of Costa Rica for the second time and again realized how different each animal session is or can be.  There are a multitude of variables to consider when photographing animals.  

Lion cub in the Moholoholo Wildlife Center.
Nikon D800, Nikon 70-200, f/3.2, ISO 400, 1/80 sec.
I was trying to get a good shot of this cub playing with another cub but was not proficient enough to get it sharp. I also had no clue about depth of field and what it actually did in a specific shot. I still liked the shot because I thought it had “curb appeal,” as does most any shot with a youngster in it. At this point I was happy to get a clear shot of an animal!
Click for an enlargement

In Africa in 2013 I was actually very much a “newbie” to photography (I started learning photography in earnest in 2010), although I was working hard to pick up knowledge in any way I could.  My camera at that time was a D7000 and my longest lens was a Nikon 70-200 mm f/2.8 lens. I had a Nikon teleconverter, too, a TC 1.4.  I live in the foothills of California and there are no camera stores in my area (or anywhere else these days!) and I ordered a D800 from a BestBuy store in Sacramento and picked it up the night before I left town. I had one night to go through the controls to figure out how to use it but there was no problem as it was very similar to my D7000.  Sitting in our jeep, visiting a wildlife refuge, or even at one of the places we stayed, I had ample time and opportunity to take photographs of the beautiful animals I saw and the 70-200mm with the teleconverter worked out fairly well. The light was mostly even and ample, the animals were mostly stationary and large, and often the guides could move us around as needed.   At Kruger National Park we saw many animals who were moving fairly slowly through the landscape and, on occasion, I did try to get a bird in flight.  This overall first experience photographing wildlife gave me a desire to photograph more wildlife and to figure out how to get action shots.