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Loupedeck CT Review – Could This Be The Best Editing Tool?

By: Carl Spring 

If you’ve read my previous review of the Loupedeck+, you’ll know I am a massive fan and it is now a firm part of my editing routine. As I said in that review, it was something that I was honestly wary of before trying it, but something I do edit without now. So when I got the chance to do the new Loupedeck CT review, I jumped at it.
The Loupedeck CT is a completely new editing station. Loupedeck has marked this as their professional tool, designed to deliver a premium editing experience. Along with the dials and buttons familiar to those who have used the Loupedeck+, the Loupedeck CT features a touchscreen interface system of virtual buttons, that you can fully customize to your editing needs.

Compatibility

The CT is compatible with a wide range of software right out of the box. And it has the ability to add even more software via an ever-growing library of custom profiles.
Here is a list of compatible software out of the box (takes deep breath):

• Abelton live
• After Effects
• Audition
• Capture One
• Final Cut Pro
• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe Lightroom Classic
• Adobe Photoshop
• Premiere Pro
• System (Windows & Mac)

Profiles exist for many more programs, including Davinci Resolve, Photomechanic, and Logic Pro X, amongst others. This is a serious list of professional software, and the ability to customize the Loupedeck CT means that there is an almost limitless opportunity to create your very own tailored workspace.

Design and build quality

The Loupedeck CT is very different from the Loupdeck+. It is much more compact in its footprint. The size is about the same as two mobile phones placed side by side. This smaller footprint not only makes having the CT on a smaller desk much easier, but it also means it is simple to add to your bag when editing on the road or on location.
The packaging looks and feels premium. It reminded me of an Apple device in the way that the quality oozes out before you even see the product.
Jet black packaging with an embossed and foiled logo on the side really does make this product feel luxurious. It may sound silly, but when packaging is this good, I feel that it shows the importance of attention to detail to the company.
Once the Loupedeck CT is removed from the packaging and those, oh so satisfying, clear plastic covers get removed, the quality of the Loupedeck CT shines through.

The build quality on this device is excellent, with the device itself comprised of an aluminum top plate (save the virtual buttons workspace) with a solid plastic underside. All buttons and dials are all reassuringly firm, with the dials having a tactile click when turning, whilst the virtual buttons have haptic feedback, which you turn on or off.
The center dial is used as a touch screen interface for some adjustments, and again, it works perfectly. It is responsive and has worked flawlessly during my time with the unit.
This is a very well-made piece of equipment that is another step forward in quality from the already well-made Loupedeck+.
The Loupedeck CT also has a Bluetooth chip, which will eventually, via an update, make the unit connect wirelessly.
It also comes with 8GB of storage, which mounts as an external drive when you connect the Loupedeck CT. This storage allows you to save all settings and preferences within the device. So, when you transport the product, all your settings travel with you. This is great for those that travel regularly or use different computers for different projects.
Ergonomically, the unit is made for one-handed operation. This is not to underestimate the amount of editing this thing can do on its own. Whilst the Loupedeck+ feels like something that is aimed to replace your keyboard, the CT feels like an addition to your keyboard and mouse. It is an incredibly powerful enhancement to your workflow.

Buttons on the Loupedeck CT are backlit in a way that aids your use of the device. The buttons’ color shows how it is mapped at a glance. The three colors are green, purple, and blue.
Green buttons are assigned to workspaces (of which you can have multiple per application). The purple buttons are assigned to actions (such as applying a preset or creating a copy of the image, etc.). Finally, the blue buttons are there to take you into page-based layouts. This allows you to create sub-menus within a workspace, such as a page dedicated to your image presets, without the need to change the entire workspace.

Installing the Loupedeck CT

Installing the Loupedeck CT is a simple affair. You just download and install the software from the Loupedeck website, then connect the Loupedeck.
The Loupedeck itself is USB-C, which helps future-proof the product. However, it comes packaged with a USB-C to USB-A braided cable, which will be welcomed by a lot of people. The cable itself is of high quality, reinforcing the attention to detail that Loupedeck has put into this product.

The installation and setup is easy. But you will need to spend some time with the software to set the Loupedeck CT to your preferences.

Learning curve

The learning curve is the part of Loupedeck CT that is the thing that you will find hardest. It’s not that the CT is hard to use, in fact, it is the total opposite of that. It is more about remembering which button is where, how you have your dials set, and moving your hands away from existing workflows.
With the Loupedeck+ everything is set and you quickly become accustomed to where everything is. However, whilst the flexibility of the Loupedeck CT is its strongest feature, it does mean you have a larger learning curve. As an example, when moving from Lightroom to Photoshop, the button layout changes, so it takes more time to become a power user across multiple software.
The initial setting up of custom workspaces will take time and effort from the user. However, this is the step that is essential for those looking to get the most out of this device.
The software makes it simple to set up, but you need to customize the layout of the deck for your specific editing style. You will then need to do this on a software-by-software basis. This process may take a few hours, but it is so worth it. The profiles supplied by Loupedeck are great and get you started instantly, but every editing workflow is different and the Loupedeck profiles are unlikely to match your specific workflow.

As with the Loupdeck+, the CT makes using software easier. It does have a learning curve though, one for each software you use it with.

The Loupdeck CT in use

The first thing I noticed about the Loupedeck CT was its software awareness. Switching over to Photoshop from Lightroom, the Loupedeck instantly changed to its Photoshop workspace. There was no lag or waiting. It was ready to go. This smoothness is the same for every software. You can even set it up to control your Spotify, so you can keep your hands on the Loupedeck whilst you decide what music you want to  listen to whilst you edit.
This key feature makes the Loupedeck CT amazing for those who work in several different pieces of software. It really does make this device a huge step up from the Loupedeck+.
I know when I reviewed the Loupedeck+, I said that video editing wasn’t great. With the CT, it really performs.
Moving to Premiere Pro, you get the tools you use the most right at your fingertips. As someone who isn’t a huge video editor, it makes editing easier for me. I have also been experimenting with Final Cut Pro, and again, the Loupedeck saves me having to search through menus when I am looking for a tool.
I am sure that in the hands of a more capable editor, this tool will be huge in speeding up workflow. For an amateur like me, it makes things easier and encourages me to dig deeper.
This is also true of Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Audition, which I profess to be completely lacking in in-depth knowledge. However, I can see how this, in the right hands, will be incredibly useful.

The centre wheel is one of the highlights of the CT. Being able to use it for things such as colour grading is so intuitive.

Moving on to photography (the reason I am sure most of you are reading this), to sum it up, it is amazing. If the Loupedeck+ is a high-quality, off-the-peg suit, the CT is a custom-tailored suit from Saville Row; every button and dial customized to fit your editing needs.
In Lightroom Classic, it performs beautifully. Editing is effortless and the Loupedeck makes the whole process quicker, easier, and more tactile. The ability to customize a setup to be exactly how you want is something that gives this an advantage over the Loupedeck+ for those who use more advanced features regularly. This is shown in the ease of adding your own presets to buttons. Simply create the preset, then ask Lightroom Classic to update, and instantly, it is available to add to your layout.
It is when you move to Photoshop that the Loupedeck CT really shines. The ability to customize your button layout combined with size means using this with a mouse or graphics tablet is a joy. Also, the ability to use the touchscreen center button makes working in color an amazing experience. The Loupedeck CT is a much more enhanced experience than the Loupdeck+ when it comes to Photoshop.
The integration with Adobe products is still deeper than with other software, though. Switching to Capture One Pro, the experience is simply not quite as fluid. Capture One is in Beta mode even though it comes pre-installed. In use, it lacks the level of integration found in Lightroom and can’t offer the same functionality.
This is due to Loupedeck relying on keyboard shortcuts rather than the software API. Loupedeck has released an enhanced plugin profile, which allows greater integration for Capture One users. This does help, but it relies on you having to set your keyboard to the US setting, which as a UK user, is an annoyance.
I know discussions have taken place with Phase One on fully integrating the Loupedeck CT, and for many professionals who use Capture One, this would be a game-changer. Until that happens, the best way to describe the Capture One experience is good, but not as good as Lightroom.

What I love

There is a lot to love about this product. The main things for me are:

• Size
• Look and build quality
• Unlimited customization options
• Multi-software usage 

What could be better 

• Integration with non-Adobe products
• No wireless option (although this may be coming)

Is it worth it?

This is the big question. This Loupedeck CT is not cheap. It currently retails at £469.
It warrants that money to those who spend a lot of time editing and those who use a variety of software daily. It is much more suitable for a wider variety of programs than the Loupedeck+. If you use Adobe products, it is pretty much flawless.
However, if you mainly edit in Lightroom, you will possibly be better served with the Loupedeck+. It has all the features you need and comes at a lesser cost.
The other question is whether it is better to invest in the Loupedeck CT or a graphics tablet. Again, this depends on your usage and editing style. Personally, I would make more use of the Loupedeck CT. However, you may not.
The Loupedeck CT is aimed at a certain group of people. To those that will get the most out of this product, the £469 price tag is easily justified in the time saving and workflow enhancements the CT will give them. The Loupedeck CT is no mere editing gadget – it is a tool that takes your editing workflow to another level.
I really suggest you try a Loupedeck before dismissing it out of hand. Be warned though, you will probably fall in love.

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7 Mistakes to Avoid When Photographing Wildlife

By: Jeremy Flint  

Wildlife photography can be a great way to secure yourself a series of images of animals that you are proud of. However, it can be extremely challenging to capture good wildlife images because photographers often make errors resulting in missed opportunities.

© Jeremy Flint

When you have been waiting for a while and are suddenly faced with photographing a wildlife encounter of a rare species, it is easy to get carried away with the excitement. You may forget the essentials and make mistakes, consequently missing out on the perfect shot.
To help you improve your chances of capturing a great wildlife image, avoid making these common mistakes:

1. Not doing your research

Knowing a bit about your subject, such as where and when you can see them, is an essential part of capturing a memorable wildlife shot. Turning up to a place and hoping for the best will likely result in disappointment. Your best bet is to do your homework and be as prepared as you can.

2. Motion blur

Leopard, Wilpattu national park, Sri Lanka © Jeremy Flint

Generally, animals move quickly, and if you aren’t careful when taking your pictures, they can often result in motion blur. Sometimes adding intentional motion to your wildlife pictures can be effective and is a great way to add dynamism to your images through techniques such as panning. However, if you want to achieve sharper and more static images, which I would recommend for the majority of wildlife photographs, you need to take care that your shutter speed is not too slow.

3. Using too low an ISO

Murlough Bay, Antrim Coast, Northern Ireland © Jeremy Flint

One way to ensure a faster shutter speed is to increase the ISO. Many photographers make the mistake of keeping the ISO low when photographing wildlife. This is usually to maintain maximum image quality. However, with a higher ISO, sharper shots will be achievable as the shutter speed increases.

4. Not being prepared

Deer, Rondon Ridge Hotel, Mount Hagen, Papa New Guinea © Jeremy Flint

One of the biggest mistakes photographers tend to make when photographing wildlife is not being prepared. If you are not ready for the shot before it happens, you will miss it. Being unprepared could be something as simple as your battery going flat when you are taking photos or running out of space on your memory card.
Having prepared my camera the night before by charging my batteries and making sure my memory card had sufficient room to accommodate several images, I was able to take this shot of a deer as it appeared between the trees.

5. Out-of-focus pictures

Green bea eater, Udawalawe national park, Sri Lanka © Jeremy Flint

Have you ever returned home from photographing wildlife images only to discover that your images are not sharp? This is one of the biggest pitfalls of recording good wildlife photos. It is likely that it may have been a case of not focusing on the subject properly. Therefore, be sure to aim and focus the camera on the part of the image you want sharp.

6. Your subject is too small in the frame

© Jeremy Flint

Wild animals are easily spooked when approached by humans which means getting close to them is usually a challenging undertaking. As a result, you may find that your wildlife shots tend to have more of the surroundings in your shot, with your subject looking insignificant and lost in the background. Sometimes shooting an environment portrait of an animal can work well, but most of the time you will want to fill the frame with your animal shots. So if you aim to try and capture more of your subject, zoom in a bit closer.

7. The composition isn’t great

Hornbill in flight, Wilpattu National Park, Sri Lanka © Jeremy Flint

Taking pictures of fast moving animals can often result in poor compositional shots. For example, a fleeting moment of a bird in flight or landing happens so fast that just getting a shot usually occurs to the sacrifice of the composition. Pictures can be spoilt by flapping wings, clipped parts of the body (such as the wings or tail), and not giving your subject enough space.

Common mistakes that you are likely to make when photographing wildlife include not being prepared or doing your research, motion blur, using too low an ISO, out-of-focus pictures, poor composition and including too small a main subject in the frame.
Now that you are aware of what not to do when photographing wildlife, turn these mistakes around to enhance your chances of capturing an image you can be proud of.
Now it’s your turn to venture out with your camera to photograph wildlife and share your images with us in the comments below.

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Flattering Photography Poses

Making Sharper Wildlife Photographs – [Part 1 of 2]

By: Paul Burwell 

If there is one area that seems to flummox more aspiring wildlife photographers it is the subject of making sharp images. You’d think that with today’s modern cameras and equipment that there’d be no problem going home with sharp images after each wildlife encounter. Un fortunately, that isn’t the case and I’m going to provide you with some tips and tricks to make sure you’ve got the best possible chance of making sharp images.

Mountain Bluebird with prey: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Canon 100-400 F4.5-5.6L IS lens @400mm, 1/800th of a second at F8, ISO 400 – Hand held

Lenses

One of the truisms in wildlife photography is that it is virtually impossible to have too much lens. This means it is extremely rare that the wildlife critter you are trying to photograph is too big in your viewfinder and in fact the opposite is much more common. Not everyone can afford one of the prime super-telephoto lenses that the major manufacturers produce. These lenses in the range of 300mm to 800mm can set you back anywhere between $5,000 and $11,000 respectively. Unless you’re a pro or a serious amateur with a healthy bank balance, these lenses aren’t feasible for the average user.
So, what’s a person to do? My recommendation is to purchase the largest telephoto lens you can afford. And when you’re looking at telephoto lenses, you want the biggest number of millimetres that you can afford. Common lens lengths include 200mm, 300mm and 400mm.
If you end up purchasing a zoom lens, look for one that has the shortest range possible. Why? Because in general, the more extreme the range the lens covers, the lower the quality at all those ranges. Therefore, I’d choose a lens that gives a range of 70-300mm over a lens that gives a 35-3500mm range every time. You also want to purchase the fastest lens you can afford. All lenses have a maximum aperture they can photograph at.
A lens rated at F2.8 is two stops faster than a lens rated at F5.6 and allows four times as much light to reach the camera’s sensor. Because wildlife is often photographed under challenging lighting conditions, a faster lens allows for faster shutter speeds which equals sharper images.

Long-tailed Weasel pauses outside of ground squirrel burrow: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Canon 500mm F4L IS, 1.4x Extender II @ 700mm, 1/500th of a second at F7.1, ISO 200 – Hand held

Teleconverters/Extenders

I also recommend purchasing a teleconverter (or extender). Teleconverters are rated by the number of times they magnify your lenses range. So, if you’re using a 1.4x teleconverter on a 300mm lens, you’ve now got yourself a 420mm lens. Unfortunately, this comes at the cost of some light and so if your 300mm lens was rated at F2.8, a 1.4x teleconverter will cost you one stop of light and it will effectively become a 420mm F4.0 lens. Stay away from the two-times (2.0x) teleconverters unless you happen to own one of those multi-thousand dollar prime super-telephoto lenses we were discussing earlier.
You’ll often hear that teleconverters degrade the quality of the image and this is true, but there is a trick for overcoming this problem. The solution? Stopping down up to a full stop. If you’re not familiar with the terminology, stopping down means using a smaller aperture setting (smaller aperture == larger f-stop number).
While it is a general practice to photograph wildlife wide open (at the lenses largest opening or smallest f-stop) to separate the subject from the background, I recommend practicing with your lens/teleconverter combination to see how much you need to stop down to make sharper images. Depending on the lens I’m using, I find I need to stop down between 1/3 of a stop up to a full stop.

Support

What else can you do to get sharper images? Use some sort of support. I’ve met a few photographers who have no problem making sharp images hand-holding over 6.5kg (14 pounds) but the majority of people will make sharper images using support. Buy the highest quality tripod you can afford. Make sure the tripod is rated to support at least the amount of weight you’re going to put on it. High quality tripods can be pretty pricey but another alternative to consider that will also give your camera/lens combinations great support is a monopod.
These handy devices also provide excellent support for even the heaviest equipment and they are a lot easier to pack and move about. If you want to save some money, (and who doesn’t), consider purchasing aluminum tripods and monopods over carbon fibre. They aren’t quite as light and they get cold as heck in the winter, but they are strong and a whole lot more affordable.
So, now that you’ve got yourself the best wildlife photography equipment your pocket book will allow, stay tuned for my next column (next week) where I’ll give you the tips and tricks you’ll need to make the sharpest photographs possible. Update: read Part 2 of this series here.
Until then, get out there and practice, practice, practice!. Photograph ducks at the local pond or go to a dog park and capture some of the action there. Regardless of whether you are in a remote location or on your own back deck, the more familiar you are with your equipment, the better chance you’ll have of making an award winning shot.

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Making Sharper Wildlife Photographs – [Part 2 of 2]

By: Paul Burwell

House Finch perched on a spruce tree branch: Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 500mm F4L IS lens, 1.4x Extender II and 2.0x Extender II @1400mm, 1/400th of a second at F10, ISO 800, Gitzo 3541 Tripod with Jobu Design BWG-Pro gimbal head

In my last article I discussed the sort of equipment the average person might afford and use for wildlife photography. We discussed lenses and teleconverters along with tripods and monopods. This time, we’re going to look at how you use that equipment to come away with the sharpest possible images.

Tripod Heads

My first piece of advice is to learn how to use your tripod along with whichever type of tripod head you have. My recommendation for wildlife photography is to use some sort of Gimbal head like the excellent models sold by Canadian company Jobu Design.
These heads allow you to balance the lens/camera over top of the tripod while providing finger tip control. If you’re using a monopod, I’d mount the lens either directly to the monopod or use a quick release plate. At the risk of sounding like a children’s piano tacher, and not meaning to pester, but you do need to practice with this gear to become proficient. Photographic opportunities in the wild are often fleeting and you’ll need to rehearse so that when the time comes you’re making great images and not fumbling with knobs and latches.

Shutter Speeds

Another aspect of making sharp images is using a fast enough shutter speed. As a rule-of-thumb when photographing off of a tripod or monopod, you’ll want your shutter speed to come close to matching 1/2 of your focal length. This rule means that if I’m photographing at a focal length of 400mm, I’ll want to make sure that I’ve got a shutter speed of at least 1/200th of a second to make a sharp image of a stationary critter. If there’s a lot of action going on and you want to freeze the motion, shutter speeds of 1/500th of a second or quicker may be required. I’m also not afraid to use my camera’s higher ISO settings to get a higher shutter speed if required.
There is little doubt that today’s lenses with their built-in gyroscopes to help stabilize the image go a long way in letting photographers get away with slower shutter speeds than the one over the focal length rule of thumb would allow for.
Many of today’s stabilized lenses claim that they can save three or even four stops of shutter speed and still return sharp results. My experience has been that these lenses (IS for Canon users, VR for Nikon shooters, OS or some variation thereof for the rest) do make a tremendous difference and are especially useful in low light shooting conditions. Look at many of my pictures and you’ll see I’m a big beneficiary of this new technology.

Muskrat pauses while eating: Canon 1Ds Mark II, Canon 500mm F4L IS lens, 1.4x Extender II and 2.0x Extender II @1400mm, 1/500th of a second at F10, ISO 640, Saddle-shaped bean bag from vehicle window

The Eyes Have It…

Another trick for making sharper images comes down to the connection between the camera and your body. While it might seem to make sense to just lightly rest your eye against the camera’s viewfinder, I suggest you do the opposite. When I’m photographing using telephoto lenses, I physically push my eye as firmly as possible against the viewfinder (or in my case glasses which leaves them very greasy at the end of a photo session).
This technique allows the mass of my body to help dampen vibrations the camera might be experiencing. Next, I hold the camera with my right hand positioned to press the shutter release and make adjustments to the camera’s settings. My left hand gets draped over top of the lens. Again, we’re trying to use our body’s weight to help dampen vibrations and steady the rig as much as possible.
Now that I’ve got my camera equipment mounted on a suitably weight-rated tripod or monopod, I’ve chosen a suitable shutter speed AND I’ve positioned my body against and on the camera to ensure steadiness, all I’ve got to do is shoot away and I’m good, right?

Squeeze the Shutter Release

Not quite. The next trick is to learn how to press the shutter release. If you were a casual observer watching just my finger on the shutter release, I’d wager you’d never be able to accurately guess when I’d made a photograph. And that’s because I’ve practiced my technique to the point where, much like the way a sniper squeezes the trigger on a rifle, I can release the shutter on my camera with the same controlled almost indiscernible action.
While I’m photographing, my shutter finger never loses contact with the shutter button and I’m not so much pressing it as I am squeezing it. Remember to squeeze and never stab the shutter button. When photographing wildlife at the longer telephoto lengths, you need to keep all of your actions as smooth as possible and the way you press the shutter is a huge factor in making sharp images.
To summarize these techniques, get your camera gear supported in the best way possible, choose an appropriate shutter speed, brace your body against the equipment so that you almost become part of it and finally squeeze the shutter button with the most subtle of movements. Remember to utilize the three P’s of wildlife photograph (Practice, Practice, Practice) and you have my guarantee that you’ll be well on your way to producing sharper images.

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5 Most Common Mistakes in Wildlife Photography and How to Avoid Them

By: Anne McKinnell  

Animals, especially wild ones, make such beautiful subjects that we cannot resist turning our cameras on them to capture images of these majestic creatures in their natural state.
Unlike a landscape, creatures are constantly in motion, and unlike most people, they can be pretty uncooperative when it comes to getting their picture taken. This can make for a lot of botched pictures. Here are a few tips on how to avoid some of the common pitfalls of wildlife photography.

1. A Tiny Subject

It’s tough to approach a wild animal – they are easily spooked. Because of this, many wildlife photos have more wilderness than wildlife, with the animal becoming a tiny speck in its environment. This can be effective in some situations, but for the most part you want the animal to be large enough in the frame to see the detail in its eyes. This is where a good telephoto lens can really help you out. Using a long focal length (over 200mm) will allow you to keep your distance while still filling the frame.

2. Blurry Image

Blur comes in many forms. Your entire image could be blurry due to camera shake; a problem which is magnified by the longer focal lengths needed for wildlife photography.
In landscape photography, using a tripod is a good technique to prevent camera shake, but a tripod is not as practical when photographing wildlife. Wildlife photography requires a more active shooting style – you’ll be moving around constantly – so unless you are using a lens that is too big to hold comfortably, forget the tripod. Also, because the animals are always in motion, you’ll need a fast shutter speed anyway. That leads me to the first method to combat camera shake blur: using a very fast shutter speed.
In landscape photography, you normally use a shutter speed that is at least 1/focal length of your lens. But usually that isn’t going to be fast enough when photographing wildlife because the animals are always in motion (even when they appear to be standing still). To avoid disappointment, you’ll need to use a much faster shutter speed to freeze both your own motion and the motion of the animal.
Here is my rule of thumb when photographing wildlife: if the animal appears to be still, use a shutter speed of 1/500th of a second. If the animal is moving, you’ll have to adjust the shutter speed based on how fast they are moving. I suggest a minimum of 1/1,000th of a second, or faster if the animal is moving faster.

Using a lens with image stabilization will also help prevent camera shake blur. A lens with a wide maximum aperture, say f/2.8 or even f/4, will let more light in, allowing you to use a faster shutter speed. Likewise, a camera with low noise at high ISO will let you turn up the sensitivity. All of these options will enable you to make faster exposures with better results.
Another type of blur is focus blur. This results from your camera being unable to focus, probably because your subject is moving and the AF motor gets confused. Some cameras and lenses have superior auto focus systems to others, but regardless of what you have, you can get the most out of it by setting it to continuous focus mode, usually called AF-C (Nikon) or AI Servo (Canon). This setting will track the subject’s movement in the frame and focus on it more quickly and accurately.

3. The Missed Moment

We’ve all been there. You see the perfect shot, frame it, and hit the shutter. But by the time the camera focuses and the exposure is made, the animal has moved and all you end up with is the second after the perfect shot.
There are two ways to avoid this heartbreak:

Anticipation

This is a skill that can only come with practice and a keen eye. If you can learn to see when the perfect moment is about to happen, rather than when it is happenning, you can hit the shutter right before the peak moment and cause the camera to snap at just the right time.

Continuous Shooting

When animals are in motion, you’ll get the best chance at a good result by using continuous shooting mode (also called “drive mode” or “burst mode”). With this, you can take several images per second and choose the most successful.
Higher-end DSLRs and mirrorless cameras will have a much faster maximum shooting speed, but no matter which camera you have, there are a few things that will help get the highest continuous shooting rate.
One is a fast memory card – both SD (standard digital) and CF (compact flash) cards have a certain speed that they operate at, and a faster card will make sure that your camera doesn’t get bogged down trying to save the images.
The other is a fully-charged battery – as the juice drains, the camera can become sluggish, so it’s a good idea to keep an extra battery or two in your camera bag. For ultimate performance, you can buy a battery grip that fits on your camera. This holds two batteries at the same time for maximum speed.

4. Where Is Everyone???

Sometimes wild animals can be hard to find, and they’re not always where you want them to be. Before you can photograph them, you have to learn a few things about how to find them.

Know your animals

What types of animals live around you? Before you go out shooting, find out who they are, what they eat, when they sleep, and where they like to relax in between. If you’re photographing birds, research which ones are to be found in your area at which times of year. It’s also important to know how animals might react if, and when, they feel threatened – will they fight, or flee?

Know the season

Some animals will be much more active at different times of year – particularly during autumn, as they rummage up enough food for winter, and in the spring when some animals come out of hibernation.

Camp out

I don’t mean overnight (unless you’re into that), but it’s often a very effective practice to find a popular area – probably somewhere with a source of water, food, shade or shelter – where animals like to congregate. Set your camera up on a tripod nearby, and disguise yourself among some trees or brush (some photographers go so far as to buy ,or build, a blind to hide their presence).

Be patient

Animals work on their own schedule, so don’t try to fit a shooting session in between other appointments. Great photos take time, and you must allow nature to unfold at its own pace. Many animals are easily frightened, so being quiet, still, and inconspicuous will help put them at ease.

5. Animal Attack!

We don’t call it “wildlife” for nothing – the biggest mistake you can make is accidentally getting mauled. Animals are not adjusted to polite society, and can be pretty rough customers if you catch them at the wrong time, or in the wrong way. They spend most of their waking lives foraging for food, and a spat over a meal can turn ugly, fast. Never get in the way of lunch, unless you want to take its place.
Don’t approach a wild animal directly, and if they see you, avoid looking them in the eye. This is usually a sign of aggression. If you need to get closer, keep low and move in a broad zig-zag pattern to avoid frightening the animal.

Be aware of when mating season (or “rutting season”) is for the type of animal you’ll be photographing. Male mammals are full of testosterone at this time of year, and can be aggressive, violent, and very dangerous. Avoid photographing at these times. Similarly, find out when animals are likely to be giving birth and raising their young. We all know how risky it can be to get in between a mama bear and her cubs.
Whenever you’re dealing with wildlife, always remember that any creature can be dangerous when provoked, and it’s very important to treat animals and their habitat with the utmost care and respect.

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Guide to Attracting Critters to Your Garden for Backyard Wildlife Photography

By: Will Nicholls 

Wildlife photography brings with it some natural challenges. One of the greatest being that it is often difficult to have regular access to wild animals to photograph. Many of us are guilty of looking further afield for our subjects, but our own back gardens are prime locations for attracting, and photographing wildlife.
Live in the city suburbs? Doesn’t matter. Your area is likely to be bustling with bird life that you aren’t aware of yet. This guide will run you through a few of the best ways you can attract birds and animals to your garden for easier wildlife photography.

Provide Supplementary Food

Animals are suckers for food. They’re often hungry and looking for their next meal. The best way to get them to come to your garden is to provide nutritious, supplementary food. There are a variety of different methods you can use to feed wild animals.
Bird feeders are available in many different sizes and shapes. A normal tube system with various feeding holes is available from your local pet shop or garden centre. They’re inexpensive, and can be filled with many different varieties of seed. You can buy wild bird food from the same place, and get anything from mixed seeds to solely sunflower hearts. I use the latter, and to great effect.
For attracting mammals, you can get a variety of ground feeders. Squirrels, for example, love peanuts, hazelnuts and other nutty foods.

Don’t Forget the Ethics

By providing supplementary food to animals, you must not overfeed them. Fill the feeders maybe 2-3 times per week, so that they do not become dependent on you as a food source.
Make sure what you are feeding them is suitable. Ask a garden centre for advice if you need help. If using peanuts, they must be completely natural (not roasted) and unsalted!
If you decide to stop providing food, you must do so gradually. Slowly reduce the amount you are feeding over a month or so, allowing the animals to adjust naturally. Otherwise, you could end up unintentionally starving some individuals.

Getting Close for Photography

Many garden birds will allow you to sit quietly near the feeders, as they will eventually get used to you. However, if you want more freedom to move without scaring them away, get yourself a small tent hide (blind). These are available on Amazon at relatively cheap prices. A shooting blind will do the job perfectly.

Making an Area Photogenic

So by now you have the wildlife, but you still need to capture those stunning shots. A bird on a feeder isn’t the most attractive of images, but there are some neat tricks to avoid this.
Place some gnarled twigs and sticks around the feeders. If you need to, strap them to a pole so they are held horizontally. Birds will use these as queueing platforms for the feeders, waiting their turn to feed. You can utilize this moment to capture some lovely portraits of the birds on these photogenic branches. If you’re lucky, you may even get two birds fighting for pride of place.
You should also be wary of your backgrounds. If you are photographing with a messy backdrop, it will likely come out in the image and be distracting. If there’s no choice of positioning next to something plainer, then consider hanging a dark green sheet at a distance behind your subjects. This will create a pleasing bokeh for your photographs.

Be Patient

The key to wildlife photography is patience. Changes won’t just happen overnight. Provide food and wait, and eventually you’ll see results. It shouldn’t take too long, but birds don’t have a radar which tells them as soon as food is available – they have to find it first!
That’s just about it. Fine-tune your feeding stations overtime, adding or subtracting elements depending on what works and what doesn’t work. Good luck!

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The 4 Ps – Tips for Improving Your Wildlife Photography

By: Richard Beech

Taking photographs of wildlife can be one of the most exhilarating photographic experiences you can try. Spotting an animal in the wild can be thrilling, and being able to record that moment can be highly rewarding. However, wild animals can be a particularly challenging subject matter, so wildlife photography can often prove frustrating.
To help you get the most out of this compelling type of images, here are some tips to improve your wildlife photography.

#1 PREPARATION

No matter what type of wildlife you have chosen to photograph you will need to spend time getting to know its behaviour, routine and movements. Read up about your subject in advance, or search online for video or audio files, that can help you learn more about spotting your chosen subject. If possible, talk to experts in the field who know where, and when, to spot wildlife. If you are heading to a nature reserve or national park to take photographs, staff and volunteers are normally very willing to let you know of recent sightings, or give you some handy local advice.
Because you may only get a limited time in which to take wildlife photographs, getting to know your camera settings is extremely important. Familiarize yourself with how your camera and lens work before you get to the location so that you don’t miss an important shot by having the incorrect settings.
Before setting out, make sure you have packed all of the required gear, and you have spare memory cards and charged batteries. For wildlife photography, a telephoto lens is probably going to be essential, but do not overlook packing a wider angle lens to capture your animals as part of the landscape. Some of the best wildlife photographs show an animal in its environment and are not necessarily frame-filling portrait shots. If you are using a telephoto lens, a tripod or monopod can also form a useful part of your kit to minimize camera shake. A monopod offers greater flexibility of movement than a tripod when you are tracking wildlife on the move, but can still provide adequate stability for your camera to get sharp images.

Check weather reports for the day you are going to shoot wildlife, but do not necessarily be put off by bad weather. Animals do remain active during rainy or stormy days, and it is possible to get some dramatic shots in such conditions. You can buy special covers to protect your camera and lens in wet weather but, often, a durable plastic bag fixed in place with elastic bands can work just as effectively.
As with all genres of photography, lighting is key, and the best light for wildlife photography tends to be around sunrise and sunset. Animals also tend to be more active at these times of day, often searching for food. Therefore, make sure you get up early to be ready to take photographs in the golden light as the sun rises. Shooting into the sunset can transform a mundane subject into something special, so look for opportunities to capture dramatic wildlife silhouettes as the sun goes down (see image below).

#2 PRACTICE

As with all types of photography, composition can make the difference between a good image, and a great image. When composing wildlife photographs, remember basic compositional guidelines such as the highly effective Rule of Thirds. If your subject is looking to the left or right, leave an appropriate amount of space in the frame into which they can look. The same guideline applies if a moving animal is being captured – always leave room in the frame for them to move into.
Getting down to eye-level (or lower) with an animal can produce dramatic images. Taking a shot of an animal from a standing height looking down on it will usually lack any Wow Factor as this is the angle from which we are most used to seeing wildlife. Laying down on the ground so that you are at eye-level with, or looking up at, the animal will make your chosen subject seem large and powerful, and can add an element of drama to your final image.
A fundamental rule of wildlife photography is that the subject’s eyes must always be in perfect focus. However, the autofocus system on your camera can easily be tricked into locking onto another part of the animal. A helpful way around this is to set the camera to One Shot mode (AF-S for Nikon users), select the centre focus point in the viewfinder, lock the focus on the eyes by pressing the shutter release button halfway down and then, without releasing, recompose your shot. In addition to being perfectly focused on the eyes, the most compelling wildlife images have a catch-light in the eye. A flash, or speedlight, in your kit can be extremely useful for adding light to dark eyes when taking close-up animal portraits.

Getting the right focus becomes even harder when shooting an animal in motion. For moving wildlife, select a continuous autofocus mode such as AI Servo (AF-C) and select a single focus point in the viewfinder. Track the action by keeping the single focus point on the subject to ensure that remains in focus at all times, rather than the background or foreground.
Shooting in Aperture Priority mode can be extremely useful for wildlife photography. By using the widest aperture available (such as f/2.8) you will be able to use the fast shutter speeds necessary to produce sharp images. The narrow depth of field from using a wide aperture will also help to blur the background and, therefore, will isolate your subject and really make it stand out in the final image.
Do not be afraid to increase your ISO settings a little in order to keep the shutter speed fast, particularly if shooting in environments where lighting can be difficult, such as in a thick forest. A little bit of noise in your image is more acceptable (and easier to correct if you so wish) than an out-of-focus, or blurry image.

#3 PERSEVERANCE

While there is no denying that a certain amount of luck definitely comes in handy, the real key to taking better wildlife photographs is patience. Not necessarily the patience required for your chosen subject to appear, but the patience to capture the perfect shot that you have envisioned.
When you do find an animal out in the wild, watch it for as long as possible and not just from behind the viewfinder. Spend time with it and learn its ways. While observing the animal, try to capture some form of behaviour that is unique to that species. Documenting such behaviour can produce compelling wildlife shots. Most importantly, enjoy the experience of wildlife watching as much as taking photographs.
One quick tip is to keep all noise (as in be quiet, not camera noise) to a minimum when you are shooting in the wild. Dress appropriately, tread carefully, and possibly most importantly, switch your phone to silent mode. There is nothing worse than framing a shot and having your subject scared off by a ringing phone.

There may very well be some periods of waiting and watching. Try not to get too focused on one particular subject, take a look around while waiting for your subject to return. You never know, there may very well be something more interesting waiting just around the corner.
If you want to put in more practice with your wildlife photography but don’t have much time to spare, a public park can be a great place to visit on a lunch hour or after work. Parks attract a range of wildlife such as geese, swans or deer and often you can get a little bit nearer to the action. A duck pond can produce many opportunities for action shots and is a great place to practice your skills at close range.

#4 PASSION

To take your wildlife shots from good to great, you need to be passionate about the natural world you are photographing. Take the time to appreciate nature and wildlife in all of its forms, wherever you find it. You do not have to go to an exotic location to do great wildlife photography. For example, macro photography offers a range of wildlife opportunities including spiders, beetles and flies. As someone who was once highly arachnophobic, I can now appreciate the beauty of spiders and, since photographing them, I do find them more fascinating than scary.

You could even make a few simple changes to your own garden to encourage more wildlife to come to you. Making your garden wildlife friendly can be relatively inexpensive and highly beneficial to local wildlife. Adding a pond or wildflower patch is both good for the environment, and may provide you with photographic opportunities.
Most importantly, take great care when photographing wildlife. Do not put yourself, or the wildlife, at risk and do not disturb their natural habitats in the process of getting your shot. Respect all wildlife, get to know your subject well and you will be rewarded with some great images to share with others, to inspire them to care as much about the natural world as you do.


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