Wildlife Photography Fieldcraft , livre ebook

Pelagic Publishing - Susan Young

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

154 pages

English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

Many photographers wish to capture stunning and memorable images of the natural world, yet the whole process can be a challenge. Not only does getting the perfect shot require a complex mixture of skill and luck, but there is little practical advice available on how to find wildlife to photograph. This unique book describes a straightforward system for how to successfully locate wildlife, the most difficult aspect of wildlife photography. The patience and persistence have to come from you, but equipped with the right fieldcraft there is far more chance of getting the results – and the special moments – you are looking for.

Individual chapters offer guidance on how to photograph birds, mammals, butterflies and dragonflies, as well as reptiles and some of our more elusive species. The particularities of various habitat types are discussed, and there are tips on equipment, technical specifications and how to make a good portable hide. While sharing some of her most successful and beautiful images, the author also gives useful examples of when things didn’t quite work out – reflecting on how things could have been done differently to get a better outcome. With the help of this book you’ll soon be taking the photographs you’ve always dreamed of, sometimes.

Sujets

Loisirs

Collections photographiques

Photographie Créative

Plants

Themes

Subjects

Zoology

Photography

Animals

Informations

Publié par	Pelagic Publishing
Date de parution	30 août 2022
Nombre de lectures	1
EAN13	9781784273941
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	20 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,1800€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

WILDLIFE
PHOTOGRAPHY
FIELDCRAFT
HOW TO FIND AND PHOTOGRAPH WILD ANIMALS
SUSAN YOUNG
Pelagic Publishing
First published in 2022 by
Pelagic Publishing
20-22 Wenlock Road
London N1 7GU, UK
www.pelagicpublishing.com
Wildlife Photography Fieldcraft: How to Find and Photograph Wild Animals
Copyright © 2022 Susan Young
All photography by the author
The right of Susan Young to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. Apart from short excerpts for use in research or for reviews, no part of this document may be printed or reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, now known or hereafterinvented or otherwise without prior permission from the publisher.
Lightroom, Adobe Bridge and Photoshop are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-78427-393-4 Pbk
ISBN 978-1-78427-394-1 ePub
ISBN 978-1-78427-395-8 PDF
https://doi.org/10.53061/IKQP9992
Cover photo: Red Squirrel © Susan Young
Design and typesetting: Christopher Bromley
Contents
Preface
Introduction
Getting started (for the novice)
Chapter 1: Birds
Garden birds
Birds of rivers, lakes and wetlands
Woodland birds
Heathland and moorland birds
Birds of coast and estuary
Birds of prey
Shortcuts to finding birds to photograph
General fieldcraft for birds
Photographic equipment and techniques for birds
Chapter 2: Mammals
Deer
Red Foxes
Badgers
Hedgehogs
Mice and voles
Stoats and weasels
Red Squirrels
Otters
Seals
Shortcuts to finding mammals to photograph
Chapter 3: Dragonflies and Butterflies
Dragonflies
Damselflies
Butterflies
Chapter 4: Other Animal Groups
The easy ones
Reptiles
Other rare and protected species
Chapter 5: Equipment
Camera equipment
Fieldcraft equipment
Chapter 6: Photographic Details
For the new photographer
For the more experienced
Images and their camera values
Appendix
Index
Preface

A Tiger Swallowtail with Japanese beetles on Buddleia, Ohio
When I first started wildlife photography some years ago, I soon realised what everyone eventually discovers: finding the wildlife is the most difficult part. Even if you do succeed in locating interesting subjects to photograph, getting it to keep still or to come within range of a camera lens can sometimes seem almost impossible.
At that time, I avidly read books written by wildlife photography experts, hoping for the answers - but I found very few. Apart from use a hide or wear suitable clothing , there was very little information on how to actually locate animals. Even today, not much has changed. This may be because some photographers wish to keep their secret finds to themselves, whereas others may wish to protect the wildlife itself. There is always a dilemma around giving out too much information, because there is the risk that without using care and being aware of the sensitive nature of wildlife, it may be disturbed as a result.
Still, even with fieldcraft knowledge, wildlife photography requires a great deal of patience and persistence, particularly in the UK. This book does not claim that you will be able to take pictures of the most elusive animals, but it does aim to equip you with the knowledge required to increase your chances of getting great images. The patience and persistence has to come from you.
I have been lucky enough to be able to call on the expertise of wildlife fieldcraft experts and will share their secrets with you, as well as my own. Wildlife photography fieldcraft is not just about creeping around in bushes, although this is the common perception. It is mainly about research: finding out the facts and putting them to good use. This book describes the relevant research that is required, and gives details of how it should be put into practice. I have also sought with this guide to emphasise ethical photography, and I hope that those who read it will follow ethical guidelines and aim to capture images of wildlife without disturbing it.
So, finding the animal is only the first, if most difficult, step. In order to produce images worthy of the hours of hard work and the patience you have put in, it is important that your camera equipment is correctly used - therefore, I have included essential information on this. Preparation before taking the shot is often neglected, with some photographers relying on Photoshop or other post-processing software to correct substandard images (Adobe Lightroom is less complex and a very suitable choice, favoured by many photographers). This is not helped by the fact that many books on wildlife photography perpetuate the myth that expensive equipment and a deep knowledge of editing software is required to create good images. Nowadays, digital cameras produce images that require very little alteration, as long as time has been taken to prepare beforehand. Accordingly, I have included only the basic details of processing. That is all you really need. It is true that good-quality equipment helps, but the most important aspect is your persistence and willingness to research your subject.
Introduction

A Blue Tit shows off (the bird on the left then fell off the branch, but no harm done)
This section defines the scope of the book with regard to the wildlife subjects described and the more technical photographic topics covered.
The method of finding wildlife subjects to photograph can seem like a dark art , but the truth is very different. Many professional photographers and wildlife film-makers rely on the local knowledge of others to source their subjects. For most of us, this is neither possible nor desirable for day-to-day wildlife photography, and the best route to success is to develop your own local knowledge.
This book is unique among wildlife photography books as it gives a clear strategy for developing this knowledge and how to use it. This introduction provides an overview of that strategy. It highlights the research required before going out to photograph, and once in the field.
It us impossible to produce an exact list of steps, as these will vary from species to species, but the chapters on each type of wildlife give more detail. To further clarify the strategy, there are several case studies which offer a detailed description of how I put the strategy into practice.
The aim of the book is thus to guide the reader towards developing their own strategy for successful and rewarding wildlife photography.
Scope
The book is divided into chapters covering different groups of animals. Birds and mammals are the most popular subjects with photographers and as a result take up the greatest part. The basic research required for each subject is described, together with details of sources for the necessary information. Examples show how to put the research into practice, and in some instances case studies are included, demonstrating the detailed steps taken by the author in pursuing a particular photographic subject.
Birds have been classified according to habitat, as there are often some similarities in behaviour between species. Although it is acknowledged that some birds occupy more than one habitat type, the huge number of species dictates that some simplifying method be used.
There are relatively few mammal species in the UK, and behaviour varies dramatically from one to the other. As a result, the book has a section for each of the commoner mammal species, together with some limited information on the very rare and elusive ones.
Butterflies and dragonflies are included, but the subject of smaller insects is not as popular with photographers as that of birds and mammals, and thus has not been covered. It is true that insect photographs often win wildlife photography competitions, and may be of interest to naturalists - but specialised macro-photography and lighting is required for high-quality images, and these do not fall within the scope of this book.
Nor is this intended as an in-depth guide to digital photography, as many other books are available on this subject. However, the basic considerations are outlined so that you will know on which aspects to concentrate, should you wish to pursue this in more detail. Camera equipment and basic techniques are covered, with some relevant websites listed. The all-important fieldcraft equipment is described, with details of how to set up hides, together with a section on making simple hides using PVC pipe. Finally, an Appendix gives a list of nature reserves, books and other useful information that may help to increase your chances of success, as well as discussing ethical, legal and safety issues that sometimes arise.
Some of the photographs included in this book are intended to illustrate techniques - but the majority aim to show what can be achieved, and to hopefully inspire you to overcome the difficulties inherent in the challenging yet rewarding pursuit of photographing wildlife.
How to use this book
The strategy for finding wildlife as described in this book hinges on researching the basic details, habits and behaviour of the target species and considering how this knowledge can help the photographer. Real-life situations and case studies are described in step-by-step detail, to expand on this strategy and give the photographer practical tools to increase the chances of success.
Basic facts
The detailed information in these sections is an amalgamation of facts from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), the Mammal Society, the Wildlife Trusts and many other sources, together with my own experience. Only reliable sources based