Wildlife Photography How To

And now for something completely different from the world of wildlife.

Not everyone has an opportunity to go on safari to photograph rare and wild animals, but most of us have a zoo nearby which is often the next best thing. The problem is that most images shot at the zoo look like were shot at the zoo.

Last week we brought you an enlightening tutorial from Hamed Photography that described the many benefits of shooting action photosin Shutter Priority mode with Auto ISO. Today he's following that up with this video demonstrating how combining Manual mode with Auto ISO provides full creative control over exposure without slowing you down.

Have you wondered why some of your photographs are crisp, clean, and full of detail, while others are grainy, dull, and unimpressive? The following tutorial with instructor Anthony Crothers takes an educated guess that "it's not your camera—it's your ISO." And this can be super simple to fix once you understand this essential concept.

One of my favorite books as a child was Eric in the Land of the Insects, written by the Dutch author Godfried Bomans. In this humorous fantasy, 9-year-old Eric enters the landscape painting that hangs on his wall and discovers a world of man-sized wasps, bees, butterflies, and other insects that are stunningly similar to the world of humans. Once photography became a part of my life my world was populated with grasshoppers, spiders, snails, flies, dragonflies, and butterflies—Eric’s world.

Earlier this week we brought you an unconventional beginners guide to minimalist black-and-white photography, demonstrating how restraint and simplicity can deliver landscape images with greater impact. We're following up on that lesson today with an interesting video that applies these same principles to photographing birds and other wildlife subjects in the field.

Are you struggling with soft, blurry photos even though you've invested in great glass? Before you blame the camera and invest in a new one, be sure to pay close attention to this eye-opening tutorial from internationally acclaimed wildlife photographer Ejaz Kahn.