Wildlife Photography Camera Settings
My Recommended Wildlife Photography Camera Settings
Wildlife photography is one of the most challenging genres of photography. Wildlife photographers are often forced to capture images in less than ideal conditions. Unfortunately, wildlife doesn’t always cooperate with our schedules. We find much of wildlife is most active around sunrise and sunset. While these times of day can provide us with beautiful lighting, it’s the quantity of light that’s lacking.
Regardless of when we are photographing wildlife, there are many factors we need to consider.
Location of the Sun
The location of the sun plays a vital role in our wildlife photography. If we are looking to ensure our subject is well lit, we want the sun to be coming from behind us. However, if we are looking to capture a creative backlit type of image, the sun should be placed in front of us. Take a look at the following examples.
If we look at the image on the left, we can the bird is being illuminated by the sun from the front. In other words, the sun was at my back. However, in the second photo, the sun was infront of me. I simply exposed for the water and this will place your subject in silhouette. Remember, the key to capturing a great silhouette is the shape of your subject. If the wings had been in a different position or if they were blocking the head of the bird, this image likely would not have worked. It’s imperative when creating silhouettes that you can clearly define your subject.
Direction of the Wind
Another important detail to consider when photographing wildlife is wind direction. This is always challenging because you need to use wind in multiple ways.
Let me explain.
When approaching wildlife, you ideally want to be upwind from your subject. If your subject is downwind from you, they will certainly know you’re coming well ahead of time. This is why it’s important to avoid wearing fragrant deodorants and perfumes/colognes when photographing wildlife. If your subject is downwind from you it’s very possible they will pick up your scent, and leave the area.
However, let’s assume you're photographing birds. Upon arriving at your shooting location, it’s a great idea to place yourself in a position where the wind is at your back. When birds take flight, they will take-off into the wind as this provides them with lift. This is a great way to capture images of birds coming towards you.
Camera Settings For Wildlife Photography
There are many ways to use camera settings to capture beautiful photographs. But as the old saying goes, let’s work smarter, not harder.
1. Image Format
When it comes to capturing photos, we need to choose an image format. We can choose between JPEG and RAW.
Choose RAW.
Depending on your camera make and model, you will have multiple options for your RAW images. If you have a low megapixel camera of 30-40 mp’s or less, you can likely shoot in the standard RAW file format as the image sizes will not become too large. However, if you have a high megapixel camera over 40 mp’s, I would recommend shooting in a compressed RAW file format. This will you much smaller file sizes while retaining a ton of creative control.
2. Shooting Modes And ISO
I’m not one of those photographers that’s going to tell you to shoot in manual mode. If I’m not photographing wildlife, 99.9% of the time I’m shooting in manual mode. I think you should feel confident to shoot in manual mode because it gives you the greatest creative control and it’s good to understand how changing settings impacts your images. But when it comes to wildlife photography, you can get the job done with manual mode, but it’s working harder, not smarter.
We are not going to discuss program mode or aperture priority because they aren’t the right choice when it comes to wildlife photography. That leaves us with shutter priority, and this is the mode I recommend!
But why?
When photographing wildlife, we are generally going to use apertures of f/4 - f/11 to ensure we have an adequate depth of field to keep our subject in focus. If we were to use larger apertures (i.e. f/2.8), our depth of field would be very thin resulting in a lot of blurry or very soft images. Program modes is not recommended because we are relying on the camera to choose our settings for us. We limit our ability to change them. This really strips us of our creative control and the camera may not choose the correct settings.
One of our top priorities when it comes to wildlife photography is capturing sharp images. This is why I recommend you shoot in shutter priority mode. It will allow you to work smarter, not harder.
Here are the settings we are going to change to use shutter priority mode for wildlife photography:
1. Turn your camera dial to “S”
2. Set your ISO to “Auto”
You will need to refer to the manual for your camera’s make and model, but set the ISO to “Auto.” This will eliminate the need to change this setting as you’re trying to photograph fast moving animals in constantly changing lighting conditions. I would also suggest programing a button on your camera to make quick ISO changes when not photographing wildlife.
3. Set Your Focusing Mode
When it comes to focusing you can set your camera to a single point or an expanded focusing area. Again, you will need to refer to your camera’s manual to see all of the available options for your make and model. Here are some examples of what they may look like.
Single Point Focus
As you can see with the single focusing point, you place it on your subject, lock focus, and then depress the shutter to take the picture. This works very well with static subjects. But what if your subject is moving? Let’s take a look at an expanded focusing option.
Expanded Focus Point
When in a continuous shooting mode, using an expansed focusing option is beneficial. All the focusing points will work together in tracking a moving a subject to keep them in focus.
One last thought regarding focusing modes. If you’re using a modern day mirrorless camera, many of them use “eye AF.” Old DSLR cameras would essentially require you to choose between single point and a continuous focusing option. However, the eye autofocus on modern day mirrorless cameras is so advanced, you can leave your camera in continuous focusing and shoot static or moving subjects with tremendous accuracy. Many cameras, including my Sony A7R5, now include the “eye AF” technology specifically when you are photographing birds and animals. These features are amazing and they only continue to get better and better.
4. Set Your Drive Mode
Drive mode uses similar language to focusing modes, but when it comes to drive mode, all we are doing is telling our camera how many images we want it to take when we depress the shutter button. Single shot will obviously only take one photo; however, when we place our camera into “burst mode,” we will now capture multiple images when depressing the shutter. Of course, the number of photos we capture will depend on your camera’s make and model. Every camera is different. You will need to refer to your camera’s manual to verify how many “frames per second” it can capture in burst mode. Most cameras allow you to choose your burst mode too - low, medium or high. I recommend using the highest setting your camera allows. On average, most cameras will capture at least 4-6 frames per second and the best wildlife cameras on the market capture 20-30 frames per second. This, of course, is a huge benefit when photographing wildlife.
5. Shutter Type & Shutter/Back Button Focus
Shutter type works hand in hand with your drive mode. Modern day mirrorless cameras allow you to capture images using the standard mechanical shutter, but they also have an electronic shutter which provides complete silence when taking photos. Do you need both and when should you use them?
Benefits of the mechanical shutter:
Creates slightly sharper images
Depending your camera’s make and model, it may capture more frames per second when using the mechanical shutter
Benefits of using the electronic shutter:
Capturing images in complete silence can be very beneficial, especially when you’re in close proximity to wildlife
Depending your camera’s make and model, it typically captures more frames per second when using the electronic shutter
Saves on wear and tear of your mechanical shutter
Shutter Focus & Back Button Focus
This is one of the best tips I can give you when it comes to getting more photos in sharp focus and you have probably never heard of it!!
Every camera comes standard with the shutter button controlling your focus. You place your subject in the frame, depress the shutter button half-way down, and take the picture once focus locks. If you’re focusing this way in wildlife photography, I’m about to blow your mind!
Enter back button focus! You will, of course, need to refer to the manual for you specific camera make and model, but learn how to set back button focus. This will remove the focusing function from the shutter button and it will assign it to a button on the back of your camera that you can control with your thumb. Refer to the image below for my Sony A7R5.
My camera allows me to switch the focusing function to this button on the back - the “AF-ON” button. Chances are, your camera has this button too! Set this up immediately! It may feel a little strange at first, but stick with it. I promise you will never go back to shutter button focusing again! The feature is so beneficial for fast action photography such as wildlife, sports, etc.
You will find that using shutter button focusing for wildlife will result in a lot of “misfires.” In other words, you will depress the shutter half way to hold focus and your camera will start taking pictures rapidly, and unexpectedly. This will only lead to wasted and missed moments.
With back button focus you simply keep your thumb on the button to focus and use the shutter when you’re ready to take your pictures. It eliminates all of the issues that come with shutter button focusing, but with no more wasted shots or missed photos.
6. Bonus Tip
I have stressed the importance of working smarter, not harder. Using shutter priority and auto ISO is going to do just that. Once our shutter and ISO are set, we only have to worry about two settings when we are photographing wildlife.
1. Shutter Speed
Shutter speed will be determined based on the amount of natural light we have and the amount of movement of our subject. If our subject is static, see how slow of a shutter speed you can use until your photos become blurry due to “camera shake.” Generally speaking, 1/500 is a good shutter speed when photographing still subjects. However, if you’re photographing birds and they take flight, you will need a shutter speed of at least 1/2000 or 1/2500.
2. Exposure Compensation
Exposure compensation is a dial on the top of most cameras and it quickly allows you to decrease or increase your exposure value. If you’re photographing wildlife at sunrise or sunset, you will likely need to increase your exposure compensation allowing you to use faster shutter speeds. However, if you’re photographing a white animal, you will likely need to decrease exposure compensation to properly expose for the bright tones.
Summary
Now that we have discussed the best settings to use in wildlife photography, let’s provide a summary of what you need to change on your camera. Keep in mind, it doesn’t matter if you’re using an APS-C or full frame camera, the settings remain the same.
Set your shutter to SHUTTER PRIORITY
Set you ISO to AUTO ISO
Set your focus mode to CONTINUOUS SHOOTING
Select your drive mode to HIGH
Set your shutter type to MECHANICAL
I wan’t to leave you with on final pro tip.
In the beginning of this article, I remarked how wildlife photography often requires us to capture images in low-light situations. That, of course, will require our cameras to take photos using higher ISO’s. Of course, this will naturally lead to photos with more noise or grain in them. But bear in mind, it’s NOT just high ISO values that create noise, it is also driven by shutter speed and the amount of light we are letting into the camera.
Look at the image directly above this. This photo of a Juvenile Yellow Crowned Night Heron was captured around sunrise using an auto ISO of 12,800. How noisy does that photo appear to you? It’s minimal, right? Yes, editing played a part in reducing the noise, but so did the fact I captured this image with a shutter speed of 1/250. Because I was able to use such a slow shutter speed, I was able to let more light into the camera reducing the overall noise levels. If I had captured this image using a shutter speed of 1/1000 or 1/2000, it would have created an image with much more noise.
When photographing wildlife, I highly recommend using a mono-pod with a wildlife gimbal head. Below are links to my exact set up.
Monopod - Sirui 424FS
Gimbal Head - Movo GH800
You should now be well on your way to capturing amazing wildlife photographs. Should you have any questions or comments, please feel free to reach out.