ANIMAL PORTRAITS
Continuous focus
Sloths and giant tortoises aside, animals
rarely stay still for long. Continuous AF
(AF-C) will allow you to keep up with
any sudden movements. If you’re
photographing particularly restless
subjects (like meerkats), Continuous
High burst mode is the way to go.
Use a long lens
As is the case with most wildlife
photography, you’ll want to use a long
lens. We used the Nikon AF-S 80-400mm
f/4.5-5.6G ED VR. This super-telephoto
zoom lens afforded us plenty of reach,
so we could capture close-up portraits
of subjects that were far away.Fast and stable
Fast shutter speeds are a must when
shooting energetic subjects. Bright
conditions allowed us to shoot at up to
1/8000 sec (this mitigates camera shake).
Although image stabilization isn’t much use
at such fast shutter speeds, we turned VR
on for those moments when it was required.Focus tracking lock on
Focus tracking with lock-on is designed to
help maintain your camera’s focus on a
subject, by locking its focus if something
momentarily obscures it. This will help if
something passes in front of your subject,
for example. You can set how long it’ll stay
locked by choosing from one of six settings.Bright direct light
Photograph your subject in direct sunlight
to capture bright highlights and well-
defined shadows. Look for dark
backgrounds that are also shrouded in
shadow as this will make the editing process
much easier. Exactly how much negative
exposure compensation you use will vary
according to the lighting conditions, so
don’t be afraid to experiment a bit.Quick Tip
If you’re taking photos from a safari
bus, or have been instructed to close
the windows of your car, you’ll find
yourself shooting through glass,
which isn’t ideal. You can make the
most of the situation by placing your
lens as close to the glass as possible,
to reduce reflections. If you’re taking
your car, it might be a good idea to
clean your windows before your visit.1
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The right exposure
Shooting in Aperture Priority mode will
allow you to use a negative exposure
compensation value to help darken the
shadows. We also found that the Spot
Metering mode’s ability to take a precise
meter reading for the subject made it easier
to shroud the background in dark shadows.