The wren was just the kick-start I needed
to simply take a walk with my camera. I
don’t usually need much motivation to go
outside and take photos. I’m a passionate
and motivated professional nature photog-
rapher, and I simply love outdoor shoots.
But even so, office work, emails, marketing
calls and image keywording often greet
me each day.
Sometimes the prospect of going some-
where new gets us excited about photogra-
phy. The anticipation and preparation for
a trip to a far-off destination is part of the
enjoyment and perhaps partly why many
of us become photographers in the first
place—but how about simply walking out
your door and capturing familiar, commu-
nity critters?
The day that the house wren arrived was
a bright Tuesday morning, and as soon as I
heard the singing, I needed to get outside. I
wasn’t overly concerned about my timing
with the light, I was just pumped to go for
a walk. After photographing the wren right
in my garden, I walked along the creek
that runs through the open space near our
home. That day, several other songbirds
were singing happy spring tunes, a squirrel
chattered from a pine tree and some prairie
dogs barked a quick hello as I passed by.
I had a wonderful morning pointing my
camera at all of them even though I had
seen such animals many times before.
The most positive thing about your
neighborhood wildlife is that it’s accessi-
ble at any time. As the seasons and days
change, you can get outside and work
with familiar animals. Frequent visits are
a good thing. With careful observation,
you’ll know where the wildlife can be seen,
where birds might nest in the spring or
roost in the evening. You might discover a
local fox den or where the egrets go fishing
every morning. This knowledge is half the
key to good shots.
The lens that I’ve been using for all my
wildlife photography lately is the Tamron
150-600mm G2 F/5-6.3 Di VC USD. Most
often I’ve been using this lens on my full-
frame Canon EOS 5D Mark IV but have
also used it on “cropped sensor” (APS-C
format) Canon EOS 70D and EOS 7D cam-
eras. The Tamron lens offers a good range
of convenient zoom power in a package of
reasonable size and weight. The autofocus
is quick and accurate, the VC (vibrationcompensation) feature allows for sharp
images handheld, and this lens has a price
tag that doesn’t require a second mortgage.
Similar zooms for DSLRs are available
from Sigma, in addition to those from the
camera makers, and there are tele-zoom
options for mirrorless systems as well. Any
telephoto zoom can yield good results for
your neighborhood photography jaunts.
Most of us live within a short drive or
even walking distance from a greenbelt,
some open space, a shoreline trail or a city
park. These are wonderful places to take
a break and just go “see what you see.” A
visit to a local park can re-energize your
photographic spirit, and you can get out
there tomorrow with ease.
The following are my suggestions to
make your images better as you go locally
and capture some neighborhood wildlife
with your camera.Watch the light
Even though you can go to your neigh-
borhood wildlife spot anytime, the light
quality is still important. Front light
provides the easiest light to work in and
is best for stopping the action of birds52 Outdoor Photographer outdoorphotographer.com