Live on the wild side
Take top shots of animals and insects as the booming flora and fauna provides the perfect environment
Zoom in on details
SPRING is a time to crack out that macro lens in full force. From close-up flower heads to bugs and insects, the smaller world comes to life and gives you a whole host of potential subjects. One of the stars of the show are our amazing dragonflies and damselflies. Keep on the lookout for their usual haunts such as shallow pools and bodies of water and learn when they spend their time. You may be lucky to come across newly emerging individuals and this will give you a superb opportunity to get up close and personal to them. First thing in the morning is best as they sit for hours morphing into fully, grown adults. This time will give you the chance to capture all the intricate details on this incredible insect, such as its amazing wings, without worrying about it flying off.
Subject sharpness
TAKE control over how much ‘in focus’ scenes are around subjects by shallowing your depth of field via a wide aperture and long focal length. A shallow depth of field can be your best friend when it comes to taking close-ups of wildlife. Selecting Av (Aperture priority) mode will allow you to choose the wide aperture and let the camera decide on a suitable shutter speed. For this shot of a puffin I used my RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1L lens at f/7.1 and 500mm, including flowers in the foreground to blur, but also to frame the bird. Most plants and flowers are generally found in woodlands which are poorly lit; so, make sure the shutter speeds don’t drop too much which will result in blurry images, especially when hand holding. If you’re not using a tripod and shooting hand-held, don’t forget to turn on image stabilizer.
Decluttering
IT’S ALWAYS easier to recompose or remove unwanted twigs before taking a shot. When shooting clean flower or insect portraits, you want them to pop out of the scene and not be affected by distracting objects or shapes in the background. Check for any different colours in the background that might detract from your main subject – if, for example, you’re photographing a butterfly and there’s bright yellow out-of-focus flower in the background. Usually, moving to one side will fix this issue. It will also help in some instances to ‘open up’ the macro lens to a wider aperture (eg f/4) for a shallower depth of field to make any objects in the background appear less obvious.
Birds in flight
SPRING is the perfect time to put your bird in-flight skills to the test. It is the time of year when the world awakens once more, and with the animal kingdom, that means the upcoming breeding season. Swallows and house martins will return to our shores, the resident garden birds will start nesting, and seabirds will return to our cliffs. The main aspect to any bird in-flight image is the aesthetic and that’s controlled by your shutter speed. Start by putting your camera in Shutter priority (Tv) mode and choose a value of at least 1/1000 sec. Using a fast shutter speed will freeze the subject in motion, and a slower shutter speed will cause some subject blur. Use a faster shutter speed and then hone your tracking skills.
Signs of spring
IT’S NOT just about plants in this magical season, there’s plenty of activity among the animal world as well. Spring is a time for new life with the classic scenes of frogspawn filling ponds, birds building nests, mammal cubs, swallows returning and gambolling lambs. As with any wildlife image, it’s about creating a connection with the viewer and the best way to do this is to get down to their level. This enhances the three-dimensional feel of the image and brings the viewer into the subject’s world. Focus on the eye and use a wider aperture for superb out-of-focus foreground and background compression.