Top techniques for wildlife photos

Get set up to capture fantastic animal antics with these easy-to-learn skills

6 Fast shutter speed

For fast-moving animals, such as birds in flight, you’ll want a shutter speed of at least 1/2,000 sec to stand a chance of capturing a pin‑sharp shot. You can do this by opening your aperture all the way and bumping up the ISO until you have a fast enough shutter speed.

7 Continuous autofocus

Use the continuous autofocus mode on your camera to continually refocus over your active AF point or cluster of AF points. Some newer cameras also have animal eye autofocus tracking, which can be very handy and definitely worth experimenting with.

8 Stay out of sight

The best practice with wildlife photos is to set up and patiently wait for the animals to come into the frame, rather than try to move close to them, which will inevitably scare them off. You can make an affordable makeshift hide out of some old camouflage material and netting.