This week’s cover image
Photographing wildlife in action can be challenging, but with some patience and perseverance the results can be both dramatic and mesmerising. Ben Hall is your guide
The stunning photo of a king sher gracing our cover was taken by Ben Hall.
You don’t have to travel to far-flung, exotic places, as opportunities for action photography are all around us – from birds in our back garden and your local park, to the sea cliffs up and down the coastline. As with any type of wildlife photography, researching and observing your subjects is paramount, and will
ultimately help to get you into the right place at the right time. There are other important techniques, however, which will help you on your way to capturing spectacular action images of wildlife.
Birds in ight
Mastering the capture of birds in flight is difficult. Success demands plenty of perseverance, not to mention the tolerance of many failures, but practice some simple techniques and you will soon find yourself taking successful action shots of flying birds. Ideally, you will need to shoot in relatively bright light, since this will allow you to use a fast shutter speed – which is paramount if you hope to freeze the movement of a fast-flying bird. However,
you should avoid harsh, midday sunlight, as the resulting images will be spoilt by harsh shadows and bleached highlights. Shooting during the first and last hours of sunlight will give the best results, as the low sun will light up the underside of the bird, revealing important detail that would otherwise be lost in deep shadow.
Aim for a shutter speed of at least
1/1000sec and select the predictive auto focus setting. Expanding your focus points to a group is a handy way of increasing your margin for error when it comes to tracking your subject. You will lose some accuracy, however, so you may need to stop down to a smaller aperture to increase depth of field in case the focus point picks out the wing instead of the head. A good panning technique will result in a greater number of sharp images, and obtaining critical sharpness is perhaps the trickiest aspect of flight photography. The key to successful panning lies in smoothness and anticipation. To adopt the correct posture, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and tuck your elbows in to your side to increase stability. As your subject passes, swivel your upper body smoothly, matching the speed of the bird. Wing position can make or break a shot, so fire a burst of frames using the high-speed drive mode to give you a sequence to choose from.
Courtship action/behaviour
Images that depict wildlife behaviour, such as a breeding pair of birds performing a courtship display, bonding, or passing food to each other connect with the viewer on an emotional level. They tell a story and offer a glimpse into the subject’s life cycle. When tackling a project like this, you will need to be prepared to put some time in. Researching and observing your subject’s behaviour will be the key to success. Pick somewhere local, ideally offering easy access, such as a city or country park. This will allow you to make numerous visits over a period of time. Start by simply observing potential subjects, noting