Photograp Animal
Sunday, April 24, 2011 by Anonymous
The truth is if you're shooting in a controlled environment, you'll most probably have your camera mounted on a tripod with a bunch of assistants moving in and out tweaking the lights, dressing the shot meticulously through the lens creating a relaxed environment. The classic studio shoot.
Hitting a static target at the shooting range is difficult enough, but it takes a special skill to hit the same target if it's on the move. Instead of the luxury of a composed lit frame with exact apertures and wide lenses, you are thrown into unpredictable moves that directly impact on your film speed, your focus, the amount of available light and the choice of lens. If your subject is moving fast you have to frame, focus and fire on the fly (as they say) the majority of time, hoping to God you got it.
Longer lenses need more light than wider lenses. Most wide angle lenses have apertures of between 1.8 and 2.8, whereas 300 to 500mm lenses start with an aperture of between 5.6 & 11- so you do need light. If you really want to learn about composition and action framing, take yourself and your camera off to the local sports stadium and snap at athletes or baseball players in action - it'll be your first step to shooting wildlife stills.
