For sports enthusiasts, there’s nothing more exciting than sports people playing their favourite game. The sight of the field, rink or golf course initiates the thrill and anticipation. This, combined with digital photography, can provide some amazing photographic opportunities. However it’s not a matter of point the camera at the person diving for the ball or puck and snapping away. It’s a lot more complicated than that.

In digital photography sports can be quite challenging. The sports people do not present an easy task of being photographed because of the amount of high movement. However, you can indeed achieve great sports digital photography. Most excellent sports digital photography requires good planning and execution.

Here are some exclusive tips for gaining fantastic sports shots in your digital photography.

First things first; know your digital camera. I recommend taking note and practicing first all the settings that sports photography needed. You may find yourself going for the faster shutter speed, increased ISO and burst mode. Let’s take a look at all these things on your digital camera and see how they can be applied to give you sensational sports photos.

High shutter speeds:

As with all moving objects, in order to capture the “frozen in time” look in digital photography a fast shutter speed is required. The faster the movement the fast the shutter speed will need to be. In digital photography the general consensus is that the shutter speed needs to be faster than that of the subject. For example if you have a sliding puck across ice and there is a someone about to take a dive for it then its necessary to quickly mentally assess how fast that person might be traveling at. If they are traveling at approximately 50 kilometers (approx 32 miles) per hour then you may find a very fast shutter speed is needed for this digital photo.

A very fast shutter speed in digital photography may be anything from 500th of a second or higher. For high speed movement you may want to consider an even faster shutter speed of 1000th of a second or something in that range.

Keep in mind that in digital photography a fast shutter speed works to reduce some of the light which is why a higher ISO is often necessary. (I’ll talk about that in a minute.) Usually a if a ball, such as a baseball going at around 145 kilometers an hour (90.09 miles per hour) a shutter speed of around 1/4000 will get you that “suspended ball in mid air” type of photo. For physical movement, such as someone leaping to catch a football, a shutter speed of 1/500 or over is a good place to start.

Now this is all very well if your scene if well lit. But what if you are taking your digital photography shots indoors at night and the light is not quite enough to provide enough light? In most instances, an indoor stadium at night time will be well lit, but that doesn’t always ensure good digital photos. In sports photography we need to understand that we can only control the artistic value and input of our digital photo and the control of the camera. We can’t control the lighting on the scene being such a public event. In digital photography sports photos we must realize that it’s going to be a challenge to begin with. So here are something’s you can in your digital sports photography to increase the amount of light.

If you have a light tool on your digital camera such as a histogram you can get a good idea of what the light levels are like on your sensor. With this handy tool you can adjust the ISO at the time of your pictures taking.

Increase your ISO: A high ISO in digital photography simply means the sensitivity to light that your digital camera has. In a nutshell the more ISO you have increased the image to, the less light the sensor needs. In sports photography an ISO of 400 or higher can work really well. The downside to this is that it does increase noise. To combat this you can use noise reduction software in the post editing process such as Noise Ninja or increase the LAB mode in the post editing process. Don’t be afraid to try a few shots at 400, 800 and even as high as 1600.

Burst mode:

In most sports digital photography this will be one of the settings you will turn to. Burst mode is also known as ‘continuous shooting’. This ‘continuous’ shooting mode allows you to get a sequence of shoots in succession. You can increase your chances of getting that ideal “split second perfect shot” that you might not be able to get by pre-emption or in normal shooting. This also works so beautifully if your digital camera has a painfully long lag time. I’ve used this so many times to get around the high lag my Sony Cyber shot has got. Some cameras have 3 frames per second and some go up to 12 frames per second. You simply select this mode and hold your finger on the shutter button and it will fire off as many shots in 1 second as it can.

Okay so I’ve been talking about your digital camera and the setting’s used for ideal sports digital photography, so what about any external equipment? If you have been thinking about this you’re spot on. You can take as much time with your settings but there’s not much point if you can’t get close to the action. There’s no point having a picture with perfect lighting and perfect action if the players are like dots on a sheet of paper. You need a good telephoto lens if you can’t get close up. A telephoto lens brings you closer because of its long distance capability. It will get you closer to the action but will need a faster shutter speed.

Many fantastic sports digital photos are taken with an emphasis on a very fast shutter speed, an f stop of around the 2.8 mark to blur the background and focus in on the subject. You may find that if your sportsperson is visually separated from the background and you take the digital photograph with a telephoto lens you’ll have a more shallow depth of field which can give you a more powerful feeling in your digital photo. You can get away with a good optical zoom lens, but you’ll get far better digital sports shots with a proper telephoto.

So what about the artistic side of sports photography with your digital camera? Plenty!

Pre-emption and Emotion is the key to good art.

When taking sports photography you probably won’t find a more public display of human emotion. The emotions of a sports person range from intense anticipation to extreme disappointment or extreme exhilaration. Pre-empting when these emotions take place is they key to getting artistic and impressive sports photos. This comes with practicing your digital photography.

SO much pressure is placed on our athletes, expecting them to perform so we can enjoy the show and the investors can enjoy their returns. This is another reason why I say to get a telephoto lens so you can capture the emotions on their faces and their body language. It makes for superb photography. For ideas on ice hockey, have a look at some ice hockey images that are great study tools.

Don’t just look at these digital photos, you must study them. Take on the attitude that studying sports photography will improve your digital sports photos ten fold. You will have a style to emulate and copy to start with then eventually, when you become confident, you’ll start to adopt your own style.

Happy shooting,

Amy Renfrey

To study digital sports photography check these sites out: http://www.espn.com/ and http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/ and http://cbs.sportsline.com/

Taking a vacation is a wonderful experience, whether you go to a beach location, a theme park, have a camping holiday, or travel to Europe on a sightseeing tour. But when you return home, the pictures you took on your trip are a large part of the memory experience. These pictures are priceless and it is worth learning a few tips to make your picture-taking memories more rewarding.

When packing for your memorable vacation, keep in mind these things:

• Camera, batteries + extras, memory card(s), battery chargers

• External flash (if needed), tripod, portable storage device

• Power adapter (if traveling abroad)

• Camera case—waterproof if going to a beach or wet vacation spot (you can also purchase silica gel packs from your camera store to reduce moisture further)

• Underwater camera if traveling to a beach location (even a small disposable one will get those unforgettable shots!)

• Be sure to get a wrist-strap for your camera—you don’t want to lose your camera when you are traversing the rainforest treetops!

Be sure to charge your camera batteries before you leave home, and clear your memory card. It is always a good idea to take an extra memory card with you. Don’t be afraid to shoot lots of pictures of the same subject – a digital camera can hold a lot of pictures and you can sort out the good from the bad before printing them when you get home.

Before you leave home, do a little research on the spot you are traveling to and try to pre-plan some of the shots you may wish to take. Use travel guides, books and magazines to help plan what you may wish to include in your memory album. This may also be helpful not only in planning what type of shot you may wish to take, but may affect when you travel to a certain location. Would you like a shot of the sun rising majestically over the Rocky Mountains? Or how about a shot of elephant feeding time at the San Diego Zoo—or even fireworks over the Eiffel Tower? Make a list of these potential shots and plan your trip accordingly.

PROVE YOU WERE THERE:

When you are taking pictures on your vacation, be sure to remember to include the human element. You don’t want only pictures of the scenery, but this should be a memory experience at the same time. Include pictures of your family and friends, even people you meet at the location. All of these elements ad to the ambiance of the experience.

Try to get at least some pictures with you in it. There is always some passerby around to take a picture of you in front of your cruise ship—just be sure it is someone trustworthy not to run off with your camera. Another good idea for this is to give the passerby a cheap disposable camera instead of your expensive one so that if he does drop the camera or runs off with it you won’t have much to lose. You may not get as good a picture quality, but at least it will be a memory shot.

TIPS ON INCLUDING PEOPLE IN YOUR VACATION PHOTOS:

• Capture the anticipation of your trip by using people. Try photos of packing up the car, arriving at the airport, getting on the plane. This type of picture will lend a great story line when displaying your pictures in an album. The same goes for the end of your trip. Have a shot of your wife sleeping on the plane after a whirlwind European vacation. Personally, I always end our albums with a display of all the things we acquired on our trip—everything from that gorgeous purse I bought in Panama, shells from the beach, to the airline tickets and the Spanish phrase book we used.

• Place your subject off-centre using the rule of thirds. Divide the picture into a tic-tac-toe like grid and rather than placing your subject into the centre square, place them onto one of four lines. This makes for a more interesting picture and is more aesthetically pleasing. A great portrait would be placing a person to one side with the horizon filling the rest of the picture.

• Try to get the people in your pictures to tell a story rather than just standing in front of a landmark. Eating, leaning on street signs, browsing through roadside markets, swimming on the beach are all ways to achieve this.

• Don’t have your subjects stand so far away that you can’t recognize who they are. Get them to stand closer and have the landmark in the distance. You can always take an extra shot of the landmark by itself.

• Sometimes it is good to get a photo of someone in the distance, perhaps with their back to the camera. This comes off as a candid shot and can create great drama in the picture.

• Try to get some action shots. Try taking a candid shot of kids or adults playing on the beach. Or capture someone’s face when tasting that chocolate covered ant. Use the Action Shooting Mode on your camera for a fast shutter speed to stop action so that you can get clear pictures without the blur. The Burst Mode lets you take multiple pictures with one click of the shutter button to catch a sequence of moves—for that Mexican dancing scene.

LANDSCAPE TIPS

• Study the area and plan your photograph. Would the picture be better if taken from the right to include the shadows? How about a different angle? You can crouch or take a photo looking up at the Eiffel Tower instead of straight on—wouldn’t that seem more dramatic? Use perspective to your advantage.

• Think about the distance you are away from your subject. Try to get as close as possible. Sometimes that house in the distance that you like will just be a spot in a 4X6 picture. Use your zoom as much as possible.

• Consider the lighting. The light can be harsh in the middle of the day and less intense in the early morning or late afternoon. Also you can achieve better results with lighting by taking pictures in inclement weather. Experiment by taking pictures at different times of the day. Even the shadows created in a landscape by taking advantage of the early morning light can be interesting and dramatic. Another lighting tip is to use you camera’s flash when shooting in direct sun to reduce effects of shadows on faces or other objects in the picture. If you happen to be in low light, try using a tripod. And experiment…is the light shining in the back or on the side? The placement of light and shadows in a picture can create a great shot.

• If you are taking a picture of a landscape, make sure there are no stray objects that may detract from your composition. Check before you shoot.

• Use colour to your advantage. You can often achieve very dramatic shots of colourful houses, fall foliage or azure beaches to add vibrancy to your photos. If you have a Beach Mode on your camera, use it to capture bright seaside scenes.

• Take advantage of the landscape mode in your camera, which adjusts the aperture so that objects near and far are sharp and clear. To achieve the same effect manually, you need to set your aperture to a high f-number (like f6.3), which will provide a wide range of focus to ensure everything near and in the distance is in focus.

• Panorama shots are very popular and some cameras offer in-camera panorama-stitching which is a feature that uses up to five single shots to create one seamless image right in the camera. Sweeping beach scenes are perfect for the Panorama mode. Tips for panoramic shots: (1) make sure your camera is as level as possible, (2) be sure to stand in the same position for all the shots, (3) overlap you images by 30-50% horizontally. Consider using panoramic shots for breathtaking mountain range shots, sunsets, cityscapes, or even a cascading waterfall.

• Use the Sunset Mode on your camera to achieve ideal dramatic photos of early evening or dawn when the sun in near the horizon. Image that perfect beach with the sun setting in the background.

SNOW OR BLACK AND WHITE SHOTS:

• The key to capturing magical winter shots is in the white balance. To achieve realistic winter scenes, some cameras have a Snow Shooting Mode which will automatically adjust the camera’s white balance to compensate for the snow and lighting conditions. You can also use your camera’s manual controls to adjust the white balance until the snow colour is correct. The image will change on your camera’s screen so you can adjust it up or down until the image appears accurate.

• Black and white pictures accentuate lines, textures and edges making great dramatic photographs. This can be a great choice for beach scenes and coastlines alike.

VACATION PHOTO ART:

• You can turn your vacation photographs into works of art using computer software to manipulate the pictures. If you have an artistic nature this is a great way to display your vacation photographs and receive rave reviews from family and friends.

Another tip on vacation photography is not just to take pictures of landmarks and people. Pictures of birds, flowers, and street signs all add to remembering where you visited.

I hope some of the above tips help in your vacation photography. At home, I love reviewing our photographs and reliving our travel experiences. We always take lots of pictures and share them often with family and friends.

One of the most interesting fields of photography is news photography. News photography is all about bringing to life complete and honest news events. It is necessary to capture news photographs perfectly in order to catch the reader’s eye.
It takes a news photographer years to develop the skill and talent required to produce quality photographs. It is not without many failures and errors that news photography can be mastered. Many successful news photographers admit that they have achieved what they have only after many failures.
For those who wish to start a career in the field of news photography, there are a few tips you must keep in mind.
1. Be attentive to natural sounds. Natural sounds are as essential as any picture or image. Interesting images can be made more interesting if it is accompanied by a good sound as these complement each other.
2. You need to master the art of white balancing. You should know which angles go on which surface. Getting the lighting right is one of the most essential factors in taking a good shot.
3. You need to know how to hold the perfect shot. Try your best to hold the shot for longer. You will learn the art of creating intervals between each shot.
4. Be extremely attentive in your interviews and ensure that you know the story. Interact with your reporter so that you get an idea on where he wants to go with the story so that you can capture accordingly.
5. While capturing shots, make sure you use your tripod. It is a common misconception that a video camera can be held steadily. There are some photographers who prefer to move around while taking their shots.
6. As far as possible, use your feet to zoom and not your lens. The best way to get a clear idea of the event is getting as close to the subject as possible. If you zoom in with your camera, the quality of the image might be blurred.
7. Use camera light only where it is needed. You can always choose to angle the light on the subject instead of directly lighting it. If you light up the subject too much, your pictures might turn out too bright and hence flat against the background.
It takes a great deal of mastery and skill to make a good news photographer who takes featured news shots. Try being as creative as possible and shoot different angles so that you have a unique view on every situation you encounter. Lastly, practice makes perfect so you should practice as much as you can before you dive head on into the field.

Today, digital photography is considered the most popular not only in the business industry but also for personal use. For all those who have shifted from film cameras, it is vital that you know the different terms related to it. The first part of the digital photography tutorial will focus on the basic parts and terms you need to know before handling a digital camera. Below are the common terms used in digital photography:1.    Pixel- means the tiniest part of the digital photo. A photo image is composed of combined millions of pixel. 2.    Resolution- the over all quantity of pixels in a photo. Increasing the resolution would make the image become sharper. Thus more pixels are needed to achieve a better photo image quality. 3.    Mega pixel- a photo composed of three to four mega pixels will have a better quality that a photo with only one mega pixel.4.    Dots Per Inch (DPI) – this term is used to describe quality of the computer monitor and printer. Specifically, laser printers have more dpi resolution than monitors. Hence, higher the dpi resolution means better quality.5.    JPEG (joint photographic experts group) – it correspond to the format for saving images in the digital camera.6.    Memory Card- this is where the digital files are stored. Memory cards consist of different sizes and capacity. A memory card with higher storage capacity would be more convenient to purchase.7.    LCD (liquid crystal display) – almost all digital cameras have this specification. The purpose of LCD is for the photographer to be able to view the scene first before capturing the photo.Now that you already understand the first part of the digital photography tutorial, the second part will discuss basically on correct handling of digital camera.Proper handling of digital camera is the next important step in digital photography. This is because the success of a digital photographer depends on his output. And the key to achieve quality photos starts in the way you use and handle the digital camera.Learning how a digital camera works, understanding the strategies in taking photos, and how to take indoor and outdoor pictures are all part of the things a beginner should learn.Below is the second part of the digital photography tutorial. These are good ideas to help beginner master the secrets of taking photos.1.    Pay attention to the subjectOne of the most fundamental digital photography tips. You should be able to compose carefully by working on the frame. Play with your camera, and explore the different shots. Avoid positioning your object at the center of the photo, as it may result to dead center image.2.    Capture Close Up PhotosTake great images by capturing them in extreme close up. Close up photos add a little creativity and excitement to the photos. In addition, this feature is only of the different ways to enhance you photo.3.    Use a tripodOftentimes digital cameras results to blurry photographs if your hands quiver a little. Getting a tripod will surely save your effort from taking low quality photos, and preserve otherwise great photos.4.    Be activeTry creative shots. Take photos from the top of a hill, or off the side of a yacht. Go outside and explore your environment. You’ll surely have fun taking those once in a lifetime photo shots.5.    Join a photography classYour learning doesn’t only focus on the practical part. You must not only learn through your experience. Learning from an expert would also help to improve your skills as a photographer. Try to join a photography class in your community, or if there are online classes you can log on.Becoming a professional digital photographer really takes time. You just have to be resourceful and keep on trying new techniques. Start by learning the digital photography tutorial because this will serve as a stepping stone for your future career growth.

A Candid Image – Wedding is one of the most special and memorable occasion of a couple’s life. It is through the wedding photographs and videos that a couple relives those priceless moments. It is essential that its memories are captured in the spirit with which it is celebrated. This article discusses some useful and interesting wedding photography tips to help a wedding photographer capture precious moments of a wedding in the best way.· Before the wedding, get to know the couple’s expectations. You can even compile a check list to ensure that you do not miss any particular person that the couple would surely like to be photographed with. A wedding is a family affair, so get acquainted with the bride and the groom’s siblings, best friends, and grandparents. · Every wedding is different, so get familiar with small details, procedures, traditions and customs that are associated with it. This way you can capture its true spirit! Also scout the locations where you will be clicking photographs before the big day. This will help you plan your shots and the amount of lighting required in each location.· Photography is a combination of both art and science. You have to be creative and technically sound with colour and light management, digital imaging, file management, image correction and editing. Practice your techniques by attending the seminars of professional photography organizations. · Be at the right place at the right time especially during the cutting of the wedding cake, throwing of the wedding bouquet and many other spontaneous moments that need be instantly captured! Use different angles, such as wide, close-up, high, etc. to create an interesting and a versatile album.· In order to avoid a glare from the sunglasses ensure you have the correct angle while taking a shot. As a glare from eyeglasses can lead to big bright spot in your photo and can ruin a picture perfect moment! · Create a dramatic effect to the event by including colorful wedding accents, wedding rings of the couple, table setting and decoration and flowers in the photos. The bottomline is to be original and create your own signature style!· Be well equipped. Carry an extra camera, ensure that the batteries are fully charged, the memory cards are blank, and also take along different lenses for creating different effects. Better still, love your work and give all your heart and soul to it!A Candid Image offers the best wedding photography services and is an ideal choice for couples seeking high quality photography at competitive price. Our endeavor is to convert every wedding photo shoot into a customized one by paying attention to minutest details. We offer experienced photographers with a state-of-the-art camera technology and infrastructure. Whether it is a wedding day reception, engagement or any other special occasion, the motto of A Candid Image is to reflect the true story of your event from the beginning till the end. Photography and Video Tips

I want to get into photography, but I can’t buy a really expensive SL camera, nor do I want one that big.
So is the Canon Powershot SD1100 IS going to take cool pictures? If you know what I mean. Like not just random whatever pictures, but cool artsy ones?
Thanks.

As one of the most important decisions you will make concerning the big day, planning your wedding photography should be considered with care. Follow these four steps to ensure your wedding pictures capture these priceless wedding day memories. 1) Select Your Photography StyleHow do you envision your wedding photographs? Wedding Photographers generally fall into three stylistic categories: traditional, photojournalist, or a combination of both. Traditional photographers are practiced in obtaining great portraits and posed shots. For more candid shots that document the day’s emotions and all the behind-the-scenes action, you may lean towards the photojournalistic style of photography (a hot trend for today’s weddings). For brides who simply cannot decide, seek a wedding photographer who can offer the perfect mix.2) Consider the CostThis really is one area in which you should avoid cutting corners, as your photographs will be one of the few keepsakes you can actually take from your wedding. Expect to allocate at least $1000 to your wedding photography budget (the bottom line in metro areas will be higher). If budget is a concern, consider ordering the most basic package, but avoid hiring an inexperienced photographer to save money. 3) Hire your Wedding PhotographerDo your research, and compile a list of potentials and commence the “meet and greet.” When meeting with potential photographers, be sure to review his or her work and remember to consider the importance of personality. Your photographer will capture some of the best shots behind the scenes, so you must feel comfortable in working with this person and inviting them backstage. Trust your instinct: if you find anything disagreeable about working with this person, keep looking. And don’t forget to get everything in writing. 4) Plan the Wedding PicturesWell before your wedding day, make sure you have considered the must-have photography shots and their execution. You should discuss these details with your photographer so that he or she will be familiar with the site location, the VIPs of the wedding (attendants, parents etc.), and the best and most un-obtrusive way to get these important shots.Consider every aspect of your wedding day and how you would like it captured. From the pre-ceremony preparation, to your walk down the aisle, to your “I Dos,” to your first dance and finally to your departure, make sure to discuss the perfect shots for each special moment. Throughout the planning process, be in the lookout out for images that catch your eye, and consider bringing clips to your photographer. Browse this gallery of creative wedding pictures for inspiration.Get even more wedding photography tips in this complete wedding photography guide.

Photography is a form of expressing ones emotion and style in capturing life’s priceless moments. It is a form of grasping exact feeling the ‘right here’ and ‘right now’ evokes and portrays. People’s faces are captured on a photograph as a form of expressing their true emotion. A scene or a sight is captured in a photograph to bring into view a particular emotion. Photography is very vast and meaningful in our lives and therefore brings us closer to one another.

Photography brings people closer to one another because it serves as a way for you to feel a particular emotion and directs you to absorb a certain type of message. Photographs are taken as a form of expressing an idea and it therefore conveys a message. When a message is conveyed through a photograph, the looker or the target audience of the photograph is able to grasp the message it is trying to express. The photograph then serves as a bridge between the subject and photographer. It is able to build a relationship that is hoped to grow and withstand the test of time.

Photography brings people closer because it is a creative form of expressing one’s creativity. When people express themselves through photography, they are able to share their artistry and ideas to other people. They are able to create ties between people and are able to share each other’s opinions and interests through the said photographs.

Photography is another way of building bridges. It is a form of capturing life’s precious moments and sharing these moments with other people. Some families are separated because of work or because of whatever circumstance. Photographs allow families to experience the same things though not first hand. If your parents are far and can no longer travel, sending them your recent photographs or that of their grand children will allow them to know and feel their presence. Photographs bind families closer indeed.

If your children are active in school but you do not get to be with them because of your work and tied up schedule, looking at photographs will make you feel as though your were with them .Photographs capture the true emotion of the subject and is therefore an honest representation of feelings and emotions.

Photography is very vast indeed and comes in different forms and serve different purposes. Whatever the case is, it brings people closer and makes the world somehow smaller for everyone to live and fit in.

By the way, If you’re interested to know more about camera tips please visit photography tips.

We cover useful and practical easy to apply tips on improving your existing knowledge of outdoor, natural and wildlife photography skills in this special feature on click and shoot creatures for you – so stick around and enhance your sharp shooter skills right here, right now! After all, who knows when the travel bug may bite you next – and you find yourself in the middle of an adventure holiday destination with all the scope of putting together wildlife calendars, post-card materials and even the odd t-shirt print but for the want of matching photography techniques to capture the beauty of these wild beasts!
So, to avoid the disappointment of such a frustrating experience and to increase your scope for game-viewing and photography of a wild, untamed and thrilling outdoorsy moment made more memorable for the exciting natural backdrop it can be captured in, take a look at these exclusive wildlife photography tips – and you can bet your next camping trip won’t be the same again, what with so many types of photographs to click!!
There is no dearth of the type of outdoor photography you can aspire to choosing to do when out in the wilds: the range of natural, wildlife photography covers the varied purposes of professional photographers and even hobby photographers keen to commit to film and memory their tryst with the wild side of nature e.g. animals in their natural habitat. Some of the types of wildlife photography you can explore when out in the wilds, includes portraits (or head-shots) of animals, close-ups or zoom, focus of profiles, landscape and series photography (sort of like slow motion shots, very interesting, especially when you can capture one of the Big 5 moving in for the kill).
The greatest virtue that one needs to develop for perfecting the skills of outdoor, especially wildlife photography is patience; close on the heels of this is the need to work on using various kinds of photography equipment (e.g. light support, tripods, lens change etc.) while atop a tree/vantage point and also keep a cool head.
A very challenging and exciting vocation to choose, wildlife photography is fraught with dangers of being in the naked outdoors with little more than a camera to shoot great moments and also risk being exposed to tropical diseases or unfriendly weather conditions if traveling beyond known territories of one’s homeland.
You will need to learn how to use a telephoto lens as many a time, an animal will not walk near you and in the beginner stages, a wildlife photographer needs to learn to be comfortable in natural surroundings and not simply be fool-hardy in approaching an animal straight off as this gesture may be misinterpreted as a threat and the animal may attack you.
A good way to start on wildlife photography career is to begin with the more accessible animals like bears, fox, elk, wild rabbits etc. while keeping a safe distance as you don’t want to scare them away and yet capture them in their natural habitat.
Try using a high speed digital camera so you can assess and store the best shots including the agility of an animal in the wild as well as not miss out on any actions since digicams come equipped with various easy-use features like auto-focus, red-eye elimination and extra zoom etc. and their quick shutter speed helps one to take multiple shots as the animal in focus moves.
Learn techniques like panning (following the territory of the animal’s range of movement) outdoor lighting and placement of photography equipment so you can get close and take personal shots of the animals without drawing attention to yourself and always respect jungle laws to stay safe in the wilds.

When buying a new digital camera, most people start out with the best intentions of becoming a truly creative photographer. One look at that thick, complex technical manual, and they switch the camera to auto…and that’s where it stays. As a result, most of us settle for snapshot photography when our cameras are capable of so much more.

Does this sound like you? Don’t worry, you are not alone. Camera manuals reflect the technical power of modern cameras, but they are intimidating to any beginner who just wants to take a decent photo.

Digital cameras are like most computer programs; you may find you can get by with about ten percent of the available functions. So don’t get tied up in knots trying to understand everything. Just learn what you need to know, and learn it well, and you will be well on the way to being a better photographer.

Here are a few tips that may just take the complexity out of photography for you.

Tip #1. Stick with the basics. In the days of film, good photographers used SLR cameras with two main settings; aperture and shutter speed. These were the ingredients of all great photography. Today, cameras come with hundreds of features, but guess which ones you really need to understand? That’s right, aperture and shutter speed.

If you can understand these two settings, you are halfway to becoming a better photographer. Your manual (I never said you could throw it away) will tell you which buttons to press on your camera. However, to really understand what these settings are all about, don’t rely on the manual. There is plenty of information out there; workshops, websites, books and ebooks can help.

Practice has never been easier than it is today. Most cameras have semi-automatic settings, called ‘aperture priority’ and ‘shutter priority,’ that allow you to operate one setting while the camera takes care of the other. This is a great way to practice a skill without fear of getting too many failed exposures.

Tip #2. Learn from your mistakes. If you just delete every photo you are not happy with, you are missing a golden opportunity to learn from your own experience. Photos you consider ‘rejects’ actually contain useful information – you really can learn from your mistakes!

Let’s say you are experimenting with aperture. Try photographing a scene three times, with three different aperture settings, for three slightly different results. Instead of keeping your favourite and deleting the others immediately, you could transfer them to your computer and take the time to examine them properly. You can see how each setting changed the look of the picture, and which setting worked best for that subject. Now you can learn from your own results, not from some theory in a book.

Did you know that if you right-click your mouse over a photograph on your computer and select ‘properties’ you will find a lot of information embedded in the file? You don’t have to keep a note of the aperture/shutter speed information; your photo does it for you!

Of course in the long term you don’t want to keep every single photo you take, but you might want to keep a folder of ‘learning photos’ to refer to later, with maybe two versions of each subject you experiment with. To make it even easier, rename the pictures with relevant titles, for example: Wildflowers/Small Aperture, Wildflowers/Wide Aperture; Waterfall/Fast Shutter, Waterfall/Slow Shutter.

Tip #3. Learn The Art As Well As The Technique. Every problem in photography cannot be solved by the camera. Experienced photographers know that good lighting and creative composition is often more important than up-market technology. In fact, most photos fail not because of bad technique, but because they were taken at the wrong time of day, or the photographer did not put enough thought into the composition. Yet daily I meet people who think that all their problems would be solved by a better camera, or some mysterious technique they are yet to learn.

Remember what I said in Tip #1; aperture and shutter speed are the fundamental skills, and with a little practice, they are not hard to learn. Master them and you are halfway there. The key to becoming a really good photographer is a balance of technical knowledge and artistic skill. Practice both, and soon your friends will be coming to you for photography tips!