insectsandflight.com

all pictures © robin williams

revised 17-7-202

Wildlife Photography

techniques, equipment and outlook

why photograpy?

For a great many years photography has been my hobby and passion. The series of sub-sections that follow serve as an introduction to why, how and with what equipment; the questions I wish had been answered when I started each phase of my photographic saga. My chosen field is nature in all its fascinating forms, while specialising in two areas in particular, insects and birds in flight. All the pictures have been taken within the UK and, in particular, near where I live on the Somerset Levels.

Tadham Moor, Somerset Levels

Insects in flight 

Photographing insects in flight must be one of the greatest challenges for a photographer. They are tiny, fast, often unpredictable and rarely stationary. The advent of a well-developed generation of digital single lens reflex cameras (SLRs) has brought with it such technical improvements that the impossible has become possible, though there will always be further challenges, better pictures to come. The following sections show how these were obtained, give tips on how to improve success rates, leading on to a gallery of insect flight shots.

mining bee Anthophora plumipes m

Birds, mammals & others

Bird photography has come on apace with digital cameras, by way of improvements to equipment such as lens stabilisation, silent, ultra-fast internal focussing and digital processing. This makes the capture of well-focussed, perfectly-exposed pictures easier, but there remains the strictly human aspect of catching that critical moment. There never will be perfection; there is always hope of a better one in the future, showing new behaviour; otherwise none of us would continue. This collection of articles brings ideas for success, followed by a gallery of birds in flight.

Grey heron Ardea cinerea

Roe deer Capreolus capreolus m