Wildlife Photography

Basics & Equipment

Being a keen photographer myself I have always wanted to capture birds of prey and although I still have not got that portfolio shot I have had plenty of opportunities. I am writing this to help any amateur photographers get the same opportunities.

Firstly lets start with the basics, you will not get the perfect shot without at least a 200mm lens, ideally you would want to try and get as close to a 600mm lens as you can, this is going to give you a very good zoom, around 12x to be exact about it.

Having a lens like that will allow you to get the detail you want from the shot. Just taking a look at Hans Veth's image above you can see that Hans has isolated the subject beautifully, this is using the lens aperture, the effect is called bokeh, this it to have the subject in focus with the background being blurred out.

In camera this will look something like F1.8, and F1.8 will give you a great amount of bokkeh, unfortunately a lens that can isolate like that is going to be expensive, but there are positives, you can isolate a subject as high as F5, it just wont look as aesthetically pleasing as a shot taken at F1.8.

What Bird & Where?

So this depends on you and your situation, if you are lucky enough to live in the highlands you can try and capture the Golden Eagle, now this I have never done but I have read some of the stories from around the Isle of Mull, one that caught my eye was this one from WildScot, I am considering a trip myself after reading this story.

Red Kite

Now I am lucky enough to live near the highlands of Wales, I often trek up to Pen Y Fan peaks and I am regularly able to capture a Red kites near the summit, unfortunately my skills have eluded me of a portfolio shot of the kite mainly due to lighting and conditions but with a bit more effort I think there is a portfolio shot to be had at Pen y Fan, just take the main path to the top of Pen y Fan and you will mainly see the Kite at the first peak.

As soon as I get that portfolio shot I will upload it here.

Brecon has another place where capturing the Red Kite can be straightforward, Red Kite Feeding Station, this place looks incredible, I have not been here yet as its only open in the Summer months and I only discovered it a few months ago but it is on the list, I read a story where there was a White Kite spotted there, this is an incredibly rare albino Red Kite.

Kestrel

Now this one is not an easy catch, I got lucky with this one, I caught this Kestrel at Seaham Beach up north and probably my proudest moment, I caught this from the main road above the beach, I was so happy to catch the moment and although there was a few technical issues with the image I use this in my portfolio now.

Capturing Kestrels can be tricky, if you can find any cliffs above a field or grassy areas you will have a good chance. They hover which is great for making sure shots are ready in camera. I got the bokkeh just right in this image and cant wait to get the next one.

Buzzards

These have eluded me, I have managed to capture one but due to their skittish nature I have struggled to capture one that would get into my portfolio, generally you will see them perched on motorways and main roads looking for roadkill, you can also find them on field walls across the countryside or circling columns of isolated trees.