Page 89 - World of Animals - Issue #31

Wildlife photography

Tip 2 Use Aperture Priority
and set a low f number to
Night-time settings capture more light

The key choices to make once you start
shooting in the dark
With a lack of light, you need to really think about
what settings you can use to let the most light in.
Using Aperture Priority mode and a wide aperture
(low f number) will let more light into the lens, and
raising your ISO will make the sensor more sensitive
to the light there is. A higher ISO also means a
faster shutter speed can be used, leading to sharper
shots if the animal is moving. Keep your ISO as
low as it can be, though, to minimise the amount
of grain in your shots. The exact settings that you
need to use, however, depend on a few factors, so
often you may need to experiment and think about
the result you want. Raise your ISO
“Settings will be different depending on which to brighten up
lens you’re using, and how high of an ISO you’re dark images
comfortable with,” says Connor. “For wide angle
images with stars, try ISO 3200, f2.8 or f4, 20
seconds, and make adjustments as you need to. For
the stars to not streak, you’ll probably need to use a
shutter speed of 20 seconds or faster.”

Tip 3
Avoid the shakes

Keep images sharp using some simple
and sturdy support
You may need to use a slow shutter speed to
let more light into the camera, especially if you
don’t want grainy shots from really high ISOs.
At slow shutter speeds, though, any movement
of the camera will cause shots to blur. Avoid
this shake by using a tripod and set it up on
sturdy ground. Only raise the centre column if
you need to, as this is less stable than raising the

legs first. If you’re using a slow shutter speed,
though, you’ll have to take your shot when the

animal is fairly still or combine this with flash.
Connor Stefanison advises: “Using the mirror-
lockup function in your camera and a cable
release can help, too. If your lens has image
stabilisation, turn it off when shooting slow
shutter speeds on a tripod. Having it turned
on will only cause blurry images… Check your
camera body too, because some camera bodies
have stabilisation built in.”

Avoid camera Connor’s top tip
shake by using

a tripod “Shoot in the RAW file
format. Setting your camera
to RAW will provide you
with much more detailed

image files, and allow you
to enhance your image
more effectively than with

a JPEG file.”

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