Tag Archives: wildlife

Shooting Wildlife Images Alongside Beyond Here Readers

Yesterday I had a unique experience – I was shooting wildlife images alongside Beyond Here readers. That’s a first! Bob and Rae are from California, USA and had read my post Favorite Wildlife Photography Locations. Looking back on that post, I wrote it in the first 3 months of Beyond Here. That’s a long time ago now, way back in mid 2014. It must have been meant for Bob and Rae as I even spelled ‘favorite’ with the US spelling!

There is a large group of Flying Foxes at Yarra Bend Park meaning we could shoot a variety of images.

Background

Bob and Rae contacted me a few months ago. We shared ideas on good wildlife photography locations for their trip to Australia. I made some suggestions for Melbourne and around Victoria, keeping in mind that transport can be tricky when you are in a foreign country where the locals drive on the opposite side of the road!

Fast forward to this week. They arrived last Sunday and contacted me by email. By chance, I had a fairly light week planned and had time to join them at Yarra Bend Park to photograph the large group of grey headed flying foxes which roost there. How cool. Shooting wildlife images alongside Beyond Here readers from the US.

Yesterday’s Shoot

We spent a few hours exploring the park and shooting images of the flying foxes. Bob found it a unique experience as he is used to small bats, not large flying foxes. The grey headed flying foxes are active during the day, so Bob was able to get a range of images. That included everything from bats hanging upside down sleeping in the trees next to the river, through to groups of them in flight.

We had a lot of fun and it was unique to be shooting wildlife images alongside Beyond Here readers. (It also helped Bob justify bringing his 200-500mm lens on a 16 hour flight to the other side of the world! You know you love your photography when you can justify that!)

The Wrap

It was a lot of fun meeting Bob and Rae and showing them around one of my favorite wildlife photography spots. It never occurred to me that writing Beyond Here back in 2014, I’d some day be shooting wildlife images alongside Beyond Here readers from the other side of the world just 15 minutes from my home.

Grey headed flying foxes have a large wing span

Bob and Rae are in Melbourne for another few days before exploring parts of New South Wales and Queensland. To you both, thanks for making time to say hello and explore Yarra Bend Park together. I hope your images from yesterday are good, and that you have a great time in Australia.

Thanks for reading shooting wildlife images alongside Beyond Here readers. Happy shooting.

Add Interest to Your Wildlife Images

I am a big fan of wildlife photography. The world around us is amazing and so are the animals in it. Here are 8 quick tips to add interest to your wildlife images.

Multiple animals in one image adds interest

Multiple Animals. A single animal on its own can create a great image, but multiple animals in the frame adds real interest. The image becomes about that type of animal, but also about the interaction between them. These corellas look like they are working as part of a team to keep an eye out for potential danger.

It is harder to shoot multiple animals in one frame – but look out for these opportunities. They are a good first step for how to add interest to your wildlife images.

Look out for baby animals to add impact to your images

Baby Animals. If you want to get a strong reaction to your wildlife images, look out for baby animals! There is almost a guaranteed ‘wow’ if you can shoot images with baby animals in them.

In this image of a red kangaroo and her joey, it appears that the joey is peering out from the protection of its mother to see what the photographer is doing.

The size difference between the two animals, and the cute ears, mean added interest to a single animal or two adult animals. Baby animals are a very easy way to add interest to your wildlife images. I wrote a previous post about this, which you can see here.

Clean Backgrounds. Like with any sort of portrait a clean, clear background will help your subject to stand out in the image. And this will help focus the viewers attention on the subject.

A clear background of the lake helps focus attention on the black swan

This image of a black swan was taken in Perth, Western Australia. Fortunately when swans flap their wings like this, they tend to do it several times. This enabled me to get in a position with a clear, water background. It has no distracting lakes edge, or reeds, or people walking past the lake.

When you are next out shooting, see if you can add interest to your wildlife images by removing any distractions in the background. Clean backgrounds help to produce compelling wildlife portraits.

Interaction creates interest

Interaction. One of the benefits of having multiple animals in your image is that you will often see them interacting. Not only can you get a great image of the animals itself, your image can provide insight to the connection between animals. Wait for the moment when the two animals connect.

Shoot close up with a long lens

Close Ups. Getting really close up can add a lot of interest to your wildlife images. Through your camera and your image, you can provide a view that is not possible to the human eye. This cockatiel pair would not let me get this close if I was standing near them, but with a zoom lens we can see them in close up.

Blue billed duck reflected in the lake

Reflections. Reflections can add a lot of interest to your wildlife images. I wrote an earlier post about this which you can find here.

This is a blue billed duck. See the interesting reflection in the lake. Good reflections need still water. Often the best time for this is in the early morning.

If you are an early riser, take advantage of the reflections at this time of day.

Look for animals in action

Action. Animals in action adds a lot of interest to wildlife images. This bird is a grebe and this shot was taken at a lake in Perth, Western Australia. It is common for these birds to run across the top of the water. Be patient and use a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the action.

Look for color to create interest

Color. Animals come in a very wide range of colors. Bright colors attract our attention in any image. Look for bright colors to add interest to your wildlife images.

That’s it for 8 quick tips for how to add interest to your wildlife images. Happy photographing!

Favorite Wildlife Photography Locations

This post looks at one of my favorite wildlife photography locations – Yarra Bend Park in Melbourne, Australia.

Grey headed flying fox showing off its wingspan. Yarra Bend Park, Melbourne, Australia

Where is it?

Yarra Bend Park is 4km north east of the Melbourne central business district in the suburb of Kew. If you are familiar with Melbourne, it is also close to Abbotsford, Collingwood, and not too far from Richmond. It is a 260 hectare park, which makes it the largest area of natural bush land close to the city center. In the area are large residential areas, bush land, parks, sporting fields, and golf courses. The Yarra River winds its way right through Yarra Bend Park. The area is popular with cyclists, walkers, mountain bikers, and has a great lookout area which provides views of the sun setting behind the city.

How do I find it?

I first went to Yarra Bend Park in 2008 when I was invited to play golf at the public golf course there. I have since found out that it is well known in Melbourne, but I had not been there before 2008. My round of golf, which I remember being a particularly bad (!), was the first of many trips.

What can I do there?

Actually, more than I realized! I looked up the Parks Victoria website and it shows that you can do walking, jogging, golf, fly fishing, picnic, sports, eat at the restaurant, visit Studley Park boathouse, and see Dight Falls.

Position yourself to get clear background for your image

But the main thing I go to see are the huge number of grey headed flying foxes. They roost in the trees next to the Yarra River in very large numbers. There are publicly accessible walkways through these areas on one side of the river. You can see them hanging upside down in the trees, sometimes sleeping, sometimes interacting with each other, and now and then keeping an eye on you! If you had a view that bats or flying foxes did nothing during the day, that’s not the case. On most times I’ve visited there is plenty of noise and movement, and it is fairly straightforward to get images of bats in flight. In early summer, October and November, if you look closely you can also see them flying with their babies clinging to their chest.

About Grey Headed Flying Foxes

Grey headed flying foxes are the largest bat in Australia. They have a dark grey body, a light grey head, and reddish-brown fur around their necks. The adults have an average wing span of 1 meter and can weigh up to 1 kg. They rely on sight to find food, and so they have relatively large eyes for a bat. But the thing that strikes you when you see them at Yarra Bend Park is just how many there are. It’s a huge thriving community of bats!

What Equipment Should I Take?

The Canon 70-200mm f2.8 lens

While there are a lot of flying foxes at Yarra Bend Park, they are small animals and will often be some way off in the trees. To get close up images of them, you’ll need at least a 200mm lens. Even better is a 300mm or 400mm lens. (All the images on this post were taken with a 200mm lens.) For camera bodies, I use my Canon 7D for the high burst rate. It is ideal for taking images of these flying foxes in mid air. And I always take several memory cards. It is easy to take plenty of shots in burst mode and I don’t want to run out of memory.

What Types of Shots Can I Get?

Due to the large numbers of animals here, you can get a range of different images. It is possible to get these shots of flying foxes:

hanging upside down staring straight at you
interacting with each other seemingly oblivious to any humans nearby
in flight
isolated against a grey or blue sky
in silhouette against the sun
showing the veins in the wings

How do I Take Shots of Bats in Flight?

Flying foxes gather in big numbers at Yarra Bend Park

Taking shots of the flying foxes in mid flight is not difficult – particularly as there are so many of them. My suggestions for achieving this shot are to:

position yourself so you can get an uncluttered background
if it is a windy day, get them flying into the wind. They will be going slower which makes this shot easier
use the continuous focusing mode on your camera and track them in flight
use the burst mode to take a series of images in quick succession
use a fast shutter speed. My best images of these animals have been at 1/2500s and faster shutter speeds

Why is Yarra Bend Park a Favorite Wildlife Photography Location?

Yarra Bend Park is one of my favorite wildlife photography spots because:

it is so easily accessible. It is only a few kilometers from the city and there is easy parking
I have visited over 20 times, and the large group of bats has always been there
there are so many animals, that a wide range of images is possible
the contrast of being able to shoot what I consider to be a night animal during the day is unique

Take Me There!

I’ve always thought that Yarra Bend Park would be a great place to conduct photography tours. If you’d like me to take you there, drop me an email at [email protected]

Thanks for reading all the way to here! I hope you might think of bats differently now. Yarra Bend Park is one of my favorite wildlife photography locations.

Bat in flight, with baby on its chest

Freezing Motion

Freezing motion is a photographic technique to capture what the human eye cannot see. It is particularly effective in wildlife and sports photography. So what do we need to do to freeze motion, and how can we use this?

To be effective in freezing motion we need to use a fast shutter speed. To achieve this we may need to use a high ISO depending on the lighting conditions. How fast does the shutter speed need to be? That depends on how quickly the subject is moving. Let’s look at some examples of freezing motion.

Freezing motion in indoor lighting conditions will require higher ISO

Indoor sporting settings are particularly challenging for freezing motion. The low levels of lighting will mean higher ISO settings are required to get fast shutter speeds. In this image the settings are ISO4000, 1/500s, f2.8

In this case the player has just set off from a standing start. For this shot 1/500s has been fast enough to freeze the action. If he was running full speed we would need a shutter speed of 1/1000s or faster to freeze the motion.

Freezing motion is very effective in wildlife photography

Example two is a black swan. This image was taken at Albert Park Lake in Melbourne, Australia. The outdoor setting and brighter lighting means we can use lower ISO, though we still need fast shutter speeds to freeze the action. In this case the settings were ISO100, 1/1600s, f2.8.

The bright sunny conditions means I have been able to use ISO100 and 1/1600s to freeze the action. Smaller, faster wildlife will require fast shutter speeds than these. To achieve focus, I have selected a single focus point and focused on the swan’s head. In the sports examples, I have used the same technique. Choose a single focus point and focus on the player’s head.

Freezing motion in sport is straightforward in well lit conditions

In example three we have a player running towards first base. The brightly lit outdoor conditions mean we can achieve fast shutter speeds with lower ISO’s. In this case the ISO is 200 and the settings 1/1000s and f4.5. Again, for faster moving subjects, higher shutter speeds will be required.

How might we use the techniques for freezing motion? The sports examples show you that action images are no longer reserved only for professional sports people. With today’s camera technology and these techniques it is possible to create action portraits in local, amateur sports too.

In example four, we have a cassowary. These very large, impressive, flightless birds are difficult to photograph. Being ready with the techniques outlined in this post, meant that when this cassowary moved its head in an unusual way, I was ready to capture a unique portrait. In this case the settings were ISO500, 1/200s, f2.8. The slower shutter speed was effective here because these large birds move relatively slowly (except when they are running!!)

Be ready with a fast shutter speed, and a single focus point

For success in freezing motion, keep your shutter speeds high, and use a single focus point. 1/500s will work successfully for larger, slower moving subjects – and 1/1600s and faster for smaller faster moving subjects.

Capture the Icons

This week I have been in Tasmania, Australia (without the camera). Being there made me think about how important it is to me to photograph the icons in each place I spend a significant amount of time. In addition to my wedding photography, I’m a keen wildlife photographer, so that means I try to capture the icons of the local wildlife.

Close up of a Tasmanian Devil

If you are not familiar with Tasmania, it is an island state of Australia located south of the mainland. It is important to me to clarify that, because I recently posted a picture of a Tasmanian Devil on Google+ and indicated the picture was taken in Australia.

The Tasmanian Devil is a carnivore

I got one comment which said it couldn’t possibly have been taken in Australia, as they are only found in Tasmania. While I found this mildly amusing, he refused to believe that the image had been taken in Australia, or that Tasmania was part of Australia! I should have suggested he come and visit some time.

Tasmania is known for a number of things including – spectacular scenery, friendly people, fresh air, great sunrises and sunsets, fantastic farming conditions and primary produce, excellent fishing, windy weather, and for the animal which bears its name – the Tasmanian Devil.

Tasmanian Devils are not easy to photograph as they are hard to find and don’t often keep still. I have been slowly building my range of Tasmanian Devil images over the last 5 years. Some quick facts about Tasmanian Devils. They are:

characterized by a stocky, muscular build
the size of a small dog
known for the power of their jaws relative to their total size
known for their ferocity when feeding
exist in the wild only in Tasmania (that’s Tasmania, Australia!!)
since 2008 have been listed as endangered, mainly due to the impact of facial tumor disease on the population

Tasmanian Devils are known for the power of their jaws

One fact I didn’t know until today, is that very few Tasmanian Devils exist outside Australia because the population which has been exported have not been successful in breeding. Interesting. Perhaps that’s why pictures of them seem to get an extraordinary number of comments on social media? Or maybe people feel a connection to them through the Looney Tunes character “Taz”?

Visiting Tasmania is always enjoyable, even if it is a little cold at this time of year. It was also a timely reminder to me to take time to capture the icons photographically.

Do you have a favorite icon to photograph? Buildings, architecture, people, wildlife? Have you had the chance to photograph a Tassie Devil??

Look for Baby Animals

Wildlife photography tip – if you want your friends to ooohhhh and aaaaahhh at your wildlife pictures, look for baby animals. It is the baby animals which get the “isn’t it cuuuuuute!” reaction.

Below are four examples of baby animals, the stories that go with them, and some technical data on each shot. These are all Australian wildlife.

Show me the samples!

Image #1 – Baby Koala

Koala carrying its joey

Baby koalas are called joeys. They ride on mums back until they are too big. It makes for a great photograph when you can get the mother and baby both in the frame. This is relatively easy with koalas as the baby rides on mums back. Look for baby animals!

This image was taken in Queensland, Australia in the late afternoon. Koalas sleep for up to 20 hours per day. When they are awake, you can get a variety of shots in a short period of time. This shot was taken as it moved to another part of the tree to feed. The sun had set and so this was taken with quite slow shutter speed 1/60 sec at f4.

Image #2 – Baby Emus

Emu chicks

Emu chicks can be challenging to photograph as mum won’t let you get close to them. She will stay near to them for protection.

They have the beautiful striped camouflage you can see in this image and are really cute.

To make this image I sat on the ground. This helped the adult emu know that I was no threat to her and her chicks. They proceeded to stroll all around me, and I was able to make a series of interesting images. Even though they are small, they rarely stay still. To get them nicely in focus you will need a higher shutter speed. This shot is 1/1250 sec at f4.5.

Image #3 – Bush Stone Curlew Chicks

A bush stone curlew and its chicks

Bush stone curlews are common in the western suburbs in Brisbane, Australia which is where this image was made. They have an unusual behavior – when they feel threatened they stay completely still.

This does make them easy to photograph and you can get relatively close if you move slowly. Their chicks also have a similar striped pattern to the emus in the sample above. Very cute. Look for baby animals! This image was shot at 1/1250 sec at f3.5.

Image #4 – Kangaroo Joey

Kangaroos don’t generally let you get too close when they have young joeys who are out of the pouch. This one is big enough that it could easily have hopped away very quickly on its own. That might be the reason they both let me get relatively close – this shot was taken with a 70-200mm lens, 1/400 sec at f4.5

Female red kangaroo and its joey

I love the look on the joey’s face as it peeks out from behind mum! If you want your friends to oohhh and ahhhh at your wildlife pictures – look for baby animals.

The koala and kangaroo images here are good examples of filling the frame with the subject for maximum impact. I wrote an earlier blog post on that topic to give your images greater impact.

What are your favorite baby animals to photograph?

Photography Tip Look for Reflections

Here is a general photography tip, look for reflections to add depth to your photographs. Reflections can add a new dimension to your images and can make a bland image compelling.

Below is an image I made at Albert Park Lake in Melbourne, Australia. This shot was taken early on a Saturday morning. There was no breeze, very still water, and high cloud. The cloud meant that the light from the sun was diffused and soft. The birds white color stood out against the darker color of the water. There were no distractions in the background or on other parts of the lake. The shape of the birds neck was very interesting, and the image was made much more compelling by the reflection of the bird in the water. Great!

White heron reflected in a lake

But it’s not every day that you get nice still conditions, a lovely still lake, no distractions in the background, and a cooperative heron!

So, where can you find reflections to add a new angle to your images?

My favorite places to use this technique are reflections in lakes, city buildings windows and building facades, puddles, trains and ferries, and sunglasses.

While this example is a wildlife image, this technique works equally well for other subjects. Think about these:

A bride reflected in the window of a wedding car
A street scene reflected in a city building
The Sydney Opera House reflected in the window of the ferry as you travel across Sydney Harbor
A football game reflected in a sideline puddle
The New York skyline reflected in your best friends sunglasses
Busy commuters reflected in the train window

The possibilities are endless.

It doesn’t matter whether you are shooting with the latest DSLR, your point and shoot camera, or your camera phone – this technique will still work well.

You can combine this tip with the tip to fill the frame with the subject for double the impact.

To help make average photographs outstanding, look for reflections.

Have you taken a great shot using reflections? What was it?

Urban Wildlife

Do you feel like you have to travel to exotic places to create great images?

My commitments in my home town (Melbourne, Australia) forced me to find photography opportunities close to home – and I’m glad they did.

Grey headed flying fox

In Melbourne, there are opportunities to shoot architecture, city life, sporting events, city scapes, and lifestyle images. I’ve also found some outstanding wildlife urban wildlife locations, even in a city of 4 million people!

Here are 2 shots from some of my favorite places.

First, there is a large colony of grey headed flying foxes at Yarra Bend – roughly 7 kilometres from the city centre. They are spectacular animals and are relatively easy to photograph. This shot is taken with a 70-200mm lens and a fast shutter speed (1/8000s at f3.5) to freeze the action. I love the way you can see the veins in the wings. Spooky.

Second, at Albert Park Lake, there are cockatoos and corellas which visit year round. This shot was taken next to the golf course – a regular haunt for the cockatoos! Albert Park Lake is just a short walk from the city centre.

Cockatoo in Flight

What are the great urban wildlife opportunities close to your home? Please leave a comment, I’d love to hear what opportunities you are finding.