Before anything, let me tell you
I am not a wildlife photographer
I have seen the lives of the wild life photographers closely
This is more difficult than weddings, portrait and fashion...
If you would want to listen to the the details of wild life photography
from a professional wild life photographer
this may not be the video for you
Secondly, this video is not more about
equipments, we will discuss about that
towards the end of the video
This will be more about the passion for
wild life, the real meaning,
what will be your life as a wild life photographer
the kind of patience you need
how do wild life photographers earn money
How easy or difficult is wild life photography in today's date..
We will discuss about all these ...
So, basically what is wildlife photography?
Many people are confused...
There are these workshops and safaris
If you go in the safaris and if you think you became a wildlife photographer
may be you are not right...
The wildlife photographers belong to a different breed..
So then, whats wildlife photography?
There is a natural habitat for an animal
where it lives
if we go to the place where they stay and
try to make pictures keeping them in their own comfort zone
this is wildlife photography
When I say 'Animals' in the video. you can include animals, birds and everything that you find in wildlife....
So, whats the secret behind making beautiful pictures?
There are 2 ways....
One is the click a very rare animal
which people have hardly seen
Meaning, if you are clicking a tiger, make sure its of a rare species
something which is not seen in the media easily...
get hold of such a subject
Or an animal which may be common
but you are presenting it in a very different way...
A unique picture, a unique expression, a unique pose
which is probably not clicked by any other photographer....
So, you can click in 2 ways....
1. A unique subject
2. Subject in a unique form
When you do either of this
your photo is going to stand out...
As such , getting recognised as a wild life photographer is not easy
but sometimes, people tend to get lucky...
There is a possibility that a photographer may not have clicked all beautiful wildlife photos in his life
but he may get lucky by clicking that one unique shot
Say, that may be an entry to prestigious competitions like the one done by National Geographic ....
and he may overnight get recognition and just be lucky....
Once you are famous, there is a possibility
that you get work and multiple assignments
and you can pursue it as a career...
But, lets assume you are not so lucky
then you need a lot of patience
The way you keep your patience waiting for that animal to shoot
The same patience need to be shown to make it your career
You can do one thing..!!
You want to make wildlife photography as a hobby,
then, no worries
If you feel, this is your passion
you are ready to wait patiently until you get a recognition
even that's ok... OR may be
You may have to be a good businessman along with being a good wildlife photographer
Where and how to present your photos
in itself is a talent...
Now, lets assume you have patience
You go to the wildlife to click pictures
You wait for the animal
the animal did not end up coming there
You came back but you did not feel bad because you are a wildlife photographer
wildlife photographers usually show such passion and patience....
You went there again.. waited for it again..
This time you were able to click a lot of photos of the animal
but you ended up shortlisting some three to four unique photos..
Now comes the presentation skills....
Whether you upload them on Facebook or Instagram
but people are not usually impacted by looking at a photo on the social media.....
You have to do One among the two
You need to know a lot about that animal
Along with that photo, you need to share all the information about that animal
Most of us are not aware of more than 10-15 animals around us...
When you write stuffs about that animal ... where it is found, what climate it is seen, its food habits etc....
When you write all these, people
tend to show interest in reading it and will like it
Or in case its not a rare animal
most people know about the animal
in that case, its a good idea to write about your own experience
telling people your experience of clicking the animal
where you went, how many days/hours did you wait for it, what kind of place was it...
If you share a story of that day along with that photo...
even that is going to interest people,,
These are the 2 ways you can touch hearts of the people with your photos...
This was your presentation
Now we will talk about earnings..
As far as I know wild life photographers
Some people make calendars, coffee table books
Some wild life photographers are associated with governments
for state tourism and wild life protection..
there are some of them, who after have a a couple of years into the wildlife,
start with workshops and safaris...
If you just want to start with wildlife photography
going on a safari OR a workshop for a couple of times initially is absolutely fine
but assuming that itself is wildlife photography may be wrong
What do we usually see in safaris
A tiger is walking on the road
A cheetah is walking on the road
tiger sleeping under a tree
a zoomed in photo
we have seen this a lot...
we need something unique now
not just that
imagine multiple people in a group struggling to capture the same tiger
you can imagine what would be the result.. whats the use?
So, this is fine.... until you are learning....
But don't assume you are a wildlife photographer now...
because being a wildlife photographer is not an easy job..
Now we know that we need a lot of patience for something like wild life photography
mostly likely you wont get instant success
unless you are associated with someone in the system , like an already established photographer
So, you need passion
you need patience
A skill to create a unique photos
When you need so much to become a wildlife photographer
I feel entry level camera may not be the best option
I feel good equipments are equally important
So, when we think about equipments
We need to think about what are those important aspects we need to keep in mind
assuming we are going to shoot wildlife...
I would recommend a full frame DSLR or a mirrorless
but in case of budget constraint
then use a crop sensor
One obvious thing is
we usually don't go very close to the animal
we click photos from far
accordingly focal lengths also will be large
So, in case of prime lens we will have large focal lengths...
like 300mm , 400mm... etc
and when we think about zoom lens
like how I have seen wild life photographers
minimal focal length will be 100
100-400mm, 150-600 mm...
such will be the focal ranges...
we may need another thing...
the teleconverters ..
they have the capacity of multiplying the zoom optically
Say, you are using a 300mm lens
and you use a 2x teleconverter
you will be shooting at 600 mm...
So , virtually you will be using a 600mm lens
we get 1.4x and 2x
Its upto you whatever is in your budget and what you want to use...
I feel you need a strong tripod to hold those long and heavy lenses..
One more thing about animals is, the
expression of the animals don't stay , they are quick and they are not posing..
it may just be there for a fraction of a second, so when you are waiting
for a particular expression or pose
and if you are trying your luck with one click
there is a possibility that the animal may have closed its eyes or made some weird pose...
Lot of frames per second is required...
So that we are able to click photos continuously
and you will be able to select some nice poses
apart from that
you have no idea how alert the animals are
the sounds of the mere movements of hands and legs also may
alert them and you may lose them..
Silent shutter is very much needed
Mirrorless cameras are being a solution for these things
high FPS and silent shooting is there is mirroless
Also, I would suggest
that an expensive lens and an expensive camera
the combinations becomes a little difficult for beginners,
I would request you to buy whatever regular camera equipments you want to buy
but when you are out to shoot the wild
On that particular day,
a good body, lens , tripod etc...
can be rented....
When we are beginners, we will not be going out to shoot wild life on a daily basis
what if you just get tired of going out and in a couple of months
So, you don't have to invest in such expensive equipments...
Just rent them..
after you have done this for 5-6 times...
you will get a reality check on your passion for wildlife
and you will get to know what exactly you need for what you click...
Then you can easily decide on the combination of body, lens and
other accessories that you can buy ad use for years to come...
Which budget bodies are good, which premium bodies are good,
what budget lenses
and what premium lenses
tripod , teleconverters and all accessories details
I have shared the details and corresponding links in the descriptions.. You can go and check it out...
Thank you so much for watching this video
I hope you liked this video
If you did, then please let me know
by giving it a thumbs up
If you have any friends who want to be wild life photographers
do share this video with them
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