Top Tips From Wildlife Photographer David Smith

David Smith from South Africa shares his top tips and techniques for amazing nature & wildlife photography. Learn how to take better photos with his advice on approaching animals, composing and framing shots, and getting the best camera accessories. You’ll come away with natural and “inspired” photos from a safari, or just a hike in the woods.

Comments

0c0bor0 says:

nice video!,,
thanks for posting!

onirocknroll says:

Very Good.
Thanks.

Webbula says:

That looks amazing.
I need to do something like that.

“The more I practice the luckier I get”

yafethtal says:

very nice thanks a loads

jdcontrol says:

Great video, very helpful advice here.

marcsilber says:

glad you liked it, David is a real pro

horolographer1 says:

The practical suggestions is most useful. However, I wish he was more specific about the focal length of lenses for the South African safaris. Each safari is different and the environment, distance of the animals from the safari route all play a part in getting good shots. Bringing too long a super tele results in the animals filling up the whole frame – resulting the inability to capture the environment as suggested here.

marcsilber says:

I’ll see if he can comment to get you what you need

– you hit the nail right on the head – every safari IS different! Most game reserves in South Africa do not allow off-road driving – in this case you need to be prepared. Wildlife is unpredictable, and one day may require 600mm, while the next day you may only need 200mm. If you are fortunate enough to be at a private game lodge, a good 70-300mm or 100-400mm will normally suffice. I rather take more and need less & always have 2 cameras ready with one long lens and one mid-zoom

horolographer1 says:

Thanks again! Good to know that your recommendation generally is – 600mm tele and a 100-400 zoom.

However, I would like to ask – should I get a 600mm prime or can I make do with a 300f2.8 with a 1.4 teleconverter on a 1.5 crop sensor DSLR? That would make the focal length to be 640mm. Or were you referring to 600mm on a cropped sensor?

– I use only a 300mm with 1.4, 1.7 and 2x converters. For practicality with air travel and ease of use in vehicles, I can fit all of my glass and cameras in one Thinktank backpack. (14-24mm, 24-70mm, 70-200mm, 300mm, all f/2.8) With a combination of a full frame camera and a crop sensor camera, that gives a wide range of possibilities up to the equivalent of 900mm f5.6. For bird photography, that 5/600mm with a 1.4 converter will always be an advantage, but this is my choice.

horolographer says:

Thanks very much for sharing that Davey. If I was going on a big game safari today (hopefully one day soon) I was planning to do very similar to your selection. One Canon cropped sensor body and one full frame with 300mm f2.8; 100-400mm; 24-105mm and a 1.4X and 2X teleconverter. The third camera would probably be a Canon SX30IS as a back up point and shoot .

horolographer says:

Thanks very much for sharing that Davey. If I was going on a big game safari today (hopefully one day soon) I was planning to do very similar to your selection. One Canon cropped sensor body and one full frame with 300mm f2.8; 100-400mm; 24-105mm and a 1.4X and 2X teleconverter. The third camera would probably be a Canon SX30IS as a back up point and shoot .

Oculus729 says:

Mark and David thank you. This video clip is one of the better ones in the series. Now, how to afford that photo safari………….

TheawesomeAmy11 says:

Big help!!!

romerouno17 says:

Excellent tips & advice, Thank you! I’m gonna use the bar clamp for sure on my next trip to South Africa.

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