Ancillary Equipment Although a lens and camera are essential to the production of an image,
other items can assist wildlife photographers greatly. This section considers these other items.
Tripods, monopods and other support systems
"Professional photographers know how to use a tripod; amateurs do not think they need one". If you visit the botanical gardens and watch other photographers, you can bet that the ones with tripods are the serious folk,
I do not believe that every photograph should be taken with a tripod, but I do believe that every photograph should be appropriately sharp, and that this is usually best achieved by using a tripod. People who get into the
habit of using a tripod will consistently produce better photographs. People who think they are "good enough not to need a tripod" invariably
produce substandard photos. I will talk mare about tripod technique in another module, but here, I want to look at some issues related to choosing a tripod.
The long lenses used in wildlife
photography are heavy, so they need a tripod that is both sturdy enough to keep your
pictures sharp, and strong enough to not collapse under
the weight of your heavy equipment.
Wildlife photographers usually prefer black tripods, because
they are less noticeable. Although this tripod has been placed on grass, the
photographer has been careful to place each foot of the tripod
on a solid piece of ground. The tripod has also been properly levelled.
Although many tripods have a
built-in spirit level for precise levelling, wildlife photographers generally level
First and foremost, a tripod must be sturdy – a cheap, flimsy one is useless. This is especially true for long lenses and heavy equipment. Reputable manufacturers will quote a load rating for each tripod – ensure
that your tripod is suitable for the weight you intend to put on it.
Tripods are usually made from either aluminium, or carbon-fibre. Aluminium tripods tend to be heavier, but cheaper. Tripods are usually available in silver finish, or black. For wildlife photography, black is
preferable, as it is better camouflage.
There are alternative stabilising mechanisms to the tripod – such as a monopod, or a vehicle door-mount, or a bean-bag. These all have their merit, but good photographers tend to use these only in conditions where
a tripod would not work. If you develop good tripod technique, you will also be good with one of these alternative support systems.
A good, sturdy tripod will last many years in professional use and a lifetime of amateur use, as long as it is properly cared for and maintained.
In particular, it needs to be kept clean. I clean my 'pods whenever they feel "gritty", or when they build up a film of dirt on them. I clean them in
a bath of warm water, using dish-washing liquid. I literally clean them in a bath tub of water that I have run to bath in, before I get in to bath. Some people think I am crazy, but a little dishwashing liquid does not affect my
skin. A monopod is a good alternative to a tripod in
situations where the tripod is too cumbersome, or when you are hiking and need good mobility, without sacrificing the need for a sturdy
support. Although some people use a monopod instead of a tripod in all situations, most wildlife
photographers own both, and select between them as the situation dictates.
I have a personal preference for carbon-fibre monopods, as carbon fibre is both stronger and
lighter than aluminium. These are huge benefits when you are hiking, and help to justify
the higher cost of carbon fibre. As with tripods, flimsy monopods are useless - they endanger the safety of your camera and pack in quickly.
Tripods and monopods are frequently neglected
when allocating your budget, but a sturdy unit will last a long time and is well worth the cost.
In situations where tripods are not appropriate, there are three alternatives – monopods are not as steady as tripods, but they work well if you do not have the space for a tripod, or if you need to swivel your
camera through a wide angle; bean-bags work well when shooting from a car window – they can keep your lens steady, if you use them properly,
but they do restrict your camera movement, so they are often used in conjunction with a "panning plate" to make camera movement easier.
Your final alternative is to use no support at all, and shoot "hand-held". This is the easiest way to take photographs, but the one that is most likely to result in un-sharp pictures. Yes, it is true that some photograph have to
be taken hand-held, but doing so as a matter of routine encourages sloppy technique. It is a strange truism that shooting with a tripod helps you to
learn how to take better pictures handheld. Also, you should realise that in wildlife photography, shooting handheld is far more susceptible to blur than in other areas of photography, since the lenses that we use are
Cable Release Although most photography books will encourage you to use a tripod to
steady your camera, and a cable-release to release the shutter, this does not apply in wildlife photography. Cable releases do not work well with big, heavy lenses, and are therefore rarely used at all in our field of work.
There are better techniques for keeping long lenses steady, and these will be discussed later.
Flash A flash gun can be a powerful accessory to the wildlife photographer, but,
of all the pieces of equipment mentioned in this section, the flash is easiest to misuse, and the most difficult to master. You might expect that a flash
would be most effective at twilight and at night when natural light is insufficient to get a shot, but strangely, this is the time when a flash is rarely used. A flash is generally more appropriate in harsh sunlight, where
it can lighten the deep shadows.
When using a flash in dark conditions, the large eyes of animals tend to
look unnatural – sometimes they take on an awful metallic look (referred to as "steely-eye") and sometimes you get the equally unpleasant "red-eye". A bright flash in dark conditions can destroy the night vision of
certain animals, and endanger them, while other animals do not mind. Certain animals, like rhinoceros, and most birds (with the exception of
certain owls) are okay with flash. Flash can be particularly effective in macro photography, but this is a
specialist subject which will be treated separately at a later stage.
Besides the cautions mentioned in the previous section, flashes do not work well for wildlife. Flashes work well indoors, where the walls reflect
spilled light, increasing intensity and decreasing harshness. Outdoors, there is nothing to reflect off, and flashes will typically lose a stop of effective light as a result.
Furthermore, wildlife subjects are typically far from the camera, and this
distance reduces flash effectiveness even further. A "flash extender", made by companies like "Better Beamer", is a lens arrangement that fits in front of the flash to concentrate the light into a narrow beam, suitable for
use with telephoto lenses. These devices can increase the effective light output from the flash by three stops.
This photo shows a flash extender, manufactured by
Better Beamer. It is a simple device consisting of two thin
plastic sides that fit on to your flash head with a velcro strip. The lens is thin, flexible mylar
that velcro's on to the sides. Be sure to buy the extender that
fits your flash
This photo shows how the arrangement above fits on to the
camera. The extender adds negligible weight to the system,
but it can be cumbersome due to its size. When used with a long lens, like the 400mm lens used
here, the extender greatly improves the effectiveness of the
A lens hood is effectively a tube that attaches to the front of your lens. Its purpose is to keep stray light from outside your field of view off the lens
and affecting optical performance. A lens hood is particularly effective in reducing the flare that is commonly associated with shooting in to the light. The length of a lens hood is critical, and so is its attachment
mechanism, so a hood is usually custom-made for a lens and often comes as an item supplied with the lens. If a hood is too long for a lens, it
becomes visible in the photograph, but if it is too short it is ineffective. Besides reducing glare, a lens hood protects the front element of your lens
from dust and inadvertent smudging - especially if you are working in a restricted space and may accidentally touch the lens. Also realise that the
hood adds significant length to the lens, which can restrict movement - especially when shooting from a vehicle. There are two occasions when you should consider removing your lens hood:
1) when shooting from inside a vehicle, where you desire good freedom
of movement and can use the vehicle itself to shade your lens and
2) when shooting in wind, where the sail-effect of the hood can
introduce vibration.
The above picture shows the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L Lens (left) compared to the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L Lens extended and retracted along with their included-in-the-box lens
We have already discussed the use of filters in the context of caring for a lens. These filters are essentially "clear glass" that do not modify the
image in any way, although they may reduce invisible UV light. Polarising filters are sometimes used in wildlife photography to reduce glare – particularly reflected glare that is prevalent off water and the sky. Wildlife
photographer use these filters sparingly, as they cut the light by about 1.5 stops, but they can be effective if used in the right circumstances.
Lens Cleaners
Ideally, the optics of your lens should be kept clean. In practice, this means cleaning the front lens element, or the filter that protects it, and checking that the rear element is also clean. Since the rear element is
usually protected - either by the camera body, or the lens cap, it does not need frequent cleaning, but regular checking is a good idea.
It is both futile and unnecessary to keep your lens perfectly clean in the field - the lens can tolerate a fair amount of grime before degrading optical
quality, and excessive cleaning can cause more harm than good. I check my lenses once a day, and usually only clean them once a week when in
the field. Of course, in rainy or dusty conditions, the lens can become intolerably dirty in a short time.
The way that you clean your lens depends very much upon the type of dirt
that it has accumulated, and the dirt can be split into three categories - dust, greasy grime and salt/water residue.
Dust is by far your biggest enemy; not only is it prevalent out on safari, it is exceedingly damaging. In Africa, dust is comprised of tiny shards of quartz, a mineral that is as hard as emerald, and considerably harder than
knife-blade steel. Rubbing dust on to your lens is worse than cleaning it with a knife-blade. A dusty lens should first of all be blown with clean, dry
air at low pressure - a blower brush is ideal. The remainder should be brushed off - unlike wiping, brushing has a sideways action that does not scrape the dust against the lens. Finally, lift off the rest with a soft cloth,
moistened with lens-cleaning fluid. Use a mopping action, not a rubbing one.
Once your lens is dust free, check that it is grime-free. Over time, a film of greasy exhaust fumes can accumulate on your lens, and you need to
use a lens-fluid to remove it. Use the mopping action described earlier. I use surgical grade cotton wool for cleaning - unlike ordinary cotton wool, it
contains no foreign matter. If your lens has water marks on it, a swab that has been moistened with
distilled water will remove them. Again, use the mopping action.
A lens pen is regarded by many wildlife photographers
as an essential field item to clean your lens. It looks like
a board marker pen, but does not work like one. One side has a soft, bushy brush for
removing dust, while the other side has a soft plastic
cup, lined with fibres. The cup does a good job of removing smears - the trick
is to push quite hard onto the glass surface, so be careful
not to crack large filters. Both ends of the pen have a
protective cap. The cup on the pen wears out - when the fibres become matted and clogged, discard the pen and buy another.
In the days of analogue film cameras, your choice of film made a huge impact on your final image quality. Digital is quite different – the quality
of the sensor in your camera affects image quality, and "digital film" is purely for storage – like a hard disk in a computer. You obviously need to buy the correct format of film for your camera, and beyond that, you need
to consider three things with regards to digital film: - capacity, speed and build quality.
A film's capacity determined how many pictures it can store – a 64Gb film can hold twice as many pictures as a 32Gb film, although the actual
number of photos that a film can store will depend upon your camera. On my 18 Mpixel camera, I can store about 1'000 photos on a 32Gb card
in RAW format. Using a lower resolution camera, I can fit more. Some photographers prefer to use a number of smaller capacity films on a single outing rather than a single, large capacity film.
The reasoning is that if one film fails, you do not lose the entire shoot. I
disagree – changing film on location can cost you critical time, and may contaminate your camera with dust or moisture. Cameras tend to run out of film at the most exciting moments. On my present camera, I
believe that a 64Gb film is optimal, since the film "fills up" at about the same time as the battery goes flat. So, I change film and battery at the
same time. A few months ago, when a 64Gb film was leading edge, and therefore expensive, I used 32Gb cards instead, as they offered better price/performance.
Digital film comes in a variety
of sizes and formats. You need to purchase the format
that is supported by your camera, but you have a choice as to the capacity
The speed of a digital film should not be equated to the speed of an analogue film. Analogue film speed is measured in ISO, and is a measure of sensitivity to light. Digital film speed determines how quickly an image
can be written to film. When you take a picture, you will notice that a red light in the vicinity of your digital film slot comes on for a second or more.
This light indicates that the image is being written to film, and the red indicates that the process is critical and should not be interrupted by
removing the film, or turning the camera off. Using slow film, your camera light stays on longer than it would with fast film.
Many wildlife photographers believe that you should use fast film, because photo2 cannot be written until photo1 has been written, so fast film allows
more rapid shooting. This is partly true, but most digital cameras have a "buffer" of about a dozen shots, which means that a fast film only becomes
a benefit if you shoot a number of photos in rapid succession and fill the buffer. Although it is common for a wildlife photographer to shoot in rapid succession, one usually only shoots two or three frames like this, with a
pause in-between. Since fast films are currently substantially more expensive than slow films, and since slow films are perfectly adequate for
my shooting style, I use slow films. If I experienced buffer overflows while doing so, I would buy faster film.
As you might expect, digital films form no-name manufacturers are more likely to "go dead" in the field. On the other hand, this seems to give the
name-brands an excuse to hike their prices up. When I buy digital film, I buy established manufacturers. Kingston and Transcend may not be as well known as Lexar and SanDisk, but they have been in the business for
years and have a solid reputation.
If they back their product with a lifetime warranty, they obviously have confidence in it. I then check the specification of the product – temperature range, life expectancy etc. and if those look fine, I go with the
best price.
Avoid "MicroDrive" cards – they are cheaper, but are mechanical and are less robust for field work. You may also read that digital film "wears out"
over time. This is true, but is not a matter for great concern, as modern films incorporate "wear leveling" to maximise life. If a card starts to become troublesome, discard it. Avoid using "brand new" film on an
important shoot – always "run in" your film on non-critical jobs. If electronic components are going to fail, they often do so at the start of
their life. Format cards regularly, and format them in the camera where they will be used.
Like batteries for cellular telephones, camera batteries are not necessarily interchangeable - you must buy the battery that is
made for your camera. The modern batteries have a computer built in to them and the computer knows exactly how much charge
they are holding.
Thanks to the enormous growth of the cellular phone industry, battery
technology has improved a lot in recent years. Digital cameras have been able to piggy-back onto those advances and camera batteries now offer very good capacity and performance. Although it is common to estimate
battery performance in terms of "number of pictures", this is only an approximate measure. Using your camera to view pictures (termed
"chimping") and to delete photos, drains the battery. So does driving the lens image stabilisation.
I achieve nearly 30% more photos per battery charge than my wife does on the same camera, simply because I have a different shooting style.
Since I can easily achieve 1600+ photos on a charge, I do not carry a spare under normal circumstances, simply because I do not need it. Others might. Some people feel that you should buy a spare battery along
with your camera "just in case".
However, a camera battery, like a cellphone battery, will die after a few years whether you use it or not. I prefer to buy a battery when the one I have is showing signs of deterioration. And I prefer to carry a spare
The two teleconverters - 2x and 1.4x, made by Canon are shown
above. The converter fits between the lens and the camera body. Note that not all lenses are designed to be used with converters - check the manufacturer's recommendations before buying. As a
rule, converters work best with prime telephoto lenses, as opposed to zooms, and with lenses of high optical quality (i.e. the expensive
ones!) A teleconverter is a "magnifying glass" to make a lens longer. Although
converters come in different strengths, the 1.4 converter is the most common. It is a short (about 30 mm long, for a 1.4 converter), lens-like
tube that clips between the camera and the lens, and – you guessed correct – it multiplies the focal length by 1.4 times. A 100mm lens converts to 140mm; a 200 to 280mm and a 300 to 420mm.
A teleconverter has obvious benefits – to extend a lens at minimal cost,
but it does so at a cost. A teleconverter always reduces image quality to some extent, and it always reduces autofocus speed and it reduces the
effective maximum aperture of the lens. If a 1.4 converter is added to an f/4 lens, the lens becomes f/5.6 – the figure 1.4 is the "magic number" in teleconverters, as it costs exactly 1 stop. A 2 times converter is also
popular, and it costs two stops (1.4 squared is 2, so a 2x converter is effectively two 1.4 converters stacked together). But, a 2x converter
reduces image quality and autofocus speed even further. Not all lenses are designed to work effectively with teleconverters. Check
your lens data to see if it is suitable. Although a teleconverter is a handy item in the field, if it is coupled with the right lens, it should be noted that
a lens that is designed to work at 420mm is almost always better than an equivalent-quality 300mm lens used with a converter. In other words, if you need a 400mm lens, then buy one – not a 300mm lens and a
converter. Teleconverters always degrade image quality – that can be proven by
Physics. However, when coupled to a very high quality lens in the first place, the overall degradation may be so low as to be negligible.
Lens coats are made in different camouflage styles, so you can choose the one that best suits your environment. The coat consists
of a few, custom-cut sleeves that you pull into position over the lens - fitment is easy, requires no tools and takes a few minutes.
A lens coat is a neoprene covering that fits over most of the lens barrel. As it is camouflage in colour it is advertised as being especially suitable for
wildlife use. The spongy covering also shields the lens from minor dings. If you find the principle of a lens coat attractive, but do not like the high price, you can easily make your own covering that does the same job.
Clothing
A serious wildlife photographer will pay attention to the clothes that they wear. Bright colours are bad, as they are too visible to animals; khaki and green are good, and camouflage is even better. Baggy camouflage long
trousers are popular, especially if they have large pockets to carry your photo gear. Wear a suitable hat when you are out in the open, and proper
footwear when there is a possibility of snakes and scorpions. Remember – no matter how suitably you dress, if you make loud noises or if you move fast or erratically, you will frighten the animals.
Using camera equipment properly is a frequently-neglected topic, but one
that is important. Please pay particular attention to the following paragraphs – applying them can make a giant step towards improving the quality of your photographs.
Tripod Technique Tripods are invariably an inconvenience that we would rather do without.
We use tripods not because we want to, but because we have to – they are the best way of achieving the sharp pictures that we aspire to. There are photographers who claim that they can get sharper pictures without using
a tripod – but these are the photographers who do not know how to use one properly.
A tripod does not guarantee that your camera will be steady – it simply allows your camera to be steady, if you set it up properly. It is common to
see someone setting up a tripod incorrectly, or placing it on a wobbly surface – both will result in unsteadiness.
For a steady support, you need a good, strong, solid tripod that is rated to
take the weight of your equipment, and you need a tripod head to allow your camera to move properly. The "correct" head to use depends upon the weight and length of your lens, so research the best setup for your
needs and budget. A gimbal head is usually recommended for the long telephoto lenses that are commonly used in wildlife photography. You not
only need the right support equipment, you need to set it up properly. A tripod that has been erected on a carpet of soft lawn is not steady, simply because the lawn is spongy.
Here are some recommendations for good tripod technique:
Set your tripod up on a level space. If you must shoot on a slope, adjust the lengths of the tripod legs so that your tripod head is level. Keep things
balanced. The top platform should be horizontal and as level as possible.
Do not underestimate the importance of a level tripod in achieving steady pictures. Make sure that the feet of the tripod are on a hard, solid surface, like rock or solid ground. Avoid spongy surfaces, like grass.
Depending on the shot you want to make, keep your tripod as close to the ground as possible to minimize the effects of wind and vibration. Try spreading the legs a little wider - fat pyramid will be more stable than a
thin one, within reason. Less extension always means greater stability. At all costs, try to avoid raising your tripod's center column. This actually
destabilizes the tripod. If you need more height, try moving to higher ground. Of course the higher you go, the more likely you will have to deal with the wind.
Always try to set your tripod up so that wind is not a factor. Use something
to block the wind. Stand behind a vehicle or a tree. Get your friends and family to block the wind by forming a human wall. Anything that you can do to minimize wind interference will help steady the tripod.
Once you have set your tripod up properly, and the head is mounted, you can attach your camera setup. This is the point at which most accidents
occur, and most camera equipment is damaged by falling, or "slipping off". Avoid accidents by developing a good routine – just as you avoid accidents
when you drive. Accidents occur when you take short-cuts. Once your tripod/head setup has been sturdily mounted on solid ground, leveled and tightened, attach your camera.
Follow precisely the same method each time, including checks, so that
accidents have no window of opportunity to occur. The technique you use will depend on the equipment you have, but this is my approach: I lift my lens in my left hand, using the tripod foot, which is also the centre-of-mass
for the system. At tripod height, I grab with my right hand as well, and with two hands, I put the tripod mounting plate into the gimbal head. This
is the time when "slips" occur, and note that I have both hands on the job at this moment. I now hold the camera steady with my left hand, while tightening with my right. After tightening, I squeeze the tripod foot to
check that it is securely mounted. If not, I feel it straight away, but I am holding the lens at its position of best balance using both hands.
Finally, I "slide" the lens in its mount to find the position of exact balance – the centre-of-mass of your camera system should be exactly above the central point of your leveled tripod, giving an inherently stable mechanical
system.
It is a common error to ignore the importance of a mechanically-stable tripod setup in achieving sharp pictures.
My camera is now perfectly balanced, and despite its heavy weight (about 8kg when I am using my 600mm lens) the combination is fast and very
steady – because it is balanced. I also keep my tripod at a "standard" height, so that I can stand behind it comfortably. Comfort is important if you intend to stay in one place for a long time.
At this point, the landscape photographer would tell you to "attach your
cable release and use it to trigger your shutter". Although this technique works well in landscape, and many other fields of photography, it does not apply in wildlife, where we use high-magnification lenses that are heavy.
The fact is, that despite using a steady tripod, and setting it up well, the
support system is attached to your camera at only one point and that slight vibrations cause this point to pivot and cause shake. Although these vibrations are small, they are significant when magnified by a telephoto
lens. We actually need more than one point of support for the camera.
Some photographers advocate "bipoding" – using a second tripod setup to mount the camera in a second position, but thankfully, there is a very satisfactory alternative – to use your body as a grip. Develop the habit of
pushing your cheek hard against the back of the camera when taking photographs, so that your head becomes a vibration-absorbing anchor.
When I photograph with a long lens, I drape my left arm down the length of the lens to steady vibrations.
Techniques like this make a big difference in achieving consistently sharp photographs, and once you have got past the initial hassle of "learning the
Lens Technique I recently heard of a sniper who is capable of shooting a target the size of
a matchbox at a distance of over 1 km. That requires exceptional technique – holding the rifle steady during aim; not losing that aim while
firing and pointing the barrel in the right direction. It struck me that many of the techniques used by a sniper also apply to the wildlife photographer, except for one – "hitting" the target with a camera is easy.
As long as your subject is in the viewfinder when you press the shutter,
you get it in the shot. But, if you want it to be sharp, you need good rifle technique – if you want to see the individual hairs in the photograph of a
distant antelope, you need good technique. As I have stated earlier, use a tripod wherever possible. Where it is not possible, use a monopod, or other suitable support. If not available, brace yourself against something
steady – a nearby tree.
In the absence of a suitable support, brace yourself against your body. All of these are techniques used by the competent shooter. Adopting a kneeling position, and bracing your elbow on your knee gives a steady
support. If you need to stand, tuck your elbows in against your body – the "flapping wings" posture that is commonly used by amateurs is inherently
unstable. Hold your camera steady, supporting its weight properly. With a telephoto lens, that invariably means supporting the weight of the lens in your left hand. Push the camera against your face, using your head to
dampen shutter vibration.
Never "snatch" the shutter. Train yourself to know the exact point at
which your camera shutter actuates. Be able to "hold it" just before the point of actuation and be able to fire by the slightest squeeze of your
trigger finger. Control your breath at the time of the shot. I like to hold my breath at the point of taking the photo, but most people prefer to breathe out steadily and gently.
Never underestimate the importance of keeping the camera steady – it not
only minimises camera shake, it allows the camera to get the best focus lock. Become like a sniper and continually strive to improve your shooting technique. And whenever you shoot, use a good technique – make it a
