Living in New Zealand there is always something great just around the corner to photograph. I first purchased my DSLR when my interest of the night time sky peaked a couple of years back. I decided upon a Nikon D3400 as it was one of the cheapest digital cameras that could fit the bill. One interest evolved into another as I began to really enjoy photography!
After coming to the realization I enjoyed photography I thought of what else there is to photograph in the region. Wildlife had always sparked an interest and we have plenty of unique animals here. So I soon decided to equip myself with a zoom lens. Looking at it it has proven very beneficial. To this day I still love photographing wildlife whenever I am given the chance.
Just from photographing wildlife in my own pastime I feel strongly I have developed a good set of skills and a real passion. Wanting to get better at photography and pursuing a career have been my main driving forces for studying here at NMIT. I hope I can gain more skills whilst I am here.
Here are some examples of photos I have taken in my pastime. I will talk about the processes I generally go through to get these photos and how I think I have evolved.
These are a couple of more recent photos. A fantail on the left and a bellbird on the right. You can tell that I often try to shoot with a wide aperture, generally as low as I can go [f/4-f5.6]. This means I can have a fast shutter speed to pause motion and it creates good background blur. This also means you can keep your ISO lower than 800 almost all the time. I will always try to stay under 800 ISO as anything higher doesn’t tend to produce sharp images. Sharp images are quite crucial with wildlife as you want to show off all the detail on the animal. ISO should always be kept as low as possible e.g. 100 in pure daylight, 200 in overcast and 400 in shade. When photographing wildlife I have found you have to be patient and sometimes accept that the shot wont turn out right.
Fantail on the left and a Robin on the right. Here are a couple of examples from when I first started taking pictures. I hope you can see how I have got better. Its easy to see both photos have missed focus and sub optimal lighting. This only gets better with practice. Take it upon yourself to try some photography in your own pastime to adapt your skills.