P#8 Q6B: More About Using Slow Shutter Speeds for Great Wildlife Photography

Be thoughtful when photographing wildlife

Roy Toft: I'm always asking people when I'm in the field -- because I once again bring people in the field -- "This animal might move in front of us here. If it runs, think right now about going to shutter speed priority, putting your camera at a thirtieth of a second, and then when that animal moves, follow it and shoot."

It takes being a little bit thoughtful before the action happens. If an animal just runs in front of you, often times it's too quick to change to the shutter speed that you want. It's all about thinking ahead and seeing an animal.

Africa is a great place to do this because you have a lot of large mammals, which makes it easier to follow them. It's kind of hard to follow birds sometimes unless they're big. The large mammals are often running parallel to you.

You'll see one antelope run in front of you, and you know the other five that are next to it are going to do the same thing. So that gives you time to think, "Okay, slow shutter speed, pan. Shutter speed priority, thirtieth of a second, now I'm ready."

You just pan with that animal and shoot and you'll be really surprised at what you get.

When I tell people this technique, those who haven't tried it think only one picture out a hundred will look good, and it's really the opposite. The majority of them look interesting and cool. Some might be a little too blurry for your taste, but they all will look interesting.

In closing

Roy Toft's awareness of how wildlife will behave allows him to use techniques that amateurs may not have considered. Try setting a slow shutter speed and panning as an animal moves across your field of vision. You'll be surprised at how many of your photos are more interesting than a static shot of the animal.