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killergoalie13 wrote:

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angelfromafrica wrote:

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killergoalie13 wrote:

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I'm a nature & wildlife photographer. I LOVE my job!

wow!! I would love to do that.. where can i get a look at your pics?? do you travel a lot?? how did you get into that?? (sorry for all the questions it just sounds so interesting to me!!)

Aww I don't mind the questions at all.

I've posted a few of my pics in these two posts in the Other Pics forum:

http://jjb.yuku.com/topic/563303

http://jjb.yuku.com/topic/563864

I don't have a website, as I'm waiting to "go digital" before I start one.

I do a bit of traveling, but do most of my shooting locally. (In the Vancouver, B.C.area) Once I go digital though, I plan on doing a lot more traveling. I like to shoot a lot, and slide film is so expensive, that it just wouldn't be cost efficient. Whereas with digital, you can shoot until your finger starts to bleed, then shoot some more.

I actually started out shooting sports, (both amateur and professional), and really loved it. However I had to quit for a few years due to personal reasons, and lost a lot of my "contacts" (trust me, sports photography is very dependent on WHO you know, to get the proper "credentials").

So when I got back into photography, I turned my passion to nature & wildlife subjects. I've always loved animals, and nature, so I thought it would be the "perfect" subject matter. A LOT more subjects, a lot MORE markets, but the trade off is FAR MORE COMPETITION!! But I love it! It's also helped me learn PATIENCE, which is by far the BIGGEST, and most important trait a nature/wildlife photographer must have.

Of course it does have a price...THE COST OF GOOD EQUIPMENT!! and trust me...Equipment Envy aka LENS LUST is an affliction that almost EVERY photographer, no matter what type of photography they do, endures at some point. You can never have a camera with a fast enough FPS (Frames Per Second), you can never have a long enough or FAST enough lens...Translation = EXPENSIVE! But I wouldn't do any other thing!

As far as how to get started, just get a decent camera, a few lenses (I'm partial to Canon, but Nikon has a great system as well), and especially if you get a digital camera, where it doesn't cost anything to shoot, just keep shooting! Experiment with lighting, depth of field, fast and slow shutter speeds, large and small apertures etc. That's the beauty of digital, it doesn't cost anything to experiment, plus you get instant feedback. Just remember to keep a record of what you did, so you know what worked, and what didn't.

If you shoot birds or animals, learn their habits, (they're very repetitive in their daily habits...when & where they eat & drink etc). Learn the best times of day to shoot for the most complimentary lighting. (The hours between 11 A.M. & 2 P.M. are generally the WORST times for nature photography if it's sunny out!)

Don't be afraid to show or submit your work to friends, family, businesses, magazines etc, and just have fun. It does take some luck, but if your photos are good enough, someone will want them.

Sorry for the lengthy response, but I just wanted to try and answer your questions as best, and as thoroughly as I could.

BEST OF LUCK!

killergoalie13 wrote:

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WOW AngelfromAfrica those are such beautiful photos! Great use of the light! Excellent exposure control! Very nice!