How To Achieve the Correct Exposure Every Time for Wildlife Photography!

Great video but no mention of depth of field that should affect what aperture might be needed

Just curious to know why you don’t shoot in auto ISO

Great video. I started photographing this year so I have lots to learn. This was so informative and its fantastic that you show in field situations. That helps so much.
I have a question though regarding metering modes. Do you generally use a evaluative mode or do you also switch modes regarding the situation? For example with the spoonbills?

What metering mode are you on?

Great video! I shot mostly AP and TV in the past with my DSLRs when in the field (Manual in the studio), largely because they were awful at high ISO. Now that I have an R7, I’m working to find the best button setup for me to quickly make manual adjustments in the field without missing the bird. This is a good explanation for those who have never used manual to get the knowledge they need to break into the next level.

Just what I needed! Very informative, and dare I say, transformative! Thank you Duane!

Which monitor are you using?

Fantastic video explaining everything very well and to go through the process helps immensely as I'm just starting out in bird photography and unfortunately my gear is pretty old I have a Sony a77 which is a SLT and I Sigma 70- 300 and a Tameron 120-400 which I found out is a film camera lens and is a sliding zoom on it but one good thing is the camera being a SLT I can put the histogram on the screen. Thank you for such an informal video

Duade thank you for the great video. You have given me the confidence to start shooting in M mode instead of AV. Great work mate. Your videos are amazing and very inspiring and informative

That's how I remember right is light left is dark.

I’m new to photography and I’m taking a class. Your explanation of setting for a good exposure is great.

Very good tips. I'm not a wildlife photographer. In August, a pair of Eastern Bluebirds nested in my birdhouse in our backyard. I selected a shooting position that produced a very shaded (dark) background. In full sun, I needed an exposure compensation of -2 stops to avoid blowing out the light colored feathers of these birds. I was shooting in Manual, 1/2000 sec., f/11, auto ISO, Canon R, EF 500 mm f/4. With changing light conditions, the auto ISO was very handy. This was an interesting and valuable learning experience. After a couple weeks of shooting, I could anticipate when the Bluebird would fly to the house to feed the chicks. I zone focused on an area about two feet in front of the house opening where the bird would slow for its landing since I could not track this fast bird with the 500. Shooting in high speed mode (8 frames/sec. on the R), I was able to get some nice images. Lots of fun and I'm hoping the Bluebirds will return again next Spring. I also used this same technique for our hummingbirds. They were easier to shoot since they usually hover for a second or two before landing on the feeder. I got some fine detail with the 500 + 1.4 teleconverter.

I love all your photography videos

What I don't understand about this is that, if getting the optimal exposure is as simple as getting the histogram as far to the right as possible, while not clipping any of the highlights (since this ensures that the photo has the maximum shutter speed possible with the minimum noise possible), then why do auto modes struggle so much? I suppose the photographer would still have to decide what aperture gives them the depth of field and lens sharpness that they want, but why don't all cameras have an auto mode that is basically an aperture priority mode that always exposes to the right?

I started my self off with handy caps like using film starting with a yashica minister 3 in black and white then colour then a mechanical slr with light meter in black and white then colour and then picked up 2 digital cameras a Sony nex 5 which I use in p with a manual focus and vintage lenses and a canon 2000d for my wildlife photography and business photography I just put most of my money into good lenses and I get stunning photos

Another excellent video ... I must have watched it 10 times by now ... LOL !!!! Thanks mate!

I love my FV mode on my R8

Third time watching this and I learn something new each time.

Duade - thanks very much for the videos. I have recently purchased a 7D Mk1 and a Canon 400mm F5.6. I have been using your guide to exposure using Manual mode with some success but I also wanted to try Manual plus Auto ISO. However, with this setup I don't seem to be able to use exposure compensation with the 7D. Am I missing something?

Great informative video.... Subed

This was awesome

Perfectly clear explanation. Looking forward to putting this in practice.

Great explanation! Nicely done,thanks for the video.

Nice explanation.

Very interesting video Duade. Thank you. I always struggle when photographing birds in flight. Reason is, that i do not know beforehand if a black bird or a white bird will fly by, so sometimes I have it wrong and there's no time to change a setting while the bird flies by. Question: which monitor do you use on your camera?

I made a cheat sheet, laminated it and put it in my ball cap for quick reference.

Good video with sharp, crisp narration and clear illustration. This is how to make this type of training video. JR

The best tutorial on photographic exposure for photos of birds on the internet. Congratulations! I'm learning a lot from you. Keep teaching us more every day. Thanks.

Going back and looking at your older videos and I had an idea on something that may click for folks related to what you said. These days with noise removal tools such as DXO photo lab and topaz, the real question you have to ask yourself is do you want motion blur in the shot or do you want to obsess about less noise in the shot for absolute detail. If you're okay with more noise because you can clean it with these tools, then you can really focus on how much motion blur do you allow, which drives your shutter speed. Then basically your aperture and shutter speed is set and all you have to worry about is exposure comp. Basically just a different thought process for arriving at your second method.

Admittedly, I'm lucky enough to have a camera which has ridiculously clean ISOs even up to 25,000. I fully recognize that will not apply for everyone, but for those that have even reasonably good high iso performance I think they can pretty much just ignore the ISO in 80% of scenarios.

Just two words , Brilliant and thanks 👍

You have found your calling. You are a fantastic teacher... I learn by example, you show so many possible situations, brilliant thank you sir.

Thanks!

Is "Gary" available on Amazon, or where?
Thank you!

I shoot in manual mode all the time and you definitely nailed it when explaining the auto metering. The hard part about shooting in manual are when the birds are in flight. But Shoot enough manual, it becomes super easy.

Thank you so very much for this video. I shoot with R5 which I love. However, I don't think I'm good with exposure. You taught me a lot and I greatly appreciate it. Thank you so much for taking your time to teach me.

Great show.! Thank you sir.
I think it's great that after your explanation, you went out and shown you actually doing it and I really enjoyed that you included an older canon camera.
I'm going to subscribe to your channel. I've seen a few of your shows and I think you do a great job.
I shoot a Canon 7d with a sigma 70-200 f/2.8. I'm thinking about a lens for night photography if you might have a suggestion.?? I prefer Sigma or Tamron with stabilization. Thank you.

Wow, what a great video, I am so glad I found your channel. Thank you so much for what you’re doing

You kept saying, "This may sound confusing", but you have explained this better than anyone who has tried to explain this to me in the past. I now have a better, more solid understanding of these settings. Histogram, light meter, exposure compensation and evaluative metering were mysteries to me. I completely understand the correlation between ISO, aperture and shutter speed, but didn't understand how the other settings could either hinder or help the final result. Thank you.

Thank you for mentoring. You have an excellent approach to educating, thanks again good sir.

Thanks

Finally I understand exposure and the histogram....now I need to put this newfound knowledge into practice. Thanks so much for a brilliant video.

i have been having this problem with sharpness as i go in the picture to 1:1 , is low value ISO makes the subject seems hazy, i mean edges don t look sharp to the background ... shutter speed 1/250, good light condition, aperture 7.1, ISO 1250 .... 600mm focal lens canon 6d

The histogram issue was an unclear issue for many people. You did clearly emphasised how to be. Now it is our turn to implement and practice the knowledge. Thanks for such great presentation and practice ones again Duade. Btw, the red capped bird is amazing. She played the role perfectly. No idea if you are paying her 😂.

Brilliant video. Learnt a lot and you explain it so well. Thank you👍

That 40d still does it!

Muchas gracias

Great video. Please tell me why stopping down makes your image sharper? a little bird at that focal distance should be plenty sharp shooting wide open at f5.6? Surely the entire subject will be in the focal plane. I have got running horses pin sharp at f 2.8 at 200mm.

Duade thanks for the information you provide on your videos, in my experience, since 2010 that I've been taking bird pictures, I did use Manual on my DSLRs but today I prefer the semiautomatic modes (Aperture Priority) and then chose compensation according the scene lighting, since most of the time the lighting may change as clouds pass by. Not jumped yet to the mirrorless boat, but probably there it's easier to use manual and have the Histogram on the viewfinder and give a more accurate reading of the scene.

You, sir, are a beautiful soul.