a little bit of wild life photography in Louisiana

As you can see I do a little photography when I get the chance. Here in South Louisiana the best wild life is in the swamps and bayous. The egrets, cormorants, herons, and pelicans are some of the most frequently seen swamp birds and the alligators are plentiful. The third picture I posted is that of an alligator gar. Happened to be an extremely lucky shot. All of the above photos were taken at Cajun Pride Swamp tours in Laplace, Louisiana. Lucky for me I have a close friend who owns Cajun Pride Swamp tours and allows me to go out and photograph whenever I like. I don't always have access to a boat even though we own one. Most Wild life Photographers seem to wait forever in one spot just waiting for something to cross their path, not me, I'm a little too impatient for that. I go and hunt down the birds and gators. Wild Life photography to me is pretty simple and challenging at the same time. apparently the birds and critters don't like to listen and they definitely don't wait and pose for you very often. Basic tips for Wild life photography: like all photography you have to have a good background to set your scene and know ( or have an eye) for setting up the picture. The next step is know your subject. Birds tend to be a bit shy and are not always photogenic, except pelicans and most bared owls who seem to love the camera, I don't know why but they do. When photographing birds the best advice is to be as calm and quiet as possible. Whenever possible get shots of them flying, landing, hunting, or sunning themselves. To catch one of the swamp birds hunting and actually catching a fish large enough to be caught on camera is a combination of luck and a fast shutter speed with the continuous frame setting on. The next tip is lighting. I love natural light but when your subject is in a little bit of shadow you need the flash. As far as the critters go, gators are the easiest, generally from a pretty safe distance. As a general rule of thumb I like to use a 75-300 lens for wild life photography simply because of the distance of the lens. the longer the lens the further away you can be from your subject. I do not recommend a 500 lens for wildlife photography for two reasons: 1) the 500 lens is usually too heavy to lug around and 2) it tends to be a little slow for my taste, but can be used effectively on a tripod for nesting birds and more timid critters such as deer.

See what I mean about the Pelicans?? Such hams.