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Learn with Heather Angel

Wildlife Photography

Join professional photographer Heather Angel as she gives you her top tips on how to photograph animals and birds.

Course overview

This lesson covers how to approach wild animals using the equipment which is best suited for getting photographs of birds and mammals as well as macro shots of insects.  There is also guidance on metering – including tricky subjects such as white birds in the snow as well as shots with large shadow areas. Examples of different types of lighting – front, side and back, including silhouettes – are all illustrated and explained.  Finally, there are examples of how to best to frame different subjects so as to achieve a striking composition.

Meet Heather Angel

Heather Angel abandoned a career as a marine biologist to become a peripatetic wildlife photographer - with 32 visits to China alone. As well as being a prodigious writer (her 60th title appeared in 2015), she also lectures and runs workshops. Heather is at the forefront of nature photography and her work is recognised by worldwide awards. In 1975 Heather was awarded the Royal Photographic Society's Hood Medal for her contribution to the advancement of nature photography through her books, her teaching, her exhibition work and her encouragement of other nature photographers. From 1984-86 Heather was President of the Royal Photographic Society and she is a Visiting Professor at Nottingham University. Major exhibitions of her work have been shown worldwide. Most recently, Heather has experimented with lighting techniques for macro subjects as well as taking many hundreds of focus stacks for Pollination Power – a 5 year project that combines art and science for the RBG Kew. I'm a roaming wildlife photographer with four great passions - mammals, lighting for macros, making plants look exciting and offbeat China (it really does exist!). Press quotes A phenomenon in both natural science and professional photography, Heather Angel is an example of all that is best in both disciplines. The Master Photographer Heather manages to spot and bring to life insignificant parts of the natural world. David Attenborough Heather Angel has over the course of a long career written her story in hundreds of thousands of images that have served to inform us, enlighten us and elevate our spirits. Gray Levett, Editor, Nikon Owner Magazine For Heather's blog, galleries and workshops http://www.heatherangelphotography.co.uk Twitter @angelantics Instagram heatherangelphotography Portrait photo credit: Derek Tamea.

Course description

Professional photographer Heather Angel will teach you how to take photos of animals and birds in the wild.

This course is ideal for anyone who loves animals. Whether you want to photograph them in your back garden or local countryside, a Zoo, Wildlife Park or Nature Reserve or maybe you are planning that once in a life time holiday. This course will give you professional insights on taking photos of wildlife.

Photographing the natural world can be both frustrating and immensely rewarding. Becoming an observant field naturalist will ensure you gain a closer approach to wildlife before they take evasive action.

Whether in your own garden or in more remote locations, learn how to make the most of available light for taking wildlife portraits. Heather will also cover how to meter for high key and low key subjects, and how and when to use flash and how useful fill-flash can be for animals of any size. Learn when and how to get dramatic action shots of animal behaviour using fast shutter speeds and slow ones by panning the camera. Invest time working with baby animals, because although a challenge, it will be very rewarding.

Learn how to use a house as a hide and about hide etiquette in public hides. Tips and hints for getting in close to minibeasts and also for photographing life in aquaria are included - but for the specifics of macro photography join my Macro photography course.

Having found your target species, thought needs to go into how best to compose the shot and to select the most appropriate shutter speed and aperture. Discover how to get dramatic silhouettes at dusk and dawn and how to plan a photo story.

Finally, learn how to edit images and to retrieve them at a later date.

You'll learn:
  • how to approach wild animals in their natural environment whether at home or abroad
  • camera settings to achieve correctly exposed images
  • photography skills to create eye-catching portraits and arresting action shots – from beetles to large mammals
  • taking action shots and using hides
Requirements
  • Camera with a zoom lens so can stand back to take wildlife. A DSLR is not essential, but it will be easier for action shots because the focusing is faster.
  • For macro shots
  • Some means of getting in close – either with a macro setting on a zoom lens or a true macro lens for a DSLR camera.
  • A flash - either in-camera or a separate flash
  • Camera support - a tripod or monopod is not essential but could be useful if need to set up the camera and wait for wildlife to arrive/ behave.

This course is suitable for photographers wanting to learn to take photographs of nature and wildlife, through to professionals who want to develop their wildlife photography skills with Heather Angel.

 

Time to complete this wildlife photography course:

Every student is different but in general we think the whole course will take around 13 hours 45 minutes to complete including:

  • Video lessons: 1 hour 45 minutes in total
  • Course notes: 30 minutes per lesson
  • Assignment: at least 2 hours per lesson
  • Interactive classroom time: 15 minutes per lesson
  • tutor feedback review (Expert level): 15 minutes per lesson
The course includes:
  • On-demand video lessons - presented by Heather Angel
  • lifetime access to the video, notes and interactive class
  • flexible classes - join and learn when and where you like
  • downloadable lesson notes
  • practical (optional) wildlife or nature photography assignments
  • access on your mobile, PC, Mac or laptop
  • small interactive online classroom chat online to students from around the world
Ready to get started?

Just add the course to your basket above - choose the 'Expert' option for personal feedback from Heather on your photos.

Any questions? Contact us by clicking on the orange speech symbol - we'd love to hear from you.