@tomgirl5 wrote:
I just bought a Canon Rebal t5 I am definately a novice when it comes to the camera, but, i am slowly learning how to use it. I bought the camera to use to take photos of wildlife, mostly deer. I have been using a 75-300 canon lens that came in the bundle, Most of the wildlife i am shooting are 50-100 yards away and so far the pictures are coming out very blurry. The lighting is mostly dim due to the fact that its dusk when I am shooting. I am not sure if i need a more powerful lens to take the photos that I want or if i am using the wrong settings on the camera. Any advice would be greatly apperciated.? if a more powerful lens is needed what would you recomend? Thanks!!!!
Taking pictures of wildlife in their native habitats is very challenging. It requires a skill set that pushes the envelope of seasoned professionals. It's why they do it. Because it is hard. For example, think BIF, birds in flight.
The trick to getting great shots of wildlife is getting close to your subjects. This requires planning, and some skillful luck. Most professional wildlife photographers are using lenses that are at least 400mm, and frequently 600-800mm. They are very skilled at holding their gear steady when they activate the shutter, or they use some camera support, like a monopod or a tripod, with a smooth, well balanced head that holds the camera/lens combo.
On top of that they can be much closer than you are, hidden in a custom blind, or well selected bushes, or whatever. They also know the habits of their subjects, and where and when to find them. Photographs capture a view, a perspective from the photographers shooting location. Your location relative to your subject and your plane of focus is what separates a great shot from just another photograph.
The 75-300mm lens that came in your bundle is a good starter lens, which does not mean that it is a great lens. Like the camera, the camera kit lenses are designed to teach you about DSLR photography. Can you take impressive photos with your gear? Yes, you can. But, it is going to take some time and practice to climb the learning curve.
Blurry shots? Learn about the "Exposure Triangle". Canon has a pretty good set of short videos in their Digital Learning Center, that introduce you to the basic concepts of photography.
http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/galleries/galleries/tutorials/eos101_cll.shtml
Note that the above link is the first page in a series of videos. There are additional resources, both online and in book forms, that go into more depth than the videos. But, these videos are good place to start if you are an absolute beginner
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Without seeing your photos, I would venture that "blurry shots" means the entire photo is blurry. The most common cause of this is camera movement at the moment when the shutter is activated. Some photographers use this distortion artistically, such as photographing a race car in motion, where the car is focused with the entire background is blurred.
Another reason for blurry photos is too slow of a shutter speed. Read up on the Exposure Triangle. A slow shutter speed is not fast enough to freeze the motion of the camera, nor the motion of the subjects. These type of photos may have the background in focus, but the subject is blurred.
Another reason for blurry photos is the camera shooting mode, which can have a direct impact on the selected shutter speed. Professionals do not use "Creative Modes" to take pictures, and frequently shoot in Manual mode.
Another reason for blurry photos is the lens itself. Read up on the Exposure Triangle. Inexpensive lenses do not have wide apertures. Think of a camera aperture as your eye pupil, and the shutter as your eyelid. A small aperture means less light is entering the camera when the shutter opens and closes, compared to a wide aperture.
The most basic rule of thumb for sharp photos is to grab as much light as possible [wide aperture], as fast as possible [fast shutter speed], with as little effort as possible [low ISO]. Read up on the Exposure Triangle.
The cure for our blurry pictures?. Take pictures of animals in a zoo, on a bright sunny day. This will teach you about optimum distances to your subjects, and the best exposures to capture your subjects.
Learn about your gear. Be prepared to take hundreds, if not thousands of photos. If you cannot operate your camera by touch and feel, then you do not know your gear well enough. This takes practice, regular practice, and it will take some time. For now, I would suggest buying a tripod, and spending about half of what you paid for your camera on a tripod. Avoid the big box store, plastic tripods by all means. By a professional grade tripod, one with a detachable, interchangeable camera head, and is made of metal or carbon fiber, nothing made from plastic, not anywhere.
Sorry, for the lengthy response, but there are no simple answers. Basically, you asked, "How do I cook?" Well, there is no simple answer to that question, and you need to get up to speed with tools of the trade to understand how professionals, and advanced amatuers get the results that they do.
Hopefully, this helps. If it answers your questions, then I didn't do a good job. I intended to stimulate more questions.
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