Any recommendation for wildlife photography online classes?

[JEJE12]

Hello everyone,

I am an aspiring wildlife photographer ( started to develop a strong interest about a year and half ago, buy some gear, regretted it, got a nice bonus at work and decided to invest on some equipment that will last me for some time... Currently I do have an R5 and R6, an RF 100-500, RF 14-35, RF 24-105, RF 16 f2.8 and RF 50 mm f1.8 stm. 

I try to hear to Montana, Wyoming and the Pacific Northwest as much as I can and I have my first African safari schedule in February 2025. 

My question is.. do you know of any good online course I could take to get to know my equipment better? I work in a very urban area and dont have the luxury to go out on weekend and practice but I do have free time at home and would love to have the opportunity to improve my skills if I can.. I feel I have some solid equipment ( I am thinking of adding the RF200-800 when it becomes available ) but it does not me any good if I dont know how to use it as I should. I have already taken the Paul Nicklen class on Master of Photography and I really enjoyed it but I am looking to dig into more settings. Any input would be truly appreciated.

Thank you

[Addisonjones]

Hi!!!

I do not have a course that I know for you but I can give you some advise just shooting animals. Firstly, congratulations on taking the first step in doing it and diving right in.

Even though you are in an urban area what I would practice first would be your lighting/settings. You can do this by just going out to shoot, shooting products in your home, or maybe just friends dogs/cats? Animals are quite quick in movement so being able to adjust quickly will help you. Even if you are in an urban area, I would suggest maybe try going to the zoo and shooting. You'll get an idea of the characteristics of animals. Most of learning the camera is literally picking it up and shooting (it doesn't have to be perfect). You may come up with an incredible "voice" on your own. I hope this encourages you!

[zakslm]

I don't know if this will help you, but I enjoy the Youtube videos of Simon D'entremont who's a wildlife photographer and Canon shooter out of Nova Scotia, Canada.  He also has some online courses on wildlife photography on the website below:

https://www.simondentremont.com/wildlife-photography-essentials

I don't know how much equipment specific instruction are in his courses, but his YouTube videos do contain some specific tips and techniques that you may find helpful.

[JEJE12]

Thank you, I really appreciate it. I have seen Simon's videos and it is all great information.