Wow, Steve, you did it again. You're truly head and shoulders above so many other photography channels on this website. Can't help recalling a recent gear-centred episode on one of those channels where the host couple kept posing with 600mm F4 lenses, got dewy-eyed over citing lens prices, and engaged in a lot of pixel peeping over mostly boringly-lit shots of birds tinily recorded somewhere in the frame. Not only do your bird shots rock big time, you also manage to pack so much helpful information and practical tried-and-tested advice into your videos that watching them and applying just some of your tips seems almost as good as an expensive one-on-one workshop. You must carry on this incredible work, Steve!
I noticed the use of a gimbal right off the bat too. There’s no sense in challenging others to a holding contest if there’s no reason in doing it in the first place. That’s a great tip on having it balanced first. Yikes a dunk in the water would be a bad day.
Outstanding as always. I'll admit there's little chance I'll ever find myself knee deep in seawater with my cameea but kudos to you Steve, your photos are simply jawdropping 😃
We just moved to Florida a few months ago and now have access to miles and miles of shorelines and the birds there. These tips are spot ON for my new subject matter. Thank you!
Years go by and it seems like when I want to learn or refresh something practical about wildlife photography Steve is always the best. Thank you so much Steve.
Hi Steve I am love how simple and easy your videos are to understand. I have needed to understand the workings of my DSLR for ages but never really found the right way of learning how until I stumbled onto your Utube channel. Thanks heaps Rabsi :)
Congrats Steve. Without a doubt you have the best photography (if not overall) YoutTube channels. Glad to see you are getting the recognigtion that you deserve. Keep up the great work. Looking forward to many more great videos and books from you. I hope to be able to attend one of your workshops one of these days.
These are all good tips, I recently spent a whole morning laying on the sand shooting tiny Red Capped Plovers, getting low really is key and the shots speak for themselves.
I'm not sure whether I am just learning more, or whether this was your best yet video for me. I own a D500 and D850 and I never knew about the virtual horizon until this video! Duh uh! Also, I'm glad you said to use Man Auto ISO, because that's what I do about 95% of the time now after I saw your video on that topic. It was tough making the transition. Almost as difficult as changing my golf swing. But like you said, "Try it! You'll never go back." I noticed that in one shot, your ISO floated to 6400, and until I got the D850, I got concerned at ISO 2000. And finally, I was happy to see you wearing your Eddie B backpack. Taking your lead, I bought one of those, too. Love it. I could have almost told you what you had in it, because that was a ditto for me. Great job, Steve. Keep 'em rolling.
i watch a lot of people, but i learn the most from you. you keep me enthused and want to go out and try your techniques. keep it up my friend. i plan on checking out your books as well.
That was a super vlog. I have been aware and tried getting low for compositions. I have never succeeded well at that, probably from not approaching it as something very beneficial. Your captures left me no doubt that I should take that approach seriously and stop wasting opportunities. Thank You.
Steve, not only are you an amazing wildlife photographer, you are a great teacher also. All of your videos are well organized and to the point. I’m almost finished reading your Nikon Auto Focus ebook and I’m going right now to your website to purchase your wildlife photography book. I’ve put off the purchase for too long and since I’m sitting home because of a blizzard it will be a good day to get some reading in! Thanks again Steve!
Great video Steve, full of quality information in so many ways.Those extra little tips, such as using the tripod effectively, are so worthwhile to photographers looking for tips.
The Ocean is my schoolhouse! Living in San Diego County (Ca) the ocean is a major natural influence in the area. When I purchased my D500 I also purchased the Nikon 200-500 mm zoom. I needed to relearn my hand held panning techniques. Birds at the beach were the answer. I started with Pelicans. These birds have a very slow predicable glide. I practiced on Pelicans until I became better at panning and focusing. Next I moved onto Cormorants. These birds move faster but tend to stay low to the water. Again, I practiced on these faster birds until I bettered my technique. Next I moved to Seagulls. Although a soaring bird, they can zip all over the place. After mastering Seagulls, I was ready to shift to small shore or inland birds that flit all over the place. My advantage in San Diego area is our hugely varied environment. Within an hours drive I can go from 6300" mountains to the ocean shores or to the desert. And yes, we do get snow in those mountains! So I can in one day go from snow, down to the warm ocean coast, or over to the complete hot desert. You may be curious why I am relying on hand held and not a tripod. I am a Forest Fire Lookout. I spend time high on a mountain top in a tower. There is no room for a tripod. Not distracting from my observations is important. My camera is always at the ready for a quick grab. Most of my opportunities are birds making passes at or by the tower (Mostly Turkey Vultures, Eagles, and Hawks). Some of my shots are actually looking down on the birds rather than looking up. So my hand held skills are a must. Interesting foot note on tracking and focusing. One day in the tower I saw a Carpenter Bee (a bit bigger than a Bumble Bee). I was looking down on the bee in flight about 15 yards away. I grabbed my D500 with 300 mm lens. I was shocked, I was able to lock in focus and fire off a few good shots! The bee at that point was about 20 feet in the air so I was shooting at an angle with the ground as background. Really proved the focus abilities of the D500!
Great way to start and learn. In my book, I recommend seagulls as good BIF practice targets, but pelicans are even better for the beginner. Now bees - that's tough!!
Great video Steve truly enjoy all of your videos and help. Your help in my transition as a wildlife photgrapher has been immense and words cannot express my thanks enough. Your Awesome!
I shoot the rare birds on the beach in Spandex. Then theres the double-breasted Lycra birds. Beautiful plumage, exquisite creatures. Congrats on 100K Steve-O ~~~!
Awesome Steve! If I can add another tip here, that’d be to shoot opposite the wave... wait for the waves to go high to press the shutter and the sunlight hitting the water droplets from the wave produce some stunning bokeh Cheers!
Very beautiful shots! It must be so nice to have wildlife thats used to people and let you get close like that. Over here no birds except seagulls will let you get any closer than 300ft or more.
Not gonna lie - it's a blast to get that close! I tell people it's worth the trip (well, depending on where you are). For me, it's a 17 hour + drive, but I do it several times a year. For most people, the flight is shorter than that (unless you're in Africa or something - and then, why the heck do you need to come over here LOL).
Your pictures and techniques are amazing! Often I can´t reach such high shutter speeds, because I don´t have a fast prime. i am really dependet on extra good light.
On this trip, low light was seldom a problem. Clear skies got gave me good shutter speeds pretty early on. The truth is, I could have used slower speeds for most of the shots in the video, it's just that when I can keep the ISO reasonable with a fast SS, I do :)
Really Great video Steve. I watched it 3 times it was good and I learned a lot. Thanks for the tip on the virtual level. I set all my cameras up for that one. Again thanks very much.
Thanks for the Amazing idea. Though I'm not into Bird Photography but do have a Sigma 150-500 and now, with your ideas, I might just do it. Thanks again. Stay Blessed
Steve, your images, videos with tips and tricks rocks and are very easy to understand. From one Nikon shooter to another keep up the good work. Thanks again.
Love your videos Steve. Always full of great tips. Now, let me present a recommendation. This doesn't just only apply to your videos but every photography related video I see these days. If I'm watching a video about a photography subject I really don't care about seeing the instructor/speaker/teacher other than an intro or summary. I can watch the action being discussed and listen at the same time. I would rather see the subject more than the speaker. Seeing the ref photo longer goes a long way in reinforcing the topic. I'm seeing this more and more with photography videos. I'll keep watching, please keep producing. I learn something every time.
Another great video, this series is going to be awesome! Combined with your books I've applied these techniques to shooting sports games (including getting down low ) and my shots have dramatically improved. Now if I could only find an easier way of shooting indoor sports under fluorescent lighting with my d810, high shutter speeds and high ISO ranges ( 8000 plus ) that leave me with barely useable images ... ugh
Great video Steve but getting in the sea around the UK coast is a no go most of the time unless the sun is belting down somewhere in the higher 70's lol
Great photos and advice. Inspirational. Not so sure I'd be in the water like that with my tripod and lens though, you've braver than most but those shots sure are tempting to give it a go.
Most higher end bodies and lenses are weather sealed, although I'm sure excess salt would be an issue if you didn't properly clean them. I shot in the waves during vacation last year and after cleaning the lens and body after each day it's been fine.
Great tip on ensuring that your gimbal head is balanced Steve. I'm not sure I'd want to get in the water here in England as even in the Summer months its still too cold.
Great work Steve. Your wildlife images are fantastic. The detail and sharpness on that D850 is amazing, even at higher ISO settings. I really enjoyed your advice and tips on this subject. The problem here in Grey Britain is the poor light levels. I often have to shoot at at least ISO 1600 - 6400 just to get a shutter speed of around 1/100th sec! Keep up the good work.
This is yet another very information video. I've been going through all of your vids and thinking about ticks. You mentioned bug spray in this vid which made me laugh. What do you do to avoid ticks?
Love all your videos. Have learned a lot for using my D500 and capturing birds from you videos and books. Thank you just not brave enough to try out in the salt water with my gear. I am a coward. Dave Isler
Steve, here you go again, building courage to back-button focus 3 or 4 years ago, and now the in-view-finder artificial horizon. O, so sweet! Thanks. BTW I assigned it to Fn button since I often use Depth of Field preview....