All of our photographs are of wildlife in the area immediately surrounding Augusta Georgia. We have made an effort to include some information as to where we actually took the photograph. All of our photos were taken by our staff and are not reproductions of any kind. If a particular animal species does not have photographs on our site, it is because we have not been able to photograph a suitable specimen as of this time. We are however, adding new photographs to our site, as we are able to produce them.
Photographing wildlife is not an easy endeavor. Quite often the animals are elusive and nocturnal. Good pictures are a product of getting close to your subject, having the right equipment, and being able to get the right shot. We hope your first attempts will turn out better than our first attempts. We have included some information on how we obtained our photographs that, should you attempt your own, you might learn from our experience.
Without the right equipment you will not be able to consistently produce good wildlife photos. We used two cameras, a Sony H-1 super zoom and a Canon EOS 20D.
The Sony H-1 is a good quality super zoom that is reasonably priced. It is probably a good introductory camera for wildlife photography. We used a 1.7 telephoto adapter lens, which helped the reach of this camera. The image stabilization feature makes this camera quite usable. There are several other cameras in the super zoom family that are equally capable. Look for a camera with image stabilization and at least a 10X telephoto.
The Canon 20D is an excellent camera for wildlife photography, particularly when coupled with a long lens. We used an EF 70-200mm /f2.8 image stabilized lens and an EF 400mm super telephoto lens. Both of these lenses were sometimes used with a 1.4 X adapter to further extend their reach. Although we quite often used the camera hand held, we got improved results using a tripod and a remote switch.
A typical camera setup is illustrated below in Figure 1. The camera is set up on a tripod. The tripod should be stable and able to support the weight of the camera. The lens is the most important part of the camera. Using adapters to increase range is helpful. Here we have a 400mm lens with a 1.4 adapter, which makes the effective lens 560mm. Since we are using a digital camera that has an sensor that is somewhat smaller than 35mm camera film, the factor is further amplified by 1.6 which gives a 35mm equivalent of 896 mm. To further reduce camera shake, you can see the remote shutter switch. This prevents the camera shake introduced by the act of pressing the shutter button.
Another accessory we found invaluable was a blind. We used a “pop-up” doghouse type of blind since it was easily portable, easily setup, and provided excellent cover. The price is quite reasonable (about $60.) It still amazes me that birds that are otherwise quite wary will fly and walk all around a blind.
