Digital Wildlife Photography Workshop Agenda

Part 1 – Digital Basics. 

• What Makes a Camera "Digital"?
• What is a Digital Sensor?
• More about the sensor
• What the camera sees
• Even more about the sensor
• How Does This Change Things From Film Days
• What Digital Does To, and For Us
• Why Does It Blur Our Pictures?
• Digital Memory
• Downloading Pictures
• File Formats:  Jpeg and RAW

Part 2 – Intro to Wildlife Photography

• Equipment - DSLR & Digiscoping
• What is a DSLR
• DSLR Equipment
• What is Digiscoping
• Digiscoping Equipment
• Advantages:  DSLR vs Digiscope
• Disadvantages:  DSLR vs Digiscope
• DSLR Lenses
• Sensor Size
• "Crop Factor"
• Tripods and Monopods

Part 3 -   Photographic Concepts

• Exposure:
  • Aperture
  • Shutter speed
  • ISO
  • Exposure:  What is it?
  • How it all works together
  • Exposure Compensation
  • The 10-stop World
  • Relative Light Levels
  • Autoexposure Modes
  • Middle Grey
  • Evaluative or Matrix Metering
  • Centre-Weighted Averaging
  • Partial Metering
  • Spot Metering
  • Manual Metering
  • Adjusting exposure
  • Why Adjust?
  • How?
  • Exposure Compensation Example
  • Exposure Compensation Example
  • Exposure Compensation Example

• White Balance
• Autofocus
  • What is it?
  • Autofocus Modes
  • Autofocus Sensors
• Techniques for Getting Sharp Pictures
  • Sharpness - Camera Shake
  • Camera Shake Techniques
  • Subject Movement
  • Autofocus Accuracy
  • AF Problems
  • AF Accuracy Techniques

• Techniques for Getting Sharp Pictures, cont...
  • Depth of Field
  • Depth of Field Chart - DSLR
  • Depth of Field Chart - Digiscope
  • Sharpness - Mirror Slap
  • Mirror Slap:  Techniques
  • DSLR Techniques for Optimizing Sharness
  • DSLR Example
  • Digiscope Techniques for Optimizing Sharpness
  • Why "GET CLOSE"?
  • Digiscope - Dimmer light techniques
  • Digiscope - Bright light techniques
  • Digiscope Example
  • Home-Brew Cable Release
  • The Horror!  Sensor Dust….

Part 4 – Wildlife photography

• Finding birds
• Techniques for Getting close
  • Shooting at a feeder
  • “Stalking” techniques (sneaking and peeking)
  • Shooting from a hide (blind)
  • Using your car as a hide
  • Canoe/Kayak
  • The Curiosity Factor
• Basic Guidelines for Composition
  • Rule of thirds
  • Perspective
  • Direction of Gaze
  • Unusual Poses
  • Sense of Movement
  • Orientation
• Internet resources

Practical - Shooting at the Feeders

Part 5 – Post-processing

• Levels
• Curves
• Techniques for Sharpening
  • What is Sharpness
  • Unsharp Mask
  • LAB Colour
  • High-Pass Sharpening
• Chromatic Aberration
• Contrast Masking
  • Example

Part 6 – Printing and cutting mats

• Inkjet Printers
• Pixels per inch vs. Dots per inch
• Colour
• Photo Paper
• Matting
• Bevel Cutter
• Resolution recommendations for Prints