If you are a beginner in photography and want to get started with wildlife photography and not sure where to start from, this is the perfect tutorial for you.

In this introduction chapter, we will take you through all that you will get to learn as a part of this tutorial. This is ideal for any beginner in photography and does not require any prior knowledge of wildlife or wildlife photography.

All said and done, you will need a good camera and lens to take up wildlife photography. In this chapter, we will see what it takes to choose that perfect lens and camera for wildlife photography, or does one exist ?

This chapter will guide you through the various parameters you will have to consider when buying a camera or lens for wildlife photography based on your budget. We will also look at various accessories needed for wildlife photography, apart from just the camera and lens.

You have decided to enter into the fascinating world of wildlife photography and also probably have a decent camera and lens to get started with. But you have no clue which place to visit or where to go for your wildlife shoots.

This chapter will help you to choose the right wildlife destination to start your wildlife photography. We will also explain how you can identify the nearest wildlife sanctuary to your location along with the various safari options available. We will also look at how to go about booking your wildlife safari and also how you can decide which park to visit based on the species available.

In this chapter, we will see the various wildlife destinations frequented by Sudhir and also the species you get to photograph at those places. This will give you a fair idea to plan your wildlife safaris and help you maximise the opportunities to get good images.

There are different ways in which you can go for your wildlife photography. This chapter will explore all those options and help you decide which option suits you the best. This will also help you understand the various park timings for the safaris and also the concept of full day and half day safaris.

If you want to be a better wildlife photographer, then you need to be a better naturalist. This chapter will explain the 4 pillars of photography and the importance of knowing animal behavioural aspects. Subject knowledge is everything in photography and will help you predict, anticipate and plan your shots.

Subject knowledge is the key to becoming a better wildlife photographer, and we will start at the top of the food chain, with the apex predator – the Tiger. In this chapter, we will explain the various behavioural aspects of the Tiger which no book or Internet search will give you. This is knowledge gained over the years – in the field – studying, observing and photographing the animal.

This chapter will explore the next species on the list – the Leopard. These are elusive creatures, and we will explain where and how you can track and find them. It will also explain certain behavioural aspects of the Leopard which will help you pre-visualise and get good images.

In this chapter, we will explain the behavioural aspects of Elephants. Each tip and every bit of information shared in this chapter will help you know your subject that much better and in turn will aid in making good images.

In this chapter, we will explore and understand some of the common behavioural traits of wild dogs. Wildlife photography is all about understanding your subjects, predicting their behaviour and planning your shots based on that knowledge. Sudhir with his vast experience shares his knowledge about these behavioural aspects so that you can become a better wildlife photographer.

In this chapter, Sudhir talks about the behavioural aspects of Sloth Bears and what makes these furry, cuddly creatures such great subjects.

In this chapter, we will look at how some of the other common species like the Spotted Deer, Sambar Deer, Langur, Macaques etc. also create unique photo-ops. These species usually get overlooked in favour of their more glamorous counterparts. This chapter teaches you how to make the most of even the most mundane subjects.

Once we understand about the various behavioural aspects of the animals, this chapter will take you through the concept of pre-visualising, where you will be using that knowledge to make some awesome images.

We come across situations in the wildlife parks where safari vehicles line up and people wait to get a glimpse of the majestic Tiger. During that time when the Tiger crosses the safari track, we have vehicles in the background which may spoil our image. This chapter will explain how to make pleasing images in such situations.

Making good images of common subjects is not easy. But if you understand their behavioural aspects, that will help you get wonderful action images. In this chapter, we will study one such behaviour of the Spotted Deer which will help you make some great action shots of them jumping.

Photography is all about understanding light and painting with it. Have you ever tried backlit images, that too of Monkeys with the concept of rim lighting? This chapter explains about how to get that perfect backlit image with the right kind of planning.

Here is another chapter which will explain the behaviour of a common subject – the Spotted Deer – and help you plan and execute to get some awesome backlit action images.

There are a lot of National Parks and Tiger Reserves in the country which have grassland and meadows. This chapter deals with the situation on how to photograph the subjects given the challenge of these animals hiding in the grass.

Do you know that a lot of animals take the same path on a regular basis to travel from one point to another in the forest? We will look at how this knowledge helps us to plan our shots both in terms of composition and also technical aspects. The challenges we face and how we can overcome them. In this chapter, we will look at one such example and help you understand what it takes to plan and execute such a sequence of shots.

The behaviour of a lot of animals in rain is almost the same. Let us study what they are in this particular chapter, and use this knowledge to make some beautiful “in the rain” images.

We came across a Leopard kill of a Spotted Deer and waited for it to appear. As we waited, we started planning about how we can compose the shot based on our knowledge about this. In this chapter we look at one such possible scenario of it and plan our shot.

Every destination has some well-known location inside the park which is considered iconic. In this chapter, we will explain the concept of signature shots at such locations and share some of the images to illustrate it. This will help you identify and plan your dream shots during your next visit.

What is the concept of story-telling images ? Did you know that these are the kind of images with the potential to win many a competition? This chapter delves deep into this with detailed information including behind-the-scenes planning to make such images.

Your wildlife photography is completely dependent on how you manage yourself in the vehicle during the safari. Shooting technique is one of the most important factors in getting quality images. In this chapter, we will explore the various options and accessories used for wildlife photography when shooting from the safari vehicle. We will also talk about options of how you can get your vehicle modified for an optimal shooting experience.

Is it possible to do wildlife photography by using a tripod in a safari vehicle? The answer is, “indeed, YES.” In this chapter, we will explain the various ways in which you can manage a tripod in the vehicle. We will also look at options on how to get eye level shots from the vehicle by using a tripod.

There are situations when you have to do handheld photography while on foot. Though we always encourage tripod use, it may not be possible all the time. In this chapter, we will look at efficient ways of doing handheld photography using a long lens. This technique will help you get sharp images even at low shutter speeds.

There are situations during your safari where you cannot carry a tripod or a monopod and will have to shoot handheld. Though not ideal, it may be inevitable at times. In this chapter, we will look at ways to efficiently handle long tele lens while shooting handheld.

This chapter explores the option of shooing with a long tele lens without a tripod or a monopod. It demonstrates how you can take help of your fellow passenger to get good stability for shooting. Shooting technique is an important aspect in getting sharp images even a low shutter speeds.

We may not always get the ideal spot for shooting from a safari vehicle and often end up sitting beside the driver. So how do we manage and shoot with a long tele lens without using a tripod, monopod, beanbag or any kind of external support. In this chapter, we explain a quick and easy workaround to enable stable shooting with your long tele lens.

Shooting with a clamp is a good workaround when you cannot use a tripod or monopod in the safari vehicle. In this chapter, we will look at how best to use a combination of the clamp and a tripod head to achieve stable shooting technique.

A combination of a beanbag and a panning pod is probably the best and the most flexible way to get stability while shooting from a safari vehicle. Sudhir uses this technique often and is always pleased with the results. In this chapter, we explore how best to use it.

We come across situations when we have to walk in the field for long durations carrying our heavy equipment, the setup of camera/lens on a tripod. This chapter shows you how you can do it with less effort.

What is the best camera setting to have for wildlife photography? This is one of the most common questions asked. In this chapter, we will look at the best possible camera related setting which will give you good images in most of the situations.

In this chapter, we will explore what shutter priority mode is and when to use it in wildlife photography.

In case of wildlife photography, shutter speed is one of the most important parameters to work on. Yet, Sudhir hardly uses the shutter priority mode. In this chapter, we will look at when to use that mode and when not to use. We will also explore the advantages and disadvantages of this mode for wildlife photography.

The big question in wildlife photography – what is the correct shutter speed to use? In this chapter, we will explain the various situations and help you arrive at what could be the right shutter speed for a given scenario.

Depending on the situation, we use aperture priority or shutter priority in wildlife photography. But there are situations where we end up using manual exposure. This chapter will help you understand those situations and teach you how to arrive at the correct exposure in case of manual shooting

Now that we have studied the different shooting modes, we will look at various situations and understand when to use what mode.

One of the most important aspects in wildlife photography and especially very useful for low-light shooting is the theory of reciprocity. In this chapter, we will help you explore what it is and how it helps in your wildlife photography.

Your entire exposure triangle is dependent on metering, and this chapter helps you understand what metering is and how it affects your shutter speed and aperture depending on the lighting.

In this chapter, we will look at the different kind of metering options available in your camera and understand each of them.

Now that we have explored the different metering options, in this chapter we will look at when to use what kind of metering, the drawbacks of certain metering modes and how to overcome that.

Though spot meter is one of the best metering options to get you accurate exposure, it may not work in all conditions. This chapter looks at those scenarios where it may fail and how to overcome that.

Be it action photography or still photography, it is important to understand the different modes of focusing. This chapter will help you understand those modes and help you decide when to use what focusing mode.

This chapter deals with all the different kinds of auto focusing points in the Canon cameras. This knowledge is extremely important for wildlife photography, especially action photography.

This chapter deals with all the different kinds of auto focusing points in the Nikon cameras. This knowledge is extremely important for wildlife photography, especially action photography.

A lot of lens have the distance scale indicator on them. Ever wondered what it is and how to use it? This chapter explains everything you need to know about it.

For wildlife photography, it is recommended to shoot in aperture priority mode so that you can control the shutter speed by adjusting the ISO using the concept of the theory of reciprocity. But there are advanced settings in the camera where you can still shoot in shutter priority and use the auto ISO mode to get the right shutter speed you want. This chapter helps you understand those advanced settings to help you get the right shutter speed.

Do you have an entry-level camera with a basic kit lens and always felt challenged to get amazing images? Not to worry. In this chapter, we will look at how to make the best use of your equipment and get good images. We will also understand how important it is to invest in learning, especially the core technical concepts of photography, to become a better wildlife photographer.

As beginners in photography we make a lot of mistakes, costly ones. In this chapter, we look at one such mistake and study it completely to understand what went wrong and what could have been done to avoid it.

In previous chapters, we have understood about animal behaviour and the concept of pre-visualization. We will use that knowledge to study this particular image of a Tiger climbing a tree and how you can anticipate these moments and be ready for the shot. Also, we explore how to think fast from a composition aspect to get good images in a limited time.

Action photographs – what does it take to get them in limited time. In this chapter, we will study the behavioural aspect of blackbucks and understand the technical challenges in getting good images of it. We look at various options of focusing points and understand what kind of focusing points we should use in these cases. Sound technical knowledge in photography can help overcome a lot of challenges in action photography.

The concept of low-key and high-key images involves technical understanding of metering and exposure compensation. This chapter deals with those aspects and helps you make some awesome creative images.

In wildlife photography, there are situations where you have a long tele lens and the animal comes very close to you. How do we get a good composition in those situations? It’s not always necessary to show the full animal in your frame. In this chapter we will look at various examples and study the composition techniques.

Shooting at the eye level is considered the most ideal, in general. But is it really possible to do that in wildlife photography all the time, especially when you are in the jungle in a vehicle? In this chapter, we will learn the various techniques to shoot at the eye level in wildlife photography.

In wildlife photography it is very important to get good eye contact and head turn of your subjects to have maximum viewing impact. In this chapter we will look at examples which will help you understand what is good eye contact and good head turn.

What is a good image? If you have a zoom lens, when should you zoom in and shoot a close-up portrait and when should you zoom out. What composition works best? This chapter looks at various examples to help you understand how to make pleasing images.

We have seen a lot of examples on how to make good images. This chapter takes you through some of the images that do not work well and explains why they do not work.

In this chapter we will look at various examples as to when Black & White images work in wildlife photography. How can we think and see in B&W in the field. This is an interesting chapter which looks at the B&W aspect of wildlife photography.

The concept of rim lighting by using the backlight effect. How do we create magical images by playing with light? This chapter explores those images and helps you arrive at the correct settings to get them.

A ‘wow’ image is one in which you have played with composition to create an impact on viewers. In this chapter we will see how to create such images by thinking out of the box and going off the beaten track.

Composition is all about understanding the rule of thirds and deciding where to place your subject. In this chapter we will look at some practical example of playing around with focusing points to place the subject in a creative way

Here is another practical field example which teaches you what could be possible distractions in your composition and how you can try and avoid them.

The magic of reflection. In this chapter we will look at pre-visualising your shots where there is water – what to look for and how to decide on your composition.

Here is another classic example on how important it is to shoot at eye level. This chapter will show you how to decide when to shoot at eye level and the best way to go about doing it. This is particularly useful when you are shooting on foot.

In this chapter we will study the behavioural aspect of the Spotted Deer and help you understand how to decide when to shoot. Head turn and eye contact are two important factors to make pleasing images and you will learn how to study and implement it in the field.

This chapter teaches you the importance of playing around with your focusing points and its importance in achieving good composition.

This chapter explores the different kinds of lighting situations and helps you decide when to shoot what kind of images using what kind of lighting.

In this chapter we look at the ways in which we need to take care of our equipment during safaris. We also look at some of the workarounds to protect our equipment when we don’t have proper accessories to carry.

We have learnt so much about wildlife photography so far. But one of the most important aspects of wildlife photography is taking care of your health. In this chapter we touch upon some simple precautions that can help us stay fit and healthy to withstand the rigours of wildlife photography in extreme weather conditions.

Wildlife photography is incomplete without giving them a good finishing touch. That’s where post processing comes into picture.

During our field outing we get back with a lot of images, literally in 1000’s from a few days trips. How do we store them in our computers and what kind of naming convention do we follow. How do we filter out the bad images and keep only the good ones. What kind of criteria do we apply. The complexity multiplies with multiple bodies. In this chapter we look at the process of filtering and deleting the bad images.

There are so many applications out there to process the RAW files. How do we arrive at which to use when. In this chapter we look at some of the corner cases in wildlife photography where some images looks better in certain applications. We look at those scenarios and evaluate when to use which application.

In this chapter we look at the complete workflow of how do we process an image. How do we play around with a bit of advance options to get the result we want.

In the field, the camera may not be able to capture the actual scene as it is due to the dynamic range of the scene or other issues related to camera setting. In this chapter we look at two major correction tools of shadows and highlights and how they help in recovering the lost details in the image.

Finally we look at the concept of high key and low key images and what kind of processing is required to get the final output.

We came across a herd of Indian Gaur and started using them to teach the various concepts of wildlife photography. But what we did not know was that a Tiger was hiding and planning its hunt. Have a look at this chapter to see what happened.

In this chapter we will look at the practical field example of what it takes to plan and execute your images in the wild. This pack of Wild Dogs was co-operative, and we have used them to illustrate multiple concepts.

During this video tutorial shoot at Bharatpur National Park, we came across this scene of five Pythons and used them as examples to teach the various concepts of wildlife photography. You will understand the practical field challenges we face and how to plan and execute your shots on the go. These practical field examples will teach you the real art of wildlife photography.

How does white balance have an impact on your image? This chapter shows you the different output you get when you change the white balance parameter in your camera.

The concept of pre-visualising and executing your shot. This chapter explains the live example of how we go about understanding the behavioural aspects of animals and how it aids in making good images.

Another classic example in the field on how to predict animal behaviour and how you can plan your shot based on that.

What is a good image? If you have a zoom lens, when should you zoom in and shoot a close-up portrait and when should you zoom out. What composition works best? This chapter looks at practical field example to help you understand how to make pleasing images.

In this chapter we will look at practical field example on how to arrive at the correct shooting angle, especially when you are on foot.

Practical field example on how to play with light. In this chapter we come across a spotted deer which has side lighting, and we will see how to wait for that right moment to capture the image.