EXCELLENT! I found the 4 Ps to help with my wildlife photography here in Alaska. 1) Position. If in the mountains, use the hillside elevation to bet at or slightly below the eye level of the animal. Position to capture catchlight in the subject's eyes. Use the topography to position yourself so the animal feeds towards you with the first photos at eye level with the animal on the skyline of a hill. For perched birds and waterfowl, they typically lift off into the wind so position yourself with the wind at your back. Most wild mammals have a keen sense of smell, so position yourself with the wind in your face for wild mammals 2) Planning. Plan your position so the animal naturally comes towards you in a still position. Often a moose, caribou, or bear will come quite close with that type of planning. 3) Patience. Patience and let that "magic moment" happen naturally and the animal does not know you are there. 4) Persistence. Enjoy the journey and by visiting the same site many times you learn about the perfect location for light, background, and animal movements.

I really love your taste and style always so chic. My faves would be the kislux leather backpack and the Swarovski pave diamond ring so gorg. Thank you for your recommendations.

You are right thank😊

Bachground music is annoying remove it

Great video, but why compete with that ridiculous background music?

Thanks!

Great video! I have an unrelated question though, where did you get that gray hat?! I'd love to get one!

Thank you for all of this good information. Your videos/presentations are always great, whether here or at St Louis Camera Club or MoNEP.

Finally, a photography channel that sprinkles in some actual humor. LOL I literally LOL'd at 2:21 haha Instant sub for that line alone. LOL

I wasn't going to watch this..... I am glad I did... it was really good.....

Never saw the point of the neoprene gear bags & cases. I get it now.

Do the neoprene bags offer water protection generally?

for years (about 13) i told myself i would never use a non oem or in my case a non-canon battery ever again. It's not worth it. Their unreliable, die quick lose charge the list goes on. Then I moved over to the R5 and the RF system and now depending on what generation of Canon battery i have opens up more capabilities so now i defenitly will never go to a non Canon battery. Then, i ran into a situation where having a battery with a USB type C plug so it can charge or power a device was a must plus no one had the LP-E6NH in stock. So smallrig and the (Upgraded) JYJZPB versions have not only suited me well but completly replaced my expensive canon ones. I still feel guilty but being able to charge then and not carry around the big bulky canon charger (the 1D X Mark II charger was even worse) is a blessing. So anyone not liking his suggestion of the Smallrig usb batteries (at least for the LP-e6NH;s) should really give them a try. It's been 2 years now with constant use and they still charge and run perfectly with no issue. When going third-party in the past, they would never last a year with my use.

Things you need to know one a camera with a lens memory card and battery with power. Next I would say tripod . A cpl filter,and a camera bag. The other equipment will become obvious as you start to take your photos which leads to the next a computer to process the photos on. The other myth is you can take great photographs right out the bag. Watching KZbin is very helpful . More so as you can rewind the bits over and over again till you understand what they mean. Depth of field where a lot of people fall down . Each lens renders the image amount of focus differently. So watch videos then go out with a note book and record what you’re doing setting wise. Or if you have lightroom use the setting in the program that let you see the iso sutterspeed F stop used. Looking at the picture on screen you can see then very quickly how much of was is in foucs at the f stop you used how grainy via the iso readout and lastly both light a shutter blur by the speed of the photo. Look at your photo and check where you went wrong and where you got it right . This will help beginners more than the latest gear for sale. Cheers for your blog .

I usually have 2 cameras on the trail, one with a long lens for wildlife, and one wide angle for landscape. And a macro lens. I was aware of those smallrig batteries. I think I'll get a few.

I feel alot smarter after this!! Qnd a lot more versed in my choices. Only messing the neoprene lens pouches!! Great vid

Hey there, I'm new to your channel Greg. I was in Costa Rica in 2000 and spent a few weeks in the jungle near Tortuguero at a biological research station. Amazing photography, but I made the big mistake of only brining a couple of rolls of 800 ASA film. Those were the days. Anyhow, I have a question. Do you have any suggestions on the best place to go for wildlife photography? I also spent a week in Monteverde and that was also an amazing area. I also spent a week in Corcovada but that was pretty much a bust. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Awesome photo content! Thank you.

Here's an option to the pluggable rechargeable battery (for which you'll need a power bank in the field of course) : just take that double / triple C type battery charger that you already have and use that. I do. Works great. Oh and totally agree on the L plates - I have one attached to every camera and they never come off so I no longer forget to take my arca-swiss ballhead mounting plate, adds a place to rest my pinkie and can even be used to carry the camera by (if you don't like wrist or shoulder straps). Can also be used to mount virtually anything inc. an external monitor.

Great video amigo. You are definitely getting better. 😄 And lucky me, I have four of five of your suggestions and will be looking into the rechargeable battery. Cheers!

Thanks Greg. Tt small rig battery is terrific because I spend a lot of time travelling off grid. Out of interest what tripod do you use? I have a Canon R7 with zoom plus a couple of small prime lenses. I generally carry everything in small bag or a backpack for longer walking distances so something stable and lightweight is important

I keep a penlight flashlight in my bag.

I suppose that visiting the photography confessional on an early Sunday morning is apropos, eh? lol The algorithm is apparently sharing this vid around a bit and it was fun to watch. Great humor and good points!

Great video....

I am another that cam acorss your channel by accident, I like this video.

Hi Greg, I just stumbled on your channel by chance and really enjoyed this video. Coincidentally, I purchased two of these Small Rig batteries for my Nikon D850 just last week and was using one for shooting the eclipse, so the camera was on for hours. I had no issues with compatibility and charging was so simple! And the capacity is higher than the original native batteries from Nikon. They are excellent! I also love using L brackets and have them always mounted on each of my camera bodies. They are convenient as you said, and also eliminate the weight shifting of a heavy DSLR if you are using a lightweight travel tripod. The small accessory I would recommend is a flashlight like the mini lights made by RovyVon -especially if you can find one with a red-light option for night photography. They are tiny, rechargable, powerful, and glow in the dark when dropped into your bag. RovyVon A5 USB C Flashlight with Red Sidelight, Luminous Body, 650 Lumens Outdoor Mini EDC Wait for a sale!

Have you had any compatibility issues with the SmallRig batteries? Many third party batteries tried with my 6D II have the camera asking if i've inserted a Canon genuine battery then refusing to power on.

Thanks Greg! That battery (If as good as the Canon battery) would be a great accessory for photography on the go. Many safari operators only offer USB charging in their tents. This is a problem that I found when researching for African safaris and that offers a solution.

As always, great video Greg. My favorite ballhead for travel is the Acratech GP-SS Ballhead. It converts to a panning ballhead when it is turned “upside down “ Thanks for the tips.

Sounds like something I could use, but not for $50. I hope you sell a lot of copies.

I agree with your points, especially about the background being part of the image. I'm still 50/50 about bird portraits or bird in context photos, but like you said just you can shoot both! When I shoot wide sometimes it feels like I'm just taking a photo of a bush that happens to have a bird in the shot, I'm a bird photographer so I like to focus my attention to the birds and their details rather than the habitat and landscape so that's why I like your 'typical' bird photo, but like you said it does get repetitive so wider shot are a great inclusion.

One of the best videos I've seen on this subject, thank you!

Perfect! Thank you soo much!!!! 🙂

What a great video for those of us who don't have bottomless pockets. You talk a lot of sense. And, having just got back from Costa Rica, the context was great for me.

Awesome video! I went to Costa Rica recently, taking my Nikon D750 and a Tamron 100-400mm lens. Not the ideal setup perhaps, but when I put some of the results on social media, a friend who I got to know through a FB photography group, commented that it was some of my best work. At the end of the trip, I found your book in a shop at the airport. Since my bag was full, I decided to take a photo of the book so that I could order it when I got back home. Which is how I got your name. :) And now I find out you have a YT channel, and this whole topic speaks so much to me! Regarding the setup, I sometimes did come up short. 24MP isn't that much either (thinking I might actually step it up, also given the feedback of that friend). But when it worked, and I was able to capture a hummingbird, an iguana, a green basilisk lizard, and even an anteater (Corcovado)... I felt so happy. :) Especially given that the setup of body and lens weighs just 2 kg. I wish I had found your channel before I went there. It might have given me a bit more understanding. Having said that, I was always in a group with others, with a guide. So, not too fussed either. CR is expensive, but the nature... Oh my God!

Just purchased and can't wait to dive in!

Video is good but Audio was fairly poor. An investment in a good mic will make your videos even better 👍

Hey, I’d like to get started, and I found a used Nikon DX AF-S 70-300mm IF-ED VR lens for 200 USD. I plan to use it on a Nikon D3400 APSC camera body, netting me a 100-400mm equivalent focal length. Is that good?

can popup flash be use for delay flashing

Thanks for the encouraging tips <3

10:53 why would you want the dxo images isolated from the originals? This is a mystery to me. Also curious how does this compare to Topaz? Also in 2023 the easiest workflow is to use the LR plugin which skips the import process entirely! Select set of images --> plugin extras --> process with DXO --> Export back to LR --> New images appear magically. It's quite nice!

Problem with long fast primes is the waffer thin DoF. You may not be able to get the whole bird in focus it is that shallow. So they usually have to be stopped down to where a zoom is. It is often a mistake to use an extra long at extreme distance. You certainly can but they are better at mid-range "fill the frame". Best stabilisation ever Panasonic G9 + Leica 100-400, wave it around like a bat, the whole package under 2kg. Olympus can do it too but only with three £7,000 lenses. There is an old 4/3 adapted Bigma for it, stunning glass but no Lens-IS and AF so bad that MF is obligatory, great tripod job moon bazooka. The 4/3 sensor doubles the reach so a FF 800 is equivalent to the mft 400, not really needing a TC. Nor is noise an issue until we get to ISO 6400 which can be fixed, can even be shot above ISO 12800 with a little NR in edit. More often than not with decent light, a high ISO is not needed even with a fast birding shutter speed and f/8. Getting silly - Samyang/Rokinon 800mm f/8 T-thread reflex plus old Kiron x2TC PK, hodge-potch of adapters to mft - 2x(800x2) = 3200mm equivalent f/16. Real pain to MF and tripod compulsory.

One additional thought: When using a camera like the R5 with a lot of megapixels, I found that ditching the teleconverter and cropping in post sometimes makes more sense as it helps to keep the iso down and get more bokeh.

Still lusting after the Canon EF 600mm f4 II, but the RF100-500 is really doing a great job at a lot of things. Early morning wildlife is a challenge though

Very interesting video and I fully agree you don't need mega priced lenses and cameras to produce wonderful photos. I'm rather sorry you brought in the French revolution which was the mother of all horrible ideas leading to the deaths of literally millions of people.

Neat video, there is far too much emphasis on kit with too many zeros. As a pro motorsport photographer I needed range and versatility, so my go to lens was a Sigma 50-500mm. When relaxing I used this a lot, the results were very hard to distinguish from a Canon 100-400 Lii [I have a YT video on this]. In fact one of my favourite images was taken using that lens on a Canon D30, 3mp sensor.

Great video but too much noise in the audio

Looking forward to buying this book. To learn flash photography for avian subjects.

Very good tips! Thanks for the video!!

Was interested in the subject but the music is making me dive out.