Wildlife photography

Learn more with our photography short courses in Sydney!

Are you keen on photographing animals? Are you planning a wildlife safari in Africa, or to explore exotic destinations like the Galapagos Archipelago, the Amazon jungle, Antarctica … to name just a few? Or perhaps you would like to capture dramatic and amusing portraits of animals in your local zoo or wildlife reserve.

If you answer is yes to any of the above, then this is the course for you.

Your tutor, Nic van Oudtshoorn ARPS, is an experienced, multi-award-winning wildlife photographer and film maker and a qualified trainer.

Spend the morning at SCC learning major aspects of wildlife photography, with particular emphasis on capturing wild portraits. The course covers cameras and lenses, as well as camera supports, lighting, and many other useful accessories. Students also spend time editing wildlife photos on their computers.

Late morning we car-share to Taronga Zoo to spend the rest of the day putting the theory into practice, learning how to capture portraits of many different animals in both colour and black-and-white. We explore many wildlife photography techniques, including point of view, framing, lighting for portraiture, focus and depth of field, fill-in flash and (most importantly) composition.

Students also learn the importance of respecting the animals' boundaries and minimizing disturbance while still capturing their essence and personality through the lens.

Please note: Taronga Zoo admission fee is $49.50 online and $55 at the gate (no cash accepted) and is payable by students to enter the park. This fee is NOT included in the course fee. For concession fee details go to https://ticketsales.taronga.org.au/Tickets/sydney

Course content

Explore equipment needed for wildlife photography.
Learn how to handle your camera to capture wildlife and animal portraits.
Choose correct camera settings for wildlife portraiture.
Explore different angles for portraiture.
Explore using different lighting techniques.
Practice using fill-in flash to reduce contrast.
Select focus points and determine best depth of field.
Evaluate different compositional techniques and apply them to portraits

Learning outcomes

At the end of this course, you will know how to:

Set up your camera menu for portraiture.
Move away from Auto and use advanced camera settings.
Be able to use different lenses and other attachments to capture animal portraits.
Understand and apply depth of field.
Understand colour temperatures and white balance and apply appropriate settings.
Use fill-in flash.
Use a tripod or monopod.
Apply principles of composition, including Rule of Thirds.
Explore difference between colour and black-and-white for portraiture.
Understand basic photo editing principles and techniques.

What to bring

Students need to bring their own laptops with either Photoshop or Lightroom loaded, if you do not have the programs you can download it 1 week free trial version from www.adobe.com (You need to do this less than a week before the course starting date.)
Mirrorless or DSLR Camera (fixed lens cameras with a zoom function can also be used.)
Tripod (optional but recommended)
Any lenses you own
Flash (optional but recommended)
Camera Manual
Fully charged batteries
Writing materials, paper, etc
Own lunch or purchase lunch at Symbio.

Intended audience

Who is this wildlife photography workshop for?

This course is for anyone who has a thorough working knowledge of their camera, aperture, shutter speeds, focusing, and the basic principles of photography, or anyone who has completed a beginner's photography course or similar.

Course venue

The morning theory session will be held at our Rozelle Campus

2A Gordon Street, Rozelle NSW 2039 (corner of Gordon St & Victoria Rd on the grounds of St. Joseph's Church), followed by an excursion to Taronga Zoo for the practical wildlife photography component.

Students will travel to Taronga Zoo by carpool after the morning session and return to the campus at the end of the day to collect their vehicles.