Wildlife Photography

Chaos | Sony A7ii | Sony FE 100-400 ƒ4.5-5.6 GM | 400mm | 1/800 sec | ƒ8 | ISO 800

I need to expand my horizons…

In Portland, I worked with models. Photographing people is my passion, and Portland is full of people. But the population of the entire state of Montana is smaller than the population of the Portland metro area. They say that the best camera is the one you have with you at the time, I say the same goes for subject matter. Shoot what’s available. One thing Montana is not lacking is scenery and critters. I’m working on the astrophotography–I think that’s going to be a lot of fun. But I decided to add wildlife photography to the mix.

So I bought a telephoto lens.

Like the astrophotography, I have a lot to learn. But that’s part of the fun. So I ran out to Benton Lake Wildlife Refuge last week to try out the new lens. Most of the larger birds are gone, but there were plenty of ducks, and a few pheasants. The Sony 100-400 is an amazing lens. Continuous focus tracking is phenomenal–the sheer speed at which this thing locks on and focuses blew my mind.

Pheasant | Sony A7ii | Sony FE 100-400 ƒ4.5-5.6 GM | 400mm | 1/4000 sec | ƒ8 | ISO 400

The Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge covers 19 square miles just north of Great Falls. I can’t wait to run out there in the summer to catch all the birds.

Sony A7ii | Sony FE 100-400 ƒ4.5-5.6 GM | 318mm | 1/1000 sec | ƒ7.1 | ISO 400

Don’t get me wrong–if I find a person to put in front of my camera, that’s still my priority. But it’s awesome to be able to explore different types of photography, as well. I’m heading back to Portland for a visit in a few weeks, and while I do have a shoot planned with my three favorite models, I’m also looking forward to breaking out the wide-angle and telephoto lenses this time.