Shooting handheld with a super-tele

What are your key settings when shooting handheld with a long lens?

Camera settings depend on the animal being photographed and the weather. I often have no set settings. I like to have my aperture wide open because I like quite minimalist shots where the subject is sharp, but the background is blurry. In terms of shutter speed, it depends on the subject but, when I shoot a puffin in flight, my shutter speed is high so it’s nice and sharp.

Puffins spread their wings when they’re perching, and their heads are completely still for about three seconds. In this case, I slow my shutter speed down because I want to have the head sharp, and the wings blurred.

Do you use teleconverters or do you like to crop?

I’ve never really used a teleconverter, I’m not against it, but I would hesitate to put another extra layer of glass in front of my lens because of image quality — I sell prints, so I need the quality to be razor-sharp. I prefer to crop in post-processing.

What body positions are you using when you shoot handheld?

I try to get as low as possible because that’s when you can create an image that’s different. I don’t take beanbags with me, as they’re an additional item to carry, but anything that I can use to my advantage to prop the camera up is great. If I’m shooting handheld with long lenses, I will crank up my shutter speed to try and compensate for any light shake.

How valuable is stabilisation?

It’s important. The more stable you are, the sharper, crisper and cleaner your shots are going to be. But I recognise it can’t always be stable when you are shooting from handheld even with the camera’s in-built stabilisation, which is why knowing tips such as increasing shutter speed to counterbalance any shake can help. Settings such as 20fps can help, too – although, unless I’m shooting a cheetah hunt, I will normally shoot only 4 or 5fps, but this can help if there is a gust of wind that moves the lens.

What is a good wildlife shot to you?

A good shot is impactful, it’s anything different. There are millions of images of puffins or lions and elephants on the internet so what I look for is anything that will create impact or provoke an emotive response. I like to photograph interesting behaviour in the animals.

I love to shoot puffins on Scotland's Treshnish Isles, off the Isle of Mull (where I live). In May, there was an abundance of these gorgeous pink sea thrift flowers, so I wanted to create bokeh in the foreground to frame the puffins. I’m constantly watching the animals, looking for any interesting behaviours, always thinking, ‘How can I make this different? How can I make this stand out?’

For tips and tricks on wildlife photography and being reactive to your surroundings, read Lara Jackson’s guide to ethical wildlife photography here. You can follow her on Instagram here.