Tutorials & Calculators

Photography tools to help you capture better wildlife shots

Focal Length Calculator

Find out your effective focal length and field of view

Lens Focal Length (mm)

50mm400mm800mm

Sensor / Camera Type

Wildlife preset

Distance to subject (m)

Subject size (m)

Effective focal length

400mm

Subject fills frame

83%

Field of view (width)

0.9m

Field of view (height)

0.6m

Subject fillGreat

Depth of Field Calculator

Calculate how much of your scene will be in focus

Focal Length (mm)

24mm400mm800mm

Aperture (f/)

Distance to subject (m)

Sensor type

Depth of field

20cm

Hyperfocal distance

985.62m

Near limit (sharp from)

9.90m

Far limit (sharp to)

10.10m

Shallow — great for isolation

Sunrise, Sunset & Golden Hour

Plan your shoot around the best light. Times are shown in your device's local time zone.

Latitude

Longitude

Date

Morning golden hour

05:20 AM – 06:08 AM

Evening golden hour

06:19 PM – 07:07 PM

Sunrise / Sunset

05:20 AM / 07:07 PM

Civil dawn / dusk

04:42 AM / 07:45 PM

How Focal Length Affects Depth of Field

Perched bird at 10m · f/6.3 · Full Frame — longer lenses dramatically compress the in-focus zone

100mm

DoF 3.8m

200mm

DoF 91cm

300mm

DoF 40cm

400mm

DoF 22cm

600mm

DoF 10cm

10m

14m

19m

In-focus zone

Reeds at 7m · Bird at 10m · Trees at 14m & 19m

Wildlife Photography Tips

Use a fast shutter speed

Birds and insects move quickly. Use 1/1000s or faster to freeze motion. Bump ISO if needed — a sharp noisy shot beats a blurry clean one.

Approach slowly

Move in an arc rather than head-on. Stay low and keep the sun behind you. Avoid sudden movements and wear muted colours.

Focus on the eye

The subject's nearest eye should be pin-sharp. Modern cameras with animal eye detection make this much easier — use it.

Shoot in RAW

RAW preserves much more dynamic range for editing. Critical for bird photography where you balance a bright sky against dark subjects.

Use continuous autofocus

AI Servo (Canon) / AF-C (Nikon/Sony) tracks moving subjects. Pair with burst mode to maximise your keeper rate.

The golden hours

The hour after sunrise and before sunset gives warm, directional light that makes wildlife shots pop. Birds are also most active at these times.

Depth of field

A wide aperture (f/5.6–f/8) isolates your subject with a blurred background. Close subjects at 600mm can produce beautiful bokeh at f/6.3.

Know your subject

Research behaviour, diet, and habitat. Knowing where a kingfisher perches or when a moth emerges massively increases your chances of a great shot.

Things With Wings

UK wildlife photography community at thingswithwings.uk — loading the latest sightings…

Wildlife Photography Tips

Use a fast shutter speed

Birds and insects move quickly. Use 1/1000s or faster to freeze motion. Bump ISO if needed — a sharp noisy shot beats a blurry clean one.

Approach slowly

Move in an arc rather than head-on. Stay low and keep the sun behind you. Avoid sudden movements and wear muted colours.

Focus on the eye

The subject's nearest eye should be pin-sharp. Modern cameras with animal eye detection make this much easier — use it.

Shoot in RAW

RAW preserves much more dynamic range for editing. Critical for bird photography where you balance a bright sky against dark subjects.

Use continuous autofocus

AI Servo (Canon) / AF-C (Nikon/Sony) tracks moving subjects. Pair with burst mode to maximise your keeper rate.

The golden hours

The hour after sunrise and before sunset gives warm, directional light that makes wildlife shots pop. Birds are also most active at these times.

Depth of field

A wide aperture (f/5.6–f/8) isolates your subject with a blurred background. Close subjects at 600mm can produce beautiful bokeh at f/6.3.

Know your subject

Research behaviour, diet, and habitat. Knowing where a kingfisher perches or when a moth emerges massively increases your chances of a great shot.