SHOOT WITH A PRO
THE APPRENTICE
Canon pro wildlife photographer Paul Fowlie teaches our Apprentice to take great bird photos on the Yorkshire Dales
CANON PRO
NAME: PAUL FOWLIE
CAMERA: CANON EOS R5
PAUL HAS been a pro wildlife and landscape photographer since 2010. Based in Yorkshire, he runs photography workshops in the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales, Scotland and Scandinavia, and is also the author of A Year with Nature: A Photographic Guide to Wildlife. We met up with him in Leyburn to drive around the wonderful Yorkshire Dales to see what wildlife we could find in and amongst the heather and rolling hills. To book one of Paul’s hides or workshops, and see his inspiring images visit his website at www.paulfowliephotography.co.uk
APPRENTICE
NAME: REBECCA PITT
CAMERA: CANON EOS R6
REBECCA, 18, is currently in her first year at Leeds Art University studying photography, and has a passion for wildlife and often visits her local wildlife parks and zoos to get in some practice. She’s written to us asking for help to improve her wildlife photography skills to get a better understanding of camera settings and how to get top animal shots out in the wild. We paired her up with wildlife pro Paul at sunrise in the Yorkshire Dales for them to get some incredible portraits of moorland birds and more!
TECHNIQUE ASSESSMENT
In the semi-automatic Aperture Priority mode, the camera will select the correct shutter speed
PAUL explained that he usually shoots in either his Canon’s Aperture priority or Manual modes so set up Rebecca’s EOS R6 in Aperture priority, also called Av on the mode dial. This is a semi-automatic mode that allows you to adjust the aperture, a series of blades inside of the lens that let in more or less light (and also affect depth of field), as well as input the ISO to change how sensitive the sensor is to light. The camera then works out the correct shutter speed for you so that your attention can be spent composing and focusing.
CANON’S latest generation of subject detection is astonishingly good and the Animal Subject Detection on Paul’s EOS R5 and Rebecca’s R6 works amazingly well. Paul switched on Animal Subject Detection and also Servo autofocus which will continually autofocus and track a subject for as long as the shutter button is held down, great for ensuring your focus continually adjusts for any movement from fast and flighty subjects like birds.
TOP GEAR #1
PAUL SHOOTS on a Canon EOS R5 while Rebecca shoots on an EOS 1100D, however we were able to get hold of an EOS R6 for her to test out on the day. Both the EOS R5 and R6 use the new full-frame mirrorless RF mount and have blistering maximum frame rates of up to 40fps, they also boast incredible Animal Eye Detection aut
