One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from years of photographing wildlife is this: the time to figure out your camera settings is not when the action starts.

Wildlife rarely gives you a warning.

A wolf can go from standing still to running in seconds. A bald eagle can launch from a branch without notice. A bear that has been slowly feeding can suddenly charge after a fish. And if you're looking down at your camera trying to change settings when it happens, you've probably already missed the shot.

When I’m photographing wildlife, I want my camera ready before I ever see the animal.

Here are seven settings I check or change before I start shooting.

1. I Start With My Shutter Speed

For wildlife, shutter speed is one of the first things I think about because movement can change incredibly quickly.

Even when an animal appears still, it isn't necessarily still. An ear twitches. A bird turns its head. A bear shakes water from its fur. A wolf suddenly takes off running.

If I think there is any possibility of action, I would rather have more shutter speed than I need than discover afterward that I didn't have enough.

For general wildlife photography, I often want to be somewhere around 1/1000 second or faster. If I'm photographing birds in flight or fast action, I may be at 1/2000, 1/2500, or even faster.

But there isn't one magic shutter speed, and shutter speed doesn't exist in a vacuum. I'm also thinking about the available light and what that shutter speed is doing to my ISO.

If I'm photographing a bison standing quietly in beautiful early morning light, I may not need 1/2000 second. In that situation, I'm thinking about the slowest shutter speed I know is still fast enough for what the animal is doing. I don't want to unnecessarily push my ISO higher and give up image quality just for the sake of having a faster shutter speed.

At the same time, I don't want to push that shutter speed so low that I'm unprepared if the animal suddenly moves. It's a constant balance—enough shutter speed to make the photograph sharp, while keeping an eye on how hard I'm pushing the ISO in low light.

As the light improves, I have more room to increase my shutter speed. And if the animal's behavior changes, I'll make that adjustment immediately.

The important part is that I'm thinking about what the animal might do next—not just what it's doing at that exact moment.

2. I Let Auto ISO Help Me

I use Auto ISO a lot for wildlife photography.

Why?

Because wildlife doesn't stay in perfect light.

An animal can move from bright sunlight into shade. A bird can fly from a dark background into a bright sky. In Yellowstone, I can be photographing in beautiful morning light and then have the animal disappear behind trees seconds later.

I don't want to be constantly chasing my ISO while all of that is happening.

Auto ISO allows me to choose the shutter speed and aperture I want while letting the camera compensate as the light changes.

And yes, sometimes that means my ISO goes higher than I would ideally like.

I'll take a sharp photograph with a little noise over a beautifully clean, blurry photograph every time.

3. I Have Animal Eye Detection Ready

Modern mirrorless cameras have completely changed wildlife photography.

I shoot with a Nikon Z9 camera body, and animal subject detection is one of the tools I rely on heavily.

When it works, having autofocus find and track an animal's eye allows me to concentrate much more on composition, behavior and what's happening around the animal.

But I never assume the camera is going to do everything for me.

Branches, grasses, snow, multiple animals, and low contrast can all confuse an autofocus system. I want to know how to quickly override what the camera is choosing when it isn't locking onto the subject I want.

Technology is incredible—but knowing how your autofocus system behaves is still more important than simply turning it on.

4. I Check My Aperture Before the Action Starts

My aperture choice depends heavily on the situation.

If I have a single animal with plenty of separation from the background, I may shoot fairly wide open to create that beautiful soft background and isolate my subject.

But if I'm photographing two animals interacting—or a group of animals at different distances—I may need more depth of field.

This is something photographers often forget in the excitement.

Imagine two bear cubs suddenly playing together. Your autofocus nails one cub's eye perfectly, but the second cub is soft because you're shooting wide open.

The camera didn't make a mistake.

You simply didn't have enough depth of field for the photograph you were trying to make.

So before the action begins, I'm already looking at the scene and thinking about how much of it I want sharp.

5. I Make Sure I'm Ready for a Burst of Action

Wildlife behavior often happens in fractions of a second.

Two bison clash.

A fox pounces.

An eagle grabs a fish.

A bear suddenly runs.

Those aren't situations where I want to take one photograph and hope I caught the perfect instant.

I want my camera ready to shoot a burst.

That doesn't mean I hold the shutter button down endlessly. I still try to anticipate the peak of the action. But having a fast continuous shooting mode gives me a much better chance of capturing the exact body position, wing position, expression or interaction I'm looking for.

The difference between a good wildlife photograph and a great one can literally be a fraction of a second.

6. I Check Exposure Compensation Before I Need It

This one is especially important when I'm photographing in Yellowstone.

Snow can fool a camera's meter. A dark animal against a bright background can fool it. A bright animal against a dark forest can fool it.

That's why I'm constantly paying attention to the relationship between my subject, the background, and the available light.

I'm very much a histogram shooter. When I'm in the field, especially when conditions are extremely bright or dark, I don't want to rely on how the image looks on the back of the camera—or even in the viewfinder—to tell me whether my exposure is right. I want to see what the histogram is telling me.

I have my camera set so I can bring the histogram up right in my viewfinder while I'm shooting. That means I can evaluate the exposure without taking my eye away from the wildlife and make an adjustment immediately if I need to.

Exposure compensation gives me a fast way to make that adjustment when the camera's meter isn't giving me the exposure I want. I'm watching the histogram, paying attention to my highlights, and making small changes as the animal or the light changes.

And this is one of the reasons I think it's so important to really know the basic functions of your camera. When something starts happening, you shouldn't have to stop and think about where exposure compensation is or how to bring up your histogram. You want to know your camera well enough that those adjustments become second nature.

Wildlife isn't going to wait while you search through a menu.

7. The Most Important Setting Isn't Actually a Setting

This may be the most important one of all:

I watch the animal.

Learning wildlife behavior will improve your photography more than memorizing any list of camera settings.

Before a bird takes flight, its body language often changes.

Before two animals interact, there may be subtle signals.

A predator may suddenly become intensely focused on something you haven't even noticed yet.

The more time you spend watching wildlife, the better you become at recognizing those little clues.

And that's when photography gets really exciting.

Instead of reacting to what just happened, you begin anticipating what is about to happen.

That's when you have your camera up, your settings ready and your composition already in mind when the moment unfolds.

Prepare First. Then Watch.

The best wildlife encounters I've photographed didn't wait for me to get ready.

That's why I try to decide as much as possible before the action begins.

Shutter speed. ISO. Autofocus. Aperture. Continuous shooting. Exposure.

Get those decisions out of the way.

Then lift your eyes from the camera and watch what's happening in front of you.

Because when that wolf starts running, the eagle takes flight or the bear explodes out of the water, you don't want to be scrolling through a menu.

You want to be making photographs.

Wildlife photography is always a balance between knowing your camera and learning to anticipate your subject. The more those camera adjustments become second nature, the more time you can spend watching, anticipating and being ready for what happens next.

Now I’d love to hear from you. What’s one camera setting you always check before you start photographing wildlife? Or is there something you’ve learned in the field that has changed the way you shoot? Share it in the comments—I always enjoy hearing what works for other photographers.

See you out there,
LeAnn