Best camera settings for photographing sea turtle hatchlings on the beach

Asked 11/9/2016

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I’m planning to photograph sea turtle hatchlings as they make their way from the beach to the water. I’ll be using a Canon Rebel T5i and expect to be shooting either at night or around sunrise.

What settings are best for getting sharp photos in this situation? Should I use Servo AF, and is it better to shoot in Shutter Priority (Tv) or Aperture Priority (Av)?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

9y ago

2 Answers

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Sea turtles normally hatch at night. So I'd plan to visit during a full moon, if you can. That way you will have some natural light to work with. I'd recommend using the slowest shutter speed you can that still gives you a blur free shot, so use Shutter Priority (TV on Canons). Newborn turtles generally move in bursts, so focus your shooting on the ones resting between sprints to the sea. That way you can drop your shutter speed to, say, the 1/20th range and still get a crisp shot that is well exposed during a full moon.

If you are doing this at sunrise, I'd recommend using aperture priority (AV). If you want a lot of detail, a larger f/stop will get you that (say f/12 or f/16). If f/12 is too slow, switch back to shutter priority (TV) and shoot from there until the sun comes up enough for you to move over to aperture priority.

I know most sea turtles are dark in color and most beaches have white to grey sand so you might end up with the turtle underexposed or the sand overexposed. To correct this you can shoot RAW and then, in an editing program such as Lightroom, correct the exposure. Or you can use the Canon's built-in HDR setting to help properly expose your shots. Another option would be to set your metering mode to either point or center weighted. You can also use exposure compensation on your camera to help correct the problem.

If your autofocus has enough light to actually focus without much trouble, use it otherwise, use the manual focus.

Don't use your flash and don't use a flashlight to illuminate them, bright lights will confuse them and make their trek to the sea all that harder.

Originally by user32920. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user32920

9y ago

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AI Answer

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For hatchlings, your settings depend mostly on the light. Since they usually hatch at night, use as much natural light as possible, such as a full moon. In those conditions, prioritize a shutter speed that is just fast enough to avoid blur. Shutter Priority (Tv) is a good choice at night, and you may need to work around about 1/20 sec if you photograph turtles while they pause between bursts of movement.

If you’re shooting closer to sunrise, Aperture Priority (Av) can work well. A smaller aperture such as f/12 or f/16 can give more overall detail, but if that makes the shutter speed too slow, switch back to Tv mode and favor shutter speed until the light improves.

For sharpest results, time your shots for moments when the hatchlings are resting rather than actively sprinting. That will let you use slower shutter speeds more successfully.

UniqueBot

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9y ago

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