Software Reverse Engineering Techniques

Software reverse engineering is done to retrieve the source code of a program because the source code was lost, to study how the program performs certain operations, to improve the performance of a program, to fix a bug (correct an error in the program when the source code is not available), to identify malicious content in a program such as a virus or to adapt a program written for use with one microprocessor for use with another. Reverse engineering for the purpose of copying or duplicating programs may constitute a copyright violation. In some cases, the licensed use of software specifically prohibits reverse engineering.

- De compilers
These are programs which will convert object code back to high level languages such as C.
- Functional Analysis
The input and output states of a chip can be monitored using an oscilloscope, or special purpose probes such as logic state analyzers or protocol analyzers, to acquire a picture of the behavior of the chip over time or in response to input signals.
- Patents
Many patented goods are not sold with restrictive licenses, and hence a bonafide purchaser cannot usually be prevented by the patent from doing what they like with the patented product. Indeed, the patent itself may give the reverse engineer valuable information on how the patented product operates.
- Software anti-tamper technology
It is used to deter both reverse engineering and re-engineering of proprietary software and software-powered systems. In practice, two main types of reverse engineering emerge. In the first case, source code is already available for the software, but higher-level aspects of the program, perhaps poorly documented or documented but no longer valid, are discovered. In the second case, there is no source code available for the software, and any efforts towards discovering one possible source code for the software are regarded as reverse engineering.
- Analysis through observation of information exchange, most prevalent in protocol reverse engineering, which involves using bus analyzers and packet sniffers, for example, for accessing a computer bus or computer network connection and revealing the traffic data thereon. Bus or network behavior can then be analyzed to produce a stand-alone implementation that mimics that behavior.
- Disassembly using a disassembler, meaning the raw machine language of the program is read and understood in its own terms, only with the aid of machine-language mnemonics.

Hardware Reverse Engineering Techniques

Reverse engineering is taking apart an object to see how it works in order to duplicate or enhance the object. The practice, taken from older industries, is now frequently used on computer hardware and software.
Hardware reverse engineering involves taking apart a device to see how it works. In general, hardware reverse engineering requires a great deal of expertise and is quite expensive.

- REFAB (Reverse Engineering - Feature Based)
This tool uses a laser digitizer to scan the part, and the analysis software then analyzes the shape of the part, using features which are based on typical machining operations, to generate a computerized manufacturing description which can be displayed, used to copy the product, or produce new products using the design.

- PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARDS (PCBS)
Computer vision has been widely used to scan PCBs for quality control and inspection purposes, and based on this, there are a number of machine vision for analysing and reverse engineering PCBs.

- INTEGRATED CIRCUIT (IC) COMPONENTS
* The first step is to get through the encapsulating material into the product itself, by chemical etching or grinding.
* Once at the chip surface, each layer of components is photographed, then ground away to reveal the layer below. This process reveals the structure of the chip.
* Although these processes can reveal the structure of the chip, they do not indicate the voltages at each point. However, if the chip is undamaged, voltage contrast electron microscopy can be used to scan the chip in use, and watch the voltage level change over time.
These processes are generally referred to as "stripping" or "peeling" the chip.

5 tips on buying a camera lens (contd..)

Tip 1 (What are Canon's EF vs. EF-S lens): Deciphering what the acronyms written for the lens mean can be confusing for people who don't know what they mean. Till 2003, all the lens prepared by Canon were called EF (electrofocus); however, in 2003, Canon introduced the Digital Rebel series of cheaper DSLR's. For this new camera, there was a new lens introduced that was known as EF-S. All new Canon digital cameras are EF and EF-S compatible. However, the main difference between the EF and the EF-S lens are that EF-S lens have smaller mirror boxes, and smaller sensors. The EF-S lens work with the current range of Digital SLR's, but because of their smaller sensors, they will not work with any full frame cameras that Canon releases.

Tip 2 (Same lens works differently on film and digital cameras): Consider the above case again, where the EF lens will work on both film and digital cameras. However, the EF lens on a film camera will show more of the scene that a digital camera (except for a full frame digital camera).

Tip 3 (When the lens has the term full frame equivalent or 35mm equivalent): This term refers to the fact that most digital cameras have a sensor that is smaller than on a film camera, and as result, there is a factor known as the cropping factor. So a digital camera with a cropping factor of 1.6 will mean that a lens with a 60mm focal length will actually be the same as a lens of 96mm focal length on a film camera. Keep this calculation in mind when deciding to purchase a lens.

Tip 4 (Read the focal lenghts printed on the lens and the box): Many times, people are confused when they read all the acronyms printed on the lens (and on the lens box). One of these acronyms refers to the focal length, so a lens with the text 80-200mm refers to a zoom lens with the focal lenght between 80mm and 200mm

Tip 5 (Aperture printed on the lens): Lens also have the aperture printed on them. If you don't have a high end lens, it is likely that your lens will not have the same maximum aperture at all zoom lengths, it is more likely that your zoom lens has the following text: 1:2.8-4.5. This means that the lens will have an aperture opening of 1/2.8 at the mimimum zoom, and 4.5 at the highest zoom, which means that you will have less light, and is certainly not a fast lens.

5 tips on buying a camera lens (contd..)

Tip 1 (Prime lens vs. zoom lens): If you want better optical quality, then a prime lens would be more suitable for you; but there is an inconvenience involved in terms of not having the convenience of being able to get distant objects easily (as is possible through a zoom lens)

Tip 2 (Do you need a lens in which the motor does not make a sound): For specialistic needs such as wildlife, you sometimes need a lens that makes almost zero sound when focusing or shooting, else you will scare away the animals.

Tip 3 (Are you worried about distortion): Many zooms, unless they are of a very high quality, can have distortion in the photos produced (this may be unacceptable if you are photographing architecture, or producing designs). You need to check the lens beforehand to determine whether it will be acceptable.

Tip 4 (Compare the cost of camera and lens): If you are able to afford a really good quality camera, then you should also budget for some great lenses. After all, the quality of the photo is also dependent on the lens. On the other hand, if you are learning, then a cheaper lens should be fine.

Tip 5 (Differentiate between manual and automatic focus): Manual focus gives you a lot of control, while in automatic focus, the camera does the focusing for you. In some situations such as where there are multiple objects in the photo, or when you are focusing in a crowd, or in bad light conditions, you should go in for a manual focus. Accordingly, ensure that your lens has both manual and automatic focus.

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5 tips on buying a camera lens (contd..)

Tip 331 (Low budget lens): Typically lens from third party providers are cheaper than those from the camera manufacturers such as Nikon, Canon, etc. These third party manufacturers are names such as Tamaron, Sigma; they are good to start with, but make sure that you have studied them before you go in for the purchase.

Tip 332 (Lens from the manufacturers): These lens tend to be more expensive than a third party lens for the same type of specification. Once you enter this area, a lens could keep on going higher in price depending on the specification; for example a zoom lens with a constant aperture (constant maximum aperture) value would be more expensive than that with a variable aperture (at some points in the zoom range, the aperture could go down, limiting the amount of light you can capture)

Tip 333 (Evaluate a lens before buying another): So you have money to spend, and another lens is also looking very attractive; however, make sure that your current lens is unable to meet your complete requirement before you go ahead and purchase another.

Tip 334 (Look at the weight of the lens and carrying needs): It is a matter of regret that some of the lens with superior capabilities (such as the constant aperture zoom lens) are much more heavy. The lens may look great, but it is you who will have to carry it everywhere, so take that into account as well.

Tip 335 (Large aperture needs): So, you look at a lens with a large aperture (a f number of f/2.8 or even f/1.4), and it looks like a great lens to you. However, a lens with such an aperture is ideally meant for conditions where the light is not so great, or where you want a very shallow depth of field (where only the desired object is in focus, and everything else is blurred / out of focus). If you don't have such needs, then do not go for such a lens. These lenses are much more expensive, are heavier, and need more care (because of the large lens area).

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5 Photo Tips for shooting photos in the sun

Tip 1 (Look for reflected light): One of the problems with harsh sunlight is that the side facing light gets a sharp glare, while a face or profile in shadow is far more reduced. You can either set up reflectors, or look for a place such as a parking lot or in front of buildings, where there is far more reflected light. This ensures that the images don't have unseemly shadows in some parts.

Tip 2 (Use ND Filters): Using filters can really create some interesting photos with different light affects. These filters help in giving a much bluer look to the photos, with a greater contrast in the photos. You can use a graduated ND filter such as this one - Cokin CH250 P-Series ND Grad Kit

Tip 3 (Use the light to good effect in creating silhouette): The strong light may not help in creating soft portraits, but it sure does help in creating some interesting effects such as silhouettes, when you allow the light to be behind the person. The light creates a great outline of the person, and with some creativity around exposure, you can use multiple people to get some stick like effects.

Tip 4 (Shoot in black and white): With the temptation to get good color contrast, and achieve a high color tonality being difficult in harsh light, the strong light actually aids in achieving a good effect in black and white photos. These black and white photographs are great to emphasize structures, shapes, especially when you are shooting something less curvy, and more stark and sharp.

Tip 5 (Shooting indoors or in areas that typically get less light): There are some advantages to having all that light. There are many places such as small alleys, between tall buildings, and indoors, where the amount of light required for good photos is available only when the sun is overhead, and the light is hard.

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5 photo tips for taking photos in the sun

Tip 1 (Underexpose your photos): If you get too much light in your photo, then you lose detail. It is always slightly better to have a slightly under-exposed photo rather than a over-exposed photo; since you can recover from a slightly under-exposed photo; if you lose detail in a photo, then you cannot recover those details.

Tip 2 (Use polarizing filters): Using polarizing filters can help reduce the amount of light in the photo, and also removing the harsh glare caused by the sun. Tiffen 58MM Circular Polarizer Glass Filter and HOYA 72mm Circularizing Polarizing Filter are two such filters you can use.

Tip 3 (Get your models to look up): In order to avoid the shadow under the eyes caused by the light of the sun, you can be on a higher point than the model. This way this forced the model / person to look up and avoids the shadow. Make sure that you the person is facing away from the sun, else they will have to squint, and this will spoil the photo.

Tip 4 (Don't uner-expose, do light metering): A tip above had mentioned that it is better to under-expose rather than over-expose. This remains correct, but you do need to be a bit careful that you don't under-expose too much. This can cause noise in the photo, so do light metering before you go in for under-exposure.

Tip 5 (Use HDR): Shoot at different levels of exposure, and then combine in a HDR to get an image that has enough detail. Make sure that people in your photos are following the rules about not looking towards the sun, and are not squinting.

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5 photo tips for taking photos at noon

Tip 1 (Learn about the characteristics of shooting at noon): Shooting at noon is normally avoided since the light is harsh and getting the tonal details is difficult, getting facial photos is difficult because of the shadows of the eyes and nose. However, if you learn more about the characteristics of light at noon, you will be better equipped to shoot at such times.

Tip 2 (Get down to avoid the shadows): In some cases, you should literally take the low perspective. Takes photos by going much lower to the ground, and gettting more of the blue sky in the photos. Doing this ensures that the colors of the photo seem richer.

Tip 3 (Keep the sun behind you): Contrary to opinion, the sun is actually overhead at noon only if you are at the equator. Hence, when shooting, try and keep the sun behind you, since that enables a better coloring of the sky.

Tip 4 (Embrace the harsh light and shadows): Sometimes the harsh light and shadows can enhance the look of a photo. If you are taking a photo of a rugged terrain, then the harsh light and consequent shadows can actually make the photo look better, and convey the impression that you are trying to project.

Tip 5 (Watch for colors): Lighter colors tend to get washed out in the harsh light of noon, but deeper colors such as red and blue tend to look more saturated in this light. You should embrace these colors more, since they will give your photos a richer look, if you need to shoot at noon or when there is harsh light.

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5 Photo tips for morning / sunrise photos

Tip 1 (Shoot beaches in the morning): Getting good shots of beaches, especially the play of water over the sand, is fun. However, in the harsh light, the whole scene tends to get a bit flattened. Shooting at the beach in the morning enhances the effect of the play of water and sand, and you can capture the texture of the sand particles much better. Plus, there is less chance of their being garbage being thrown by people, and less crowds.

Tip 2 (Dew laden plants): In the morning, plants look fresher, and the presence of dew on the leaves, and on the tips of the petals of flowers can give a great look. If you use a macro lens, the dew at certain angles combined with the slanting rays of the sun can shine.

Tip 3 (Inspiring photos): Photos of people exercising are always inspiring. Capturing the photos of people working out, jogging, or other such exercise when the sun is just coming up gives you a good collection of such photos. In addition, if you collect stock photos, the light can help hide the face while enhancing the outline of the human body.

Tip 4 (Shooting from a low height): Given that shadows in the morning are longer, and the contrast between the shadow and light is not as stark or sharp as it is in the daytime, you can get some great photos where there is a low height sun on the horizon, and long shadows on the ground.

Tip 5 (Take photos from inside): Consider yourself inside a room where the sun is just starting to enter throug the window. Go close to the window and look at what you see. If you do this on a regular basis, you will start to see some great scenes to photo. If you are near a garden or park, you will be able to see some potentially great bird photos, or you can see people going about a routine that you would not be able to see during the daytime, or you can get photos of the play of the sun over neighboring buildings or similar structures. Even a simple photo of the comparative darkness of the area around the window compared to emerging light outside can come out great.

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5 Photo tips (centered around the morning and daybreak)

Tip 1 (Think differently): Sunrise does not always mean shots of the sun rising, or shining over water, through clouds or over mountains. Look for other photos; look at people sitting on the beach with the sun rising, people going about their work (early morning), people having breakfast, or even more interesting shots such as steam (whether from natural sources, or from hot tea and coffee)

Tip 2 (Check White Balances): The white balances needs to be checked when shooting around sunrise. The light can have a orange-color tint to it, with a hint of red (although this changes rapidly as time passes). Even though you may have never have set the color profile to 'incandescent', this is a good time to change the white balance. Experiment with making this change, to see whether you start getting a slight blue tinge to your photos.

Tip 3 (Experiment with focus changes): For landscape views, you should normally have a small aperture (from f/8 to f/22 and higher), since you get more objects in focus (from close to the camera to objects much further away). However, for sunrise, you should experiment with having shallower focus by having larger exposures. This gets you more light, and shows you some interesting photos with some objects out of focus.

Tip 4 (Shooting water scenes early in the morning): Shooting early in the morning, especially over water, gives a bluish tinge to the entire scene. The cast of the photo changes to having a bluish tinge, and if you set a long exposure, you get more of the water flow (can give a very smooth look).

Tip 5 (Sun is pretty small): If you are looking to get a good photo of the sun at sunrise, the sun will show up as a small section of the photo. If you do want to get the sun being a much bigger part of the photo, then you will need to use a zoom lens (and the bigger the better). You might need to use a tripod as you move to a bigger zoom.

5 Photo tips (centered around the morning and daybreak)

Tip 1 (Filters): Explore what camera equipment can do for you. For example, filters such as this Tiffen 62mm Graduated Sunrise Filter can help in making some beautiful sunrise photo.

Tip 2 (Use software): This may seem a bit odd, but if you are not able to get the required effect in a natural sunrise, then try going in for using software such as Photoshop CS4 or Photoshop Elements 7. You will be able to tweak your images to get the exact effect you want.

Tip 3 (Sometimes failure is best): It is pretty hard to expect that you will get the exact result every time. What you need to do is to have a feel for the settings (also, the photo captures the camera settings), and review the settings against the photo that you got. This sort of comparison and review helps you get the feel for which settings work to get you the best results.

Tip 4 (Atmospheric pollution): Sounds bad, but sometimes when you have an extra element of pollution in the atmosphere and it is not gone by sunrise, the photos you get have some additional colors in them, or rather, more shades of colors in the same photo. Not necessary to happen every time, and your photo may not have the clarity with distance, but the colors may be better (or atleast different).

Tip 5 (Keep the sun away from the center): Once I was at a beautiful vantage point on a cliff with valleys in the distance. A lot of photos had no detail beacuse the camera was focused on the sun, and settings for exposure were geared on the sun, sometimes involuntarily. Try and take some photos where the sun is peripheral in the photo.

5 Photo tips (centered around the morning and daybreak)

Tip 1 (Dream like quality of structures): Try this out. For a few days, go before daybreak near some structures that you like and admire, and then take shots before sunrise. What you will find is that many of these structures look very beautiful in the morning, since the soft light makes these structures seem more beautiful; if you are into poetry, you could feel that they feel floating, light, in the morning sunrise.

Tip 2 (Morning time and birds): If you are an early riser, you would tend to see that birds tend to be most active either in the time just before sunrise, or around sunset. You can get some great bird movement shots (including of larger groups, and those species whom you normally do not get to see) if you do this shooting early.

Tip 3 (Make an HDR): In the morning time, you get rapid changes in light levels within a short period of time. This is ideal if you want to make some great HDR shots in the least possible time period; as long as you shoot often, and adjust your camera for the changed light conditions.

Tip 4 (Sun and moon): You must have seen those shots, whereby the sun and moon can be seen in the same photo, without the moon or the sun being much brighter than each other. This is only possible soon after the sunrise, since the brilliance of the sun rapidly increases, and the moon will soon get lost in this extra light.

Tip 5 (Low levels of pollution in the morning): Morning time is when the pollution levels in the atmosphere and water bodies seem to be minimal, since the whole night with its slightly colder setting helps to bring down the levels of pollution. Combine this with much harsher light in the morning, and you can get great levels of detail in your photos, something that will not be apparent later in the day.

5 Photo tips (centered around the morning and daybreak)

Tip 1 (Camera can see what we can't): It is believed that if we can't see anything, then it is difficult to capture that on camera. However, people with experience in the photography business know that using the shutter speed, ISO and aperture options in the camera can be of great help in capturing images even at low light. So, if you are up before daybreak, and there is a faint light, do not worry that you cannot get some great images. Bump up the ISO, increase the aperture opening, decrease shutter speed (along with using a tripod), and you will be surprised at the clarity of images you get.

Tip 2 (Be attentive just around sunrise): Nature shows a wide variety of colors (including switching from one sky color to another) just before sunrise. Be attentive and ready, try again and again, and you will get some pretty swatches of colors lighting up your photos.

Tip 3 (Softness of light at dawn): When you admire panoramas, look closely. Many of them are shot such that the light looks a bit soft, and the structures or scenery do not appear washed out. This effect can be achieved by shooting panoramas near dawn. One advantage of this is that you are less likely to have to remove people from your photos.

Tip 4 (Shooting long exposures at dawn): As mentioned above, the color can change rapidly near sunrise. Using a tripod, try capturing this movement of colors through taking long exposure photos. You should get some great colored photos. It makes it even more remarkable if there is some structure that is getting highlighted in the different colors. A bridge over a water body would look incredible.

Tip 5 (Shooting structures in silhouette): As the sun starts to rise, use a building to cover the sun in such a way that you get a silhouette. You need to do this when the sun has not risen too much, and the sun rays are still soft. Experiment with different exposures while doing this, and then start to see that some of the photos will look real great. The ideal shot would be when the light is not very bright, and you get some detail of the front of the building, with light peeking from the corners of the building.

5 Photo tips (centered around the morning and daybreak)

Tip 1 (Daybreak and pre-sunrise photos): Even though for most of us, getting up early in the morning before sunrise can be painful, you can get some pretty good shots of sunrise. During daybreak / sunrise, the colors change pretty quickly, and you can get some very interesting colors.

Tip 2 (Daybreak photos, RAW, and White Balance): When you consider the time of daybreak (the time when you can start to see light, but not yet start seeing the sun on the horizon), try and capture multiple photos on RAW. With this, you can experiment with varying the White Balance to get some pretty interesting shots (many cameras also allow you to set the white balance, so you can experiment with those as well)

Tip 3 (Tripod for morning photos): When taking morning photos, if you want to get sufficient exposure, a tripod is almost necessary. Carry a tripod along; anyhow, if you are into photography as a hobby, you should get adjusted to the idea of carrying a tripod.

Tip 4 (Serene atmosphere at dawn): The climate and the environment at dawn is probably the time when you feel best about nature. The slight light, the cleanliness that seemingly surrounds everything, few people around, the peace, the good weather, all these will put you in a much better frame of mind, one with nature, and should translate into some great photos.

Tip 5 (Shooting in hilly areas at dawn): If you are in a hilly area, you must get up early to capture the situation at dawn. If you are positioned right, and you have got your timing right, the sight of the sunlight starting to come through far off mountains (through the gaps between the mountains / hills) can be an incredible sight.

5 General Photo Tips

Tip 1 (Look around you, keep a close eye): To you what seems like a neighborhood which has remained exactly the same over a number of years, may seem very different to others. To take good photographs, you have to visualize, and step out of your normal self. Try to see things around you with a different view, and once can guarantee that in many of these cases, you will find some of the photos you shoot can come out great.

Tip 2 (Decide on how obtrusive you want to be): Typically, an SLR gives you more control, and better quality of photos. However, there will be certain locations where you cannot be seen to be shooting overtly. For example, if you are in a religious festival, or a protest rally, or many such places, flashing a big camera draws attention to you. Always keep some good features point-and-shoot cameras with you.

Tip 3 (Shoot with a social conscience): In today's world, there are a number of places that you observe and move away. You can make a difference. Suppose, you are able to shoot photos of a polluting unit, then you should take the photo (while respecting property rights) and highlight them, or even send them to the nearby paper for publishing and putting pressure.

Tip 4 (Shooting sunsets): When you shoot a sunset, you can be sometimes worried that you are not getting the expected result from the camera. What you should do is slightly under-expose so that this brings out the colors of the sunset, makes them more saturated and brings out the variations in the shade.

Tip 5 (Shooting in a fog): When you try to shoot in a fog, never use the automatic focus, instead focus manually. A fog like situation can get tricky to focus in, and the automatic focus can fail at this.

Photo Tips for Wildlife Shooting (contd..)

Tip 1 (Don't provoke the animals): When you are photographing an animal in its natural environment, it can get very boring, and the temptation is incredible to provoke or to do something similar to the animal so as to get some reaction, or some action. Don't do it. No image, no matter how good, unique or special it may be, is worth stressing, endangering or otherwise harming wildlife.

Tip 2 (Looking everywhere): You don't need to go to jungles to get photos of animals (unless you have a specific assignment). If you have a green backyard or have a large park nearby, you can get some great photos there as well.

Tip 3 (Respect all laws): You can see a great new looking bird, but it is in somebody's yard, and the temptation is great to just move in for some time and take a photo. You need to be careful of property rights. If you ask people politely, they might agree.

Tip 4 (Different seasons): If you find a promising area (such as wetlands, or nearby green area), explore the place in different seasons. You can get great photos at different times of the year, including birds who visit only in certain seasons, or other seasons are breeding seasons.

Tip 5 (Don't look down at zoos / parks): A zoo or a park showcases a wide range of exotic animals that will take a lot of exploration to see in their natural wonders. Don't look down on taking photographs in these zoos; for example animal parks in South Africa can get a chance to see big animals in close to their natural settings.

Photo Tips for Wildlife Shooting (contd..)

Tip 241 (Enjoy what you are doing, there will be many other days): Once I had gone to the zoo, and got some beautiful shots of a tiger who wandered close to the edge of the enclosure. I showed these photos to another friend, who was trying to get such shots for the last month, but the tiger did not cooperate. He could have shown his frustration at seeing my photos, but instead he was happy for the other photos he got, and did not spoil his composure. There will be more opportunities available.

Tip 242 (Getting the right pose of the animal): This is an incredibly tough subject to write about. You have a certain pose that you would like to see the animal in, but you are not able to get to that point; or, you get many shots, but don't like
the pose of the animal. There is a certain logic in the pose - you would want that part to be highlighted which is most attractive. So, for a cobra snake, it has to be the hood and mouth with tongue out; for birds, it has to be a slightly angular
view since the eyes are on the side; for majestic animals such as lions and tigers, it would be a side pose or angled pose that shows the face of the animal and projects strength.

Tip 243 (Shooting angle depending on the position of the eyes): The previous tip talks about this, and this is an important point. You would want your shots to be such it appears that the eye of the animal is seeming to look at the viewer, while getting a larger cross-section of the face and upper body structure of the animal. However, for some birds (and other similar animals), where the attractiveness of the animal is due to some other part of the body, those should be the focus. Consider the case of a male peacock, where the power of the shot is in the colors on the body, as opposed to getting the eyes.

Tip 244 (Do some pre-visualization): It is said that when you rehearse well, the final act is just like another rehearsal. Similary, when you are going forth to shoot a series of photos of wild-life, run mentally through the list of images and poses that you would like to take. This helps you during the actual shooting, since you are now shooting against a blueprint, and likely to have a better focus on what you want.

Tip 245 (Be passionate defenders of wildlife): Taking photos of wildlife puts you in a rare position of being able to observe wildlife in its natural habitat. You cannot learn to be fully into the understanding mode of how wildlife behaves until you get into the mode of really caring for the conservation of wildlife; as a part of that, when you shoot, you should exhibit responsible behavior. Do not disturb the animals for taking your shot, do not tamper with their lairs / nests, do not move their young around, and so on.

Photos tips for Wildlife Shooting (contd..)

Tip 1 (Make yourself invisible): A lot of animals react very quickly to human presence, not something that helps you when you are trying to shoot photos of wildlife in actual wild conditions. You need to have some way of concealing your presence and not making quick movements after that; one way is to use blinds, something that makes it seem to the animal that you are not there. One way to do that is by hiding yourself in some natural hiding place (such as on a tree, behind some thick bushes; even vehicles can be effective blinds). Blinds are also available commercialy.

Tip 2 (Get closer): Good zoom lenses are an invaluable part of a wildlife photographer's equipment. However, zoom lenses are not the only thing. You need to learn the art of how to get closer to the animal (keeping aspects such as safety in mind). Some of the greatest photos that you can see in wildlife books are taken from close range; there is a lot of literature available on how to get inside the trust zone of a wild animal.

Tip 3 (Need to decide about whether you want to use aperture control or shutter speed): Ideally, shutter speed and aperture control are both different ways of looking at exposure, except for the depth of field argument. As you should be knowing, aperture controls the depth of field, and hence the tricky choice of whether you want to use aperture control for getting that sharp depth of field (say capturing the animal in an out-of-focus surrounding) or using shutter speed to freeze capture the bear getting a fish out of the water.

Tip 4 (Look for behavior): Study the probable behavior of the animal before you go in for the shot. If it turns out that the animal likes to doze in the daytime and you go for a day shot, then you may not get anything much. Study the time zones, watering habits, mating habits, hunting habits, all of them enable you to learn about the animal even before setting out for the shoot.

Tip 5 (Try and capture different moods): Animals are known for differnet moods, and good photos come when you try to capture the mood. A tiger or lion watching a herd of deer makes for a nice hungry mood shot. These make the good shots that get fame and attention.

Photos tips for Wildlife Shooting (contd..)

Tip 1 (Read up about it): This is actually a tip that is valid for most photo scenarios, especially for wildlife cases. In the case of wildlife, with subjects that are elusive, or visible only at night, or fast moving; the photo gear and techniques are critical to get success in this area. One way to succeed in this area is to read articles / magazines / books that focus on wildlife photography, you get a lot of information and useful tips from the same area.

Tip 2 (Shoot a lot of photos): Expect to shoot a lot of photos when you are trying to shoot wildlife. Animals don't pose, move around a lot, and many times the environmental conditions (night, etc) are not ideal; as a result, you would have to take a lot of photos to get the right photo. You should have a good battery (including backup), and large memory cards (fortunately, they are fairly cheap now).

Tip 3 (Be preapred to drop photos): For people who have been photographers for some time now, they are used to shooting and then being selective about the photos you want; however amateurs are more connected to the photos that they have shot and find it harder to delete photos even if the photos are not good. Not being able to quickly sort through photos and delete the ones that are not required can lead to a lot of clutter, something to be avoided.

Tip 4 (Patience): I spoke about patience some time back in terms of waiting for wildlife to be in the right patience, and the same thing holds good even when waiting to get a great shot of a beautiful butterfly. Insects, birds, etc flutter around a lot, and it is only rarely do they seem to be sitting down on a flower to get the great photo. You need a lot of patience for this kind of photo.

Tip 5 (Be attentive): When shooting wildlife, especially when shooting wildlife in the open, you need to be very attentive. Some of the great shots happen suddenly, where there is a fight at a watering hole, or a chase suddenly starts. Some of those happens irrespective of whether you are looking in that direction or another direction, so you should be able to quickly change your focus.

Photos tips for Wildlife Shooting (contd..)

Tip 1 (Get down to the animal height): When shooting, we are used to shooting from a certain height (typical shoulder height). When shooting an animal, you may find that there is a different perspective to be gained when you do down and dirty shooting, that is when you crouch down to the animal height and shoot from there. It may look odd if somebody is looking, but you may get some good photos.

Tip 2 (Shooting through bars in a zoo): Face it, if you are shooting in a zoo, there will be those iron bars that could spoil most photos. You need to either shoot a classical shot that portrays those bars along with the animal, but for most shots, you would rather not have the bars in the set. What you need to do is to make your depth of field as shallow as possible (selecting a very large aperture f/2.8 would help).

Tip 3 (Plan your hours): You are going to the zoo to shoot animals, and have dedicated a fair amount of time for the same. That is perfectly fine, but unless you have worked out where and how you are going to spend your time, it is not very effective. You need to find out when animals are likely to be more active, when do they get fed, as these vary from animal to animal and are times when some great shots can be had.

Tip 4 (Spending time at enclosures): If you are an impatient kind of person, then you will have lots of problems. Suppose you see a majestic tiger, and want to get some great shots of the animal, you need to wait over there in an active mode, with camera ready and you ready to shoot at a second's instance.

Tip 5 (Look for people shots): You are at the zoo, and are there to shoot wildlife; so far so good. But always keep a watchout for people and their reactions to seeing the animals. When an animal does something interesting, there is an instantaneous reaction that people have, and these make for interesting shots. Kids especially are very animated.