Sharpen Your Wildlife Edits: Mastering Canon DPP

Polar Cubs Feeding: PSA Gold Medal: 2022 Home Run Circuit

Capturing Wildlife: Mastering Burst Mode and Post-Processing with the Canon R5

Chasing a cheetah’s sprint or an albatross’s soar, I’ve learned that the right camera settings can make or break a wildlife shot. Here’s how I use the Canon R5’s burst mode and Canon DPP software to capture and refine stunning wildlife images.

In the Field: Burst Mode and Shutter Choices 

For fast-moving animals like cheetahs or birds in flight, I rely on burst mode, which delivers 12 frames per second (fps) with the manual shutter or 20 fps with the electronic shutter. The electronic shutter’s speed is ideal for rapid action, and its silent operation avoids startling wildlife in places like the Maasai Mara. However, banding (unwanted lines caused by flickering lights or fast motion) can be an issue with electronic shutters. I accept this risk for high-speed subjects but switch to manual shutter for slower animals like Antarctic penguins or seals, which are less sensitive to the camera’s click. In low-light conditions, such as misty Antarctic skies while photographing seals and penguins, manual shutter ensures cleaner images.

Post-Processing with Canon DPP 

At the end of the day, I review hundreds of images using Canon Digital Photo Professional (DPP), the free software included with Canon cameras. Here’s my workflow: 

1. Quick Scroll: I scan thumbnails in DPP to spot eye-catching shots. 

2. Preview and Zoom: I select from a sequence, zoom to 50–200% to check sharpness, and crop to enhance composition. 

3. Focus Points: DPP’s preview tab displays active autofocus points, helping me confirm focus accuracy.  This is what I consider to be the best advantage of DPP. Being able to view the focus points while editing the image at the same time.

4. Highlight/Shadow Adjustments: I enable highlight (red) and shadow (yellow) warnings, then adjust brightness to balance exposure. 

Shooting in RAW is key, it retains more tonal data, reducing banding and allowing lighter edits. I also expose to the right (slightly overexposing) to capture more detail, which I refine in DPP.

In my image “Polar Cubs Feeding,” the electronic shutter captured rapid movement, and DPP’s tools balanced the snow’s brightness for a sharp, vibrant final shot.

Whether tracking gazelles or polar bears, the Canon R5’s burst mode and DPP software are powerful tools for wildlife photography. Experiment with shutter modes and RAW editing to elevate your shots. Click here to share your tips!