Nature Photography Section 3

Adventures with wildlife is not something I have had much experience with, and I can’t say I really see myself spending an entire day waiting in a blind for an animal that may or may not show up. Getting close to wildlife, even with a big lens, is not something that seems particularly intelligent to me, and I have to say “keeping your distance” seems a lot like common sense. Only shooting animals that are okay with you being near them seems the same. I only had two other thoughts on the “Getting Close” section: I have never seen a bumper sticker that says my other car is a bird blind, and using peanut butter as an incentive sounds an awful lot like baiting, and there is probably a reason it’s illegal in national parks.

I said it about the last section, but I find the blurry pictures of animals running very unattractive. Knowing your habitats seems like an obvious tip, and the fact that wildlife activity is seasonally dependent is exactly that: a well known fact. But being on site before the sun rises is a good idea, and something that I probably would not have thought of on my own. Lowering the tri-pod for an eye level view is also a good tip, although I knew that before. As for shooting first and editing later, I can’t help but wonder what other order he thinks we might be doing it in.

The first way he suggests for sharpening your focus does not seem like it could be used in many wildlife situations. How often do you ever have time to switch your camera to manual mode and adjust the focus when shooting wildlife? And pre-focusing on a certain spot and waiting for the animal to enter it is a good idea that would take a lot of practice (just like anything else in photography), but it also assumes the animal will go through that spot. If it doesn’t, you just missed your chance.

“Making a compelling portrait of a wild animal is not as simple as it may at first seem.” This sentence scares me, simply because getting a good portrait of a wild animal did not sound simple in the first place. Using a telephoto lens to capture these images again seems obvious. Building a three layer picture space is a useful tip, though. Although I find it hard to believe anyone can truly plan these things. Wild animals don’t tend to cooperate that well.

Focusing on eye, and making sure its face is properly lit and in focus is another good tip for taking pictures of animals, but much easier said than done. I guess it just takes a lot of practice to look through the view finder and be able to tell if the animal’s face is lit properly, the eyes are easily visible, and even the whiskers are in focus, and still be able to take the picture before the animal is gone. But then everything is about practice.