Five Ways To Improve Your Wildlife Photography
Wildlife photography is easy, right? Just look at all the images on Instagram! There is more to making great wildlife images than just using the longest lens you have available. These are five ways to improve your wildlife photography.
Learn The Behaviour Of The Animal(s) You Are Photographing
The key to all wildlife photography is understanding the behaviour of the animal(s) you are photographing. Knowing at what time of the day or night an animal will be active, what habitat it prefers, what food it eats, what its behaviour is etc. are all key to finding and then photographing all animals. There are a wealth of field guides available and information on line to help with this.
Red Deer photographed during the annual autumn red deer rut.
Learn To Use Light
Whilst there is no such thing as “bad light”, the nature and quality of the light we are working with will affect the nature and quality of the images we are able to make. There is also no such thing as bad weather, there are just more extreme weather conditions. These extreme conditions, such as snowstorms, can make for spectacular images.
The light at sunrise and sunset during the “golden hours” can be spectacular. But it is never guaranteed on any day that you will get to work with this golden light nor does it last long, particularly the closer you are to the equator.
Bright high contrast light is not the easiest to work with and can make for poor images. Fortunately, many animals tend to be inactive in the middle of the day when the light is at its harshest. However, it is possible to work with this light by looking for animals that are in areas of shade where the contrast is reduced. Where there are clouds in the sky, timing the making of an image to when the sun is hidden behind a cloud will also help to reduce contrast. Another approach is to photograph from a position where the sun is behind the animal you are photographing, effectively placing the the animal in its own shadow reducing the contrast on the side facing you.
Overcast days offer many possibilities to photograph when the light would otherwise be much harsher. A cloudy sky acts like a giant diffuser, reducing the luminance of the natural light and reducing its contrast. These condition are ideal for making portraits or closer images of animals. These conditions can also be used to make more minimalist high key images by placing an animal against the white sky.
Short eared owl hunting at dusk backlit by the setting sun.
Change Your Perspective
Many photographers have a tendency to photograph standing up from their own eye height. Whilst this is a natural position to adopt, it may not be the best position to photograph an animal from.
By photographing from the same height as an animal’s eye (or below it), the animal appears to be more powerful and dominant. By photographing an animal from ground level, the foreground and background will be rendered more out of focus making the animal stand out against them.
Young badger cub photographed from ground level.
Use Different Focal Lengths
There is a tendency for wildlife photographers to prefer a long focal length, particularly faster large aperture lenses. These lenses are useful for smaller animals and those that are more distant. They also help to render the foreground and background more out of focus making the animal stand out against them. Whilst this may be a good approach for isolating an animal in an image, depending on its size and how far away the animal is from you, it may not be the best approach if you want to make an image of an animal showing it in its environment. By increasing or decreasing the focal length, less or more of the environment will be included in an image. In addition the smaller the aperture used, more of the foreground and background will be in focus.
Elephants drinking at a waterhole, photographed using a Nikon Z8 and 24-70mm f/2.8 lens at 49mm.
Watch The Background
Backgrounds can make or break wildlife images. A clean out of focus background will allow an animal to stand out in an image. Whilst focusing on the animal being photographed, remember to scan the background for distracting items, changing position may help to eliminate any distractions.
When making environmental images, deciding where to place the subject, how much background to include and how much of it will be in focus are key to image making.
Little owl photographed with a Nikon Z9 and 600mm f/4 TC lens at 600mm showing the owl with a clean green background.
Little owl photographed with a Nikon Z9 and 14-24mm f/2.8 lens at 24mm showing the owl in its semi-urban enviornment.
