If you've ever endeavored to photograph聽wild animals, you know how tough it can be. That's because,聽in addition to variables like shifting weather and light, wildlife photographers face a unique challenge: their subjects are often elusive, easily spooked, and utterly uncoachable.聽Olympus photographers Brooke Bartleson and Lee Hoy, both wildlife specialists with decades of experience between them,聽are here to help. Read on for their hard-earned wildlife photography advice. Then, head over to the Modern 国产吃瓜黑料 Photography Handbook for even more expert insight and gear recommendations.
Forget About Golden Hour
The moments surrounding sunrise and sunset offer ideal light for photography, but wild animals show different behaviors that are worth capturing throughout the day. 鈥淭here is no golden hour for wildlife photography,鈥 says Brooke Bartleson, pointing to baby foxes, who are left to their own devices in the middle of the day as their parents hunt. 鈥淜it foxes are so curious when they鈥檙e unsupervised. They wander, claw at trees, splash in puddles鈥here are cool behaviors that happen in the middle of the day that you don鈥檛 want to miss.鈥
Get on the Animal's Level
Getting close to wildlife with a proper telephoto lens is just the beginning. The next step is lowering your angle so you鈥檙e eye-to-eye with the subject. 鈥淓ven if you have to lie flat on your belly, or climb on the hood of your car, your shots will feel so much more intimate if you are level with the animal鈥檚 eyes,鈥 Brooke Bartleson says. 鈥淚t makes the shot so much more intimate, giving your viewers a moment they鈥檇 never experience with the naked eye.鈥
Visualize Success
Picture the shots you want to take before you set foot on the location. Mentally catalog all the stages of bagging a great one. Where do you need to be standing to get the shot you want of the buffalo or heron? Do you need to be kneeling or lying down? What settings do you plan to use? 鈥淚 have a game plan before I get into the field,鈥 says Lee Hoy. 鈥淭hings can happen in the field to change my approach, but envisioning how I鈥檓 going to capture an image is a key part of the planning process.鈥
Focus on what You Can Control
Wildlife can behave erratically and there鈥檚 nothing you can do about that. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 tell a fox to walk into a certain spot or look your way,鈥 Brooke Bartleson says. 鈥淵ou have to control what you can and think creatively about your background and foreground to help frame the subject.鈥 Bartleson even goes so far as to pack in some foliage, like a sprig of evergreen, that she鈥檒l place in the corner of the shot to help frame the subject.
And Always Remember,聽Patience Is Everything
You woke up before dawn, hiked seven miles to a backcountry pond that attracts big game, and all that work has paid off; elk are on the edge of the water. But don鈥檛 start snapping photos right away. 鈥淥nce you come onto a scene, it pays to wait a few minutes, get really still, and allow the wildlife to return to its regular routine,鈥 Lee Hoy says. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 push with wildlife. You have to be patient. Settle in and allow the animal to return to normal behavior and you鈥檒l get more natural images.鈥