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Five simple measures to improve your wildlife photography

Five simple measures to improve your wildlife photography

Authored by Pikkie Wolmarans

1: Juxtaposition

To many newcomers to the game of photography, especially if you are shooting wild animals, the mere fact of getting the shot, is reward on its own. “Hey, we went to Kruger and I saw six lions, a leopard, hyena and a herd of buffalo…” and then show you his pictures of endless grassland with a few tiny life-like spots in the corner or something like shadows in the grass…

Even if you do get a good close-up of that ‘special’ encounter with a beast of some sorts, it is good to keep in mind that everybody knows what a lion, a leopard, and elephant and a zebra looks like! If your photo only shows what it looks like, even if it happens to crispy be sharp, it may be good for the ego to proclaim “I’ve got a good photo of a wild leopard!” But it will never be a ‘great’ shot unless you succeed in adding some of the X-factor (‘wow’ factor in photography).

It could be as simply as zooming in or out; waiting for a right turn of the head; turning or tilting the camera; changing the perspective/angle; incorporating the background or create a relationship between animal and animal or animal and background (juxtaposition). Let me compare a few shots to illustrate:

This is a zebra, ok, anybody knows what a zebra looks like…

This is a male zebra (a stallion). So now anybody also knows what a zebra stallion looks like!

This is a zebra stallion and a mare. So now for the first time people will see what zebra stallions are thinking about!

On a more serious note – what really makes the last shot stand out from the second one as they were taken seconds apart from exactly the same camera position?

It is simply the positioning of the two animals in relation to each other as well as the relation of the subjects to their background. They stand in contrast to each other: male-female, size, posture, attitude. They are also in a relation with the background as they stand on the edge of a slope and the distance in the background adds a valuable dimension of depth to the last photo – which is completely lost in the second photo due to the close zoom.

Tip#1 – Look for juxtaposition (animal to animal; animal to background)
(to be continued)

2: Leading lines

Nature often provides us with the most interesting lines – keep a lookout for these and incorporate them in your photos as leading lines – lines that leads the eye to the focal point.
The picture of the impala ewe and her lamb below are greatly enhanced by the lines provided by the dirt road.

Tip#2 – Look for leading lines and incorporate them in your photo

3: Aim and wait

When getting a good frame on a wild animal, it often pays off to ‘aim and wait’. Due to their alertness most animals will, while otherwise standing perfectly still, do things like turn a head, flap their ears, open their mouth – as if daring you to get the shot at exactly the right moment. A simple turn of the head can make a huge difference in the impact of the photo as illustrated below. Like people, animals show character in their faces. Had I moved the camera, shifted the focus or sneezed after the first shot, I would not have gotten the second (much better) one which was created by a quick turn of the face in my direction and as quickly turning back to its original position – aim, wait and be alert!

Tip#3 – Aim, wait and be alert!

4: Fill the frame

Probably one of the most basic ‘tips’ for beginner photogs is: “get closer – fill the frame!” This applies to all kinds of photography and shooting wildlife, is no different. However it should be approached with great caution as wild animals should and must always be considered and treated as dangerous!
Though I would never advise ‘following’ an animal with a vehicle to get a closer shot, I have never complained about animals approaching my vehicle accidentally or intentionally for ‘closer inspection.’
The safer alternative is of course: maksimum zoom! Just try to fill the frame and if you can fill the frame with the animal’s face, even better!
This rhino was very nonchalantly grazing closer and closer to my (tiny) vehicle as I quitely aimed and kept zooming OUT – shot at 25mm (wide angle) and from a little too close for comfort maybe.
The lion on the other hand was shot at a fair distance with a 50-500 Zoom lens, zoomed to 417mm – effects are the same – full frames of the animals’ faces.

(Lion by Armanda Kruger)

Tip#4 – Fill the frame(get closer or zoom it closer)

5: Watch for facial expressions and body language

Most wild animals are poker faced when ‘posing’ for the camera – however the ape- and the cat-species often provide a welcome change to this – *the apes because they are close relatives of man and the cats because of the attitude that all cats seem to have. (*untested non-scientific theory based solely on observations through a camera lens.)

So in dealing with these species they are bound to provide you either with a sudden change of facial expression or with some movement or body composure that tells a story – be alert, follow them through the lens and capture the moment!

According to my exif data (which remembers better than I do) the two photos of the monkey below were both shot at 16:39 so, within the same minute. In the first one the monkey appears either bored or forlorn, half asleep or deep in thought, sitting on his bum with his hind legs lifted…and seconds later it was a totally different monkey – eyes wide, awake, alert – all hyped up for action – shoot fast and don’t blink for some seconds later there will probably be only branches in the photo.

bored…forlorn?

Alert and en garde!

What applies to the monkey shots above also applies to this exquisite 3-shot series by Armanda Kruger. They were shot within the same minute and just seconds apart (11:31 to be precise)

Almost bored

Irritated

Agitated

And then of course there is this all time favourite of mine for facial expressions, shot and submitted by camerazzo Erich Kohrs and aptly titled: “Ma se Kind” (Mamma’s child)

Tip #5 – follow changes in facial expression and body language