How to Take Better Wildlife Photos: Be a Naturalist First

[table1349]

Good information for the budding wildlife photographer.
How to Take Better Wildlife Photos: Be a Naturalist First

 

[robbins.photo]

Good information for the budding wildlife photographer.
How to Take Better Wildlife Photos: Be a Naturalist First

Some birds Migrate. Brilliant. So in other words it's hard to take pictures of birds when they are not there.

Wow. SCIENCE!

Lol

 

[dannylightning]

well i just got places and walk around till i find something to take photos of. some places that i go i take bird see and put it out and the birds will come, you just have to wait 5 or 10 minutes once one shows up the rest will be there soon..

 

[table1349]

Good information for the budding wildlife photographer.
How to Take Better Wildlife Photos: Be a Naturalist First

Some birds Migrate. Brilliant. So in other words it's hard to take pictures of birds when they are not there.

Wow. SCIENCE!

Lol

It's much like sports photography, if you understand what you are shooting it is easier to get the shots you want. It is the same with hunting. I have hunted all my life. I have never taken a deer from a stand or baited them with a salt lick. I know and understand them and their habits and instincts. With that knowledge I can get close enough to take a deer at a close range.

 

[robbins.photo]

It's much like sports photography, if you understand what you are shooting it is easier to get the shots you want. It is the same with hunting. I have hunted all my life. I have never taken a deer from a stand or baited them with a salt lick. I know and understand them and their habits and instincts. With that knowledge I can get close enough to take a deer at a close range.

Have to admit my reaction on reading the article was pretty much "Well, Duh". Might just be me of course. It wasn't that anything that was said was wrong, it was more like "Wildlife photography for people with zero common sense".

Yes, birds migrate, so if you want to get shots of large groups hey, good idea to know when that happens, etc.

 

[beagle100]

It's much like sports photography, if you understand what you are shooting it is easier to get the shots you want. It is the same with hunting. I have hunted all my life. I have never taken a deer from a stand or baited them with a salt lick. I know and understand them and their habits and instincts. With that knowledge I can get close enough to take a deer at a close range.

Have to admit my reaction on reading the article was pretty much "Well, Duh". Might just be me of course. It wasn't that anything that was said was wrong, it was more like "Wildlife photography for people with zero common sense".

Yes, birds migrate, so if you want to get shots of large groups hey, good idea to know when that happens, etc.

Or go to Florida where there are plenty of birds all the time everywhere

 

[sec]

It's much like sports photography, if you understand what you are shooting it is easier to get the shots you want. It is the same with hunting. I have hunted all my life. I have never taken a deer from a stand or baited them with a salt lick. I know and understand them and their habits and instincts. With that knowledge I can get close enough to take a deer at a close range.

Have to admit my reaction on reading the article was pretty much "Well, Duh". Might just be me of course. It wasn't that anything that was said was wrong, it was more like "Wildlife photography for people with zero common sense".

Yes, birds migrate, so if you want to get shots of large groups hey, good idea to know when that happens, etc.

Or go to Florida where there are plenty of birds all the time everywhere

Not always. I was in the Everglades in Feb. Supposed to be the dry season and the largest congregation of birds. Hardly any birds at all. Definitely no flocks. Park rangers said it was an unusually wet season and birds were spread out or not there at all. Most not there. It's easier to find food in shallow smaller pools.

 

[Overread]

to me the big problem is that its easy to say "be a naturalist" but its a lot harder to find practical advice on that - then again I think that's partly a UK thing because so much of our land is owned and even the wild bits are either tiny or have well walked and signposted pathways that you're supposed to take over the reserve. We've comparatively little open wilderness

 

[dennybeall]

It's a well written and illustrated article written for the beginner to bird photography. The post about it was posted in The Beginners Forum.
.............................had more written but erased it, don't like to thrown food under the bridge..

 

[soufiej]

Good information for the budding wildlife photographer.
How to Take Better Wildlife Photos: Be a Naturalist First

I receive the same emails all the time and there are a lot of "duh!" articles to wade through just to find a bit of useful information.

My first reaction was to question why anyone would photograph a subject that didn't interest them. Particularly if it required some effort on their part.

Then I began to think of the article's neglect in not mentioning the fact that many people feel holding a camera automatically provides them the right to tromp all over nature AND private property. IMO not enough time was spent - and it could be an entire article - explaining to a camera owner their obligations to other photographers who come afterward.

Though, I suppose that sort of photographer wouldn't be reading that type of article in the first place.



Tromping over fences, breaking into locked buildings and going onto private or public land to get that "perfect" shot isn't giving photographers a good rep if you leave a wake of destruction in your path.

I may have missed the explicit instruction that said do not go on private land when the sign says "No Trespassing" but, in today's society you may actually risk being shot. Even should that not occur, you simply give other photographers a bad name.

I missed the "be respectful" part of the article which instructs the photographer not to trample on the habitat of other critters just to get the shot of the waxwing.

And, of course, to not believe you need to get that close to the mamma bear and her adorable cubs. Or that buffalo and elk have horns for a reason.

Or to look down occasionally at the snake that's about to bite you or the land that's going to giveway under your feet. You know, the sort of things that always show up on the Darwin Awards.



This article brought to mind the time I spent in Big Bend National Park years ago. I got up well before dawn one morning to get a few shots of the rising sun that I had been scouting for several days in advance. I pulled the rental car up the gravel pathway to the top of the mountain and, as I stepped out with my camera and tripod, I was met by a very large and very PO'd javelina roused by the sound of the car and assaulted by its headlights.

The animal made a brief charge towards me with lots of PO'd snarling and snapping before changing course and heading for cover. I had barely had the time to consider sacrificing the tripod to save my ankles.

That's the issue with nature, natural things don't always appreciate you being there.



Sure, being a naturalist means you are interested in nature and, if you own a camera, you may want to photograph nature. That sort of goes without saying.

The more important issue is those folks who aren't naturalists, or those who aren't even remotely interested in nature, who simply want a good shot like they've seen in the magazines and will take too many liberties in their attempts to line up what may be their very last photo ever.

But, then again, how many times must it be said that you do not have to shout in English to have the native Italians understand you need a bathroom? And still the stereotype of the ugly American persists because there is a lot of validity in the concept.

You can't cure stupid.

You can only weed out the gene pool.

 

[astroNikon]

If you want a really good picture of a momma bear just stand between her and her cubs. you'll get the most awesome shot. Though someone else may have to publish it for you.
in other words, use common sense and don't do stupid things.

The article is clearly geared towards the aspiring newbie nature photographer. To start thinking of the habits of particular animals. Not for the more experienced.

 

[table1349]

Good information for the budding wildlife photographer.
How to Take Better Wildlife Photos: Be a Naturalist First

This article brought to mind the time I spent in Big Bend National Park years ago. I got up well before dawn one morning to get a few shots of the rising sun that I had been scouting for several days in advance. I pulled the rental car up the gravel pathway to the top of the mountain and, as I stepped out with my camera and tripod, I was met by a very large and very PO'd javelina roused by the sound of the car and assaulted by its headlights.

The animal made a brief charge towards me with lots of PO'd snarling and snapping before changing course and heading for cover. I had barely had the time to consider sacrificing the tripod to save my ankles.

That's the issue with nature, natural things don't always appreciate you being there.

I would have been pissed as well if you interrupted my hunting and/or breakfast, especially since they have poor eyesight. Peccaries hunt early morning and evening spending most of their days in the shade.

 

[chuasam]

This is why I'm bad at nature and landscape photos. I hate being outdoors.

 

[MaxHartman]

"That's the issue with nature, natural things don't always appreciate you being there."


I agree with what you are saying about not to leave disturb nature. Common sense says not to go where it says no trespassing and all photographers should be respectful. But, that wasn't what this article was about and therefore it wouldn't state these basic courtesies.
But the quote stated earlier is so important, especially for newbies in the photography industry. I think a common mistake many beginners make is they are so distracted by getting a good picture from the best view that they forget that these animals are wild. They are to be admired from afar in order to not disturb them in their natural habitat

 

[chuasam]

I did manage to capture a T-Rex in the Wild.