Choosing a Subject in Wildlife Photography

Just recently, I have written two articles about finding good subjects where some photographers may not dare to look: photographing stunning brown birds that some people think are dull, and bringing your camera out in otherwise ugly locations. In wildlife photography, what I love is that each of the millions of species you could choose to photograph holds the potential for great images.

What is it that makes a good subject in wildlife photography? It is a combination of things, and it goes beyond the simple visual attractiveness of your subject. A visually pleasing subject is just… well, just visually pleasing. It still can be a good subject in a photo, however, relying solely on the vibrant patterns on a bird or other animal is often not enough.

I fall into this trap myself repeatedly; I see a stunning bird and become a little blinded by its beauty and rarity, and my photos aren’t as strong. That’s why it’s useful to stop from time to time, reflect, and ask yourself the question: Am I relying too much on the attractiveness of the subject itself? What role does my creativity play as a photographer?

Looking at other people’s photographs from exotic countries, a photographer could easily get the false impression that it is impossible to take a good photograph near home. Sparrow, blackbird, seagull, pigeon… just the essence of boredom. This may be true if you let it, but it does not have to be. Even an ordinary subject, photographed thousands of times, can be portrayed differently and interestingly. And if it’s close to home, you have a home-field advantage and can take your time trying to capture it better over many months and years.

The key is that when you’re dealing with a less attractive and, I’m not afraid to use the word, boring subject, you need to think more like a photographer. If your photo is going to be good, you need to put your own spin on it. That’s why I think it’s a great exercise to take your camera out to the local park, river, or pond as often as possible. With familiar subjects, you can try out techniques that you wouldn’t have the time or courage to try in exotic locations.

It didn’t work out the way you wanted it to? That’s okay, it was close to home, you can try again tomorrow or next week and do better. Such photo exercises can result in great photos, too. And whatever subject you consider ordinary, I guarantee that it’s exotic to people who live elsewhere in the world.

In fact, I think that when traveling to distant locations for photography, it is easy to slip into the safety of mediocrity. A kind of safe shot. So, we end up with a spectacular or exotic subject, but we don’t photograph it in an interesting way. Remember Paul Nicklen’s 20-60-20 method as Massimo discussed recently. Even with the most rare subjects, spend no more than 20% of your time getting the safe shot. Further, spend 60% of your time looking for unique ways to photograph it, and 20% with experimental and unconventional approaches.

And that brings us to one of the pinnacles of wildlife photography – photographing an extraordinary animal with as much creativity as if it were a tame squirrel or sparrow in the city park. It is not something that most people will be able to do without having photographed that common subject so many times that everything – camera settings, focus, animal behavior – is second nature.

So I’ll end this whole short essay on choosing subjects for wildlife photography by saying – there are no boring subjects, only boring photographs. I wish you good light, cooperative animals, and a creative mind.