How to Take Interesting Wildlife Images

At least at one point of time in our photography journey, almost all of us want to try our hands on wildlife photography. Be it an attempt to photograph a bird in our backyard or taking a jungle safari, it is pretty rare to see someone with a camera not attempting to shoot the wild side. For a person like me living in India, the land of tigers & elephants to a wide array of resident and migratory birds flocking all the way from Siberia and Australia, it is no surprise that you will see me with a super telephoto lens crawling through wilderness. There are countless articles floating all over the Internet on the rules and guidelines of wildlife photography, not to mention some amazing articles on various aspects of wildlife photography right here at Photography Life. In this article, I would like to pen down a few pointers that I feel come very handy in the field, and things that aren’t spoken much of.

Light

Irrespective of our subject, be it a tiger, a mountain or the galaxy, we are merely shooting light. Photography itself is all about capturing light. So it becomes inevitable to talk about light before we talk about anything else. During the initial days of my photography life, there was one issue that I used to ponder upon more than anything else which was, ‘It looked so beautiful to my eyes, but I ended up with a below average picture. How come?’ I’m certain a lot of fellow photographers would have come across the same issue and in all honesty, it does pop out once in a while even now. The only difference is, now I can understand what went wrong. The reality is, there is no such camera as brilliant as the human eye. During our primary years of photography we end up assuming the camera to be very similar to the human eye. The human eye adapts to varying light conditions before we can even recognize it, but a camera doesn’t until we tell it that the light has changed. Below are a few pointers that help us on the field.

The Midday “Harsh” Light

The Golden Hour needs no introduction. There is no disagreement that we get the best colors and contrast during the first couple of hours after sunrise and a couple of hours before the sun sinks into the horizon. We all know of the golden hour magic. Nevertheless, it has its own disadvantages as well.

The above picture was shot at around 3 PM. A time most of us would avoid shooting at all expecting harsh lighting. Had I shot the above frame during the golden hour, it would have been very difficult to get the vibrant blue on the bird’s feathers. During the golden hour, most of the blues are scattered in the atmosphere and it becomes very difficult to get the natural saturated blues. It is true that we get the richest warm tones during the golden hour. But to shoot subjects of cooler tones, it is easier to get them outside the golden hour. Midday light is also when the sky retains the maximum blue. I don’t mean to persuade you away from the golden hour, but to advice against shying off during mid-day. It is true that the mid-day direct sunlight has a wide array of disadvantages, starting from yielding flat images to bringing down the contrast between highlights and shadows or blowing out the specular highlights…the list goes on. But there are instances where a particular natural history moment is possible only around mid-day. For example, tigers chill out in pools and waterholes around mid-day, especially moms with cubs. The Indian rollers in the above picture are mostly seen during mid-day. Raptors like Kestrels and Peregrine Falcons in Indian deserts are often seen perched during mid-days than during the early hours. There is always an angle even in the trickiest lighting conditions. Just because of the mid-day light, I have seen a lot of photographers not even attempt what could have been an acceptable picture. If we don’t get what we seek sometimes, is inevitable and can’t be helped. But missing a rare natural history moment just because we presume the light wouldn’t be good enough might be a chance of a lifetime missed.

On the other hand, with the sort of high ISO performance that current production cameras are capable of, dawn and dusk wildlife photography has also become within reach for photographers with semi-pro grade gear. The picture below was shot just before sunrise. Again, the cooler mood has brought out the contrast between the blues in the below picture of a Himalayan Monal, which tops to be my all-time favorite bird since the day I saw it for the first time.

The warmth of the scene can be adjusted with White Balance, but during the golden hour the blues do suffer a loss of saturation. In the below image that was shot around the golden hour, I was able to get a blue sky with a WB of 5600 but still, the wings of the pied Kingfisher looked warm. Had I dialed the WB towards the blue furthermore, the sky would have become too blue, giving a bit of an artificial feel.

The Lateral Sunlight

Depending upon where you live, the intensity and hence the quality of light varies by a great deal. In India, which lies in the tropics, during peak summer, the sun is almost right on top of our heads during mid-days, precisely between 10 AM and 4 PM. No matter how much we try, most of the time we end up getting clipped highlights. On the other hand, during winter, the sun is at an angle even around 12 PM, giving better contrast. Luckily the birding season here happens to be in winter (November-February) where flocks migrate from much cooler places to combat winter – we have nothing much to complain on the birding front. Whereas, with tigers, they are mostly found around water holes taking possession of them and chilling out in peak summer, where chances of sighting one is at the maximum. The picture below was shot in April around early evening. There wasn’t much editing that went on with the picture, yet I felt it to be a bit too harshly lit:

As we travel further north or south away from the equator, the light gets comparably softer. A while back, I used to ponder a lot on why I wouldn’t get the contrast that landscape photographers in Europe get. In my initial days, I would put the blame on the limited dynamic range of the crop bodies I use. It was when I ventured into long exposure photography did I understand that ambient light is what plays a major role than the limitations of camera gear. The latitude and the time of the year could be unavoidable parameters when it comes to planning your wildlife trips. Wildlife photography is highly appreciated all around, but the perils are kept a secret. The world gets to see only the best of the lot. The number of failed attempts and returns made empty handed mostly stay with the photographer. Wildlife photography demands months of planning, sometimes years. Rarely do we get lucky to get it in our first try, but more often its the persistence that yield the results we seek.

Favorable Lighting Conditions

• Early bird gets the best meal. We, photographers are no exceptions. Besides lovely light, it is that part of the day when we have maximum activity in the wild, especially if you are into bird photography. More so if you are into photographing mammals. Maximum activity in the jungle is when wildlife gets hungry and desperate for a meal.

  

• For the reasons mentioned above in the Lateral Sunlight section, winter is pretty much the time when we get the best light, at least in the tropics. Also the mist/fog cover adds to the calm mood of the scene. Winters are also the best seasons when we plan photographing our subjects the entire day as the light is angular or unidirectional almost throughout the day, leaving contrasting highlights and shadows.
• There are other factors that bring down image quality that are mostly overlooked. Suspended particles in the air, heat haze, pollution, fog and mist are few of the primary culprits. Almost all of them get washed away after rains. The wet feel of a jungle adds a lot to the overall emotion of the picture, not to mention the saturated green of the wet leaves. It would probably be like water washing your entire frame, bringing out maximum depth, clarity and contrast to the image. The below image was shot at around 8 AM when it rained pretty heavily the night before, leaving half dried tree trunks and saturated green all around.

  

• While photographing sea birds, wind plays a very important role. Most of us do not have Gimbal heads or top-of-the-line tripods. I personally use a monopod with a simple ball-head. When it gets too windy, it is difficult to avoid shake and we are forced to get to higher shutter speeds. Also, while shooting birds in flight, too much wind makes them fly erratically, making focus acquisition itself a great challenge. In the tropics, sea breeze is gentler during the early half of the day. This is yet another reason to plan your shoot in the morning. Past 3 PM, it generally gets really windy, making photography conditions very tricky.

  

Spot Metering to the Rescue

Most of the time the camera’s default metering system (Matrix for Nikon / Evaluative for Canon) is what we tend to use. But it is not always ideal. There will be situations when spot metering works better. I am assuming that you are aware of how a spot meter works. Basically, the spot meter of your camera considers only the light reflected from the focus point, completely ignoring the light available in the other areas of the frame. Below are a few examples that would help us understand better.

Consider the picture above. It was shot at around 7 AM and the fella was hunting shrimps, allowing me to get pretty close to him after spending a good 30 minutes around him. I spot metered for the white feathers of the Egret. As you could see from the image, the background & the water was illuminated pretty low. Had I gone with matrix metering, the camera would have decided to bump up the exposure, considering the poorly lit background, which in turn, would have lowered the shutter speed, making the splash appear soft. The poorly-lit background helped in bringing out the highlights without blowing them out, while adding to the contrast of the entire scene. On the other extreme condition, consider the below picture:

This picture was shot mid-day, with the sky already overcast. I used the center autofocus point as the focus point with Spot meter as the metering mode, which would have made the camera meter only for the brown tones (darker tones), leaving out the overcast background. Had I used Matrix metering, the camera would have tried to reduce the exposure by a couple of stops to get the background highlights inside the histogram, possibly underexposing the subject.

Backlit Shots

A lot of times when I made a trip to a bird sanctuary or a tiger reserve, I’ve seen people almost giving a blind eye to one half of the scene. It’s a fact that we get those high-contrast photographs of birds / animals having all the feather / hair details with the sun right behind us. But as it is always said, there are no hard and fast rules in photography. Sometimes shooting against the sun results in unique moods. What a back-lit shot lacks in details, it makes up in emotion. It does become practically impossible to shoot against the mid-day sun, but when you have a subject back-lit in the golden hour, it brings out unique moods. You might not necessarily shoot straight into the sun. Being at an angle also produces very interesting light on your subjects.

The first picture was shot almost straight against the sun during the golden hour. The second was shot against the sun through fog. In the third image, the Western Marsh Harrier took a turn to hover over a flock of common coots, making the sun illuminate its right half and leaving shadows on the other side. Back-lit shots also can give stunning rim lit effects and translucent effect both being beautiful moods. I always have it as a practice not to ETTR (Expose To The Right) with back-lit shots. I always under-expose a little. By doing so, I reduce the risk of blowing out the highlights. With today’s developments in high ISO performance, a lot of shadow details can be pulled out later in post. An image still looks good with a lot of blacks around, but not much can be done to repair an over-exposed shot. When it boils down to either protecting the highlights or protecting the shadows, I always prefer to protect the highlights, as I am a big fan of darker mood.

Silhouettes

The best of back-lit shots are undoubtedly silhouettes. In my opinion, they are pretty much the easiest means of creating those ‘wow’ images where gear gets less preference. In other words, stunning pictures can be made with basic gear. In a silhouette, we are basically blacking out the subject and as a matter of fact, we do not have to worry much about getting those feather / hair details. Still, silhouettes demand a high level of sharpness and image quality. Silhouettes are photographs that bring out a vast array of creativity.

All you need to get such a shot is the sun around the horizon and a subject suitably perched / placed against the rising / setting sun. Pre-visualizing is a key factor in getting such shots. You most probably will get an angle where your subject aligns with the sun. Sometimes we have got to move around to get the angle and sometimes we need to wait for the sun to get in angle, provided that we do not make swift moves and make the subject leave its place. You can plan those shots better using mobile apps like TPE (The Photographer’s Ephemeris). It gives you the exact Azimuth angles of the sun with respect to time.

There are times where it might not be possible to get the subjects aligned into the sun. On such conditions, we need to get the best possible compromise to an angle where the subject and the sun compliments.

It is not even mandatory to get the sun in the frame. A good red flushed composition is all we need.

Tips on Shooting Silhouettes

• The first challenge in shooting Silhouette is getting the red sky. It is available only for a few minutes when the sun is around the horizon. You have to be in the scene before it all happens awaiting the best moment for the shot.
• Try to shoot at ISO levels as low as possible as the subject itself is blacked out and we do not want it to be noisy. More than noise, it is the color that we need to be worried about. With higher ISO, the colors look either flushed or under saturated, bringing down the overall image quality. Pulling the Saturation / Vibrance slider in PS / Lightroom is not the best option to get accurate colors.
• Make sure not to overexpose the scene. It is the reds and the yellows that make a silhouette shot magical. When we end up overexposing the sky, it becomes difficult to dial it back to what we want as a final result. Underexposing yellows make them orange and underexposing oranges make them reds.
• Do not hesitate to push the White balance to the warm extreme. All silhouette images above were shot between a white balance of 8000K-10000K.
• At least in the tropics, the red sky is available only during winter. During summer months, the sun and hence the sky around the horizon is bright, making it yellow until the twilight.

Composition and Framing

Let’s take a look at the composition and framing aspects of wildlife photography. Below are some tips that I compiled based on my experience photographing wildlife.

Eye-Level Shot

This would be something that a lot of wildlife photographers keep repeating. Why is it so important?

Consider the first case where the photographer is standing with a subject much lower to him. If you follow the line of sight, it falls shortly after the subject, which would be the ground. On the contrary, in the second case, when the observer gets down to the eye-level of his subject, his line of sight falls much behind the subject and the theoretical background falls almost to infinity. Most of us know that for a given focal length and a given aperture, depth of field boils down to the distance between the photographer and the subject. The quality of bokeh depends upon the distance between the subject and the background in view. Undoubtedly, we all crave for a soft, creamy background for our subjects to “pop out” or separate out of the background. Also, when we have the background falling at infinity, we can move around to get a complimenting background to suit our subject, whereas in the first case, we have limited scope to choose on what background we might desire. It might not be always possible to get to the eye-level. Before shooting, it is a good practice to keep note on the angle at which you are going to shoot your subject. An eye-level shot also gets to a perspective that gets a more connected approach to the subject.

It is wise to remember that an eye-level shot gets us to a pretty shallow depth of field. More often the subject’s tail or the rest of the body will not be at the same plane as its head / eye which we generally focus upon. In such a scenario, stopping down by a couple of f-stops would get more of our subject into the field of focus.

As you can see in the picture above, I was laid flat on the ground getting at eye-level to the Hoepoe. As a result, you can see beautiful subject isolation. I had good light, as it was almost 10 AM and it was not an in-flight shot so a 1/800th of a second was more than sufficient.

Eye Contact

Portrait photographers and artists know more about the eye contact. Once the subject looks into the camera, it creates a deeply connected emotion between the subject and the observer of the photograph. In wildlife photography, we seldom have that luxury of our subjects looking right at us. But if we are lucky or patient enough to get that, such photographs can pull the observer’s attention, drawn into it like a magnet.

There is no disagreement that in wildlife photography, reach is a predominant factor. We get the lens with the longest possible focal length, most probably with a teleconverter, all for that extra reach. That does not exclude the pursuit of us getting as close as possible to the subjects. On the other side, as we get closer to our subjects, they get aware of our presence. The key is to go just close enough without scaring away our subject. There will be a crucial moment where our subject will contemplate on whether to consider us a harmful treat or to let us be around. Those few crucial seconds would give us the eye contact and make it appear as if the wild animal was posing for us. But before those few moments, we need to make sure that all of our camera settings are set to properly expose the subject properly. It’s always a useful practice to take a few test shots when we are at a distance, dial in the optimum settings and then close in so that you do not miss out those moments.

Background

In my opinion, for any given subject, the background is what makes or breaks an image. Lens manufacturers are as much focused on the quality of the bokeh as they are with the sharpness of the subject. We all love a creamy smoothed out background with absolutely no distraction, which pulls all of the observer’s attention at the subject.

Most of us know of the factors that influence subject separation: sensor size, lens focal length, camera to subject distance, subject to background distance and lens aperture being the most important. All these factors have been explained to pulp all on the Internet. Let us move on to the other aspects.

The images above need no explanation, as they would be examples of the most sought-after, which also means that they would be the sort of pictures everyone has seen all over the Internet and in print.

Let us compare the picture of the Indian spotted deer with the two pictures above, of the Blue-tailed Bee Eater and the Malabar Flying Lizard. I did have a lens that could get much closer to the deer that would have brought all the details on the subject, removing most of what was around, and at the same time blurring what was remaining. But a close shot would have not conveyed the message this composition carries. I had been to Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary many times in the past years, and it still is like an annual pilgrimage for me. Every time I would hope for some wildlife to get right there, but after almost three years of craving for that one shot, I finally got one and the added bonus was to get the deer to look at me when I ripped the shutter off until my buffer was filled to the brim. This is what we call a complimentary background which adds to the overall feel of the image. It is a fact that a completely blurred out background separates a subject out, but not always. Sometimes, it is the background that brings meaning and story to the picture. This is what we mean by complimentary background.

A complimentary background could be one that separates the subject, or one that adds meaning in terms of aesthetics, it’s story-telling capacity to a picture. Another example would be the picture below. I did have room to get closer to the subject, but I loved this composition more with the branches of the trees in the background:

The picture above of the Himalayan Griffon Vulture is an example of how the background adds to the story-telling capacity of the image. A tighter crop would have brought more details, but this composition tells the story of the kind of landscape they patrol. This also is yet another example of how planning and persistence pays out. I had to hike up to the top of a peak which was at an altitude of around 4000 meters (~13,100 ft) to get this one shot from above them. The first two days I saw them glide through the valley. On the third day I decided to make it to the top, but did not get a shot. The following day, however, it paid off. In fact the Griffon did circle around and I have a much closer shot than this one, but this was chosen for the story-telling capacity more than the other shots.

Negative Space

We all love those tight crops or head shots that we will be looking at a bit later. But sometimes, immersing your subject in negative space also does pull in the attention of the observer to our subject. In fact, as the scale of the subject becomes too small, it increases the curiosity of the observer, drawing his focus more into the image.

The only way we can draw the attention of the observer into a picture having a common subject, is by creating a unique composition. I personally don’t even look more than a few seconds into a tight close crop of a common kingfisher, as I have come across thousands of such pictures, and of course most of them with a creamy backgrounds. With this picture as well, I had the room to get much closer, but I refrained from doing so, as I personally did not come across a similar composition. We might come out with an aesthetically stunning picture. But if it happens to be the one that everyone has, then it would be “yet another picture of a kingfisher”. That is where unique compositions come into play. We have to remember at all times that it is not only the subject that draws attention, but it is the picture on the whole.

Below are a few pointers to keep in mind while composing pictures with ample negative space:

• Firstly, make sure that there aren’t many distractions close to the subject. Basically, negative space in itself means, non-distracting entities. The basic idea behind negative space itself is to bring the focus of the observer searching for the subject.
• Compose in a way that there is a contrast between the negative space and the subject. It could be either in terms of exposure (brighter backgrounds with darker subjects or vice versa) or complementing / contrasting tones. If the subject is in sync with the negative space, it will not ‘pop’ into or out of the image.

  

• Surprise the observer! Most of us prefer the rule of thirds. It is true that instinctively, our focus gets to the intersection of the thirds. But when we expect a subject somewhere in the frame and it ends up being elsewhere, it does create a sense of surprise, and hence draws attention to the picture. As the famous saying goes, learn the rules so that you can decide when to break them.

  

  

• In addition, draping a picture with negative space also gives a perception of depth to our pictures. You might have heard of a “flat image”. Those are the images that seem to stick to the background. Negative space when composed properly does add a sense of depth. I intentionally did not go with the rule of thirds in some of the images presented here, to give more negative space to the mid-ground and background that makes the subject pop forward.
• The placement of negative space also has a vital role to play in the overall story-telling capacity of an image. Generally, we have comparably more negative space on the side of line-of-sight of the subject, giving an impression of the bird looking at something in that direction or flying into that direction. When the subject is looking right at us, it makes sense to place the subject right in the center of the frame.

  

These are not strict rules and only the scene decides the placement and the amount of negative space. In the picture below of a pond heron, I want to convey the story that the bird has taken off, leaving the rock behind, hence leaving less negative space in the direction of the flight.

Other Considerations

Let’s take a look at some other important considerations when photographing wildlife. We will start with animal portraiture.

Animal Portraiture

I am a very big fan of animal portraits for their difficulty and rarity. I have always imagined how great it would be to get portraits of birds and animals, similar to what we get of humans. The difficulty in something is actually what makes it all that much more interesting. Wildlife photography is a classic example of the same. We might hit a 90% mark right, but still the missed 10% could cost us a defining image.

So far I have been talking about how to pull an observer’s eye into the picture. But beyond all of that, every photographer has something very close to his heart. I love wildlife photography, because it inspires me more than even the greatest inventions mankind has made. The picture above of the rare Himalayan Thar is one of them. It has been a couple of years since I shot the image, but still can’t seize to look at it on my wall almost every morning. Very rarely does a wildlife photographer come back with the feel of “I could have not asked for more”. Never did I imagine or hope I would get a portrait head shot of such a rare and amazing animal. Bragging kept aside, let me get to a few pointers on making one:

• Immaterial of its size, portrait head shots demand us to get as close as possible to the subject. So obviously, the longest focal length probably with a suitable teleconverter is what we need in the first place.

  

• We are talking about tight crops and / or frame-filling shots here. Most of us, of course in most cases including me, crop the hell out of our pictures when the final result is sometimes close to a 100% crop. But it is not to be forgotten that, the more we crop, the more we compromise on resolution and hence the final image quality. I personally avoid cropping anything over 50%. Of course most of us do not go for prints, but even to put it in social media, too close to 100% crops will visibly show loss of quality.

  

• Try to be at eye-level of your subject and focus on the eye, possibly with a catch-light sharp on the subject.

  

• Try to go low-key, which means having your subject against a darker background, most preferably black. A dark background also makes the entire picture moody. To get it, your subject should be at least a couple of stops brighter than the background or in other words, move around and get to an angle where your subject is across the darkest possible background. In such a case, spot metering for the brightest tone in your subject helps. This is the reason many professional photographers use back-button focusing, so that they can focus and recompose easily.

  

• Generally, the short angle of view and tight crops in an animal portrait lack the story-telling capacity. What it lacks in story, it makes up in aesthetics. As a matter of fact, head shots demand high resolution, maximum sharpness and contrast. But sometimes, even headshots can tell stories. For example, the Eurasian spoonbill below is preparing for its nest. This is again a place where patience pays. I have seen a lot of people get close enough to a subject, click a few pictures and move on. Once your subjects allow you to enter a particular proximity, they will allow you to stay there until they feel threatened. Also, the more you stay around without harming them, the more they will trust you. Once in a while, they will display some activity like pecking / flapping feathers, stretching out, yawning, shaking off and so on. A boring headshot like the one of the black crowned night heron might be a lot less appealing than the Malabar Giant squirrel taking a meal.

  

  

Going Wide

It is no surprise that most of the time wildlife photographers, including me, tend to get to the longest possible focal length with a tele-converter attached and with a crop body. I know a lot of wildlife photographers who prefer crop-sensor camera bodies just for the extra reach and the pixel pitch. Thanks to camera bodies like the Nikon D500 that allow photographers to push ISO much higher than what we could have ever imagined a few years back, we can take phenomenal images anywhere. Obviously, with a long focal length like 600mm or above, we are eliminating a lot of unwanted distractions in the background. But sometimes, going wide brings out a whole new meaning to our photographs.

The above image is a tight crop of the one below:

Both pictures above speak for themselves. The tight crop does have all the details in the elephant and in the tree trunks as well. But the out-of-camera composition has the story that the tight crop lacks. In addition to the subject, it gives a vivid picture of the habitat to which the elephant belongs. I am certain that most photographers would agree with the fact that the story-telling capacity of a photograph would be weighed much higher than aesthetic beauty. Another example would be the picture below:

The picture above of the endangered wild asses was shot in the high altitude desert of Ladakh. It is one of the very few high altitude plateaus in the world at above 10,000 ft. I did have a 300mm lens at that point of time, but still chose to shoot @ 55mm, as this gives an idea of the arid zone that these amazing animals call home. They roam vast stretches of sand and rock, seeking scarce patches of grass.

Another picture with yet another story. Early morning is a time when wild dogs are really hungry and they plan and strategize for the kill. They always hunt in packs as they lack the muscle power of the big cats like tigers. They take positions to ambush their prey. The picture above conveys what wild dogs are all about. Wide-angle shots work their magic on silhouette images as well (more on silhouette images further down below).

Not always do we deliberately need to go short. It is very rare that nature rewards us with exactly what we seek. Most of the time, whether we admit it or not, it is a compromise that we make between what we want and what we get. One of the most common compromises is being unable to get enough reach. There have been many instances where I have felt even having a 500mm lens docked to a crop body, I was short of reach. Most of us tend to get the tightest crop and compromise with sharpening / saturating in post to make up for the loss of pixels and end up with an uninspiring image. Instead, we can think in the opposite direction to compose an interesting shot with what we have. The below picture is one such example:

Me and a friend of mine were photographing raptors in Bharatpur during the golden hour, and a Greater spotted eagle was landing on a perch. I was stuck with a 300mm lens and my friend was at 600mm. But later we both loved the comparably wider image below:

Monochrome Wildlife Photography

When it comes to giving an artistic feel, even today in my opinion, nothing comes close to high-contrast B&W images. B&W is a totally different and an endless world of creative opportunities as opposed to the saturated world we see all around us and more so on the Internet. Photography is half-science and half-art, and B&W creates unique artistic images.

Monochrome images give room for very high contrast possibilities. With color images, there is a limitation until which bringing out more contrast ends up over-saturating the image and making it appear plastic or artificial. Also, a gray scale image gives a much calmer and deeper mood to images. In addition to high-contrast, monochrome sometimes does add more story to the image as well. Take a look at the two versions of the same out-of-camera image below:

The color picture might display the vibrant color of the leopard, but the monochrome version of it tells how well these guys are camouflaged.

Capturing a Natural History Moment

I was holding the best for the last. I hope most of you would agree that capturing a unique natural history moment is what stands out as the ultimate goal in wildlife photography. It might be a blurry image of the-rarest-of-rare species like the Amur Leopard or the Snow Leopard, to capturing a unique action shot of a common subject. That is what inspires a wildlife photographer and pulls the world into the picture. It is a marvel in itself to witness life in the habitat that they were built over millennia to live in and photographing such a moment is a much higher blessing. I am going to leave you with some pictures that tell their own stories, leaving it to your own imagination and interpretation:

Conclusion

In this article I wanted to pen down the wide array of possibilities with wildlife photography. Wildlife photography has become a highly competitive world, thanks to the advancements in technology. While lenses and camera bodies were not even able to autofocus a few decades back, today even focus stacking is possible in-camera. But, irrespective of what gear we use, it all boils down to the person standing behind the camera. Unfortunately, at least from where I come from, I mostly get to see very similar compositions all over. I love looking into photographs as much as I do shooting them. Of course, wildlife does not pose for us, and we cannot go into a tiger reserve with strobes and reflectors. But with all the limitations, wildlife still has endless possibilities which most of us have ignored. As mentioned above, I live in the land of tigers and love tigers. But most of the tiger pictures I get to see are tight crops of the cat walking on the safari track. I do agree that it is not likely we get a tiger hunting shot, provided that sighting one itself is considered lucky. But most of the time we encounter wildlife, we start using our camera as a machine gun. Modern cameras can fire at 10-12 fps and have a buffer enough to shoot until we run out of storage space. But the essence of wildlife photography is to bring out the life in it. At the end of the day, only unique pictures speak loud. Thinking out of the box will reflect in our photographs and that is what the world loves to see more than the everyday clichés.

Happy Clicking!