Getting Closer in Wildlife Photography

Wildlife photography has a difficulty that most other genres lack: It’s hard to get close to your subject. Animals are typically wary and will fly or run away if you just walk too close to them – that’s why most wildlife photographers carry long lenses in the 400-800mm range and often crop further from there. But if you follow a few steps to make your subjects more comfortable, it is possible to get closer as a wildlife photographer and get better photos because of it.

Get On the Ground

In one of Photography Life’s recent photo critique livestreams, one photographer asked us a very interesting question: How can you isolate your subject when there are plenty of other individuals of the same (or different) species around?

My answer was to put the camera as low as possible and aim the camera a little upward. This way, you aren’t pointing down into a crowd any more, and your subjects will naturally get more separation. If you find a subject that is a little higher up than the others, you can capture a clean portrait photo even in a busy environment.

But actually, there’s another benefit to this approach. Animals will often be far less afraid of you if you are on the ground, so it is also possible to approach them more closely. It does require a bit of physical dexterity, but the best method I’ve found is to lay flat on the ground and slowly crawl military-style towards your subject.

Recently, I found a bunch of Neotropic Cormorants sitting on a concrete pond drain. I know from experience that these birds will swim away if you get within typical shooting distances, so I just lay flat and crawled slowly towards them. There were even some reeds in the way, so I managed to get quite close for a portrait.

Don’t Approach Directly

Whether you are walking slowly or crawling on the ground, another tip is to approach in an indirect manner. I mean, come on… animals are pretty smart, and if you go straight towards them, they know you are singling them out.

It’s the same reason why it often feels like animals will ignore you until you start to pull out your camera – as soon as you do, they vanish. This isn’t just bad luck as a photographer! It’s because you went from being a passive part of the environment to a potential predator focusing your attention on them.

Instead, if you approach more indirectly, by circling towards them, they are much less likely to take notice of you. Also, when you are moving this way, don’t make eye contact. Many animals will take special notice of your eyes. There’s a bit of an art to it, but try not to give the animal any reason to think you have singled them out.

I had to use this approach when I saw some swallows on a wire in a nearby national park. Although they seemed calm around humans, they would still fly away to a farther spot if I approached them directly. So, I walked along the edge of a path, just getting slightly closer while not looking at them. Eventually, I managed to get close enough to slowly raise my camera and take the shot.

Wait

There are some animals for which waiting in place is the right strategy. If you are very still, then after some time, animals might walk quite close to you. This won’t work every time, but you can increase your odds of success if you observe a little behavior.

For instance, I know a place by a small lake where various flycatchers like to catch water creatures. I noticed that in particular, a Great Kiskadee liked to use several of the larger, thicker branches from which to launch into the cool waters. Instead of trying to chase it, which is quite difficult, I just sat and waited under a tree branch. Eventually, one came and perched right above me, making it possible to get a shot with only a minuscule crop to remove a few edge distractions.

Change the Type of Photo

So far, I have talked about ways to get closer to your subject. But other times, it’s worth recognizing that this is not the only approach to good wildlife photography. If you stay farther back, you can get some very interesting environmental photos that can be just as interesting as the best wildlife portraits.

I know, the wildlife photographer’s first instinct is to get as close as possible. But there aren’t as many good environmental shots of wildlife out there, so if you can get a bit more environment in your shot, chances are you’ll be doing something a little different than the standard wildlife photo.

This can be especially useful if you don’t have a long enough lens. That happened to me the other day when I saw a Bare-faced Ibis. But on that day, I just had my Nikon 70-300mm zoom instead of my 500mm f/5.6PF lens. I definitely didn’t have enough focal length to get close enough for a typical portrait, so I decided to go even further back to get a more environmental shot. (Massimo Vignoli wrote a great article recently on animalscape photography showing how you can step back even further and still get great results.)

Come Back Another Time

I don’t talk about this often, but I think one of my top three principles in wildlife photography is this: Don’t force the situation. In other words, don’t try and get too close if it doesn’t seem natural.

And the reason I say this is for two reasons. The first is that it’s best not to stress animals by trying to get too close to them if they are on alert. But a second benefit comes from an increased familiarity with your subject.

Indeed, by getting just as close as an animal feels comfortable with, you will start to get a sense of the subject’s nature. This can calm your own emotions and give you the understanding that your subject is calm as well. Maybe in the end, you can’t get super close to some subjects. But then you will just photograph them with more of their environment. This calmer, more collected approach to wildlife photography will absolutely come through in your photographs, and produce better photos overall.

I once read an interview with a famous portrait photographer a long time ago and he said that his secret was that he made his subjects comfortable. I can’t remember who it was, but I thought it was a great idea that should also apply to wildlife. So, I highly recommend practicing the art of letting go and putting your subjects comfort above getting the shot, because when you do get the shot, it will be all the much better for it.

Conclusion

You can’t always get close to wildlife. When you can, you’ll be capturing an intimate moment that’s so thrilling to get. When you can’t, you’ll still have a chance to get a more environmental shot that can be just as interesting. Regardless of how close you get, just enjoy your time out in the wild earth and you are sure to have an amazing time.