Approach to techniqure for wildlife photography

I'm looking to get into the wildlife end of photography, inspired in part by the images of Bob and Don among others. I'm still confused as to how one looks for wildlife to photograph. A lot of emphasis is placed upon big glass and big tripods. I figure when you come across something (like a deer), by the time you setup it's long gone. Do you find a spot and just wait for something to come by already setup? What are the techniques you use that facilitate finding the "prey".

 

 

 

Secondly, and I know this may sound wimpish, but what are the safety concerns involved when looking for such things as Grizzlies, or big moose. Is there a particular distance/method that eliminates your chances of getting charged at or eaten alive? I was in Vermont last fall, and I was walking with my wife in a large state park. We came upon these huge bigass tracks. We looked at the tracks, then at each other, and quickly walked back and went about our fall foliage shooting :).

Well, let's talk safety first. There are some good books on bear safety (Stephen Herrero's "Bear Attacks - Their Cause and Prevention" is the classic, will give you nightmares along with sound advice, he's Canada's leading bear researcher). Griz are unpredictable and if they have a carcass may nail you after charging from a half mile or so distant.

 

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Moose are dangerous, but more predictable. It's the rutty males that tend to be dangerous, and they're obvious (they're the bullwinkles :). They're also big and you don't need to get close. They also get acclimated to people pretty easily in places like Yellowstone and Grand Teton, and if you maintain a reasonable distance you're OK. Remember, you don't need to outrun the moose - just your fellow photo.net moose shooters! Unlike griz, rutty moose usually don't bother you unless you bug them from close up. And they'll toss their heads, stomp, and do other "I'm pissed" stuff first.

 

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As far as finding things to shoot, this can range from sitting at a bird feeder to hiking to something like a harbor seal haul-out. You need to know at least a little about wildlife, first. If you don't own a pair of binoculars then I think I can guarantee you don't know enough about wildlife to do wildlife photography regularly (as opposed to just shooting wildlife that sits in your lap, i.e. at Yellowstone).

 

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For instance, the tracks you saw were "bigass" but you say nothing more. You should learn at least a little, i.e. bear tracks look much like humans (a bear's rear foot, that is) while moose tracks look like a deer's, only on steroids, just for your own comfort in the woods, with or without camera. BTW, two people in black bear country really have very little to worry about. Even one person has little to fear (black bear attacks are very uncommon in proportion to the number of encounters with humans), two far less.

 

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Finding wildlife? There are all sorts of resources out there. You might start with the "Watchable Wildlife" serious put out by Falcon Press. Supported by State F&W agencies in all 50 states, marked with white-bin-on-brown-background roadsigns, and documented in these handy guides, the "watchable wildlife" sites provide a nice overview of places to view a variety of wildlife. The guides provide seasonable information so you know when to go. Bird nerds like me use books like Portland Audubon's "Birder's Guide To Oregon" and a similarly titled serious on a variety of other places put out by the American Birding Association. Good birding spots are often good all-around wildlife spots. There's a specific one for photographers entitled something like "the best places to photograph wildlife in North America" or something.

 

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In other words, READ! Do a little research. Head down to a nature bookstore or a general one with a good natural history section and start checking out site guides.

 

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Once you're familiar with areas nearby which have wildlife in good numbers, and have figured out how to find and ID them, then of course you have to work on the "how to get close with enough glass" issue...

 

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Most casual wildlife shooters, even those with big glass, seem to stick to the best known places - Everglades, Yellowstone, etc. Can't say I blame them, I love photographing in such places, but they're missing out on a lot by sticking to "the classics".

Have you considered a wildlife oriented photo tour for starters? There are many available in all areas of the country/world, led by pros who know where the animals are to be found, how to photograph them, safety, etc. You can find many listings in OUTDOOR PHOTOGRAPHER magazine or on the web. Joe McDonald's books, COMPLETE GUIDE TO WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY & DESIGNING WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHS, published by Amphoto, are excellent sources of information. Good luck, & have fun!

Don's advice on reading is right on. Photo tours etc. will get you pictures, but are expensive and you could probably get similar results by cutting pictures from a magazine. Getting close on your own without disturbing the animal is a great thrill, not to mention the satisfaction you get from learning by doing.

 

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Knowing the species you want to photograph is paramount to success. They all are creatures of habit. If it is big game (moose, bear, deer) I would also suggest hunting magazines, especially bow hunting which will provide you with some excellent techniques to get close. A $100.00 tree stand with a 200 lens would be sufficient (in wooded areas) for big game vs. a $10,000 lens. Animals will very seldom look up (unless they hear your automatic camera whirring away) and by using the tree stand it will help mask your human scent, which is the way animals find you first, and flee.

 

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Knowing what they eat during different seasons is a big advantage and being able to read fresh tracks will be beneficial. Get to know one good area around your residence, and you will be able to use most of that information no matter where you go.

 

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These $1000+ plus photo tours etc. always make me chuckle. It seems whatever the new "in animal" is there is someone out there ready to exploit it for profit through hunting or photography. There is a massive amount of information available that can be easily obtained with the Internet or this page. If you are planning a trip, post a question on what area you are going, what you are interested in photographing and I'll bet you will get a lot of responses that could save you a bundle.

 

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If you ever plan a trip to Maine, send me a email and I would be more than happy to help you with local information about Moose photography without spending a a lot for a "LL Bean Guided Photo Tour. Good Luck

There really isn't a lot out there in the woods that will do you

harm <em>if</em> you are sensible. Off hand, the critters most

likely to attack without warning are grizzlies and moutain lions

(and neither is likely to be much of a problem in Vermont!). Of

course any critter <em>could</em> decide it didn't like you much,

and Moose certainly can be aggressive in the rutting season, but

most critters want to get away from you, not do you harm, and most

make it clear when they are getting upset. Most people who are

injured by wildlife do something stupid - like getting too close

or cornering an animal.

 

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As for wandering around in the wilds of Yellowstone looking for

grizzlies. Well, personally I would not do it. Some people would,

but they are either smarter, braver or dumber than I am! I'd shoot

from the road if I saw one, but I wouldn't go looking for them in

the woods. I've never had any problems with the Moose I have met.

Basically if you respect their space, they seem to be happy. I've

seen one charge (in Yellowstone), but only when surrounded by

P&S weilding tourists who were getting much too close. You could

tell the Moose was pissed well before he charged.

 

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Shooting where the wildlife is used to human presence prevents the

situation you describe ("by the time you set up, the critter is

gone"). That means Nationl Parks and similar (where hunting is prohibited animals tend to be less bothered by human presence - they

are not just dumb animals!).

Otherwise you sit and wait, or become quick on the draw (not easy

with a 600/4!). If you want those quick "grab shots", carry a fast

lens (200/2.8, 300/4), use faster film (like Kodachrome 200) and

carry you camera/lens ready to shoot (probably set to matrix

metering autoexposure, motor drive on etc.) and shoot handheld.

This can work well - A Canon Image Stabilized lens probably helps

a lot too. However depending on "grab shots" isn't likely to get

you a lot of good images.

I'm going to have to agree with all those that are advising research. If you want to do justice to nature photography (actually, I think this may be generally applicable) you should know your subject. If you want to take great pictures of moose, then read about them. I find I have much better success with a subject I'm knowledgeable about. If you want to take great pictures of grizzlies, read even more about them. Then follow the advice about being cautious.

 

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However, after you have done all that reading, you will probably come to the same conclusions as most of us and opt for the biggest tripod and glass you can afford and carry. Most wildlife will not let you get close enough to get great pictures with lenses under 300mm. At least not if you want to live a long and healthy life. Also, most of the best opportunities come when the light is fairly low. Because of this, large apertures can be handy. They also make it easy to throw the background out of focus. Further, longer lenses are affected more by vibration, a problem accentuated by the slow shutter speeds demanded by low light. Hence the big tripods to keep all that glass from trashing about.

 

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You must develop your own techniques for setting up and approaching your quarry. They will depend heavily on what your subject is, where you are shooting it, and what equipment you use. In general you should have every thing ready to go. Film in your camera, lens mounted, tripod accessible, and be armed with a good idea of what to expect. This takes us back to doing the required research. For instance, I live within an hours drive of Algonquin Provincial Park. Algonquin has the second highest density of moose in north America. They are protected, fat (of course moose don't have fat cells, so they are not really fat, I meant more in attitude), and happy. If you find a cooperative one, you can take all the time you like to setup. Pour a cup of coffee between film changes, have a sandwich while waiting for the light to improve, exchange photography stories with the five other people there that have their big glass atop their big tripods. Algonquin is also an area that has a huge population of black bears. There is a place I know of in the park where they put the carcasses of the road kill to be eaten by the bears. When I go there, I arrive hours in advance and huddle in my van to shoot out the removed window of the back door, with the door closed. I do this for two reasons. First is safety, while not as big or as likely to attack as a grizzly, black bears do sometimes attack and a 300 ponder will do a lot of damage. Second is to conceal myself. I even go as far as wrapping a towel around the camera to reduce the noise. While this may seem to fly in the face of my concerns about safety, black bears are generally incredibly cautious creatures. They will flee at the sound of an AF lens focusing or the slightest hint of motion.

 

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There are many issues to wildlife photography. The best way to get a handle on them is through research. Do research on the subjects, on the techniques, and on the equipment. Then get out their and develop your own style. Let me emphasize this point. All the research and advice in the world will do you no good if you don't put it into practice. I can tell you about ways to reduce the effects of camera vibration until the cows come home, and it won't mean anything to you until you get out your camera and try them for yourself.

If the "huge bigass tracks" thing works to scare folks out of the areas I shoot in I am going to make some big track casts with huge claws & lay them out in the mud & dirt & have the backcountry all to myself. Thanks for the suggestion.