2. Wild Life Photography
• Wildlife photography is a genre
of photography concerned with documenting
various forms of wildlife in their natural habitat.
• As well as requiring photography skills, wildlife
photographers may need field craft skills. For example,
some animals and birds are difficult to approach and
thus a knowledge of the animal's and birds behavior is
needed in order to be able to predict its actions.
Photographing some species may require stalking skills
or the use of a hide/blind for concealment.
3. Why it is difficult?????
• “Wild animals are going to do what they’re going to do.
Unfortunately, you can’t ask them to look this way, do
something cute, or stand where the light is better. You
have to be there, and ready, when they decide to look
cute or do something interesting. Be prepared to wait,
and wait, and wait—it takes a long time to get good
wildlife shots, even longer to make great ones.”
- Robert Caputo
4. Equipments
• While wildlife photographs can be taken using basic equipment,
successful photography of some types of wildlife requires specialist
equipment, such as macro lenses for insects, long focal length lenses
for birds and underwater cameras for marine life.
• Telephoto lenses are a must for wildlife photography—how long
depends on how close you can get and on the size of your subject.
Birds, small and flighty, need really long lenses. So do animals that
are shy.
• Most wildlife lenses have a very long focal length between 150mm
and 600mm.
• Some other specialized gear includes camera traps, hides, ghillie suits
5. • Another thing to remember when photographing wildlife is
the old “push/pull.” Animals have personalities, and you
want to show that. But you don’t want to be working really
tight with long lenses all the time. You need to show their
environment too—habitat says a lot. Back off and use
wide-angle lenses to give viewers a sense of where the
animals live.
• When you’re out photographing wildlife, don’t just pay
attention to what are called the charismatic megafauna—
the big animals that get most of our attention. Of course
we all want good photos of the big guys, but there are
many other forms of life around. Some of them are really
beautiful, and all of them are interesting. Whenever you’re
out there, whether hiking or sitting in your car waiting for
something to happen, look around. You’ll be amazed at
what you might discover.
6. • Photography tips for insects
• Macrophotography techniques are common for taking pictures of insects.
Some specific techniques can be of particular value, for example, you
should shoot in good light, avoid the photographer's shadow onto the
subject, choose places where insects are not a few, but rather plenty
• Photography tips for birds
• Many birds are well-sighted, have a good memory, and can distinguish a
large number of color shades. This is why a photographer would be wise
to use natural means of camouflage, prepare a shelter in advance or
accustom the birds to their presence.
• Photography tips for animals
• Camouflage is an important element of wildlife photography. A
photographer should have his/her appearance transformed and his/her
equipment camouflaged with special covers and camouflage netting.
• Animals are good at smelling. Avoiding the use of any deodorants, toilet
water, or perfume is strongly recommended. It is also important to keep
the wind direction in mind, as animals are good at recognizing human
scent. A general recommendation when taking photos of animals is to wait
silently and motionless in a shelter positioned to the leeward side.
7. Ethics
• A photographer is first and foremost a witness
to wildlife. Show respect for your models and
do not interfere with the animal's behavior.
Don't take a shot that will put your model in
undue distress.
• Sometimes photographers use live bait to get
a picture. The photos taken this way are
rejected in major photo contests, as this
practice is unethical
8. Commercial point of view..
• As with most other photographers, the majority of
wildlife photographers work as freelancers. This
means that they take photographs in hopes of
selling them, or they are commissioned to take
photographs of certain animals.
• The photographs that a wildlife photographer takes
may be featured in different types of publications,
including books and scientific journals. Travel and
nature magazines also work with wildlife
photographers on a regular basis. Some of these
publications might even hire full or part-time wildlife
photographers as staff members.
• You may get opportunity to work with National
Geography, Discovery, Planet Earth etc
9. Titled “The Alley Cat”, Nayan Khanolkar’s winning photograph of a leopard
was taken in the Aarey Milk Colony. Photo: Nayan Khanolkar/Wildlife
Photographer of the Year in the urban wildlife category by Natural History
Museum, London.
