Thursday, November 11, 2010

Part 3

Part three of our book is about adventures with the wildlife you encounter while being a nature photographer. The first section is about getting close to the animals. Always stay a safe distance from any animal your shooting. Never put yourself in a bad situation. Do your homework before taking off somewhere. Research the land and animals before going and map out at least some of where you would like to go. Keep your distance from the animals your shooting. Telephoto lenses would great for this because it keeps you and the animals away from harm and still makes great pictures.
While stalking the animal stay low, and move slowly and quietly while the animals focus is not on you. Plan your advance on the animal before you start walking towards them. Be sure to never fence them in or block them so they don't have a way out. Always make sure both you and the animal have a space to get away if needed. Try not to intimidate the animal either, make movements and stay calm.
Blinds are great for taking pictures of wildlife. A good bird blind is using your car. Put some camouflage in the windows so your body movements cant be seen, and make sure to have a rest for your camera and start snapping pictures. Other blinds such as hunting blinds in trees work as well. You yourself can also be used as a blind by putting a homemade camouflaged outfit on and using a tripod to mill around in. Peanut butter is another way to lure animals into a scene. Although it is not always a good idea it does work to smear a little on a branch or leaf to lure in birds or other small animals. Patients is a must have with nature photography.
Shoot first, edit later is a fantastic rule. If you spend time always trying to get the perfect picture the first time you will end up missing out on many great shots. Lowering your tripod is also another good tip. Instead of always being higher than the animal lower the camera down to their level and snap some great pictures. Background, foreground, and the subject makes up a 3 layer picture and this is always nice to have. Try to have all these in your pictures. Facial features are key when shooting animals. The first place we normal look at an animal is its face to it's important to have it in focus. When taking pictures of groups of animals it is important to try and pay attention to what all the animals are doing to get the best photos.

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