The art of animal photography is a medium of its own. Consider some of the most beautiful photographs that have been seen, usually, they are of animals. While photography takes a gifted hand to produce amazing results, when it comes to animal photography, these individuals are of a special breed. Photography requires several abilities in order to produce the results that are deemed worthy of notice. These assets are things such as patience, a steady hand and an exceptional eye for finding a unique beauty in a subject and capturing that beauty in a lasting image. While these are certainly not all of the assets needed, they are the most important, however, when it comes to animal photography these assets are only the beginning.
One of the first lessons that many animal photography enthusiasts learn, the hard way for the most part, is that when it comes to photographing animals you work on their terms, not yours’. What this means is that when you photograph human beings you have the ability to tell them to sit or move in a way that suits your vision, this isn’t the case with animals; telling an animal to smile and say cheese isn’t really an option. There is also the aspect that a human will sit as still as long as you require to get the results that you need, however, an animal may sit in one position all day or move every and any which way they want, it just depends on their mood.
Working with an animal’s mood may not be all that easy, basically what you have to do is to make the photograph fit the animal’s world, and not the animal’s world fit the photograph. In other words fit yourself and your camera into the animal’s environment so that you capture the animal in their natural habitat. Be as inconspicuous as possible when it comes to photographing the animal, you want them to be as comfortable and natural as they can possibly be. These types of photographs are the ones that really stand out and exhibit the animal’s true beauty.
Make sure you have knowledge of the animals you are photographing. This is especially helpful if you’re photographing animals or creatures with dangerous tendencies. After all, a beautiful photo is great, but not at the expense of danger and harm. Having animal knowledge can also help you when it comes to knowing the best places where you can find the subjects of your photos. Photos of animals in their natural surroundings can add to the beauty and mystery of the photograph.
Always be prepared when it comes to photography, you can’t always make photographic opportunities, you have to be ready to take advantage of them when they happen. Animals are spontaneous and the photographic opportunities that they present are spontaneous as well, so always be ready to capture that spontaneity. Don’t second guess the opportunities that you see many times when it comes to animal photography the photographer second guesses whether the opportunity is worth capturing. If something captures your eye initially go with your instincts and capture it.
Animal photography will take more patience than regular photography, but the results are well worth the efforts needed to capture the images. It takes a true animal lover in order to see the unique beauty these creatures possess and to capture these images is an even more amazing gift. While the beginning photographer may not capture the exact image they are hoping for initially, given time and practice the art form will develop and prove to be worth the effort.
This is a guest post by Rodney Warner – A full time SEO promoting Horse Photography for the Wild Equine Photographer Carol Walker.