How my photographic eye has changed while doing wildlife photography
At the start of my interest in wildlife photography where I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time, I would snap as many pictures of the animal as I could. Because I was so focused on getting the animal in the frame, I wasn’t considering if there were branches in the way or checking the setting to make sure the image wouldn’t come out blurry or underexposed. I was just focused on getting proof that I saw the animal. It isn’t necessarily a bad thing to do — I still find myself being caught up in the internal excitement and I would click the shutter before checking my settings properly! — and sometimes it is unavoidable, such as when I get caught by surprise by an unexpected wildlife encounter, and the camera settings needed are completely different from what I was shooting with already.
Over the years, however, I have become more consistent in really thinking about what image I want to get ahead of going to find a particular species. I often think about how I would like the animal to be positioned, how it is interacting with the environment, and what the composition might look like. While thinking about the image, or a series of images, I am very much aware that there are a lot of factors that can have an impact on whether the image becomes reality — as a true Brit, I will often complain about the weather if it turns out to be the opposite of what I hoped for! And, as always, wildlife can be unpredictable so the image in mind is unlikely to be achieved on the first visit to a specific location. Being persistent and patient is key in wildlife photography so keeping the ‘goal’ image in mind helps me to stay focused especially when I have to return to a location multiple times.
When I have one particular species that I want to photograph, I often imagine the image quite vividly. I see the colours of the environment around the animal — golden leaves in autumn or blossoming apple tree petals in spring, depending on the time of year — the harshness or softness of the natural light, and whether the species is moving or stationary. To put this into a real-life event, I recently spent a few days in the Yorkshire Dales to photograph red squirrels for the first time. As this was a new location to me, I didn’t know exactly what the environment would look like until I reached the place. Once I arrived at the viewing area, I glanced up at the towering pine trees surrounding the space, and in the middle of a clearing, there was a thin, fallen tree trunk fixed between two standing trees as a running platform for the red squirrels to used to reach the food source. Once I saw that setup, I knew I had a good chance of capturing a red squirrel running along the trunk as my motion shot. As the squirrels were using it as a main route to reach the feeding station, I had multiple opportunities to capture them running and jumping across, and each time made sure that the exposure was right for me and that my shutter speed was quick enough to freeze the squirrel mid-run. As I watched the squirrels running back and forth across the tree trunk through the lens, I looked out for the brief moments where one squirrel would momentarily stop on the tree trunk and become framed by the autumnal colours in the background, as I wanted to include autumnal colours in my shots too. With wildlife renowned for being unpredictable, other scenarios happened on the day that I didn’t consider getting an image for, such as when the squirrels appeared in the pine trees closest to me. They were covered in green moss and lichen, which made the red fur of the squirrels stand out even more. But these trees were in a darker part of the forest, so I made sure that I changed my camera settings accordingly to make up for the loss of light from the tree canopy, and I was able to come away with a couple more images that weren’t thought about previously.
I am still very much developing my photography style at this point in my photography journey, but by imagining my ‘goal’ photo I feel better prepared when I go out with my camera, by knowing what to look out for in terms of the environment and being open to the fact that anything can happen while working with wildlife!
