The key to success

Wildlife photography is an art and camera techniques and photographic skills are not enough. A passion for nature and understanding of its ways are essential to taking good photographs.

While taking images of animals some fundamental discipline is required. A vertical format will emphasize the subjects features while a horizontal format is more likely to show the animal in its environment.

The most important part of the animal that needs to be sharp are its eyes. Success often lies in getting the eyes right. Go for good eye contact when composing if you can, and always get a catchlight in your subject’s eye before releasing the shutter. The closer the subject is, the more important it is to drop to eye level. At eye level, our relationship with the subject is that of an equal, which gives the image a natural balance and reveals a more intimate viewing experience. The resulting images are often far more intimate and illustrate a relationship between the viewer and the subject that is rarer and more unusual. This, in itself, makes your photographs more powerful and much more realistic.

One word of warning- when you’re focusing on a subject’s eyes check you have sufficient depth of field to ensure the parts of subject nearer the camera than its eyes, nose, muzzle, breast etc, will also be in focus.