Photographing Wildlife | Animal Photography Tips

Wildlife Photography Tips

Take Your Animal Photography to the Next Level!

If you like to be outdoors, then photographing wildlife may be your calling. Whenever you are photographing animals, patience is required, and a genuine love for nature will help you succeed in this type of photography.

1

White-tailed deer/Mule deer

Like most deer, white-tailed deer are extremely skittish and have excellent hearing – to spot predators (and photographers), so you must be very quiet and approach them from down wind. Wearing camouflage clothing will help to conceal you and let you get as close as possible without spooking the deer. Movement is what gives the photographer away, so be patient and still when you are in your chosen spot. Once the deer get close, you’ll need to use a fast telephoto zoom (100mm to 300mm) to capture the action. Patience is the name of the game here, so waiting with a tripod will keep you from getting fatigued. You can photograph white-tailed deer in the summer when their coats are a deep reddish-brown, or in the fall and winter when the coats become dull gray for protection and concealment. In the summer the male bucks are in “velvet”, a fuzzy collection of blood vessels that nourish the growing antlers. They lose the velvet, and have their full antlers prior to the autumn mating season, known as the “rut”. Antlers later fall off in the winter. Some game farms or zoos have captive deer, and can provide easier photographic opportunities.

2

Elk

Elk are large deer with big antlers. They mostly inhabit woodlands. If you are fortunate enough to be in an area that has Elk, then a good technique is to use a tripod and wait for the animals to appear. If you are shooting on a bright day, use a polarizing filter to keep the sky blue and contrast down to a minimum. Autumn rut (mating season) can provide exciting action as the bull elk compete for the attention of females. Their bugling calls are a useful aid in locating elk during the rut.

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Photographing Wildlife | Animal Photography Tips