Cross-Training For Wildlife Photographers

You Can't Pose 'Em

Wildlife are uncooperative. They don't pose nicely or take direction on where to stand for the best light. They won't do it over again to give you practice until you get it right, either.

So you don't have a wildlife preserve in your back yard with lots of animals? That's OK, there are more cooperative subjects to practice with.

The key to wildlife and many other subjects is a photojournalist's unrehearsed, unposed approach.

Events

Event photography is a forgiving way to develop photographic skills for wildlife. Events aren't static. Subjects are on the move, but slowly enough for you to carefully frame and shoot. You can easily see good light on them - even, not too contrasty, good catchlight in the eye. And you can practice those all-important placement skills - subject occupying at least a quarter of the frame, room to move in the direction he's looking, background pleasingly blurred in muted light, no other stuff between you and the subject. Show his musical instrument, conductor's baton, or monk's robes in the picture to tell the complete story.

Sports

Sports are a speedy step up from events. A downhill mountain bike racer chooses her line, but the course boundary constrains where she'll be when she passes at 30+ MPH. That gives you a chance to track her as she's getting close, choose your moment and position, and capture her at the peak of her action. Cross-country mountain bike racers give you slower-moving subjects and an opportunity for expressions you won't get on downhillers wearing full-face helmets. You can practice tracking movement, choosing placement for good light and composition, and capturing that muddy-faced grimace as they splatter through puddles on the course.

If you miss the top-seed downhiller on his record-breaking run, you can't ask him to do it again. This trains you to capture it the first time when that adult egret gets his billed yanked by hungry nestlings, or when the ranger rescues the youngster that fell out of the nest.

Dual Slalom Leads To Couples

Sports and events also affect your photographic style with wildlife. I like shooting dual-slalom mountain bike races, especially when they're close and I can get both racers in the picture. That led to a love of wildlife couples, courting pairs or adults with young. Since wildlife don't really use their faces to express themselves, there's one less variable to worry about in group shots.

I also like tightly-framed portraits to go along with full-length pictures. Portraits bring your viewer in close to the action. Full-length shots give the full range of motion, but a spectator's perspective. I shoot tight portraits of young bison, and full-body fight shots of sparring bulls.

They may not frown like humans, but wildlife yawn and pose. Watch for unusual behavior like playful dancing, and you'll capture pictures no one else has.