Wildlife Photography

In wildlife photography, the difference between success and failure is knowing your subject. Many of the best wildlife photographers have backgrounds as hunters or wildlife biologists. With most wild animals, you cannot approach them directly. A frightened animal will show that fright in your photograph. Don't be pushy; slow down and relax. Sit down for a while. Be still. Do all kinds of innocuous things to avoid being perceived as a threat: pretend you're not interested in the animal. Zigzag toward your subject. Stay off the skyline. Mask your human odor (hunting supply stores can supply what you need). Move your equipment as little as possible. Aim and focus in advance. Use a cable release so you don't have to bring your hand up to the camera, but of course quick action is also effective.

Ethics

Remember that wild animals are always engaged in survival, whether they are feeding, resting, or raising their young. So when a photographer interferes with an animal's routine and causes changes in it behavior, energies necessary for its survival, or that of its young, may be drained. These problems may not show up until long after we are gone. So keep in mind these guidelines: Do I need another picture of that subject? Why? Can I take the picture without disturbing either the animal or others? If there are others photographing this animal, can I find another somewhere else? After I have taken my photograph, can I leave everything exactly as I found it?

Equipment

Telephoto lenses are usually but not always appropriate. You can use big lenses (300mm and up), but keep in mind their drawbacks: camera shake, light problems, a long clearing needed between you and the animal. Smaller lenses and intermediate zoom lenses are good, too. In recent years, major camera manufacturers have developed imaged stabilized lenses (IS in the Canon world, VR in the Nikon world) that permit handholding of large lenses at slow shutter speeds, giving a distinct advantage to wildlife photographers. With a smaller lens you have a better chance of getting the animal in the frame. Tele-extenders are fine; make sure you have a good one optically matched to your lens, and remember that your light is reduced by half or more. Motor drives or winders help, too. If you're using a telephoto lens, you'll likely need a tripod unless you have an image-stabilized lens, and even then it's a good idea in low-light situations. Camera equipment should be black-body to reduce reflection; otherwise, find a way to camouflage the equipment. Some photographers use radio-controlled equipment when photographing especially sensitive subjects. Another option is to use motion-sensitive shutter release systems.

Blinds can be valuable. You can buy these from outdoor suppliers who specialize in hunting equipment and some camera supply houses, or you can make your own out of a refrigerator box that you paint with camouflage paint or cover with camouflage cloth. Various wildlife callers are available. For some kinds, you can choose a tape appropriate for the bird or mammal species you want to call, while you wait in a blind. Some photographers also wear camouflage clothing. Make sure your entire body is covered, even your hands (dark gloves will work). To cover your face, you can wear a headnet or even paint your face.

If you're working with flash in total darkness, "sight in" first. That is, do some test shoots under similar distances and background conditions. You can even use a stuffed animal as your test subject. Use varying flash settings and compare the results carefully on a light table.

Waterfowl

Know your subject. Stopping ducks in flight generally takes a shutter speed of 1/1000 or faster. A steady pan can give pleasing results even at 1/125.Use lenses in the 300mm to 400mm range. These are light enough to allow some freedom of movement yet they're powerful enough to pull ducks in close. Bigger lenses require a lot of practice to use. You must support these lenses very carefully. Handholding is quick, but you may get a lot of fuzzy photos. A gunstock helps you brace your handheld photos. Monopods also help. Tripods are the best. In lieu of steadying equipment, use any natural supports you can, such as trees, mounds, limbs and stumps; make your point of rest as far toward the front of the lens as possible.

In winter, the Central Valley offers some excellent waterfowl photography opportunities. The SacramentoValley Wildlife Refuge near Colusa is one of the best. Another is Gray Lodge, near Gridley.

Mammals

For quality mammal photographs, consider these tips: try skylining, or addition of a pure blue background, to add snap and color to an animal photo. There are no brightly colored mammals, though some may be strikingly marked. If you can't shoot against a clear sky, use the maximum aperture on your lens to throw the background out of focus. Try to get a highlight/catch light in your subject's eye. Focus on the eye. The animal should be attentive, either looking at you or something else. A sharp whistle will cause some animals to lift their heads.

Blinds are important for some kinds of mammal photography. Set the blind up a day ahead of time, then come back. Make sure the direction of the prevailing wind does not carry your smell to where you think your subject will appear. Do not let wildlife see you enter the blind; they will associate you with it. In your blind, place a comfortable stool with a back on it. Bring food, drink, insect repellent and weather-appropriate clothing. A car makes an excellent blind. The gasoline smell overwhelms your human smell. Park it for awhile and the animals will come to tolerate it. Turn off the engine because of camera shake problems. Roll your window partway down and use it as a brace for your camera (pad your lens with a cloth to avoid scratching). Several camera manufacturers make special clamps for use with automobile windows.

Small Birds

As with all wildlife, study the species you hope to photograph and learn its habits. For example, the bird will usually approach the colony along the same flight path, namely into the wind. It always settles to the ground in the same way. It extends its feet, slows its descent with its wings, and then before it sits on its nest, it will raise its wings. At that moment, take your photo.

Think like a sports photographer: anticipate, anticipate. Preset and prefocus. Pan. Use fast shutter speeds and large apertures. Autofocus helps. The smaller the bird, the faster the shutter speed needed. Large birds of prey may be photographed at 1/250, and hummingbirds at 1/4000 or 1/8000-and you still won't freeze the wings. (Most photographers use flash for these fast-moving birds.)

The best season to photograph birds is in the spring during nesting season when males acquire their colorful breeding plumage. Work to capture catch lights in the birds' eyes; the birds won't look alive otherwise. Some photographers use a fresnel flash unit to achieve this effect.

Bird feeders will attract your subjects. Stock the feeders with seed, bread or suet and hang it from a tree limb. The challenge is to photograph the bird, but not the feeder. Most birds will alight on a nearby branch and pause for a moment before flying to the feeder. After taking a bit of food, they will usually return to the same perch to eat it. Prefocus your camera on that spot and wait. Don't take photographs through a window; quality deteriorates markedly.

In winter, when leaves are gone, look for nests. Set up a camera mount over a nest using a wooden brace or camera clamp. In spring, take your photos with a remote control shutter release. Many types (both infrared and wired) and brands are available. You'll probably need a flash because of tree leaves shading the nest. Don't get closer than four feet, and tie back rather than cut intervening branches, so you can put them back later. Don't keep parent birds off the nest, as eggs may become overheated, or chilled. If you're using a blind, take several days to move the blind into place so that the bird becomes accustomed to it. You can even make a dummy camera out of a piece of wood painted black. If you want to find a nest in summer, just sit still for a while. Activity may lead you there. If you suspect that a nest is in a brushy fence row, walk on the side of the fence opposite the sun. By looking through the brush toward the sun, the bulk of the nest will cause a noticeable silhouette. Birds that nest in grassy fields often drop down into the high grass about 50 feet from the nest and sneak over. They use the same procedure in leaving. Meadowlark nests are hard to find because they frequently roof the nest over with grasses so that the eggs can't be seen. You can find woodpecker nests by looking for the wood chips that litter the ground beneath the site. Many birds issue an alarm note when they flush off the nest. Some shorebirds slip away from their nests and pretend to be injured in an effort to lure you away from the area. Phoebes, barn and cliff swallows nest in sheer, sandy streamside banks or gravel pits. House wrens, tree swallows and bluebirds use the houses put out for them

Insect and Spider Photography

To shoot fast-moving insects, catch them and put them in a refrigerator for a few minutes to slow them down. Or you can get up very early in the morning. Insects, which are cold-blooded, cannot move very fast and will prove cooperatively slow for an hour or so. They are sometimes dew-covered at this time. Where to find insects? Pond edges are great for dragonflies and may flies. Or take in the great monarch migrations at Monterey or Pismo Beach. Use a lens in the 100mm to 200 mm range, along with some means of close-focusing, such as a macro lens, extension tubes or close-up lenses. To photograph a spider in a still, defensive position, try this trick: cup your hand, making a swatting motion over the spider, and stop six inches above the spider. The spider will rear up in a defensive posture and freeze. Take your photo.

Tame Critters

If you don't want to take the time for photographs of wild animals in the wild, several game parks feature tame mammals in natural looking settings. You pay a lot for the privilege of working with these animals, but you may get the results you want.

Most photographs of large mammals are taken in national parks or other protected areas, where the animals have less fear of humans.

When photographing animals in zoos, you can eliminate the bars by using the largest aperture on your lens (such as f/4.5; your animal will be in focus, but the bars will disappear if your lens is close to the cage bars. When photographing animals that are used to humans, you usually don't need a long lens except for the lens' ability to minimize depth of field. A moderate telephoto (80-200) will do.

Snakes

Unless you're really dedicated to this genre, snake photography is not recommended because it sometimes can involve personal danger. Nearly all snake shots are carefully set up ahead of time, as snakes live in areas that accommodate lots of rocks and holes. To catch non-poisonous snakes, use an L-shaped snake hood made from a weed killing tool. Avoid bites even from non-poisonous snakes, as bacteria in their mouths can cause severe infection. For poisonous snakes, use snake tongs. Early morning in spring or early summer is the best time to photograph snakes, because of good light and cold temperatures. Snakes always look their best just after shedding their old skin, and this is the time to photograph them. To show a snake doing something other than just lying there, have a helper use a snake hook to lift its head. The warmer a snake becomes, the faster it moves. To slow it down, put the snake in its bag in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or so before photographing it. Don't put it in the freezer, as this will kill the animal. Equipment? Try using a 100mm or 200mm macro lens.

Putting Up with Unwanted Insects

Sitting still for hours at a time waiting for a wild animal to show up will inevitably--in spring, summer and early fall--bring the unwanted six-legged variety, too. Saturate your clothes with an effective insect repellent. Wear a brimmed hat, and saturate the brim, too. Vitamin B1 works for most people. Garlic capsules are also effective. And you can put some insect repellent on your lens hood (careful: repellent will destroy some kinds of finishes). In severe conditions, mosquito headnets help. Be aware that strong repellents can damage camera finishes.