Top Five Tips for Wildlife Photography
Wildlife Photography is a fantastic way of getting outside and experiencing nature in a proactive and fun way. My photography journey hasn’t been very conventional. I studied animal biology at university and I’ve had a fascination for all things wild since I was a child but it wasn’t until I was in my mid twenties when I discovered photography. I have spent as much time as I possibly can outside in nature and most of what I’ve learnt has been through YouTube tutorials, word of mouth and trial and error. So I thought what might be useful for other people is to skip some of the error and offer my five top tips for wildlife photography. There isn’t much method to this list, but all these tips are things which I wish I had been told earlier so I hope it’s useful for any readers. Number five is my all time top tip which I tell everyone on my courses…
1. Learn the behaviour of your subject
Every species behaves differently. Some are nervous and will bolt at the first sign of a threat, some are curious and will approach if they aren’t startled and some are downright aggressive. Knowing how each of your species subjects will respond and act can help you decide how you will approach every photoshoot. If you want to go into depth about each species then there are ethograms available online which can tell you almost any animal’s behaviour characteristics. My suggestion however is to focus on one specific species and learn how to approach it (both physically and mentally). I’ll give you a couple of examples:
Mountain hares are masters of disguise. They are perfectly adapted for life in the mountains with thick fur and slightly more body fat. They do have long ears like their brown cousins but because these can be a big method of heat loss, they aren’t as long. All of this means that this particular species is slower, has worse hearing and relies more heavily on camouflage to avoid predation. With this in mind, photographers can, with relative ease get quite close to mountain hares. They will bolt if approached too fast but, in general, if a photographer crawls up on their belly, the hare will most likely press itself into the ground rather than waste energy running away.
Roe deer are common throughout the UK and surprisingly easy to photograph - if you know how they react to movement. They are prey species and so are naturally very alert to any sign of a threat. However, they are fast and agile and know it! So they can afford to be a little curious. From my experience, if approached low to the ground and very slowly, roe deer will sometimes walk towards a threat in order to establish what it is! The secret is to not panic if you’re spotted. When the deer see you, keep low and don’t move anymore. I had a magical experience a few years ago where I was following a herd of roe deer who spotted me and walked right up to me, about 5m away before realising what I was and bolting. A totally awesome experience!
2. Stay downwind
If you’re trying to photograph a mammal this is an essential skill to think about. Foxes, badgers, deer, hares or anything like that have exceptional senses of hearing and smell. Approaching from downwind will carry your sound and smell away from the animal, making it much harder to be heard or smelt. Not impossible mind you, but certainly a lot harder. By staying low and slow, you vastly increase your chances of success. If you’re not sure of the wind direction, you can sprinkle some grass in the air and see how it falls.
This leads nicely into a bonus tip… which is that windy days are sometimes the best days. On a windy day there is a lot of background noise. There’s wind in the trees or rustling grass or leaves along the ground. All of this makes it very difficult for your subject to discern your noise amongst the surrounding cacophony. The same rules apply though, try and keep the wind to your face even on gusty days.
I have a great example of this being utilised when I was trying to photograph fallow deer in the new forest. The forest is thick with bracken and long grass so, when I saw the herd far off in the distance I actually circled around them by about a kilometre so that the wind was onto my face. Then, I got on the ground and kept super low as I approached. I was able to get within meters of the animals without them seeing or, more importantly, hearing me.
3. Plan your route
This is kind of related to the previous point but bares a little more explanation. We might be out on our walk, in search of wildlife when off in the distance we see something of interest. Let’s pretend it’s a fox stalking a rabbit. Now, the temptation here might be to head straight for the animal and hope for the best. In this instance you might be lucky and be able to get nice and close before the animal sees you or, more likely, it’ll spot you a mile off and make for the hills.
Instead I suggest planning your route. If you see your subject in the distance, look around. What can you use to hide yourself behind on your approach? Trees are a good option but often require quick dashes in between. Better yet is a hedgerow or a brow of a hill. The best option is a building or a wall which will totally obscure you. If your subject is far off, be sure to plan the route closer before starting to move. I don’t mean just head for cover. I mean look all the way to the end of the route and work out where you’re going to go. This will give you the best chance of success.
A great example of this is when I was photographing otters on Mull. We’d been following this one male dog otter from the shore waiting for it to make a catch and head in to feed. Finally, after quite some time, it turned towards us. Here we could have rushed forward and spooked the otter which would have distressed the animal and also quashed any chance of a successful shoot. Instead I saw where the animal was headed and chose a route behind the rocks to get a lot closer without it seeing me. In this way I was able to get into a great position without disturbing the animal or missing the shot. It was a pain in the neck to get there and took a lot longer but was ultimately worth it.
4. Reset your settings after each encounter
This is the bit where it might get a little technical so bear with me please. If you follow any of my social media (@willhall.wildlife) then you will know that settings are super important in wildlife photography. What makes it so different to studio or portrait photography is that you’re nearly always limited by light. Most of the time it’s the shutterspeed which is the most important factor in your shoot. Your shutterspeed will differ depending on what you’re photographing. For example, if you’re photographing a kingfisher then you will need at least 1/2000 (more like 1/4000) to get a good shot. Whereas if you’re working with something slow moving like a red deer then a shutterspeed of only 1/500 or similar would be fine.
Now I’ll tell you a story. I’d been out photographing (or tying to photograph) foxes. I’d had mixed results despite my best efforts and I’d used the settings of f6.3, 1/400 (I was on a tripod) and AUTO ISO. As I was walking back, all of a sudden a barn owl flew right out in front of me. She was hunting a long a hedgerow and wasn’t that fussed about me being there so I dropped to the ground and started shooting. These were great shots and the light was amazing - I was super excited to take a look at them. Only when I did, I was gutted to see that everything was blurry. I hadn’t reset my settings!
So you see, if you have a standard setup when you shoot, try and always put your camera back to those setting when you finish. For me, my standard settings for wildlife are 1/640, f6.3 and AUTO ISO. Never again will I miss that shot of the barn owl!
5. Shoot at eye level of your subject
This is by far and away the most important thing I teach when I discuss wildlife photography. If you want to create an impactful image you have to get low. This means lying down, using a tripod or sitting against a tree. Do anything you can to get your lens to the level of your subject. Having a shot at eye level not only creates a sense of connection with your subject, but it also moves the background further away; creating more separation and a blurrier background.
You can tell a really interesting story by playing around with your subjects position. For example, shooting from below makes a subject seem big and imposing - even if it isn’t. Imagine a toad on a mushroom… how epic would that look from below?! Similarly, shooting from above a subject makes it look small and pathetic. Imagine photographing your dog from a standing position, for example. You see therefor that getting low, instantly creates a more dynamic and exciting image for the viewer!
Final story time then to put this in perspective. There is a gorgeous lake near Winchester called Anton Lakes which is a haven for loads of wildlife. My favourite thing to photograph there are the tufted ducks which migrate there during the winter. But how, I hear you ask, do you get your camera low when your subject is on the water?! Well it’s simple: a tripod. I sink the tripod down so that the feet are standing on the bottom of the lake and then I extend the gimble head so that it sits just above the water level. From here I can lock in my camera and shoot from water level which creates a beautiful out of focus background and foreground as well as being at the ducks’ eye level!
So there you have it. Those are genuinely my top 5 tips of any wildlife photographer. I hope they were useful and that you’ve learnt something. If you have, please do consider subscribing to my YouTube Will Hall Wildlife or my Instagram @willhall.wildlife
Thanks again and good luck photographing!