Photo Tips for Wildlife Shooting (contd..)

Tip 241 (Enjoy what you are doing, there will be many other days): Once I had gone to the zoo, and got some beautiful shots of a tiger who wandered close to the edge of the enclosure. I showed these photos to another friend, who was trying to get such shots for the last month, but the tiger did not cooperate. He could have shown his frustration at seeing my photos, but instead he was happy for the other photos he got, and did not spoil his composure. There will be more opportunities available.

Tip 242 (Getting the right pose of the animal): This is an incredibly tough subject to write about. You have a certain pose that you would like to see the animal in, but you are not able to get to that point; or, you get many shots, but don't like
the pose of the animal. There is a certain logic in the pose - you would want that part to be highlighted which is most attractive. So, for a cobra snake, it has to be the hood and mouth with tongue out; for birds, it has to be a slightly angular
view since the eyes are on the side; for majestic animals such as lions and tigers, it would be a side pose or angled pose that shows the face of the animal and projects strength.

Tip 243 (Shooting angle depending on the position of the eyes): The previous tip talks about this, and this is an important point. You would want your shots to be such it appears that the eye of the animal is seeming to look at the viewer, while getting a larger cross-section of the face and upper body structure of the animal. However, for some birds (and other similar animals), where the attractiveness of the animal is due to some other part of the body, those should be the focus. Consider the case of a male peacock, where the power of the shot is in the colors on the body, as opposed to getting the eyes.

Tip 244 (Do some pre-visualization): It is said that when you rehearse well, the final act is just like another rehearsal. Similary, when you are going forth to shoot a series of photos of wild-life, run mentally through the list of images and poses that you would like to take. This helps you during the actual shooting, since you are now shooting against a blueprint, and likely to have a better focus on what you want.

Tip 245 (Be passionate defenders of wildlife): Taking photos of wildlife puts you in a rare position of being able to observe wildlife in its natural habitat. You cannot learn to be fully into the understanding mode of how wildlife behaves until you get into the mode of really caring for the conservation of wildlife; as a part of that, when you shoot, you should exhibit responsible behavior. Do not disturb the animals for taking your shot, do not tamper with their lairs / nests, do not move their young around, and so on.