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Wildlife photography, it’s no longer taking photographs like a documentary photographer. Now days it is serious business, your photos must have impact, and a strong environmental message. As well it should be consistent with a motion. Going beyond, images that will grab our attention just remember beauty, cuteness, and the motions they evoke, the behavior they show, and most importantly the environmental relationship they portray.

Consider The Light Direction:

Most wildlife photographers are diligent about getting out early and staying late to experience that special light when the sun is low on the horizon. However, they often don’t put nearly as much effort in choosing the light direction, I see many choosing front lighting NOT good think about it. Front lighting is clich

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Slowly I walked up to this small flock of geese. Their colorful feathers glistened in the afternoon sunlight. I was being very careful not to disturb these beautiful creatures of nature.

The four of them walked in unison closer to the wall. They were preparing to take flight if things became too much of a threat from this silver faced bird. I often wonder what I look like to the birds and wildlife I am taking pictures of. They always seem to sit up and take notice, as if to pose just for this photograph opportunity.

I got several pictures and turned to leave them to their daily routine. Then as I turned I thought of something I had told a friend not long ago. “I am just going to have to go up to a flock of geese and make them fly off. Then I will get a close enough picture of geese in flight.” I am always trying to capture these birds as they fly overhead. But they fly so high and so fast, I am rarely happy with the results.

So here I was with the perfect opportunity. If I held my camera just right, and approached them gently I was hoping they would glide into the river in front of us. I returned to my quiet approach. After all I didn’t want to scare the feathers off of them. I walked with my camera in front of me slowly, and just as I had hoped, off they went. One at a time they flew off the wall and into the river. A fellow walker even
stopped so I could get the best photograph possible. It was an exhilarating experience.

When I checked the pictures later I had two excellent shots of the Canadian geese wings as they folded to catch the wind. You can almost count the feathers as they carry those large bodies into the water. Sometimes in nature, you have to set the stage for the photographs you want to take.

Even though I got a good shot, I must say that it could be better. I do admire the work of photographers as they sit for hours sometimes behind a blind (hidden from site) just waiting for the right shot to come along. You have to love nature to want to do that.

But sometimes little tricks like a bird feeder on your patio or in your back yard can attract wildlife closer for your own nature pictures. I certainly prefer sitting in my kitchen waiting for the birds to come to me. Okay so I am a little lazy, but I do love taking pictures of nature and flowers.

I remember the picture I lost of an owl swooping down to capture a newborn duckling one spring. And another that flew off from his perch when he decided I had taken enough pictures of him. It certainly does not pay to get too excited when you are taking pictures of birds in flight.

Sally Stoneking is an enthusiastic photographer and digital art dabbler. Owner of Nature and Flower Pictures where you can share in her enthusiasm for taking pictures and creating art. Visit http://www.nature-and-flower-pictures.com for a full selection of pictures to download. Join Nature Tales for more tips and tricks in nature photographs.

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Take a photograph that is set up perfectly, composition, lighting, scale, its all right. You take the shot and feel pleased with the outcome, but how much personal emotion went into the shot?

This is a question you should ask yourself every time you press the shutter down.
For human emotion is a powerful tool to equip your images with. It avoids images
taken without reason or understanding. It evokes feelings and emotions within the
viewer of the photograph, and it gives the image a much greater level of meaning.

As a nature photographer, any image I take has been the result of an instinctive feel
for the environment being shot. We all know that feeling you get when you reach
the summit of a mountain, or when you step into the warm sea for the first time.
Something within gives you a great satisfaction, a buzz that you cannot keep hold
off. How incredible would it be to find a photograph that could capture that feeling
and record it within an image? An image that unleashes these very emotions when
viewed. This however is no easy task. It requires a photographer that is sensitive to
their surroundings and understating of their subject. The images do not require
being laboured over, for it should be instinctive, driven by the emotion of the taker.
If it feels right, take the shot.

Of course, not everyone will see in an image what you see, and will not feel what
you feel. This is unavoidable, but you do take away some of the static feel that can
suffocate a photograph. Make your photos exciting, make them feel alive, make
them look real, and most of all, equip them with emotions.

John Threlfall is a self-taught photographer with a deep passion for nature
photography. With an upbringing in the countryside, John strives to capture his
feelings and emotions within his images. John has a Masters
Degree in ‘Creative Imaging’. His work can be viewed at http://www.capturednature.com
The images capture the pure simplistic, yet breathtaking beauty that is hidden away
in rural Britain.

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