“A Perfect Picture ” Tells A Story”.
To be able to create your Wow picture with it’s own story the following points will give you a guide line to aim for an extraordinary image.
1.Understand Wildlife behaviour
Prepare before you are going on your photographic safari or holiday.
It is of the utmost importance to know the behaviour and habitat of the animals you want to capture on camera. You often need to predict how the specific animal is going to react ; will lions sleep all day after they have filled their tummies with a buffalo kill,
They will not be very energetic and you might as well move on to something else, because all the lions might do is to get up and flop down a few meters from the previous resting place.
- Patience is the name of the Game
Wildlife photographers have to be extremely patient, one’s best shot usually happens after a long wait oh hours on end, but you have to be ready and be prepared the entire waiting period, as the action might only last for seconds, Wild dogs playing or cheetahs sprinting to catch the impala. Don’t lose concentration the moment you do, the action has passed already
- Angle, Viewpoint – Think outside the box
Try to think of a different angle and view point, go down to the level of the animal to see things from their perspective, always try to be at the animal’s eye – level, any higher will
Have a less pleasing effect.
- … think about your safety
Be careful and put safety first, for instance do not drive to close to elephants.
Remember, wild animals are indeed wild — so don’t get too close.
- Simple……………. always works
Aim for simple backgrounds and surrounding areas, make sure the scene is not cluttered with distractions, your goal is to accentuate your subject and make it stand out.Wildlife Photographers emphasize the importance of understanding space: A fine art photograph is comprised of a tremendous amount of space and chaos, and it is our job to organize this into a fine art image. As photographers, we need to discover a delicate arrangement of space so contrast of subject comes alive. Contrast of space is critical because your subject needs to stand out. Your subject needs to be the dominant element.
- An extraordinary photo needs to attract all the attention
- Dramatic lighting. Make dramatic lighting work in your favour, such as to capture animal silhouettes during the sunset. The 10 to 20 minutes after sunset can produce a fantastic coloured sky. Select your exposure reading based off the brightest part of the picture. Focus on the animal and take the picture.”
- Capture something that hasn’t been seen before.This may mean concentrating on a specific animal and photographing it in more depth than anyone else, or finding a new way of photographing commonly seen creatures.”
- Introduce emotion. – Mother’s love – Zebra and Foal , Elephant and calf and others.
- Be intentional.Great images are seen in advance.
- Spot patterns to capture the highlights of your subject’s behaviour. Timing can make a photo exceptional, if you don’t wait for the right moment you might miss the opportunity of a winning image.: Waiting for an animal to look up, to catch light in its eye, to turn its head, to flare its wings — that’s the moment you have to wait for.
- Timing can actually be planned by observing your subjects for a while or learning about the specific animals beforehand, such as birds, reptiles, predators or game.
Respect wildlife, you are the…… intruder
With the aid of our photography, we can educate people on wild animal’s behaviour and their respective habitat, this way wildlife is more understood and hopefully protected.
Do not invade their space, or bubble, don’t drive to close to elephants, predators and shy or anxious animals.
