Five ways to make your wildlife photos better

The best advise for a beginning photographer is always take your camera with you. Some of my best wildlife photos have been taken when I wasn’t expecting to see a critter. Even in our biggest cities there are limitless opportunities to photograph wild animals.

The money you spend on a camera doesn’t always determine the quality of your picture. Even the most basic cameras can yield prize winning photographs. Learn how to use the options available on your camera and play around with it to see what different results you can get.

I usually have my camera set on the automatic and burst settings. That way I can take advantage of an opportunity that may only last seconds. If my subject is cooperative I will have time to play around with focus, lighting and aperture options.

The world of digital photography is a huge blessing for wildlife photographers. Without the high cost of photo processing anyone can take LOTS of pictures.

It’s not always the extreme close up that makes the best picture. Here are four valuable suggestions that will help you capture images that will take your breath away.

The changing of the seasons, tides, and sunrise/sunset are prime examples of situations that offer great photo opportunities. When you're snapping the shutter anticipate action by your subject and try to capture it. A duck taking off from the water, a deer jumping a fence, a fight between two rival bison, these are all examples of times of change or increased action that make a good photo great. Take LOTS of pictures.

Ask yourself what is it about the place you are that is the most interesting? Try to capture it. If you want to show the pristine whiteness of a mountain goat, try to have something dark behind it.

If you can't get a clear shot of your subject frame and focus on it's eye. If the animal is backlit or in the shadows look for a way to silhouette it in front something of contrasting color. If the animals won't hold still swing your camera with them and use a fast shutter speed to keep the subject in focus, but blur the background. There are lots of things you can do to make the most of any opportunity, but sometimes it just won't work. You'll never know if you don't try.

Take LOTS of pictures.

The smaller critters are usually easier to get close to than the bigger ones. Try to fill your frame. Now get even closer and get a picture of just an eye or an ear. Another favorite shows a lizard head just peeking over the top of a sun drenched rock.

One of the beauties of this rule is that you can get shots of smaller animals in urban settings that look like they were taken in the most remote of wilderness areas.

Take LOTS of pictures.

A close up of a majestic bull elk is impressive, but the same bull standing on a ridge with a snow capped mountain in the background might be a better picture, one that evokes emotions and awe. I once got a nice shot of a medium sized mule deer buck just before sunset the ridge he was standing on was in the shadow, but the endless wild bluffs of the lower Henry Mountains were still in the bright sunlight behind him. I cranked the magnification down as far as it would go and captured a photo that accurately depicts the rugged and wide open character of the Henrys. This was a much better shot than I would have had with a close up of the deer in bad light.

Take LOTS of pictures.

Spend time in the outdoors early and late in the day. These times not only offer the best opportunities to see wildlife, but are often refered to as “The golden hours” by professional photographers.

The warmth of the sun as it nears the western horizon can make for some of the best photo opportunities you’ll ever find.

Now that you have lots of pictures, download them to your computer and delete all the ones that are obviously unusable. Save the rest to a file and you’re on your way to building your own wildlife photo library.

I took about 20 frames of this mule deer trio as they milled around in a thick patch of dry sunflowers before they lined up for this award winning shot.