I was lying on the ground, my body tucked beneath our safari vehicle, working with a wide-angle lens and an infrared camera. Craig moved slowly toward me, unhurried, his massive frame and tusks pushing through the foliage with an almost prehistoric weight.
As nature photographers, it’s easy to fall into repetitive behaviors. You might tell yourself that you can only take nature photos somewhere exotic, rather than your backyard. You might visit the same favorite spots repeatedly. Or fall in love with one subject and focus on it to the exclusion of other natural subjects.
I’ve spent countless days photographing African wildlife. While I usually have a general focus in mind, I often end up capturing whatever crosses my path. To break free from these familiar patterns, I decided to shake things up and challenge myself: What if I dedicated an entire trip to documenting just one cheetah family?
What are the most important camera settings for wildlife photography? Well, of course, it depends on who you ask. But if it’s wildlife photographer Evan Watts you’re asking, he’d say there are three key settings every photographer should know.
When the world’s most famous grizzly bear, known as 399, was struck and killed by a car in Wyoming last month, one wildlife photographer, Thomas D Mangelsen, took it particularly hard. Mangelsen had chronicled 399 in photos and video from his first magical sighting of her in 2006 until recently.
Bears have an undeniable ability to captivate us. Whether it’s the powerful photography of a bear in a National Geographic spread or the brief thrill of spotting one driving in the mountains, these creatures command our attention with a unique, primal allure.
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest recently announced the winning images for 2024 with a striking shot of tadpoles gliding through a pond taking the top prize. The overall winning photo, shown above, was captured by Canadian marine conservation journalist Shane Gross.
Wildlife photography can be a deeply rewarding pursuit, but capturing images that go beyond mere documentation requires creativity and intentionality.
There’s no getting around it: wildlife photography is a demanding genre for photography equipment. Whether photographing lions in the Serengeti, penguins in Antarctica, or even just squirrels in the backyard, capturing wildlife typically puts photographers in situations with rough shooting conditions.
