Wildlife Photography_ From Snapshots to Great Shots - Laurie Excell [26]
Although professional photographers work to capture all of the different aspects of wildlife, including portraits, most beginning wildlife photographers tend to start with environmental portraits due to lack of proper equipment (long lenses), lack of photographic skill, and lack of skills in tracking their subject.
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Full-body Portraits
Whereas environmental portraits provide a sense of place, a full-body portrait doesn’t include as much of the surroundings, drawing your total attention to the subject. A tight composition allows you to notice greater details of your subject, such as the shape and size of the flippers on this Harbor seal (Figure 4.7) or the sausage shape of its body and the unique, identifying pattern that adorns it, making it unique from any other seal. I tend to use a fairly shallow depth of field when making full-body portraits to minimize any background distractions.
Figure 4.7 As you move in tighter to a full-body portrait, the environment becomes less prominent. The sense of place is not as strong.
Frame-filling Portraits
Moving in even tighter, cropping out most of the body, and focusing on your subject’s face brings you closer to feeling that eye-to-eye, soul-to-soul connection (Figure 4.8) with your subject. You can make out the texture of the Harbor seal’s fur, the length of its whiskers, the way its mouth turns up at the corners giving it an endearing expression, and the deep, liquid black of its eyes. Being able to move in tighter and see such up-close details brings you closer to your subject (literally and figuratively). There’s something about a bold, frame-filling, in-your-face image that can’t help but draw you in.
Figure 4.8 In a frame-filling portrait, little to no background is included in the frame.
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Note
In-your-face portraits can be made with short lenses by practicing a little patience and visiting locations where the wildlife is habituated to people.
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Gesture
A simple gesture brings your subject to life, making your portraits more dynamic. Gesture can convey curiosity, as in this image of a juvenile Roseate Spoonbill with its head tilted, leg raised, and poised to take that next step (Figure 4.9) as it pauses to look at me photographing it. Being prepared and on the alert while observing wildlife increases the odds of your capturing a fleeting moment.
Figure 4.9 A juvenile Roseate Spoonbill keeps a watchful eye on me as it passes by.
Gesture is attitude; it can exhibit playful and loving behavior (Figure 4.10) or show aggression (Figure 4.11). There can be no question what certain gestures mean. Or, can there? The Mexican ground squirrel in Figure 4.12 isn’t really sticking its tongue out at me; it came to the water to drink and uses its tongue to lap up the water. Knowing animal behavior, I didn’t quit shooting when it lifted its head from the pond. Most mammals will give you some tongue action when they’re drinking water, and you are more likely to capture bathing birds at the same water source.
Figure 4.10 Two coyotes nuzzling each other in a display of affection.
Figure 4.11 A coyote baring its teeth as another coyote approaches. The tail between the legs is a sign of submission.
Figure 4.12 The tongue makes all the difference between a basic portrait and one with gesture.
Capture Behavior
I like to photograph portraits as much as the next person, but to really get a sense of your subject, try to capture behavior shots that tell more about its personality and life. Behavior encompasses basically everything your subject does, from eating to sleeping, courting, mating, raising its young, and so on. The more you know your subject and its behavior, the greater the chances of success at capturing a decisive moment. I had mere seconds when a Horned Puffin landed on a rock ledge briefly with its beak filled with fish for its young before disappearing into a crevice in the rock where it nests (Figure 4.13).
Figure 4.13 Anticipating that the puffin would land on the rock before disappearing into its nest, I was able