Choose the best wildlife photography
subjects to improve your pictures

What is wildlife photography? What is your wildlife photography subjects when taking wildlife pictures. Wildlife of course. Does this include captive animals? In my opinion, yes it does.

Captive animals give you the opportunity to practise your photography, get shots difficult to get in the wild (like close-up portraits), and see animals virtually impossible to see in the wild. Some species are so close to extinction or so nocturnal and shy, that even the people looking for them 24/7 only get pictures of them with camera traps.

A Leopard picture taken in a zoo can still be considered as wildlife photography, and be used to promote awareness for this species and its plight. Unfortunately, a picture of your Rottweiler at home, even though it looks pretty wild, can not be considered as wildlife photography :-)

Southern Right Whale photographed from a boat - Hermanus, South Africa
Copyright © Dries Cronje

However! And a big however. Taking wildlife pictures is an awesome pastime, because you get to spend time in nature. You discover in awe the beauty that God has created and left for us to manage. You want to take pictures to show others what you see. You get great satisfaction out of showing others your pictures for this exact reason. Therefore, wildlife photography is all about taking pictures of wild animals and birds in their natural habitats. This should be your focus!

For your Action Plan, consider what you will target as your subject. Mammals, reptiles, birds, sub-aqua life forms or small creatures. These are your options. Make sure your Action Plan allows you the opportunity to take pictures of your targeted subject often enough. This will have an impact on the destinations you target. We discuss destinations in the next paragraph.

Sub-aqua photography does not necessarily need to take place under water; rather the subject must be one that lives underwater. For example, whale pictures or the pictures taken by Chris Fallows of Great White Sharks jumping out of the water could be considered sub-aqua wildlife photography.

If you are into small creatures, I suggest you look at my Macro Photography section.

I believe a wildlife photographer should have good knowledge of its subjects. If you know your subject's behaviour well enough it will be possible to predict to some extent what it will do next. It might also enable you to locate a certain animal at a certain time, since you know what it will be doing.

Let's say you are looking for a Cheetah. You know that during the late afternoon it wakes up from its nap and looks for a high vantage point to see where it can locate a snack (like an Impala). Knowing this, you check all the Ant hills in the area, and as luck has it you get some wonderful Cheetah shots!

If you are planning an Africa safari I recommend that you read (or just keep handy) a book on the behaviour of African animals. Richard D Estes has written two excellent books on this subject, The Safari Companion and The Behavior Guide to African Mammals.

Go think long and hard about the subjects you want to target in your Action Plan. Thinking about this will excite you and bring naturally you to the next point to be covered in your Action Plan, Wildlife Photography Destinations.