Wildlife Photography Tips

In our introductory story I provided some easy photographic tips to prepare you for your first safari trip to Africa and to help you get that bucket list shot of a lion or leopard. Here are some more tips to guide you further along your photographic journey...

When it comes to wildlife photography there are three factors that come into play – each deserve their own story, so I am going to keep them impactful and short.

The three key considerations that I am referring to are:

Behaviour | Environment | Portrait

In some circumstances some of these amalgamate into one but understanding this is an important step to improving your photographic journey.

Behaviour

The ability to anticipate behaviour is crucial, as we mentioned in the previous story. To give you a base line of what to look for, it is a good idea to analyse different type of images that wildlife photographers have taken. Each animal is different but let’s look at a couple of examples you might hope to capture.

Lions/Leopard:

Eye contact or movement – looking directly at you or looking up provide two great photographic opportunities.

Yawning – this is a great sign of waking up and a good sequence of shots to capture.

Flehmen grimace – when an animal smells the scent of another animal, they often have a grin like expression as they analyse the scent.

Stretching – another indicator of waking up and possible movement and also a great wide shot to get. If they do become active the next point often follows…

Pride members interacting i.e., mother and cub or siblings – often when they wake up (as per above, it is important to know when they are waking up so you can anticipate behaviour) and have not been close to one another, you will see members walking and rubbing heads as a form of tactile communication.

Aggressive behaviour – often seen around a kill or between individuals.

Elephants:

Dust bathing – getting the dust spray, or the cloud of dust after the spray, always makes for a great photo. Dry conditions, especially in winter, are often great for this.

Drinking – unique use of the trunk and dribbling water from the mouth can make for a great shot.

Trunks - elephants always use their trunks for something so keep that in mind and get creative.

Bulls fighting – this can make for great close-up portraits or wide shots.

Ear flapping – elephants often flap their ears as means of cooling the blood vessels down in the ears (not necessarily a sign of aggression) and the cooled down blood circulates through the body to drop their core temperature. The moment you have both ears wide open always gives nice perspective.

Rhino:

Big bulls – they often walk dragging their lips on the ground so keep an eye out for that.

Baby rhinos – they are a great subject as they can be very playful running and bucking like broncos.

Oxpeckers – these colourful birds are often found on rhino, so use the opportunity to capture that symbiotic relationship.

Giraffe:

Drinking - when giraffes drink, you will see that as they come up, they usually flick their heads creating a spray of water.

Chewing - giraffes are often seen chewing on bones - a unique adaptation called osteophagia, which can make for a unique photograph.

Necking – this is a unique behaviour and makes for great portraits or wide angles.

Environment

This is a topic that we often forget about when taking photos of wildlife, as we get caught up with taking a photo of the animal, forgetting to provide context about what goes on around it. Photography in essence is all about storytelling and being able to capture the environment around the animal helps to tell the story.

Here are a few examples:

Lions hunting – instead of getting too close, try and showcase the lion and the area they are hunting in, and if the scenario allows then get the prey species in as well.

Leopard in a tree – great to have the close-up but try and show the whole scene. Go a bit wider to show the leopard in the tree and a bit of the environment.

Elephants drinking – when a herd is drinking, they tend to stand next to each. Try and capture that along with the drinking behaviour - if they drink long enough, at some point a few of them will be in sync.

Landscapes - when you have beautiful landscapes like that at Marataba for example, try and incorporate the mountains into your photos - there’s ample opportunity for this.

Night - don’t be afraid to experiment at night on your way home. The stars are incredible in Africa and there are so many opportunities to get great photos of your night drive back to camp.

Portraits

Out of the three these are probably the “easiest” to get if you can get close enough. Many photographers enjoy portraits of wildlife, so I am going to be the typical stereotype and say I really love portraits. With portraits of wildlife, you can really evoke emotion from your subject. Without anthropomorphizing it too much let me tell you what I look for in portraits.

Eye contact - this is the most important for me and evokes that emotional context.

Detail - you want to make sure your photo is sharp enough to show the detail of the animal (We’ll cover camera settings in our next story).

Uniqueness – are there certain scars or markings that make this portrait unique.

Colour or Monochrome – this is up to you but don’t be afraid to experiment with both.

Composition - be careful not to crop too much but find that happy space where the portrait makes sense, whether that’s half of the face or full for example.

Elephants and rhinos are great for creating incredible portraits. Capture the detail in the elephant’s skin, tusks and trunks and their red/orange eyes with the long lashes are striking. Get in tight with rhino portraits to bring out that detail around the horns and scars on the face – monochromes often work nicely here.

I hope these safari and wildlife photography tips give you a. better idea of what to look for the next time you are out in the field. Please share your images with us as we love to know what you have seen whilst on safari with us.

Happy shooting!

Our Creative Labs at Lion Sands River Lodge and Narina Lodge, as well as Marataba Safari Lodge are for professional and novice photographers alike. Using digital software, and with the assistance of our Creative Lab Consultants, you can transform your images into canvas artworks to create the ultimate keepsake.