I believe that the most important question we should ask ourselves as wildlife photographers is, ‘Why do we take the photographs that we take?’ Just think about it for a minute. Then have a look at the photographs you’ve taken over the last year and ask yourself, ‘Why did I take them?’
If you take photographs just for personal memories then read no further. If you are unsure of the answer, then read on.
Let’s start with a relatively straight-forward image: A bird in a tree. Most us have images like this but did we ask ourselves, thoughtfully, why we wanted to take the photograph before we depressed the shutter button? I suspect, for most people, the answer is ‘No’. I include images used for personal tick-lists (photographing birds just to be able to say that you photographed as many as possible – bit like collecting car number plates). The point here is that there is a difference between being able to say that you got lots of images of different species… and having a few images of, say one species, for which you had a well thought out, planned purpose in mind beyond just being able to say that you got the pic.
If you fall into the first category then ask yourself: Is getting the shot more important than getting it technically and compositionally correct? Is it the other way round? Or is it a combination of both? Which leads me to the next bit:
Do you have a plan when you go out to photograph wildlife? Why not? How important is it (to you) to get everything technically right before you lift the camera to your eye? Here’s an analogy:
Imagine, if you will, that you are going to learn to fish, say in fresh water – rivers, lakes etc. Can you just pick up a rod, put the bait in the water and pretty much guarantee that you’ll catch fish – consistently? I think not, because it’s pretty obvious that you need to know a little about the technical side of fishing before you even think about putting bait in the water: What bait do I use? What size hook? What line? What type of rod? What float? What weights? How do I cast? How do I use a fixed spool reel, say? Do I use a rod rest? Do I know how to float fish? Do I know how to ledger? How do I know I’ve hooked a fish? Do I know how to put all this together in order to stand a fair chance of catching fish – consistently?
Once you know these things and you’ve practiced – and embraced your failures as much as your successes – then you’ll enjoy your fishing much more in the sure and certain knowledge that you got the preparation right.
So the obvious question is: Do you take the same approach with your photography? Do you know your camera gear inside out? Or, at the very least, are you consistently learning that your camera settings have a direct impact on your photography? Do you want to create consistently good images? Or are you a list-ticker?
I would suggest that if you get the prep right then you’ll get the images right. Or at least you’ll stand a better chance than with no prep.
Then, and only then, can you ask yourself, ‘Why do I want to take this particular shot?’ – bit like saying, now I can concentrate on the fishing and ask myself ‘What fish do I want to catch today?’ and present your bait correctly to achieve maximum pleasure for yourself. You’ve done the prep so just relax and enjoy. Your fishing will be all the better for it and you’ll be able to work on planning to catch better fish. Bit like photographing wildlife, eh?
Happy snappin’ folks
Meter The Light 