Timing is everything.  The speed required for great wildlife photography isn’t always about freezing high speed action but can be as simple as being in position to capture a critical moment in time  – often an opportunity that will never repeat itself.  For this shot I positioned the land rover in a location that would give me the right angle as this lion marched toward a water hole at sunrise.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t – this time it did.  The opportunity here was about capturing the lion with good “walking posture” whilst it passed through my frame.  I focused on the lion, locked the focus off, reframed and shot at the desired moment.

Patience mixed with speed.  I visited this location three times over a five year period before I got this shot.  I knew what I was after but all of the factors have to align to get the shot.  First up I am relying on nature so there has to be salmon moving up the waterfall, which can be hard to predict each season and even each day.  Secondly there has to be a hungry bear in the right spot and fishing.  (I have been there with bears but no salmon, and also with salmon but no bears)!  On this day, this particular bear was a great fisherman and spent several periods in this spot catching a good number of fish.  However this was the only shot I got where his head was tilted towards me so that I could see his eye and catch the light in it.  The fish was in the perfect position just before it met it’s destiny.  Here it was a matter of focusing on the bear and being ready to fire as soon as the fish appeared in frame.  I captured a lot of images of fish in the air as well as in the bear’s mouth, but this is the “perfect” composition I was after, and is my favourite from the series.  Patience and quick reactions paid off.

Prediction.  Be ready, and know your subject.  For this shot I was trying to predict where the humpback whale might next surface – and of course hope for a breach…  Whales can leave a footprint – a series of glassy spots on the surface from the pressure of their tail strokes that allows you to track their underwater movement.  Keeping this in mind I always keep camera raised, pre-focused on my predicted location, both eyes open – one near the viewfinder and the other scanning the area.  When it happens, the sight is truly incredible and fast reactions are a must.

Tracking whilst watching the light.  The cheetah is the fastest creature on land.  Therefor the need for very quick focusing is paramount but not the only key.  Whilst tracking the object try to think about the animals’ movements and your timing both for good body position and background.  Here the lead cheetah is bounding forward whilst they run through the backlit dust and gold foliage giving not only a high impact image of speed but also beautiful light and composition.

Think about your technique.  There are some subjects that move so fast that they become virtually impossible to track – particularly if using a long lens.  This pied kingfisher if one such bird.  No matter how hard I try or how quick I react I cannot keep this bird in frame when it drops from its hover into a full speed vertical dive.  The technique I used here is to study the kingfisher’s position whilst hovering then prefocus on the water below.  When the dive commences, I lock my concentration to the viewfinder, focus on the splash and fire as the kingfisher resurfaces and leaves the water.  This gives a great position with lots of water droplets and makes it possible to get the shot…

Keep your cool. Stay focused – within reason.  Use your common sense and judgement but stay cool, calm and focused on your subject.  Safety is number one of course for both the wildlife and yourself.  If you apply this rule whenever photographing wildlife your hit rate of succesful images will rise dramatically.

Hurry up and wait.  Be patient and wait for your opportunities to arise.  Wildlife photography is not for those wanting instant gratification.  Putting in the time is the only way to get consistent results.  Occassionally you can get lucky and everything will happen quickly but generally the longer you spend with a subject the more likely you are to get a great opportunity.  For this image I was watching these bears for several hours before they decided to fight over a salmon that one had caught.  The action was over in around two seconds so relaxing my concentration would certainly have meant missing the peak of the action, complete with swinging claws and teeth bared.

Predicting scenarios.  This was an image opportunity that unfolded through a unique set of events.  A group of wild dogs had killed an impala and gone to fetch their pups.  This leapord grabbed the kill and hauled it up a tree clear of the dogs’ reach.  With the impala wedged on a branch the leopard climbed higher in the tree to look for a safer spot to keep it’s treasure safe.  We knew that it would come back down and leap across the gap towards us – which it did (that’s another shot) – it then picked up the carcass, dragged it down the first branch before leaping across the gap with the impala clutched in its teeth!  The impala is easily as heavy as the leopard so it was an incredible feat.  Predicting what was going to happen was key to being able to get in the right position and to be ready for what was an extremely unique sight to witness, and one that was over in a split second!

Keep your finger on the trigger – and don’t scratch your nose…  Photographing great white sharks breaching off the coast of South Africa would have to be one of the most intense experiences I have ever had!  I was lying flat on the rear deck of a research vessel at water level focused on a “dummy seal” that was towed behind the boat.  This is done for a short period of time each day to study the unique behaviour of the sharks in this area.  I propped myself securely on my elbows, eye locked to the eyepiece focussed on the decoy, often wedged there for up to 45 minutes each day with no action.  Yet it is absolutely essential to be at 100% concentration the whole time.  There is no warning of an attack – and often no attack at all – but if the shark does hit then it is all over in a fraction of a second.  You can guarantee if you drop your guard or so much as scratch your nose you will have no chance of getting the shot.  I remained locked in place despite the discomfit – my shoulders and arms were screaming, my elbows bruised and throbbing, my eyes running and I was fighting off seasickness as I lay with my head between the boat engines and focused intently on the prize.  And yes it paid off.

Wait for the action and the right composition.  Watch and predict what is going to happen and where.  This was a great opportunity far North of Svalbard on the polar ice.  I photographed the bear making its way across the ice but the real opportunity was when it would leap across this gap, complete with reflections.   I could see this was going to happen so made sure I was ready.  I try to predict the peak of the action rather than take a “spray and pray” approach.  Don’t get me wrong, I do use the motor drive but I find that accurate prediction of the precise moment will most often give the best results.  This is a technique learned in my early film days when the number of shots you fired depended on two thumb strokes to advance the film and every shot cost you a couple of dollars so getting it right was so much more important than in the modern digital era.

So get out there, think, take your time and work quickly!  The harder you work the luckier you get.

All images copyright Chris McLennan

Which is why the African Photo Tours he does each year have become such a highlight in his calendar. They are a wonderful opportunity to spend a bunch of time with like-minded individuals, all passionate to learn more about photography and improve their skills, all while enjoying arguably one of the world’s greatest photographic highlights – seeing and photographing wild animals in their natural environment.

And no animal is a better example of “wild” than the mighty lion or Panthero Leo. Once the most widespread mammal in existence (after human beings), lions have captured our imagination throughout the ages. From the cowardly lion in the Wizard of Oz through to cool and quirky “Alex” in Madagascar, Thundercat’s “Lion-O” and Disney’s Lambert the Sheepish Lion. There’s even a whole generation of kids who grew up with the Lion King as their vision of the African plains – mine included.

The worlds’ outrage at the death of Cecil to an American hunter – which was headlined around the globe – shows just how highly people value the lion’s right to its position as supreme predator in the great “Circle of Life”. Yet as a Vulnerable Species (International Union for Conservation of Nature) their numbers have dramatically declined with lions now found only in Eastern and Southern Africa, with a small subspecies surviving in and around the Gir Forest in India (500+ animals). We have no idea how much longer they will genuinely roam free in the wild, now mostly restricted to nature parks and wilderness reserves due to habitat loss and conflict with humans.

Yet from Richard the Lionheart to the lions of Trafalgar Square, from gladiator arenas to circus lions, these mighty predators have represented the wildest of beasts in human culture for as long as they have existed. (And I’m not just saying that because my star sign is Leo)… Which is why the opportunity to photograph them remains top of the wish list for so many nature and wildlife photographers (let alone the rest of us hobbyists, like me)! And why, once presented with that opportunity, many ask what they can do to ensure they get the best wildlife photographs they can. So for those of us lucky enough to have this opportunity, I want to share a few of Chris’s most common pointers below:

Prepare. Before heading off on any wildlife shoot make sure you have some idea of what you expect to see and photograph, and how best to react when you do come face to face with your subject. Plan to photograph the animals in a way that is safe for you, safe for them, and safe for the environment. To do this you will need to do some research beforehand about the area you are visiting and the animals you are hoping to see, and what their natural habits are. Or easier still, hire a decent guide!

Equipment. There are so many professional and non-professional photographers out there capturing amazing imagery on so many different cameras, don’t get fooled into the “I need this camera or that lens to photograph wildlife”. Obviously certain items can make your shoot easier, but by simply using the best equipment you have access to and by learning it well, you can achieve great things. In fact, knowing your gear well is far more important than which camera or lens you use! When shooting wildlife you often won’t have time to be fiddling with camera settings, so know your gear well enough that you can respond instantly. Don’t take time away from the creative process because you don’t know how to change your exposure settings. You are far more likely to get a great shot looking through your camera than you will by constantly looking at the back of it.

Content. When shooting wildlife of any species, maintain concentration and try not to get lost in the moment (sounds simple but is often pretty hard)! Especially when photographing one of the “Big Five” such as the lion… So don’t put your camera on motor drive and shoot everything that moves simply because it is a lion. Spend time to compose and structure your images like you would normally. Better to have one great shot than one hundred average ones.

Rules. Remember the rules of photography within the context of what you are shooting. The best wildlife images still adhere to good techniques with regard to composition, lighting, focal point, framing, leading lines etc. And then go one step further and add in some creativity. Can you move so that your subject is backlit? Are their groups of animals or patterns in a single animal’s fur that will make a more graphical image? Will a shower shutter speed add dynamic movement to your shot? Are their leading lines or framing elements you can use to compose your image better? Are their items you should be including, or excluding, to tell the story more completely?

Your subject. And lastly, keep your eyes glued on your subject and watch for the best moment to take your shot. The flick of an ear or a tail, a glance back over a shoulder, an aggressive movement or a tranquil stretch, these are all things that can make a standard image that much more appealing. We can’t pose our wildlife, but we can watch and wait and be patient…

Maybe one day I’ll get to try all these technique out myself (on more than just the family dog), but for now I simply enjoy sharing some of Chris’s images of this incredible species with you.

All images copyright Chris McLennan

Technically I had already been within the Arctic Circle a number of times during previous shoots in Alaska.  But this time we were heading north by boat – the M/S Stockholm polar expedition vessel to be exact – and we were going to get a lot closer to the North Pole than I had ever been before.  I was leading a photographic group for Journeys Unforgettable, a tour company based in the US that runs photography trips all around the world.  Together with expedition leader Rinie Van Meurs, we would be taking a group of guests in search of the elusive polar bear that inhabits the Arctic Circle.

Our journey started in Longyearbyen, the largest settlement on the island of Spitsbergen in the Svalbard Archipelago.  Svalbard is a Norwegian territory that lies halfway between continental Norway and the North Pole.  At 78 degrees N. latitude, we were already further north than I had ever been before!  Once we had all made our introductions it was time to board the M/S Stockholm and commence our northward journey.  Built in 1953 for the Swedish National Maritime Administration, the M/S Stockholm has since been refitted and now has a productive career as a very comfortable polar passenger ship.  With room for only 12 guests on board, it was an intimate and friendly group.

The first day and a half saw us sailing the coast of Spitsbergen past incredible glacial scenery and low hanging fog before finally waving goodbye to shore and heading out to sea.  We would be following the edge of the pack ice northwards, and none of us knew quite what to expect.  But the skies were clear, the seas were calm and the mood was one of eager anticipation…  The one thing we were all sure of was that this was going to be a “once in a lifetime” adventure for everyone on board.

Breaking your way through immense sheets of solid, frozen ice is an experience like no other.  The ship cruises at a constant speed as it slowly rides up onto the ice before coming down to break through and continue forward.  The crack and grate of the ice on the hull of the boat echoes and vibrates in a way that contrasts with what you would normally hope to hear while afloat!  However while the noise and the movement are somewhat disturbing on the first day, we all very quickly got used to it and the sound became a familiar companion during the trip, in fact the silence was almost eerie whenever the creaking ice was absent.  Watching the ice slide past was entirely mesmerising and it was easy to stand at the ship’s rails transfixed as we slowly covered the miles north.

Expedition leader Rinie however kept his eyes fixed firmly on the horizon, using binoculars to search for and spot distant polar bears.  His ability to spot them from far away was simply incredible.  Often he would point them out to us and we still couldn’t see them until we were much closer.  His record for spotting a bear at distance was 6.8 nautical miles (nearly 13 kms) which we worked out using GPS tags when we eventually reached the bear.  On spotting any wildlife or features of interest, we would approach slowly either in the M/S Stockholm itself or by the inflatable rib tender boat, often going “ashore” (or onto the pack ice) when conditions were suitable.  Gulls would hover and chase the tender boat, diving in whenever we broke through the ice to catch the arctic cod that live beneath the frozen surface.

The main focus of our trip – polar bears, were only ever viewed from on board the M/S Stockholm, where we would move in slowly from upwind if possible.  If the bears could smell us they would approach the ship themselves to investigate – we didn’t follow the bears and moved on when they did, leaving them to the constant and daily necessity of wandering the edge of the pack ice hunting for their next meal.  Although bear attacks are rare, safety precautions are stringent and Rinie carried flares and a gun anytime we left the expedition vessel.

In total we saw and photographed 23 individual bears, most out on the edge of the pack ice though we also saw mother and cubs closer in on land.  Polar bears, unlike their brown bear cousins, are active year-round though they will often fast through the summer months when restricted to land by the melting ice shelf.  An adult male bear can weigh up to 700kgs and measure up to 3 metres in length making them the largest living species of land predator, slightly larger than the Grizzly bears I have previously photographed in Alaska.  Observing and photographing them from our water based home in such an incredible and mesmerising environment was definitely one of the highlights of my photography career to date, a sentiment readily shared by my guests on board the cruise.  And if sharing images of these amazing creatures helps protect their environment for the future then it’s a job well done.

Alongside the polar bears we also saw massive walrus with their curved tusks and bristly moustaches, harbour seals, bearded seals, blue whales and any number of migrant sea bird species that spend their summers in the arctic.  For those of us briefly visiting the region it was all we could have hoped for and more…

Click to watch a video slide show of images and time lapse from Chris’s Arctic Adventure:

All images copyright Chris McLennan

It was while on this trip that Chris first introduced us to Car-L and the amazing lion pics he was able to capture with this small remote control vehicle.

What we haven’t shared with you yet are the further testimonial videos Chris also captured while on this trip for Nikon and HP. You can view the first one online now, a three minute window into Chris’s experience in Africa photographing wildlife – including the gear he uses, his specialist speedlight set up and a showcase of some of the great still photos he came home with.

Grab a cuppa, sit back and enjoy.  :-)

I was recently in touch with one of the guests from Chris’s (September) Wildlight Safari through Botswana and felt I just had to share his imagery and comments here. His shots are amazing!! Take a peek as its the best way to see just what’s possible on a Photo Tour with Chris.

As Andy Fish told me, he has “a ton of favourite images so will try to control myself”! Here are just a few for you to enjoy…

↑ ”Our home for 9 nights. There was something very enjoyable about taking a shower under a bucket with a faucet and shower head out in the wilderness.”

↑ ”I have lots of leopard shots but this one I especially liked the eyes peering out from behind the bushes.”

↑ ”The sunrises and sunsets were unbelievable!”

↑ ”Rambo Africa.  The boat in the background was our home for two nights – The Pride of the Zambezi.”

↑ ”I think this is a special shot. The fisherman is going home at the end of the day in his carved out wooden boat.”

↑ ”Because food was scarce on the Botswana side, the elephants would swim across the Chobe River to Namibia to eat and then go back home later.”

↑ ”OK, I had to put in a shot of a leopard in a tree. This was our last day in Botswana. As we were leaving, I said the only thing I missed seeing was a leopard up a tree. We drove right under this guy and I couldn’t talk! Finally I said “Stop!” and they said “Why?”… We stayed with him for quite a while and we were able to get lots of great shots in the tree, on the ground, walking, sniffing…”

“Des and Collin, the guides, were as different as night and day but both seemed to have the knack of finding animals when other vehicles were lost…”

↑”There is something about getting close up of eyes in wild animals. This one usually draws a comment!”

“It is one thing to have high expectations for a trip, especially considering my previous experience in Alaska, but completely another to have those expectations exceeded by so much – and I had been to Africa (before)! Thank you for sharing Chris with us for such a long time.” Andy Fish, Botswana 2013.

Discover your own incredible story and magical images by booking yourself on one of Chris’s Photo Tours and make that dream a reality!

Thanks Andy! It was great to have you along and thanks so much for sharing your fabulous photos!

All Images copyright Andy Fish (afish@telicon.com).

In the lead up to the exhibition I had just started shooting with the D800E.  I was so captivated by the huge files and the ability to capture incredible detail in the images that I decided to shoot some local content specifically for the exhibition with that camera.  This is where the idea was born to combine my selection of existing wildlife images (all taken within a 12 month period) with a selection of more intimate portraits of wild species taken at the Auckland Zoo.

It was a great concept on a number of levels.  The juxtaposition between the wild animals in their natural habitat – alongside those living in Auckland Zoo – was a great way to remind people of what is at stake when it comes to protecting wildlife habitats, and also to recognise the efforts of entities like the Auckland Zoo who sink a sizeable sum into animal conservation each year.  As the exhibition was going to be part of the Auckland Festival of Photography, it was also a great way to show budding photographers that we don’t always have to travel to Africa to take great animal photos – practice in your own back yard!

And so “A Year in the Wild Life of Chris McLennan” was born and I was on a mission to capture 12 brand new images of wild species at the Auckland Zoo, all within a few days!

The zoo were very co-operative and were happy to give me great access to shoot the animals I had requested.  However the very interesting point to make here is that the majority of the images ended up being photographed from public access areas!  There are endless photographic opportunities at animal parks and zoos, and with a little bit of patience it’s a great way to practice and perfect your photography skills.

The Auckland Zoo has gone to huge efforts to create large and natural environments for all of the animals, so I was able to creatively use the space around the animals where needed.  I looked for lighting opportunities that would give me great images (back lighting or side lighting) and I was happy to wait it out if the animal I wanted to photograph was playing coy with me.

I was really lucky to get up close to a few special characters, for example Janie the 60-odd year old chimpanzee and Inkosi the rhino, and during these occasions it was incredible to witness the true bond the keepers have with their animals.

Carlo: – the male zebra.  This image was in my head before going to the zoo and I knew exactly what I wanted to capture.  It took about an hour to get the perfect angle for the shot I wanted – half of the zebra’s head in frame with my focus on the eye, with Carlo’s out-of-focus body filling the rest of the frame – and no cropping!  This was a really graphic and abstract image which I managed to get in both landscape and portrait versions.  Carlo’s deep brown eye gives a touch of colour to an otherwise seemingly monochrome image.

Nikon D800E.  Nikkor 500mm f4.  ISO 320.  F4 at 1/2500 second.  Lexar 1100x CF card. 

Tipua: – Tipua is a female tuatara and was a very obliging subject.  She remained very still allowing me to use a relatively slow shutter speed for this shot.  The slow shutter speed provided the dreamy effect to the waterfall, which I framed as the background to provide some depth and light in this image as well as giving it a sense of environment.  Tuatara are amazing subjects, and by shooting Tipua up close with a lot of texture in her against the soft background, I was able to create an image that is almost prehistoric in its appearance.

Nikon D800E.  Nikkor 70-200 2.8.  ISO 100.  F8 at 1/3 second.  Lexar 1100x CF card. 

Charlie: Charlie is a large male Bornean Orang-utan.  I had observed Charlie on a number of occasions when visiting the zoo with my family – he has a love for his blanket and is usually seen slinking away with it wrapped around his head in a shy manner.  On this particular day he was sitting under a large wooden structure with his back to me.  I waited with my camera set up on my tripod and focused on the back of his head for around an hour and a half – I didn’t dare look away and risk missing a shot!  Finally Charlie turned and gave me a look that said very clearly “Ok, I see you are not going to give up”, before rewarding me with a half-smile.  The moment literally lasted one second before he disappeared back under his blanket, turning his back to me and wandering off.

Nikon D800E.  Nikkor 600mm f4.  ISO 400.  F4 at 1/500 second.  Lexar 1100x CF card. 

OZ: Oz is a male Sumatran tiger.  My plan when shooting Oz was to have him on an elevated rock near the front of the outdoor enclosure which catches stunning early morning light.  The keeper worked with me and placed one of the large chunks of Oz’s food on the rock that we had chosen before Oz was released into his enclosure.  But Oz had other plans of course…!  He strolled by, picked up his food and took it to a shady area near the rear of the enclosure, quite the opposite of what I had in mind.  So I moved my position and “found” a stunning frame with beautiful backlit gold and green foliage behind OZ.  After waiting around ten minutes I was rewarded with direct eye contact and a ‘tigerific’ snarl from OZ.  And that was my shot!  I waited another 30 minutes or so but OZ was already bored with me and determined not to look my way again.  As I had exposed for Oz this created a fantastic “glowing” bokeh of colour behind him, with a great catchlight in his eyes reflected from the skies above.

Nikon D800E.  Nikkor 500mm f4.  ISO 800.  F4 at 1/640 second.  Lexar 1100x CF card. 

Janie: Janie is the matriarch of Auckland Zoo and has captured the hearts of all the staff there.  She is one of the original tea party chimps from the 60’s and is around 60 years old.  Like many humans in their golden years she can be grouchy but with lots of talking and “vocalising” Janie interacted with us for quite some time allowing me to capture this portrait which I immediately fell in love with.  For those of you who know Janie, this shot really highlights both her wise years and her somewhat cheeky and unique character.  I intentionally didn’t show any of the zoo staff the images before the exhibition as I wanted them to experience the full benefit of the images printed up large, and I can honestly say there were a few teary eyes around the Janie image on opening night!

Nikon D800E.  Nikkor 500mm f4.  ISO 800.  F4 at 1/200 second.  Nikon SB910 off camera speedlite with small softbox.  Lexar 1100x CF card.

I used a Manfrotto super clamp and cradle-style tripod head to support my camera and enable easy use of the long lenses I intended to shoot with. However this plan was short-lived, I started out using a 500mm lens but was pretty soon shooting as wide as 14mm. With our photo tour taking place during the dry season there was a constant flow of wildlife visiting the waterhole providing us with endless photographic opportunities in this exclusive location.

The highlights for me were the several large breeding groups of elephants (Loxodonta Africana) that came by to drink. It was a humbling experience to have huge elephants and babies alike venturing as close as a metre from the hide. Witnessing the elephants from this close gives you a true appreciation of their size — if I had wanted to I could have easily reached out and touched them. In fact it was a challenge to keep them from spraying water on the front of my lenses.

I love the complex lines and textures in their weather-beaten hides and combined with their grey colouring I knew immediately I wanted to process many of my images in black-and-white. This breathes life into the tones and textures of these magnificent creatures and takes away any background distractions caused by colour. This area hadn’t seen rain in several years and we were told by the locals that there would be no clouds that day, but we were lucky to witness the first cloudy sky seen in months, which only contributed to the drama and interest in what would have otherwise been stark blue skies (often the desire of outdoor photographers, but not what I wanted).

One of my favourite shots from this trip is the close-up head shot of a large elephant as it locked eyes with me — it was so near I could literally smell its breath. I took this on the 70–200mm lens at 135mm focal length. Whilst all the rest of the images in this series are monochrome, this one is still in colour as shot — I wanted to retain the subtle warmth of the sunlight falling on the right side of the elephant’s face.

Another favourite is the overview of the entire waterhole with a herd of elephants in attendance. This isn’t a stitch but was cropped from an image shot on an ultra-wide 14mm prime lens.

In the shot of the elephant walking directly towards me, I waited until he thrust his ears forward — which increases the elephant’s size and makes for the perfect portrait in motion. By using a shallow depth of field the trail of slightly out-of-focus elephants walking behind him set the scene but don’t detract from my main subject matter, while the low angle dramatises the elephant’s size and its position as one of nature’s most mighty beasts.

I was also lucky to witness and photograph a number of baby elephants, including one of a baby walking under its mother with another large elephant framing the picture on the left. The mothers and aunts are very protective of their babies and crowd around them at all times. So it was fantastic to get this angle showing the very intimate interaction but with a clear view of the baby as it peaked from beneath its mother’s belly.

Photography in Africa is infectious and I will be back again soon to host additional photography tours. If you decide to join me my advice would be to bring plenty of memory cards! Details of upcoming photo tours can be found at www.cmphoto.co.nz/phototours.

As published in the February/March Issue of D-Photo Magazine.  All images copyright Chris McLennan.  Download the full PDF here..

The first thing you could do is watch Chris’s online tutorial here for some general advice on wildlife photography.  Or more simple yet, I’ve listed below some basic tips and tricks to ensure your next wildlife photos are as good as they can be.  Read on…

1.  PREPARE:  It’s no use heading off into the wilderness without some idea of what you might encounter, and how best to react when you do come face to face with the ‘local inhabitants’.  Whether it be native bird-life, timid herbivores, or carnivorous  predators; you should plan to photograph the animals you encounter in a way that is safe for you, for them, and for their environment.  So this means doing a little bit of research before hand about the area, the animals you are likely to see there, and what their natural habits are.

2.  EQUIPMENT:  There are so many professional (and non-professional) photographers out there capturing amazing imagery on so many different cameras, don’t get sucked into the “I need this camera or that lens to be able to photograph wildlife”.  Use the best equipment that you have access to, but more importantly, learn it well.  When shooting wildlife you often don’t have time to be fiddling with unfamiliar camera settings.  You should know your gear well enough so that you can focus on the creative process and make changes to your camera settings instantly and without thinking too much about it.  Check your histogram to make sure your exposures are good, but then concentrate on shooting.  You are more likely to capture the action when looking through your camera than you will when looking at the back of it!!

3.  CONTENT:  If you are shooting something exciting that you haven’t shot before, or an animal that is more likely to generate that “wow” factor simply because of what it is (maybe it is rare, exotic or dangerous), it is important to maintain your concentration and not get lost in the moment.  It’s no use putting your camera on motor drive and shooting 100 frames of a pride of lions if the images are badly composed, poorly lit or without a specific focal point.

If you’ve done your preparation above, and are comfortable with your equipment, then you should be in a good position to retain your creative style as a photographer and plan your images more effectively.  What angles can you use to emphasize important features about the animal – their size, the texture of their coat, their aggressive or passive nature?  How is the lighting, could you improve your image by moving slightly to allow side lighting or back lighting to enhance the mood of your shot?  Are there any environmental features you could include in your shot to better frame or compose the image?  And artistically, what should you be including – and what should you be leaving out – in order to tell the best story about the animal you are photographing?

If you can allow yourself time to be creative then it is better to capture fewer images of better quality than a whole lot of average “snapshots”.

And lastly, just a few general comments:

• In most cases your focal point should be the animal’s eye.  Even better if there is some catch light reflected.
• A longer telephoto or zoom lens will allow you to shoot tighter shots of the wildlife without impacting on the animal or its environment as much.  This will also give you a shallower depth of field, often a nicer way to capture wildlife portraits by bringing the subject “out” from the background through selective focus.
• Most animals are more active early in the morning or late afternoon / early evening.  This is also the time when you are most likely to get the best light for photography as well – the warm colours of the sun from a low angle, as well as good shadow definition, and maybe even some fog or mist to add drama.
• Look for graphical elements in your shots – groups of animals, or patterns and textures found in a single animal’s fur, coat or feathers.
• Don’t always freeze the action – you could also try slower shutter speeds for movement blur or to pan a running animal.
• Patience!!  As they say, “hurry up and wait”.  Be prepared to wait for the perfect shot, don’t be tempted to try and startle the animal or force it to behave in a specific way for your image.  Not only will the animal’s behavior not look right in the final scene, but it could be dangerous.

Now go out there and practice!!  Happy shooting…

All images copyright Chris McLennan.

This is a video of some of my favourite shots from my recent Photo Tour to Botswana and South Africa with Journey’s Unforgettable.  We had a great group on board and all came away having captured some amazing new wildlife images and enjoyed some very special experiences together.

Seeing a mother Cheetah with her family of five adolescent cubs, watching a lion stalk and chase down a leopard within metres of our truck, and witnessing the magnificence of the Great White Sharks as they breach upon fur seals just outside of Cape Town…  All are not to be forgotten.

I look forward to guiding on this tour again in the future!  In the meantime, watch my Photo Tours page for updates of future African Safaris.  www.cmphoto.co.nz/phototours/

“Chris McLennan has one of the most exhilarating jobs in the world.  The Kiwi wildlife photographer travels the planet, getting up close and personal with some of its most ferocious predators.  Tracking lions and leopards, staring into the jaws of man-eating crocodiles, and leaping into water alongside great white sharks, are all in a day’s work…”.

Click to download PDF file and read the full article.

I am very excited to be offering my very best images for you to customise and order online, from photographic enlargements through to high quality canvas and aluminium prints (including framing and other options) – there is something for everyone.

The order process is extremely user friendly and prices are competitive.

I know there have been a number of requests for prints of my images, and I am really hoping this will answer those needs.  Next time you are browsing for something special for your wall, that unique birthday gift, a momento from a special place, or just an image that you really love, then pay me a visit and have a look at what’s on offer.

I’m currently adding new galleries and images every day and hope to have a bigger selection online by the end of the month, which will then continue to be updated with new images on a regular basis.  But since I’m receiving image requests every week, I thought I’d let you know about it right now, without waiting any longer!

Just click the “Order Prints” link on my website to be taken directly to my order page, or click on any recent image on my Facebook or Google+ pages that has the “Order Prints Online” link, or click  here.

And as a special for visitors to our new Beyondf8 blog, use the code “Beyondf8″ when you place your order online to receive a 20% discount off your image price!!  Why wait?

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