The two biggest tips photography students are given when photographing wildlife is to get in close and fill the frame and to keep the eyes sharp. As a results, anyone who is really trying to get into wildlife photography ends up buying longer and longer lens, especially if you want to be close enough to even see the eyes of the animal. When I first started out in the film days, wildlife was not my primary focus so the longest reach I had was 70mm. I then moved to digital and thought the 320mm equivalent from my 70-200 f/4l coupled with the 1.6 crop factor of my Canon 20d would improve my work. This only led me to purchasing the 1.4x teleconverter to achieve 448mm. And yet, it still wasn’t enough. I’ve always tried to intrude as little as possible when I photograph critters, and when I was in Canada and saw a mother grizzly bluff charge a guy trying to photograph her cubs with a point and shoot, it reinforced the need for us to give them their space. So I ended buying a 300 f/4l lens, which gave me a total of 672mm effective focal length when added to my 50d and my 1.4tc. And yet, it still wasn’t enough. For a while I thought I just needed that extra little reach, maybe a 400mm or a 500mm would just about cover it. Getting filled frame shots of wildlife is challenging, requires good equipment, great technical skills, and even better behavioral information of the creatures, but I was stuck on longer is better (and more expensive).
Upon review of my work I was definitely getting closer and closer, but I realized that there was a missed opportunity for images with wildlife on the landscape. Wildlife environment portraits can be as compelling and as challenging, so I made it a goal this year to capture some of these types of images. I ended up looking for patterns and shapes in the landscape that complimented the critters, using lenses with less focal lengths, and generally keeping my distance. Today’s post is a result of that endeavour. Here, the two buffalo are fairly minor part of the frame, with the rolling, grassy hills as the major component. The setting sun illuminates both them and the grass, warming the scene and accentuating the patterns of the hills.
To see an example of me getting in close (with buffalo), check out May 18th’s post at: A Buffalo Profile.
Technical Details:
Canon 50d, 300 f/4l + 1.4tc, f/5.6, 1/250 sec.
Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota
This photograph is available from my website at: The Land of the Buffalo – Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota
