Wildlife

There are many approaches to Wildlife Photography and many animals to photograph in the Tetons and Yellowstone.  While you might want to consider a family pet to be wildlife or animals in a zoo to be wildlife, those animals do NOT meet our Wildlife Theme.    There are plenty of wild animals in Wyoming and Idaho and for the PMP Wildlife Theme you must use truly wild animals.  Horses in the wild or chipmunks in your yard meet the “requirement” of wildlife.  If you have not done a lot of wildlife photography, these articles will give you some guidance.

Candy Brad is the peer mentor who suggested this theme and she has many suggestions on where to go to learn about wildlife.  Her first recommendation is to look at excellent wildlife photographers:

“I also think it helps to go and look at as many wildlife photographer’s galleries as you can.  Seeing what they have captured, their styles, can help you achieve the look you are going for. Some of my favorites are Tin Man Lee (https://tinmanlee.com), Andy Skillen (https://www.faunavista.com), Federico Veronesi (https://www.federicoveronesi.com), Tom Mangelsen (https://www.mangelsen.com), Frans Lanting (http://lanting.com), Art Wolfe (https://artwolfe.com). Of course, the list is WAY longer than that, but I will stop there!  And, for local wildlife tips, Mike Jackson’s Newsletter is always helpful! https://www.bestofthetetons.com“

And here are the articles that Candy has suggested.  If you have others, send the article/video to Randy

“The Ultimate Wildlife Photography Tutorial” by Robert Anderson in PhotographyLife.  This truly has “Everything you need to know about wildlife photography” but it is easy to miss the 14 different topics.  At the top of the article is a < 1a The Important of Light and Weather > that may hide from you the other 13 topics.  This is clearly the place to start you learning about how to approach Wildlife Photography.  Simply click on the little 1a box and you will see the other 13 topic.

“10 Wildlife Photography Tips for Stunning Results” in Digital Photography School.  This is a typical DPS helpful article with 10 suggestions including quite a few that you probably hadn’t thought about.  “Know your Gear” is obvious, but should you use wide angle or what about up-close-and-personal? There are details in all 10 suggestions and if you have not been on a day-long wildlife trip, this article could be very educational.

6 Tips on Wildlife Photography with National Geographic Photographer Ralph Lee Hopkins”.  This is a B&H article by Todd Vorenkamp.  This article is an interview by Todd Vorenkamp (from B&H) of Ralph Lee Hopkins that seems to focus primarily on wildlife photography workshops in the wild.  

“Ethics of Wildlife Photography” by Zac Mills in The Wildlife Collection.  This article outlines and explains the ethical guidelines when you are in the field such as Do no Harm, Leave no Traces, Do not Bait, and the guidelines of wildlife photography.

“The Ethics of Wildlife Photography” by Jill Waterman presented by B&H.  Another detailed explanation of guidelines for wildlife photography.

Candy also suggests Steve Perry, a wildlife photographer/educator that shares a number of articles/book and videos for capturing wildlife photography.  Here is the information from Candy:

One of my favorite wildlife photographers/educators is Steve Perry from https://backcountrygallery.com. He does free YouTube videos, but also has written some very nice books about capturing wildlife, some specific to Nikon cameras. I can recommend this book, if anyone is interested: https://bcgwebstore.com/product/secrets-to-stunning-wildlife-photography/