Wildlife Photography
Wildlife photography, in contrast to nature photography, relates specifically to photographing wild animals. Most wildlife photographers will demand that the photograph must also be captured in nature, in contrast to an animal in captivity. It is not easy to get a good photograph of a wild animal in its natural habitat - wild animals behave as they please and not according to the photographer’s needs.
So what has happened is that some unscrupulous wildlife photographers bait their target in order to take the photograph in the most ideal circumstances. For example, someone throws a baitfish to land on the water some meters in front of an African Fish Eagle, with the photographer standing ready with his camera in the hope of capturing the bird swooping down when it picks up the fish where it floats on the surface. This is seriously frowned upon in most wildlife photography circles, but it still happens. There is the case of the well known photographer who photographs difficult to capture target species by setting up a feeding tray with all the birds’ favorite food and drink and then lures them to the table by playing a recording of their particular bird song. This practice landed the specific photographer in hot water with his fellow wildlife photographers, but his images sell like hot cakes because they are spectacular. But he now has a not so favorable reputation and, as they say, what goes around comes around.
So next time you see a hard to believe photograph of an animal or bird, check it out more carefully. You may be surprised at what you discover.