"The Making of a Wildlife Photographer,"
by Bruce Taubert
In addition to having a full-time job as a clerk at Oscar Mayer’s in Madison, Wis., my mother was a professional photographer. In her spare weekends she spent Saturdays taking wedding photos and Sundays developing film in our basement “photo lab” (a cleared space between boxes of family memorabilia and Dad’s woodworking machinery).
Whenever I could not come up with a good excuse, Mom took me along to assist on her photo shoots. Mom thought I would make a wonderful wedding photographer. She taught me how to set up a camera (f-stop 8, a sync speed of 1/60 of a second, the flash set on automatic), pose the wedding party and develop my photos.
Luckily for my mother’s clients, my career took a different path. I entered the Army, went to graduate school, worked as a research scientist, traveled to Africa for a short stint with the Food and Agricultural Organization, and finally landed a job with the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
Of course, my mother did not give up trying to make me into a photographer. She sent spare camera equipment so I could continue my “journey to photographic excellence” (her words). During this period, I photographed wonderful people (including my growing family), places and wildlife. I was happy with some photos, but disappointed with most. Many of the photos I took in bright sunlight were dark, a fair number were slightly blurred, and the composition was poor. The images that I felt would be a visual record of my past fell short of the mark. I was not a very good photographer, despite Mom’s efforts.
So, what to do? Should I continue to take average photos, give up photography, or what? Photography had become an excuse to get away from my busy life and enjoy the great outdoors. With photography, I did not have to wait for hunting season to “chase” wildlife. I enjoyed photography and was not willing to give it up. If I wanted to continue, I needed to enjoy the quality of the photos, as well as the process of taking pictures.
A Photographer’s Education
I started by reading Arthur Morris’s book, “The Art of Bird Photography.” Morris is probably the best-known bird photographer. In a logical, technical and systematic way, he lays out how a camera works, how to use it to produce desired results, and how to take not only a good photograph, but one that is a work of art.
This book taught me what I had been doing wrong. The camera is not a magical tool that captures a good photograph every time, but a sophisticated piece of equipment that is only as good as its operator. I learned that the light meter does not always allow the camera to take a proper exposure. I learned that while f-8 works for wedding photos, it is not the best f-stop for most photos I wanted to take.
Now I knew why many of my daylight photos were dark, how to avoid blurred photos and, maybe, how to produce a photograph worthy of Arizona Wildlife Views, or even National Geographic. Better yet, I was starting to understand how a camera works and how I could use it to get the desired result, a photo that not only represented the object I was photographing but represented it in an artful manner. Wow, this book-learning is good stuff!
Armed with new knowledge, I grabbed my camera and went into the field. I concentrated on using the best possible technique. Experienced photographers evaluated my photos and advised me on where I needed improvement. I read more books by experts such as John Shaw. I even read my camera’s instruction book enough times to feel comfortable with all of its knobs and dials. In short, I practiced and practiced and practiced some more.
The key was learning how to use light. During daylight photography, light is your palette; unless you use it to your benefit, your photography will never measure up to your expectations. Early-morning or late-afternoon light is the best because it is cool and full of yellows and reds. Midday light is harsh, cold, full of shadows and leans towards the blue end of the spectrum. I learned to keep the sun directly on my subject and to use “fill flash” when a bird is in shadows.
Look Them in the Eye
I felt great about my progress. But just being a good technical photographer would not allow me to reach my goals. To take technically correct photos was one thing, but to capture all that wildlife had to offer was something different. I needed to go where the action was.
The next phase of my photographic journey required new talents. I had to be there when my subjects were breeding, feeding their young, catching food, running from predators or just hanging out. To find and photograph wildlife where it lived (not at the zoo or bird feeder), I needed to learn the life history of various species. As a lifelong hunter and trained fisheries biologist, I knew a few things, but I was entering unknown territory and needed assistance.
Bud Bristow, Randy Babb and Barry Mansell came to my rescue. Excellent photographers who are dedicated to taking unusual and exciting wildlife photos, these men are driven. There is almost no limit to where they will go and what they will do to get a great photo.
When Bud started coaching me on how to photograph elf owls, I knew nothing about them. Elf owls are the smallest owl in the world, live in Mexico, only come to Arizona during the breeding season, and are the most common avian (bird) predator in the Sonoran Desert. Bud and I spent many May nights searching the desert for this diminutive owl. Bud taught me how to use birdcalls to get within 10 feet for a portrait shot. Together we found several nests and used high-speed flashes to capture elf owls carrying food to their begging young. This type of photography would be difficult under the best of conditions, but elf owls nest in saguaro cactus and their holes are, generally, about 20 feet aboveground. Trust me: Hanging high-speed flashes, an electronic trip and a 35 mm camera that high in the air is no easy task.
For many years, Randy and I spent monsoon nights wandering the desert looking for scorpions, tarantulas, rattlesnakes, frogs and toads. In the early days, we were more interested in finding these desert denizens than photographing them, but as time went on we became obsessed with putting their images on film.
Randy is Mr. Close-up Photographer. He likes to take photos of rattlesnake heads, calling frogs, hunting scorpions and other “unusual” specimens. Unfortunately for me, a main rule of wildlife photography is to take the photo at eye level with the subject. How close to the ground do you have to be to get eye level with a scorpion or rattlesnake? You guessed it, right on your belly and inches from the critter. This was bad enough, but just imagine photographing a calling frog on the bank of a nasty-smelling cattle pond. Most nights when I returned from a lesson with Randy, my wife, Anne, would not let me into the house unless my stinky, wet clothes went straight to the washing machine.
Getting in Gear
When it came to photographing birds, Barry was my mentor. As all bird-watchers know, these are beautiful creatures. They also are nervous, constantly on the move, and not likely to allow the photographer to get very close. This is where photography became expensive. I needed a telephoto lens, teleconverters, a heavy tripod and a special tripod head.
Barry also showed me how to use high-speed flashes to take wonderful photos of hummingbirds and bats in flight. Once I was hooked on this kind of photography, I realized that it requires an incredible amount of time and LOTS of equipment. I had little of the gear necessary, and had to acquire tents, backdrops, nets, headlamps, leather gloves and all sorts of unusual items, much of which I had to fabricate myself. I crawled into caves with thousands of bats to get the right photo and spent hours waiting for a hummingbird to pose in the correct position.
I have become driven! I now understand the dedication and effort it takes to be there at the right time and take wildlife photos that are both interesting and beautiful. I have gotten to where I want to be. I am excited about photography. I have had some images published; my friends and family like my work; I have made friends to spend my spare time with; and I am constantly in the field being close to wildlife. Mom would be proud of what she started.
Bruce’s 10 Tips for Better Wildlife Photography
- Read the camera manual.
- Take advantage of the years of experience others have to offer: Read photography books, talk to other photographers, or take a photo course.
- Photograph wildlife when they are most active. If you get up late, forget taking great photos of birds. If you go to bed early, forget frogs, toads and owls.
- Shoot the light. Early-morning and late-afternoon light is soft and colorful, while the light from midday sun is cold and harsh.
- The best photos are taken when the light is on your back and reflecting off the animal, so have your shadow pointed at your photographic subject.
- For sharp images, use a tripod, especially when using telephoto lenses.
- Take photos of wildlife at their eye level.
- When taking action shots, use a fast shutter speed and open aperture.
- Get out in the field with an experienced photographer.
- Practice, practice, practice!
This article was published in the November-December 2006 issue of Arizona Wildlife Views magazine. To subscribe or give a gift, order online or call (800) 777-0015.
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