Archive for 'Mammals'
Wildlife from the car window
24 November 2009
Victorian books on shooting had whole chapters devoted to “Getting Close to your Quarry”, complete with illustrations of hunters disguised as buffaloes or hiding themselves in haycarts. The trick was to get inside something that animals and birds were familiar with, and would ignore.
Today’s equivalent to the peasant’s haycart is the family car. It is the perfect mobile hide for the wildlife photographer.
Whether you are hunting down lions or herons, the car is the best place to go into hiding. It is comfortable and, if you’ve got nerve, it will go almost anywhere.
Animals and birds, large and small, tend to ignore vehicles. And you can usually open the window quietly without spooking your target. It is very unlikely that the birds or animals will try to come in, although safari park monkeys are an exception — they will reach into the car and grab your camera and probably your sunglasses as well …
Elsewhere in these postings I have mentioned the rival philosophies of two types of birders, the leggers and the arsers. The leggers keep moving and hope to find something; the arsers sit quietly and wait for the birds to come to them. The leggers don’t want to get bored. The arsers are allergic to perspiration. (more…)
Go early, stay late at the zoo
18 November 2009
I recently asked a well-known wildlife photographer if she had any tips about taking animal portraits in the zoo. Her answer was brief: “Go early, stay late, and don’t be ashamed of taking zoo shots, we all do it.”
She told me that most of the finest pictures of large animals are zoo shots, or at least safari park portraits. “You can go on shooting, day after day, until you get it right,” she says. “A shaft of light, a brief change in the animal’s position, two animals interact or one of them yawns, and you’ve got a picture which will sell and sell.” (more…)
Tours seek the last of India’s tigers
12 September 2007
For nearly 30 years it has been believed that tigers were extinct in India’s Western Ghats, the range of forested mountains extending down the West Coast of the country. But a recent survey has revealed at least 20 tigers still survive in the Sahyadri range between Mumbai and Goa. (more…)
White rhino: a story of success and setbacks
7 September 2007
The birth of Mazumba, a white rhino, at Blair Drummond Safari Park in Scotland set camera shutters clicking, and the seven-stone baby is guaranteed to draw visitors to the park over the next few weeks. The birth is one of only five in Europe this year and has drawn attention to the unexpected successes and setbacks of white rhino conservation. (more…)
The Most Photographed Animals in the World
28 August 2007
According to an East African safari company, the most-photographed animals in the world are the Big Five – elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion and leopard.
But, to be accurate, the animals with the most clicks in 2007 are probably a young polar bear and half a dozen koalas. (more…)
