Monday, August 24, 2009

The Art Of Getting Close (Connor Stefanison)


I'm sure all wildlife photographers have had at least one occasion where they've been close to a cool creature, and it fled the scene. This has happened to myself on many occasions, and it's rather annoying. No matter how slow and steady I would walk up to some animals, they would sometimes take off. A recent technique I've been using is to not let the animal see my face. Animals react more to seeing a face than a body. It may look silly, but walking up slowly to animals with your head down, and sometimes even acting like the animals can get you very close.

The image above is of a Lesser Yellowlegs eating a dragonfly. This image was taken near Chetwynd, British Columbia, Canada. I was able to get within 15 feet of this bird by using these techniques. I could have gotten closer, but wanted the whole bird in the frame.

So next time you're out photographing wildlife, give this technique a try if you haven't already.

Happy Shooting,

Connor Stefanison

4 comments:

Jodie Randall said...

Just a quick note to say welcome to the blog - I look forward to seeing more of your images.

Best Wishes,

Jodie

Johan said...

Great tip--I'll have to try it. Does it work to hide your face behind the camera?

Johan

Connor Stefanison said...

Yeah, hiding your face is key. Once the animal see's your eyes, it usually triggers their "danger" sense. A photo judge I know walked right up to a group of mule deer, and got right in the middle of the big group because he had his head down and was acting like he was feeding. Once he looked up, the deer all fled.

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