How Can Research Help You Take Better Photos
Before you head out with a camera in your hand, the first and one of the most overlooked things that you should be doing is researching locations and learning about the species you want to photograph. The research level you need to do will decline over time because you have practical experience in the field with the animals. But if it's a species you know little about, arming yourself with valuable knowledge about the species in their environment is an essential first step.
Where to do your Research?
I spend countless hours watching videos of wildlife in their natural environment. The amount of footage out there is almost endless. From documentaries on streaming services to random videos on Youtube, you should be able to arm yourself with environmental and species behavioural knowledge before stepping foot into the field.
I also read about the species that we are going to photograph. Even the smallest of details could make a difference in the quality of images you take with the subject in front of you. I will also talk to professional guides. If I am interested in birds, I interact with birders with in-depth knowledge of the species they follow. If I am headed to northern Canada, I talk to professional trackers about northern species like Caribou, wolves, bear, and Lynx that I might want to photograph. If it’s an International destination like Africa, I would have reached out to people that we follow on social media to discuss their experiences. I then made contact with tour companies experienced in creating trips at the destination I am looking at.
If I know there is wildlife in a local area; I will take a hike and look for tracks or other signs of activity like bedded areas in the long grass. Look for feces or skeletal remains. You can also set up a trail camera where you suspect activity. Let the camera sit for a week, then see if this looks like the right spot for a blind. If you capture wildlife, note the times of the day and plan to visit this area long in advance of when your trap camera captured the wildlife.
What Information is Valuable
The kind of details you are looking to uncover in this initial phase of discovery will help you get a better understanding of where you should be looking at traveling. These details will help you understand how the animals live in the environments you are looking at visiting. All this information that you gather will go a long way to ensure that you are more successful when you are out in the field.
I would suggest you research the following:
Species Habitats - You want to learn where they live and hunt.
Migratory patterns - Where does the species migrate into accessible areas that you can visit.
Breeding seasons - Most species are more photogenic in their mating season. With most species, we want to photograph their young. In the case of the Canidae family like wolves, or species of the Felidae family of cats, this is also the best time to witness predation because of the increased need to eat.
Logistics - How do you get there? Who will guide you? A workshop company, group tour, or private guide? Where will you stay? Are there any safety concerns?
Seasonal weather patterns - You do not want to get caught off guard with the wrong clothing and protective gear for your camera.
pre-visualization comes out of your research
As I previously mentioned, while I am conducting my research I will undoubtedly be looking at streaming video services and images of the animals on Google. I will start to create a folder of images before I travel. Think of these images as a shortlist of images that you find personally appealing. You are not going to limit yourself to taking just the pictures that you placed in your folder. These are just images that you hope to get. It's a good exercise in pre-visualization animal behaviour before you are “in the moment” with your camera in hand.
Start to think about the environment you will be dealing with. Study backgrounds, Look for compositions you want to try and capture.
Look at the animals and identify nuances that may pose difficult to shoot. Think of a Bald Eagle – That white head can often get blown out if you are not thinking about your exposures ahead of time.
Real-World Research Used To Create a Photograph
Let us look at the research that I conducted to obtain some of his favourite Snowy Owl images.
The Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) is a large, white owl of the owl family. Snowy Owls are native to Arctic regions in North America and the Palearctic ecozone.
When I first decided I wanted to photograph the Snowy Owl I wanted to get a better understanding of the migration patterns of a Snowy Owl – What I learned is that Snowy Owls are not migratory; they are nomadic, and they winter in northern Ontario where I live. I was given the contact information for the team of the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) staff that were banding Snowy Owls. After spending time with the MNR staff, I learned these owls travel hundreds, if not thousands of miles, as they traverse the northern hemisphere. They arrive in the lower latitudes of Canada and the northern US at the beginning of each winter. They remain as solo birds in the farmer’s fields until March staking out their hunting area that is often adjacent to other owls in higher density areas. They then return to the north to breed in nests that the males have prepared.
I then wanted to understand when they hunt, and what do they feed on – If you look closely at an owl’s eyes, you’ll notice species of owls have different eye colors. The color of an owl’s eyes will tell you more than you think. An owl’s eye color indicates the time of day they predominantly hunt. A Snowy Owl has yellow eyes. This means they are diurnal and prefer to hunt during the daytime and sleep at night. Owls with yellow eyes have excellent eyesight but rely on their hearing to detect a food source beneath the snow.
In the north, they generally feed on lemmings. But in the winter months, when they are near me, they feed on voles, shrews, mice, and surprisingly, and I have seen this in person, waterfowl. When planning where I would go to photograph them, I had to make sure there was a food source that would attract the owls.
I then researched to see if there is a professional guide that can safely take me to see the owls. – My research found four people that guided trips to see snowy owls. I also found a few professional photographers that focus predominantly on owls in their environments. Spending time with a friend of mine, Len Silvester was invaluable in increasing my understanding of how the owl acts as they temporarily inhabit and hunt in a given area.
My research, and first few outings taught me what clothing will I need to be safe and comfortable when photographing the owls. – A considerable part of your success is also about being prepared with the right clothing and accessories. Photographing these owls would take me out into winter conditions where the temperatures are often between 0C (35F) to -30C (-22F).
Once I had spent significant time with Len taking photos, I understood the owl’s preferred environments. I deduced that I needed to find open farmers fields with little to no car traffic. I probably needed to use some kind of blind, and I needed to watch for hunting patterns of the specific owls I wanted to photograph. The locations I pick should be conducive to have a good food source and offer me some cover as I exercised patience to get the photos I wanted. I also needed land access permission from the farmers.
In total, I have now spent hundreds of hours watching, learning, and photographing Snowy Owls. Each winter visit to the fields around my home that I have been granted access allows me to learn more about the individual owls hunting habits that allows me to quickly anticipate how to position myself for the best photos.
Let’s look at one of my favourite Snowy Owl images. I want to discuss how I used to research to create this Snowy Owl image.
When discussing wildlife images, people often ask me how I was able to take a better image than they did. It usually boils down to a few key points involving camera settings and my level of preparedness when out in the field. Which always will inevitably lead to a discussion involving research.
Although it can seem insignificant, research always helps me make a few critical decisions before I take my images. When It came to this photo, here are the following things that caused me to make some important decisions.
1 – A Snowy Owl raises her wings straight up in the air as a first movement as she begins to fly. I wanted a horizontal wing position. I knew it would take a fraction of a second to capture the wings to come down into this position. As soon as I saw her move, I started to take images at 11fps.
2 – I wanted a very low point of view. My goal was to capture her belly so you could be at the same level she was when she took to flight. I had seen so many photos, and witnessed many birds take off from the ground; I knew I also had to be laying down.
3 – I wanted to capture her talons. It takes that split second for those feet to curl up. I had to (a) be at the right angle, and (b) be fast. I know birds of prey that are this size need to take off into the wind. I had checked the wind direction, then moved slightly to my right so I had a better angle to see those talons.
4 – The Snowy Owl does not move significantly on the horizontal plane when they first take to flight. They need to capture air. I had the time to pre-visualize how far forward she would move to make sure I captured her between the house on the left and silo on the right. I envisioned a 16x9 crop for this image. So I did not have much room to play with. But there was always cloning I could do in post-processing to eliminate the structures.
Camera Details: Nikon D850 with battery grip – Lens: Sigma 150-500mm ƒ5.0-6.3 Sport – Aperture of ƒ10 to make sure I had her completely in focus – Shutter speed of 1/2500th of a second to freeze the action – ISO400 – Matrix Metering to meter the entire scene – Exposure compensation of +1/3 to attempt to expose properly for the white sky and snow
I hope today’s blog post gives you something to think about as you approach your next wildlife outing. Research and pre-visualization play a huge role in my photography. Having that level of preparedness always gives me more confidence walking into any wildlife scenario.
Check out my new eBook for more examples of how research can help you become a better wildlife photographer. You can find that eBook by clicking on the button below