BACKYARD BEASTS!
If there’s a single piece of advice I’d give to wildlife photographers – be it those starting out, developing their craft, or just looking for a new challenge – it would be to embark on your very own local wildlife photography project.
It doesn’t matter if it’s blue tits in the garden, frogs in the pond or the local street fox – find something close to home that you can work on and develop photographically. Over the past few years I’ve had the luxury of working on a variety of international assignments, from watching elephants on Botswana’s Okavango Delta to camera trapping for jaguars in the Amazon. They certainly offered some amazing opportunities for wildlife photography, but when it comes to developing my work, style and shooting techniques, that’s always been a job for home.
Be it the garden, a local nature reserve or the graveyard at the end of the road, the abundance of wildlife photography opportunities you can find in your neighbourhood is amazing. Granted, the subjects might not be the most exotic, but you’ll be surprised by the wildlife we’re lucky to have on our doorstep. The moment you really start to explore, it’s incredible how much potential is right outside your window and how, with a little thought, experimentation and long-term commitment, you’ll be able to make some of your best wildlife photography ever, a stone’s throw from your home!
THE PROJECT MINDSET
Now, as much as wandering the local lanes, footpaths and parkland looking for subjects to shoot is enjoyable, in terms of making consistent successful images, it’s certainly less fruitful. We have all done it – just picked up our camera, headed out and stumbled across an amazing encounter with wildlife. But, more often than not, the ‘walkabout’ style provides a selection of half-baked possibilities that you’re not properly prepared for, and that rarely result in the capture of successful images. For success with local wildlife projects, then, the mindset needs to be a little different, with methodical being
