PART 4 ACTION & BEHAVIOUR
Capture action and behaviour to give your images the wow factor
If you want to have your shots published in magazines, or aim for success in competitions, then try to capture moments rather than just pictures. Dramatic images of common subjects will often surpass simple portraits of more exotic species.
Animal behaviour may be organic, such as sleeping, grooming or fighting, or it might be contrived by the photographer – for example, a squirrel jumping to reach inaccessible food. Investing time in a subject will increase your understanding of it, and the more at ease an animal is, the more likely it is to behave naturally.
One of my favourite behaviourl images shows a pair of adult little owls greeting each other on an old wooden gate. The shot was taken from a hide from where I’d been feeding the owls, and although both birds visited regularly, they rarely perched together, and I spent many days in the hide waiting for this moment. Occasionally, you get lucky and happen to be in the right place at the right time; however, an opportunity means nothing unless you take advantage of it.
Last spring I was photographing a pair of juvenile rabbits just outside their burrow. One of the kits became restless and dropped into an entrance hole, then almost immediately jumped back out, landing on its sibling before running away. Suddenly a stoat emerged from the same hole, glanced at me and then chased after the poor rabbits. I had a split second to focus and frame the shot.
Action photography often requires greater technical skill, but it can produce more dynamic images – a shot of a barn owl diving, for example, will typically be chosen over a shot of the same bird perched. Many wildlife images that are commercially successful, or attract the attention of judges in contests, show animals interacting with man-made objects, or exhibiting anthropomorphic behaviour with human traits.