{"id":26,"date":"2016-06-23T02:22:16","date_gmt":"2016-06-23T02:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/photo.benjamin-m-weilert.com\/?p=26"},"modified":"2016-06-23T02:22:16","modified_gmt":"2016-06-23T02:22:16","slug":"the-wildlife-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/photo.benjamin-m-weilert.com\/index.php\/2016\/06\/23\/the-wildlife-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"The Wildlife Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tWhile I enjoy capturing wildlife with my camera, I can attest that these subjects are the most difficult to shoot. Perhaps this is why the terminology between hunters and photographers is the same in this respect. There are a number of reasons why photographing wildlife is a challenge. First, the fickle nature of animals means they can be unpredictable. You\u2019re never quite sure when they\u2019ll appear, and when they do, it\u2019s uncertain how long they\u2019ll stick around (birds are often the most challenging in this respect). It\u2019s almost like Pok\u00e9mon: certain animals are more common in specific areas, but you\u2019re still never guaranteed to run across one if you\u2019re going out to photograph it.<\/p>\n

\"Photography<\/a>
\nAs you can see, this ptarmigan is good at camouflaging itself with its surroundings.<\/i><\/p>\n

Secondly, wild animals aren\u2019t used to humans. Much of the time, we move quickly and with jerky motions, both of which can scare off wildlife. We tend to be loud as well (in how we walk and talk), which is probably why these wild animals don\u2019t even give us a chance to see them, as they\u2019ve already run away. In terms of smaller wildlife, our relatively large size means we can\u2019t usually get very close to them, as they think we are predators. All these factors combined together mean that, if we do find a wild animal, we\u2019d better be sure to have a telephoto lens to take its picture.<\/p>\n

\"Art<\/a>
\nI was fortunate that this lizard remained still long enough for me to take plenty of pictures of it.<\/i><\/p>\n

Finally, a lot of wildlife photography comes down to luck. You\u2019ll be lucky to get a picture that\u2019s composed well, with the animal looking in the right direction, and with the ideal lighting. There are many ways to increase your luck, like staking out a spot, camouflage, and having the right lens with you, but even these won\u2019t guarantee you\u2019ll get the picture you want. As for me, I take the chances with the opportunities I\u2019m given, but the challenge still remains. I don\u2019t have the patience to really invest in wildlife photography, but I\u2019m willing to give it a shot if an animal comes across my path.<\/p>\n

\"Photography<\/a>
\nThis photo came about by luck: I had my DSLR with a telephoto lens and the squirrel was distracted enough by the sandwich I could get this picture.<\/i><\/p>\n

Even though you could consider taking pictures at a zoo \u201cwildlife photography\u201d, I think this would be more equivocal to \u201cshooting fish in a barrel.\u201d The same would go for baiting animals so they would remain long enough for a picture (I didn\u2019t give the squirrel that sandwich, he found it on his own). Sure, your chances are better, but part of wildlife photography is the fleeting nature of its challenge.
\nWhat are your thoughts on wildlife photography? Is it easier for you, or does it pose the same challenge?<\/p>\n

As always, have fun!
\n– Benjamin M. Weilert\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While I enjoy capturing wildlife with my camera, I can attest that these subjects are the most difficult to shoot. Perhaps this is why the terminology between hunters and photographers is the same in this respect. There are a number of reasons why photographing wildlife is a challenge. First, the fickle nature of animals means […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[22,26,55,57,76,85,101,102],"class_list":["post-26","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-craft","tag-animals","tag-challenge","tag-lizard","tag-luck","tag-ptarmigan","tag-squirrel","tag-wild","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/photo.benjamin-m-weilert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/photo.benjamin-m-weilert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/photo.benjamin-m-weilert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/photo.benjamin-m-weilert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/photo.benjamin-m-weilert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/photo.benjamin-m-weilert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/photo.benjamin-m-weilert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/photo.benjamin-m-weilert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/photo.benjamin-m-weilert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}