As many of you might already know i like nature and wildlife photography very much and that’s why i travel a lot in Austria to show you the beauty of my home county here on Steemit. One of the most photogenic animals are “ground squirrels”. They life in Lower Austria near Vienna and I and some friends of mine like to visit them very much because it is always very nice and funny to take pictures of them.

Right Angle

As for every picture the angle of your lens to the object should be correct. Ok there is no correct but pictures appear different from different angles. The best angle is from right in the front so in case of ground squirrels you need to lay down on the floor to capture the best and interesting pictures. Different angles of the lens to the object create different pictures. But if you take a picture from above the animal it appears much smaller and the background is probably not bokeh but the Meadow or the soil. To isolate the object better from the background you should lay down and try to keep as much distance between the object and the background as possible to make the bokeh very smooth.

For this picture I was lying on the floor and tried to be at the same height with my camera than the ground squierrels. Picture: Florian Glechner.

Be patient and silent

Animals react different to fast movements, but most of them try to escape because they fear of some danger, so remember to move only very slowly and try not to create a lot of noise. Be patient and wait for some “action” in your picture. Action or emotions that are expressed from the animals make your picture unique and interesting. Why do you need so much patience in Animal Photography? Because animals move like they want and not like you want them to. If you take pictures from a landscape or a building you can easily frame your picture and then do the shot, but in animal photography you often have to be fast and capture that exact moment.

Ground Squirril smelling on Lavender. Picture: Florian Glechner

Best Time to take your shots

Like pictures of architecture and Nature it is better to take pictures of animals either early in the morning or late in the afternoon. At this time you don’t have the harsh shadows, wich could ruin your image. You also need to take care of the Exposure time of your pictures, try to have as little exposure time as possible to freeze movements and keep the image sharp. But this last tip is depending on what kind of picture you want to obtain.

In summer you need to take your pictures mostly in the morning or in the evening because most animals don’t want to move a lot in the heat and they hide in the forests or in a meadow.

Ground Squirrel smelling on a flower. Picture: Florian Glechner.

How should I frame my image

This depends on your personal preferences but I try to focus on details, so in most of my pictures I try to get as close as I possibly can. With my 150-600mm lens this is easy, with this telezoom it is also easier to frame the image to your needs. I always try not to get the subject in the middle of the picture but at one of the 2 horizontal edges of the image. This gives my images more drama. Next important thing in framing is to keep more space in the direction the animal is looking.

ground squirrel stretching for a flower. Picture: Florian Glechner.

Respect the nature

If you respect the nature (plants and animals) and build up a good relationship between you and the nature you will also succeed in taking better pictures of the nature. You’ll get a better view on how to take the pictures and to take pictures in the natural environment of the respective animal.

!steemitworldmap 48.034478 lat 16.231613 long Somewhere south of Vienna. To protect Animals not 100% perfect location. d3scr