The Joys of Wildlife Photography

A lot of wildlife photographs are taken from hides that enable you to watch without being seen. The problem here is that I am not very good with hides, I am happier wandering and finding my subjects rather than waiting for them to walk passed my camera.

Finding the animals can be difficult but it really does add to the fun, then once you are within range you really are in the lap of the gods. On the most part you have very little control of which direction they come from, where they go, whether they stay in the shade or the Sun and of course how long they stay with you.

Last night I had the pleasure of being entertained by a young female Fox with the most amazing eyes, who I had met before, and five of the most annoyingly mobile cubs.

The Sun was rapidly setting and had already left the woods in a gloom that made photographing unpredictable little bundles of fur difficult. So because the photographs that I took were not quite what I was after, I thought I would share some of the ‘cutting room’ shots that always fill the camera after an encounter like this. Now all photos tell a story whether they are ‘perfect’ or not and these serve as a reminder that sometimes you need to admit defeat, put the camera down and just enjoy the chaos.

The out of focus shots, the dark shots, the shots with an annoying piece of grass in front the creature, the frustration and the fact that you will never truly replicate the sheer wonder of the event no matter how many photographs you may take: these are the joys of wildlife photography and it is completely addictive.

I was in completely the wrong place for this one, the Sun was almost behind the Fox

Grass can be annoying

I rushed this in low light

And this one

The Sun had well and trully set by this time