Get low. Get dirty.
Belly flat in the sand to capture this Whimbrel in beautiful early morning light
It can be a bit cumbersome. Even painful. And you won’t look great afterwards. But one of the best advice I’ve had for wildlife photography is to get low. This is often the key to unlocking a much better image. Take a look at the two photos below of Rohan antelopes from Zambia. Which one do you prefer?
Click on one to open a lightbox and use the arrow keys to toggle between them:
The one on the right clearly is the better image. The connection with these beautiful antelopes is much stronger. You get a better sense of their size, and the background is rendered much more pleasingly which helps to frame the subjects better. There is improved isolation of the main subject and greater sense of depth. The angle catches the morning light off the grass better too. Both pictures were shot within a minute of each other as we came across the Rohan on the savannah. The first shot (on the left) was taken from the Land Rover. The three Rohan were rather curious and didn’t mind us. The composition is ok with the use of a shallow depth of field to draw attention to the closest animal. But otherwise, it is a so-so image. However, it got much better. I quietly jumped off the Land Rover on the other side from the antelopes and carefully navigated myself to the rear of the vehicle. Sitting low on the grass I got a couple of more shots in before the Rohan decided to move away. The result is clear - I had a ‘keeper’ rather than an image to delete. There was no guarantee the antelopes would stay in position when I moved off the vehicle, but the effort and gamble was worth it.
It is a similar scenario for these two shots above of an African Wattled Lapwing also taken in the Kafue National Park in Zambia. They were shot less than 2 minutes apart. The Lapwing was protecting its territory and nest. As such it wasn’t moving far. I first shot a few frames from the comfort of the Land Rover. But as the bird was quite static it provided an opportunity to again climb down from the vehicle and try a lower angle shot. Very slow movement was required as the bird is more skittish than the antelopes. Again it paid off. A better shot was captured in terms of framing the bird by blurring out the background to better isolate it. Unfortunately, the bird’s poise and stance were better in the first photo. Such is wildlife.
On my belly again. The blurred foreground helps to create a sense of depth in the shot, as does the blurred waves behind this Golden Plover
Going low allows you to bring in the more distant horizon behind the subject as well as out of focus foreground. With a shallow depth of field this assists in framing the subject and create a better sense of depth as the focal plane of the camera is more parallel to the subject. It also avoids the near focus area around the subject which can often be distracting and compositionally messier as it cannot be blurred effectively. The result is, more often than not, an improved connection and intimacy with the subject. See examples above and below.
On my knees for this Puffin. Not too low to ensure the flowers were captured, but low enough to frame the Puffin against the blurred background
So, whenever you can, get low and get into the grass, gravel, mud and dirt with arms and knees. Lie flat if possible. Even if it hurts and it is tricky. My aching hip always tries to avoid it, but it is worth it. This allows you to play with the out-of-focus areas by shifting around to maximise composition and improve the framing of the subject.
Sometimes you just can’t get as low as you may wish (without getting eaten ;-) - but still a beautiful Lion in great soft evening light
Getting low is always at the front of my mind. But it is not something that works all the time. Sometimes you just cannot get that low. I would have loved to get lower when shooting this beautiful male Lion in Zambia, but you don’t really want to jump out of the Land Rover in the close proximity of a hungry Lion! The trick here is to back up the Land Rover (focal length permitting) to make the angle of shooting less steep, and if possible to find a dip in the landscape to place the vehicle. In public hides, for example at RSPB nature reserves in the UK, it can also be difficult to get low. These hides are often built high up to give twitchers a better view of the surrounding areas. That goes counter to the photographer’s wish to ‘get low’. Dedicated photo hides will take this into account and are built into the landscape to allow you good angles to the subjects. See my previous blog.
Cormorant straight at me! The benefits of a photography hide - designed low into the ground to get water level shots.
Compositionally, sometimes you want to be a bit higher (my hip agrees ;-). For example, if the near surrounding of the subject adds to the overall image. This could be because of habitat features, colours or texture around the subject that add to the story. Another example is when you want to get a good reflection of a bird in water, then you want to be high enough to capture sufficient near surface to make it work. See a couple of examples below.
Don’t always go too low - You need to get a little height to capture reflections
The patterns and textures in the sea would have been diminished if this had been shot at a lower angle
But very often – getting low will help create a better image as you get a better connection with your subject. Never mind the aching hip.
This image would have benefitted greatly from a lower angle. It was shot from an elevated public hide at a wetland centre … the background is quite distracting