SAFETY
The most common location where people tend to ignore safety is in the national parks. When some people see wildlife all reason escapes them. It happens so often that it can be expected. When driving on the two lane highway between Flagstaff and Sedona I came around a corner and a car was stopped in the road with its door open. A woman was running down the pavement screaming and pointing "Look at the elk!" as a small herd fled from her in panic.
 |
| Grizzly Bear cubs |
In Glacier National Park we saw a number of cars and a crowd of people stopped on the side of the road. This usually means wildlife so we also pulled over. Just as we parked everyone started getting back in their cars and leaving. One person told us we had just missed seeing a mother bear and two cubs but they had left. It was a very scenic view so Diane and I stayed after everyone had left. We were looking at the river when the two cubs (actually yearlings) came running out of the forest and crossed the river.
 |
| Western Diamondback Rattlesnake |
 |
| Eleven button rattle |
Now that I've said so much about safety I will contradict myself with this photo. It's the only time I ever blocked a road to take a photo. A five foot long rattlesnake was slithering slowly across a dirt road so I blocked the road to keep vehicles from run over it. The road was straight in both directions and my Jeep was in plain sight.
This was a popular back road for off road vehicles. We were in the snakes domain miles from any homes and I wasn't going to allow some fearful yahoo intentionally murder the snake. I've witnessed that to many times in my lifetime. I laid on the ground about ten feet in front of the snake and took its photo with a 55-300mm lens. Several ATVs had stopped and a crowd watched as I herded the snake off the road and back into the desert with my monopod.
A vehicle works extremely well as a blind and it's mobile. How great is that? Don't shoot through a windshield, it's usually dirty, slanted and curved and can distort the image. You can shoot through a side window but most are tinted, but getting any image is better than no image at all so take photos with the window up then lower it and take more if the creature has not already run off.
I keep a black towel over my camera on the front seat to protect it from the sun and dust. I'll fold it a few times then drape it over the side window to set the lens on and steady the camera. There are bean bags made to drape over a window but I've never bought one. They seem ridiculously overpriced for a bag of beans.
 |
| Turkey Vulture |
This Turkey Vulture was one of the few times I've taken a photo while sitting in the vehicle. Two others flew off when I stopped and I didn't want to scare the last one away by getting out of the Jeep. The sun was at its back so the sky was over-exposed and the bird under-exposed but I still like the way the photo came out.
STEALTH
If you see something pull to the side of the road and stop. If it's to your advantage to be facing the other direction drive on a short ways then slowly make a U-turn and come back. Turn off the radio and kill the engine. If you need to get out of the vehicle remove the keys so the irritation alarm doesn't sound. Exit through the door on the opposite side away from the subject. Do not slam the door just gently push it closed or stand behind it. You can peak around or over the vehicle with your face hidden behind the camera and lens. Reveal as little of your body as possible.
I was driving on a dirt road at Garland Prairie before the sun came up when a herd of antelope ran across the road in front of me. I immediately stopped and shut off the engine. The antelope stopped about 50 yards away, watched me for a while then started grazing. I sat in the SUV for 30 minutes until the sun came up before I opened the door and crept to the back of the SUV. Peaking around the back with a 600mm lens I took photos for several minutes. When I stepped out from behind the vehicle they all turned to look at me for a moment then ran off in unison.
 |
| Pronghorn Antelope at sunrise |
 |
| What antelope usually look like |
BE PREPARED
Roadside photography isn't ideal in that you have no control over lightning or environment conditions. Also you may have very little time to capture a shot so keep your camera close by and ready with at least a 300mm lens on it. It's like being an old west gunslinger, to survive you gotta be quick on the draw and accurate.
When I'm driving I keep a 55-300mm zoom lens on my camera in the passenger seat. I also have a monopod already screwed into my Nikon 200-500mm lens ready to attach to the camera. I find the big lens to heavy to handle for very long and the monopod makes it manageable. Of course it's to be used once I'm out of the vehicle.
NOTE: Keep your equipment next to you. Don't put it in the back of your vehicle. If you have to get out and open a rear hatch you may spook your prey.
I make sure there is a fresh battery in the camera and a spare in my pocket. I'll preset the camera to continuous high speed shutter release mode (CH) and adjust the light meter to center-weighted area (8). Also set the camera to aperture priority which allows you to control the depth-of-field and the camera adjusts the shutter speed to provide the correct light exposure. In order to increase the shutter speed to freeze the motion of your target crank up the ISO.
These are the settings that I usually use to photograph wildlife that is standing still. Naturally I'll make adjustments to handle changing situations.
BE OBSERVANT
What to look for: Obviously animals crossing or standing near the road but also roadkill, culverts with drain pools, ponds and lakes, flower fields, dead trees, fences, utility poles, scenic overlooks, farms and ranches, animal parks and crowds of people (in national parks).
I include penned and captive animals in this category because you can drive to or through the enclosures in which they are kept. I personally find little satisfaction in photographing confined animals because I like the challenge of finding them myself but that's just me. Many photographers make a living out of shooting zoo and animal park wildlife. My loss, their gain.
 |
| I stopped when I saw something peaking out of the grass. |
 |
| Badger crossing the highway. |
 |
| Turkey Vulture eating roadkill next to the highway. |
 |
| The same Vulture in flight. |
GO EARLY OR GO LATE
Since I am an early riser I like to photograph wildlife in the morning but that isn't the only reason. Like humans most animals are thirsty and hungry when they wake up and are out looking for water and food. It is also cooler in the morning and animals are more active. There is usually less wind in the morning and, best of all there are fewer people about to spook the animals and fewer people means less traffic, noise and dust from dirt roads.
NOTE: I photograph wildlife only in good weather from sunup to about 10 am. If there is no breeze it doesn't matter how cold it is. It is near impossible to get a good photo in high contrast areas such as forests or in low light. You can push the ISO but the photos become grainy.
 |
| Male Mallard Duck |
 |
| Crow |
 |
| Northern Shovler Duck |
 |
Ducks crowd around a small opening in the ice.
|
During the coldest winter months ponds and lakes throughout the Coconino National Forest can freeze. When that happens water birds either head south or will congregate anywhere they can find open water. At the Frances Short Pond in Flagstaff underwater aerators agitate the water enough to keep it from freezing above them. It's a great place to shoot early on a frigid morning and you can drive right to it.
BE PATIENT
Shooting roadside wildlife is often about acting quickly but there are times patience is a better approach.
 |
| Flame Skimmer |
 |
| Variegated Meadow Hawk |
 |
| Bluetail Damselfly |
Stagnant plunge pools form at culverts under the road where dragonflies grow and feed on other insects. Find a pool with some plant life growing around it and quietly sit by it with your camera and wait. Make sure you take some mosquito repellent with you. Hopefully a dragonfly will land near you. I found if I moved slowly I could get quite close to the insect. It took me about two hours to capture these photos with a 55-300mm lens.
 |
| Tiger Swallowtail butterfly |
Dozens of butterflies flutter about on flowers growing next to the road. They didn't seem to care I was there and they were fairly easy to photograph.
 |
| Mormon Lake |
I stopped at the Mormon Lake scenic overlook and sixty elk were walking across the shallow lake. I had time to put the camera with a 600mm lens on a tripod.
 |
| Osprey nest |
Look in the tops of dead trees for large birds and nests. These Osprey were used to seeing people. Their tree was next to a subdivision with a private lake where residents walked for exercise. I would sometimes go there and setup my tripod and camera with a remote sensor and take photos while I sat in the SUV and ate my lunch.
 |
| A Grackle caught a goldfish. |
Not being a water bird I don't know how this Grackle caught a goldfish but it was quite proud of it. I took the photo out the side window while I sat in my vehicle at the Walnut Canyon Lakes, my favorite lunch spot.
ANGLE OF ELEVATION
I'm always trying to get closer to wildlife but that's not always the best tactic. If your subject is higher than you, the closer you get increases the angle-of-elevation. If you use your longest lens you can shoot from further away and decrease that angle. Your photo will look better the closer you are to a horizontal plane.
The Red-Tailed Hawk was perched at the top of a dead cottonwood tree about a 100 yards off the highway. There wasn't any cover so I slowly approached by taking three steps then stopped to take a photo then take three more steps and repeat. I was about one hundred feet away when it took off and circled around watching me the entire time.
 |
| Red-Tailed Hawk |
Small birds like to perch on fences lines and often will let you get within 15 or 20 feet of them.
 |
| Turtle basking in the sun |
 |
| Flame Skimmer Dragonfly |
 |
| Grasshopper on a Cattail plant flower. |
Ponds next the highway are always great places to watch for insects and turtles.
Javelina often frequent an apple orchard near our house. They are unpredictable and may run or attack depending on their mood. One spotted me photographing it from behind a wall.
 |
| Ravens |
Two bold Ravens invited themselves to our roadside picnic in a national park.
 |
| Llama ranch near our house. |
 |
| It's feeding time |
Ranches and farms are great places to practice photographing animals. Most of time sheep would have their heads down grazing on the grass which makes for a boring photo but I happened to be there at feeding time and they all took off running.
Some animal parks have programs that allow photographers to enter their park before the standard opening hours. Call the park to find out their policies and what additional fees there might be.
 |
| Bearizona - Williams, Arizona |
 |
| Out of Africa Wildlife Park - Camp Verde, Arizona |
 |
| Out of Africa Wildlife Park - Camp Verde, Arizona |
 |
| Arizona Raptor Experience - Chino Valley, Arizona |
 |
| Arizona Raptor Experience - Chino Valley, Arizona |
 |
| Arizona Raptor Experience - Chino Valley, Arizona |
The last three photos were taken at Lake Mary after sunset. The light was fading fast and the Great Blue Heron heron was a long ways away. There wasn't enough time to set up a tripod so I took the shots out the side window. I used a 1.4 teleconverter on my 200-500mm lens to make it a 700mm.
Continued in 'Hunting Wildlife'.
Copyright 2015, M. E. Thomas Photography.
No comments:
Post a Comment