Wildlife: Composition
Introduction
Wildlife photography exists along a spectrum, from close-up portraits to photos that showcase animals within their environment. In this section, we will focus on wildlife portraits, leaving environmental-style photos to our discussion of landscape photography.
In a wildlife portrait, the animal or plant being photographed is the dominant element. It doesn’t need to fill the entire frame, but there should be no ambiguity about what the subject is. Few animals will allow you to get close enough to accomplish this with a regular lens, so most wildlife photography is done with a telephoto lens. Telephoto lenses are actually quite versatile and can be used for close-up photos of flowers and other small subjects as well as for capturing distant landscape features. A good-quality 400 mm (or greater) telephoto lens will make more of a difference to your wildlife photos than any other piece of equipment you buy.
Besides adequate subject size, the other fundamental requirement of a good wildlife portrait is sharpness. If the subject is blurry, the photo just isn’t going to work, even if other aspects are good. Therefore, understanding how to achieve a tack-sharp image, as discussed in the previous section, is vital.
Wildlife has plenty of inherent interest, so it doesn’t take much more than a well-focused subject of sufficient size to achieve a pleasing photo. But much more is possible. To go from good to outstanding, you need to consider composition, pose, and lighting.
Isolating the Subject
For wildlife portraits. the most important aspect of composition is subject isolation. We want our subject to stand out or “pop” from the photo. Consider the two photos below. In the photo on the left, the chickadee is fighting for attention amid a clutter of leaves and branches. In contrast, the house wren jumps out from the background, resulting in a much more compelling image.
The first step in isolating a subject is to put some distance between the subject and the background. This often requires planning, patience, and a bit of luck. With the house wren, it was a matter of watching the bird for a while as it went to and from its nest. From time to time it would land on an isolated branch, and this is where the photo was taken (after considerable waiting).
The second step in isolating a subject is to blur the background. The better you are able to do this, the more the subject will stand out. In the chickadee photo, the background is mildly out of focus but individual leaves and branches are still easily identified and are quite distracting. In contrast, the wren is set against an amorphous palette of greens.
A blurred background is achieved by reducing the depth of field so that only the subject is in focus. A telephoto lens contributes to this automatically, since depth of field is inversely related to the length of the lens. Depth of field can also be minimized by using a large aperture opening and by moving closer to the subject.
In practice, the relative distance between the camera, subject, and background has the greatest effect on subject isolation. If the subject and background are close together, it will be difficult to achieve separation no matter what camera settings you use. The same goes if the subject and background are quite far from you, even if separated from each other. The most beautiful blurred backgrounds are achieved when the subject is within a few metres of the camera and the background is some distance away. The trade-off when working up close is that the depth of field can become so narrow that only part of the subject is in focus. This can still produce a good photo as long as the eyes are sharp (recall the butterfly photo from the previous section).
Subject isolation can also be enhanced through contrast. A common approach is to place the subject against a background with a different colour, as illustrated in the wren photo above.
An overarching point is that you should always think about the background when you set up your shot, and try different camera positions to make the most of every situation. This can be hard to do in the heat of the moment, when your attention is drawn to the subject. But you should try your best because a compelling background is one of the key differentiating features between good wildlife photos and great ones.
Subject Position
Another important aspect of composition pertinent to wildlife portraits is subject size and position within the frame. Although centering your subject in the frame is often a good choice, especially when there is strong symmetry, this should not be the default option for all your photos. As an alternative, try placing your subject one-third of the way across the frame on either the left or right (see the purple clover photos below). Also, rather than always cropping in tight on your subject, give it some room to “breathe” in the frame, particularly in the direction of its gaze (see the house wren photo above). Lastly, instead of shooting horizontally all of the time, try shooting vertically, especially if the scene has strong vertical lines. Experiment until you find a composition that is most appealing.
Experimentation
Our discussion of wildlife photography has centered on the importance of subject isolation because this the tried and true recipe for creating outstanding wildlife portraits. Nevertheless, this is not the only route to success. As an alternative, try placing the animal within its environment, as shown in the Columbian ground squirrel photo below. This can work well, as long as the content of the scene is in harmony with the subject rather than in competition with it. We'll have more to say about environmental-style photos in the section on landscape photography. You can also go the other way, and zoom in tight on just a part of the animal, as illustrated by the porcupine photo. The general point is: experiment!
Fine Tuning the Composition
When setting up a composition, be on the lookout for distracting elements. These have a habit of creeping into the frame unnoticed while your attention is focused on the subject. For example, there might be a branch poking in at the edge of the frame or a reflective rock in the background. Such items will draw the viewer’s eye, creating competition with the subject. Check for these types of objects after taking some test shots and try to avoid them by recomposing.
Purists like to argue that the composition should be locked in at the time you take the photo. But in practice you will find yourself cropping most of your portrait photos because it's rarely possible to get close enough to wildlife subjects to have them fill the frame. An added benefit of cropping, besides enlarging the subject within the frame, is that it allows you to fine-tune the composition after the fact. It's true that cropping will reduce the resolution of your image; however, with today’s high-resolution cameras (and a decent lens) it's possible to crop fairly heavily and still achieve a good quality, sharp photo.