Composition tips for wildlife photography

Subject isolation : Profile shots avoid clutter, keep it simple. Long tele lens gives you shallow depth of field. Red Avadavat(Amandava amandava)_D4S0814

Flowers and leaves enhance the frame of this Sunbird.

Purple sunbird (Cinnyris asiaticus)_D4R7829

Though the background looks completely camouflaged, it is not distracting in this Tiger shot.

Peek-a-boo_D2X0116

Wait for birds to sit on a natural perch. When birds are perched on wires birds you can shoot just for  documentation. Avoid keeping your subject dead center, off center works very well, unless the subject is looking straight to the camera.

Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca)-Juvenile _D4R5832

Magpie robin_DD34129

Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), I composed in the center, as it was looking straight into the camera.

Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus)_D4S0892

Leave some space in front and top of the subject. Don't keem them in tight frame.

Isabelline Shrike (Lanius isabellinus)_D4R4254

When shooting birds, try to catch light in the eyes.

Red wattled lapwing

Don't cut any main part of the subject. Head turn is important in bird photography. Try to get eye contact.

Tawny Eagle (Aquila rapax)_D4R5883

Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum)_DD32154

Background makes a difference, try to get green background for the birds. Try different points of view to get the best background.

Sarus crane (Grus antigone)_D4S9880

If the sky is blue then it is fine, avoid feature less sky.

Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca)_D4R6788

Try different perspectives, use different focal lengths of your lens.

Eland_AFR3683

Elephant herd at Dhikala, Corbett National park, taken with 70mm focal length

Elephant herd_D2X9698Jim Corbett National Park

Same herd taken with close up 200mm focal length.

Asian elephants_DD38468Jim Corbett National Park

Try to capture them with natural framing.

Framed_D4R4501

Baby elephant_D4S29081Asiatic elephant (Elephas maximus),Jim Corbett National Park ,Uttarakhand

Spotted Owlet (Athene brama)_D4R4488

These are some basic composition tips. Framing is subjective, so try to get out of box composition, and try your own style of framing.

Experiment a lot, enjoy making the images.

Happy clicking.

Rathika Ramasamy