A two-hour drive from Brisbane or a one-hour fifteen-minute drive from the Gold Coast, Lamington National Park is World Heritage listed for good reason. Habitats vary from subtropical and remnant rainforests, ancient Antarctic Beech forests, sclerophyll and eucalyptus forest. The variety of wildlife species, therefore, is incredibly varied. Birds and other wildlife are used to visitors, so they can also often be photographed at close range. Some of the species of birds that frequent the Lamington National Park include the rare Albert’s Lyrebird, the Regent and Satin Bowerbird, the Noisy Pitta and the Eastern Spinebill (amongst 245 or so species of birds found in Lamington National Park). Mammal species include the cute macropod called the Red-necked Pademelon, which often frequents the visitor areas, as well as the nocturnal Brush-tailed and Ring-tailed possums which are regular visitors. Two of the many reptile species that can be seen and photographed include the Leaf-tailed Gecko and the pure black Land Mullet, Australia’s largest skink.

Wildlife photography in Lamington National Park is quite easy, as there are plenty of walking tracks where many of the wildlife frequent, so with such an abundance of wildlife that is readily accessible – though admittedly some do require patience – it is one of the best locations in Australia for wildlife photography, regardless of your skill level.

If you have a passion for wildlife, nature or travel photography and would love to go on a small-number, professional photography adventure, please get in touch with Michael Snedic at WildNature Photo Expeditions. You can call him on 0408 941 965 or fill in this Contact Form and he will get back to you ASAP.

Crouching behind the enormous buttress root of a black booyong in World Heritage-listed Lamington National Park. 80 kilometres south of Brisbane, I waited in anticipation.

Working as a guide for O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat, in the heart of the national park, I joined wildlife-documentary maker Glen Threlfo in search of a male Albert’s lyrebird. We’d tracked the elusive rufous­ coloured bird, nicknamed “George”, to his display platform by following his echoing call. Unlike the better-known superb lyrebird, which performs its courtship display atop a meticulously maintained earth mound, the smaller Albert’s lyrebird uses a concealed platform of interlaced vines.

Approximate distribution of the Albert’s Lyrebird. Source.

As we sat still and silent, concealed behind some bushes, George began singing his heart out. His smooth territorial call resounded through the rainforest, quickly interspersed with note-perfect renditions of other birds’ calls including the laughing kookaburra, satin bowerbird, eastern whipbird and crimson rosella. As he sang, he inverted his 50-centimetre tail over his head and body to form a silvery­white dome that almost cocooned him. Plucking at the vines with each foot, he held us spellbound.

This performance lasted 20 minutes. Then he stopped, ruffled his feathers and dissolved into the dense undergrowth. In the ensuing silence, Glen turned to me and said, “Why don’t you try to photograph his display? There’s only ever been a few successful photographs.” I decided to take on the challenge, but because the mating season was almost over, I had to wait nine months for an opportunity.

Albert’s lyrebird is found in the undergrowth of dense subtropical rainforest straddling the New South Wales-Queensland border. It spends its days foraging for insects, roosting at night in a tall tree and working its way down at sunrise. A poor flier, it’s extremely shy and when disturbed, runs quickly away.

I’d anticipated that my project would take up to two weeks. It took almost two months. I didn’t sight George for weeks, and when he did appear, it took several attempts to get a good shot of him. Finally, luck was with me. George was back on his vines and his courtship display was even more energetic than usual. He was in a frenzy as he danced, called and mimicked – even making the sounds of a crackling bonfire. He tugged the vines so ferociously that the surrounding palm lilies and lilly-pillies shook with him.

The three-month mating season was drawing to an end, and George was going all out to let any nearby females know where to find him. I wondered how they could resist.

Capturing the perfect photograph of birds and other wildlife can take a lot of patience and perseverance as highlighted by my experience with Albert’s lyrebird and many of my other iconic wildlife photos. However, there are a lof of skills you can learn to help you get the shot just right when the opportunity finally arises.

If you are interested in learning more about how to photograph birds in Lamington National Park from experienced nature photographer Michael Snedic, you might like to join his next photography workshop at Lamington National Park.

First published in Australian Geographic magazine.

If you have a passion for wildlife, nature or travel photography and would love to go on a small-number, professional photography adventure, please get in touch with Michael Snedic at WildNature Photo Expeditions. You can call him on 0408 941 965 or fill in this Contact Form and he will get back to you ASAP.

A little tip for your wildlife photography composition:

This juvenile Australian Sea Lion was photographed on the beach at Seal Bay, Kangaroo Island, in South Australia.  I was thrilled to have been given the opportunity to photograph this amazing species.  I was with a qualified ranger/guide and a small group of other people, watching some Sea Lions interacting around me, while others slept peacefully. They seemed totally unconcerned that there was a group of humans standing nearby.  Before I even took a photo, I observed their behaviour closely, watching out for any interesting behaviour to happen.  Nothing out of the ordinary did happen for a while until this juvenile came towards me and seemed quite “bouncy” and energetic….

Patience is one of the keys while you watch out for interesting behaviours and patterns. I’ve seen it time and time again and have written about it before.

I immediately focused my camera on the juvenile sea lion and composed my shot, waiting for something to happen.  After a few minutes of playing around, the Sea Lion finally turned in my direction and started to scratch.  This was my moment!  I recomposed my shot, focused on its eye and took several shots using the continuous shutter mode on my camera.  I ensured there was room in the direction the Sea Lion was facing, an important part of wildlife photography composition.  Fortunately for me, light grey clouds in the sky made for perfect, diffused light.  This type of lighting is preferred to sunny conditions, which tend to cause annoying highlights that blow out any light areas on your subject, as well as create harsh background shadows. Even when these lights are manageable, they can cause distraction from your subject. Diffused lighting is more consistent, ensuring that your subject stays the focus and not the light.

The Australian Sea Lion is Australia’s only endemic Sea Lion and is listed as a threatened (vulnerable) under the Federal Government’s Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.   It is Australia’s only endemic Sea Lion and their population is thought to be between 10 000 – 12 000.

It was a real joy to be able to spend time photographing this beautiful mammal, and an experience I thoroughly recommend to anyone.

Happy photography!

If you have a passion for wildlife, nature or travel photography and would love to go on a small-number, professional photography adventure, please get in touch with Michael Snedic at WildNature Photo Expeditions. You can call him on 0408 941 965 or fill in this Contact Form and he will get back to you ASAP.

Observing the individual beforehand is a major part of getting great photos of wildlife behaviour. Animals often behave in similar ways or have a pattern they follow, making it much easier to predict where they might go or what they might do. You can have the settings on your camera set, with your finger on the shutter button, ready to take the shot.

If you have an idea of what kind of animal you plan to photograph, you can read up on common behaviours in advance, which is helpful. However, there is no substitute for observing them at the moment.

In this example of a Leopard Seal in Antarctica, I had been observing it closely as I tracked it with my camera while it was swimming. It would swim for a while, then open its huge jaw briefly before closing it and swimming on. It repeated this pattern a few times, so I knew the chances of the seal opening its jaws again were quite high.

My camera was set up with a single focus point and continuous focus mode (or AI Servo for Canon users). I focused on the seal’s head, then half-depressed the shutter button while tracking the moving subject. When it opened its jaws, I hit the shutter button, which was set to ‘burst’ mode, making sure I captured all of the action.

Of course, it’s always prudent to maintain a safe distance from the animals you are photographing, especially if the animal is a wild predatory animal like a leopard seal. These magnificent creatures of the Antarctic only have two known predators, orcas and sharks, and they tend to be intrigued by humans. However, while you might not be much threat to them, they certainly are to you, so always be alert, minimise your presence (and disturbance) and stay safe.

If you have a passion for wildlife, nature or travel photography and would love to go on a small-number, professional photography adventure, please get in touch with Michael Snedic at WildNature Photo Expeditions. You can call him on 0408 941 965 or fill in this Contact Form and he will get back to you ASAP.

Perspective can make a huge difference when photographing wildlife. Basically, it can change how an image is perceived. A three-dimensional view can be turned into a two dimensional image, by either changing your lens or using a different angle or viewpoint from which you are shooting your subject. You are, in essence, impacting how the viewer of the photo interprets depth in the image they are looking at.

Traditional Methods

Traditionally, most wildlife images are taken with a fixed focal length telephoto lens such as a 300mm f2.8, 500mm f4 or 600mm f4, or by using one of the numerous zoom lenses available on the market. Many of the more popular lenses used in traditional wildlife photography include 100-400mm, 200-400mm, 200-500mm, 150-600mm etc. There are, of course, pros and cons with any of the above-mentioned lenses. Telephoto lenses are usually very sharp and have a wider minimum aperture. This means you can let in more light into your camera, which in turn means a higher shutter speed without needing to crank up the ISO too high (the higher the ISO, the more noise you will end up with). The downside is that these lenses are quite expensive, heavy and if you can’t move from the spot you are photographing (such as sitting in a safari vehicle in Africa, with a lion in front of you) you can’t change your focal length. With a zoom lens, you have more option to compose an image on the spot, they are generally cheaper in price and a bit easier to handhold, weight-wise. The downside here is that they may not be as sharp as a telephoto lens and the minimum aperture will often be smaller in size. For example, the Sigma and Tamron 150-600mm lenses are very versatile but in low light scenarios such as rainforests, the widest aperture you can achieve at 600mm is f6.3. This then slows the shutter speed quite a bit so in turn you have to raise your camera’s ISO considerably in order to get sharp shots.

Animals In The Environment

Apart from the traditional longer telephoto and zoom lenses, you can use a variety of different lenses to achieve a completely different view. Many of the renowned wildlife photography competitions around the world include a category called ‘Animals in the Environment’, where the animal(s) are a small part of a landscape. This gives the viewer a chance to see the animal in its natural environment. Images where you first see an amazing landscape, then realise there is an animal(s) can be quite pleasing on the eye. For the image of the four reindeer and a polar bear in Svalbard, the Arctic, featured in this article, I was in a zodiac with my photography tour participants and I saw the gorgeous light bringing out the blue in the icy landscape. As we approached a little bit closer, I only then noticed the animals. The important part here was to use a small (in size) aperture, therefore creating greater depth-of-field. By using a lens with a smaller focal length, I was able to photograph the landscape as well as the wildlife featured within that landscape. This type of image creates a true sense of scale which may not be evident when photographing the landscape on its own.

If you have a passion for wildlife, nature or travel photography and would love to go on a small-number, professional photography adventure, please get in touch with Michael Snedic at WildNature Photo Expeditions. You can call him on 0408 941 965 or fill in this Contact Form and he will get back to you ASAP.

1. Avoid Placing Your Subject in the Centre of the Frame

Many wildlife photographers, when beginning their photography, place wildlife directly in the centre of the frame. If at all possible, avoid doing this. Instead, compose your image so that the animal’s face is across the intersecting ‘rule-of-third’ lines. If you place the subject in the centre, it often forces the viewer’s eyes to stay on the subject, which can end up producing a very average image. By composing your subject off-centre, it makes for a much more pleasing image, as the viewer will tend to look at what else is surrounding the subject.

2. Shoot at Eye Level

From the very beginning, when I started learning about wildlife photography some 25 years ago, I was told by my photographic mentor to ‘shoot at eye level’. Rather than standing up and pointing your camera and lens down onto an animal that’s on the ground, get down as low as you can. Photographing wildlife at their level is so much more pleasing to the eye.

The same goes for shooting straight up at an animal. Its not always possible to get to their level, but by stepping back a few metres, for example, your composition will be so much nicer. In some cases, if there is a hill nearby or some steps, I suggest walking up the hill or steps so that you are on a similar level as the subject. One exception to this rule, is when there is a bird (or birds) flying above you.

3. Watch out for Distracting Backgrounds

Over the last 20+ years, I have judged thousands upon thousands of images in nature and wildlife photography competitions. So often, I have seen amazing wildlife images, only to be ruined by a very distracting background. If you look at an image and your eye goes straight to the distraction, rather than the subject, it ruins the effect you are trying to convey. By distractions, I am referring to things like man-made objects (buildings, fences, cars etc), bright highlights or blurred out trees and branches. In many situations, you can move around the subject until you have a smooth, blurred out background that doesn’t
compete with the subject.

If your subject is cooperative, I suggest shooting a few frames and then checking the images on the camera’s LCD screen. If a distraction pops out at you ‘like a sore thumb’, then change the angle or direction from which you are photographing. In some instances, if there is a distracting shiny leaf in the background, simply pick it up and move it out of the way. It’s much easier to do this in situ, rather than trying to clone out the distraction during post-processing!
(PS – many nature photography competitions don’t allow cloning of any sort, so best to move the distraction while you are physically out photographing).

4. Focus on the Eyes

One very important rule when photographing wildlife is to focus on the eyes of your subject. If the animal/bird is way out in the distance and tiny in the frame, then focusing on the actual subject is fine. But if you are closer, then it’s the eye that your camera’s focus point should be on. When viewing an image, whether it be online, in a publication or as a framed print, it doesn’t work as well if the eyes aren’t in focus. The first thing we tend to look at when looking at an image of an animal is the eyes, so it makes perfect sense to focus on them. In some instances, such as when you are photographing wildlife in an abstract or arty way, this rule doesn’t count but for most situations, it is very important.

5. Best use of Negative Space

An alternative to tight or close up shots of wildlife is the use of ‘negative space’ in wildlife photography. This is where the subject is a very small part of the image and looks out or is travelling across a vast landscape. In many wildlife photography competitions, the category ‘animals in the environment’ has become increasingly popular. The aim of such images is to capture on camera not only an interesting image of an animal, but also the environment in which this particular species lives. A stunning landscape, coupled with the subject, can make for some impressive shots. The space around the subject can greatly change the viewer’s perception of the image they are looking at. Basically, the negative space around a subject can tell the ‘story’ of the image.

In Conclusion

The best thing I can suggest is to get out there with your camera and try some of these techniques. Practise, try new techniques, then practise some more.

If you have a passion for wildlife, nature or travel photography and would love to go on a small-number, professional photography adventure, please get in touch with Michael Snedic at WildNature Photo Expeditions. You can call him on 0408 941 965 or fill in this Contact Form and he will get back to you ASAP.