Ethology is the study of animal behavior. As wildlife photographers, what could be more important to our success in the field? Things like autofocus systems and exposure, while important, are the most rudimentary aspects of the craft. The ability to create in-focus photographs that are properly exposed only means you are now able to properly use the equipment in your hand. This doesn’t translate into a compelling or beautiful photograph any more than learning how to hold a paintbrush and mix paints allows you to create the next great masterpiece.

In this episode of the PhotoWILD podcast, we discuss animal behavior, the importance of educating yourself on the subject, and how understanding our subjects allows us to anticipate their behavior and set our selves up for success in the field.

Understanding our subjects, their behavior, their ecology, what makes them tick, and therefore where we can find them and photograph them, is the secret sauce of wildlife photography. To put it simply, if you can’t consistently and predictably find and approach wildlife on their terms, then it really doesn’t matter how sophisticated your autofocus system is or how expensive your lens was because you are going to have a very difficult time being a wildlife photographer if you can’t put yourself in front of wildlife.

While the importance of understanding animal behavior cannot be overstated, so to is understanding how our own behavior is being interpreted by animals. Every time we step into the field, forest, tundra, or whatever habitat or ecosystem you wish to substitute into this statement, we are entering into a two way conversation with every sentient creature within eye, ear, or smell (?) shot.

This episode discusses all of this and more. And for that reason, it may be one of the most important episodes we have done thus far.

PhotoWILD Magazine

The PhotoWILD Podcast is brought to you by PhotoWILD Magazine, where we take the discussion in these episodes much further. If you are serious about your wildlife photography, if you are someone who realizes this is not just a hobby but a way of life, then PhotoWILD Magazine is for you. 

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Workshops

Would you like to join us in the field? We offer small group hands-on field workshops designed to not only put you in front of incredible opportunities, but to help you take your wildlife photography to the next level. 

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Highlights

Photographing birds in flight happens one of two ways: incidentally or purposefully. If you are serious about creating these types of photographs, then you need to set yourself up for success first.

Eagles come together in huge aggregations based around the two primary driving forces on Earth: food and sex.

It’s these aggregations that give us the best opportunity for photographing eagles, especially in flight.

To be successful at photographing birds in flight, we need to simplify everything we are doing.

Using exposure settings like aperture priority or auto-ISO sets us up for failure with birds in flight.

Manual exposure makes everything easier.

In Episode 21, Jared and Annalise discuss photographing one of the most iconic species of birds across North America: the bald eagle. Large, majestic, and one of the most acrobatic species of raptors in the Western Hemisphere, bald eagles spill out of the northern latitudes in the fall and winter as they follow their food sources south across the continent. Come late winter, the whole process happens in reverse. As such, bald eagles often arrive in mass aggregations that can total hundreds, if not thousands of these birds in different places. And one particular area of Alaska plays home to the second largest concentration of eagles in North America.

After spending ten days photographing eagles on the wing, creating nearly 150,000 photographs each, your hosts discuss what it takes to return home with such high success rates with birds in flight. Cutting through all the confusion about best practices, Jared explains his methodology for simplifying the process to set yourself up for success.

Want to Go Further? 

Manual Makes Everything Easier

The Best Lens for Birds in Flight

Want to join us on a workshop to photograph eagles? 

Epic Eagles of Alaska

Mastering Birds in Flight

In the upcoming Spring 2024 issue of PhotoWILD Magazine, we start our series of feature articles on Mastering Birds in Flight. From breaking down the best autofocus settings to field techniques that are guaranteed to significantly improve your success rate, this series will be a tour de force of all things birds in flight. 

Learn More

things hummingbirds

Hummingbirds are some of the most extraordinary families of birds in the world whose natural history often defies belief

Understanding the natural history of these species is important for trying to sell photographs of these birds as 99% of photographs we see of hummingbirds are created with non-native species in situations that would never occur in the wild

Understanding how to use flash will dramatically elevate your bird photography, especially when working with hummingbirds

Flash is one of the most important creative tools we wield as visual artists

Using flash to think outside the box can elevate your photography to new levels

The lost episode has been found!

In this show, Jared Lloyd and Annalise Kaylor discuss photographing hummingbirds 8,000 feet up in the cloud forest of Panama. Far from being diminutive and delicate little birds, hummingbirds are some of the fiercest, most territorial, and biologically extraordinary species of avifauna in the world. Did you know the Aztec god of war was named after and depicted as a hummingbird? Did you know the cold weather of mountains helped to drive the evolution of hummingbirds? Did you know that at any given moment, hummingbirds are no more than 20 minutes away from starvation and are forced to go into a state of torpor (true hibernation) every single night to survive! And when it comes to biological diversity, Panama plays home to roughly 1/4 of all hummingbirds in the world.

Photographing hummingbirds in the tropics can be one of the most impossible tasks you will ever encounter as a wildlife photographer - if done wrong. As anyone who has laced up their boots and trekked down a muddy trail into the emerald kingdom of the rainforest can attest, wild encounters with these birds are extraordinarily fleeting and often mere flashes of color in the mid-canopy. For this reason, 99% of hummingbird photography occurs at purpose built setups with anywhere between 1 - 5 off-camera flashes.

Professional nature photographers the world over utilize field set-ups, or outdoor studios, for creating images that would not be possible otherwise. However, far too often, non-native species are used to create these photographs. While hummingbirds are only found in the Americas, often we see them depicted with flowers from South Africa such as the bird of paradise because these are planted around eco lodges where most of these photographs are created. Likewise, species of poison frogs that may be rare and endemic to a small isolated region of Central America, are more often than not, depicted on flowers from Asia such as the Asian ginger. How we create field set-ups matter. From how we work with the animals to keep them safe to ensuring that we creating photographs that actually tell the unique story of the species within our photographs, a lot of thought and intention should go into how these set-ups are created.

Flash is an important component of photographing not only just hummingbirds but most wildlife when working in the dark recesses of the neotropical rainforests. While flash is a staple of so many genres of photography, when it comes to nature photography it is the least understood aspect of the craft. But it shouldn’t be this way. Learning how to utilize flash will revolutionize your photography in so many ways.

Interested in learning more about the workshops we do in Panama?

https://www.photowildworkshops.com/cloud-forest-panama-workshop

https://www.photowildworkshops.com/panama-wildlife-photography-workshop

The PhotoWILD Podcast is a production of PhotoWILD Magazine. Not familiar with us? https://photowildmagazine.com

 Key Takeaways

Animals live or die by the ways in which they respond to changing weather

Wildlife photographers can dramatically increase their success rate in the field by understanding how animals are going to behave, feed, move, and react to weather

Barometric pressure is often the most reliable predictor of wildlife behavior in the winter months

Let’s face it: if you can’t find animals to photograph then you are going to have a very tough time being a wildlife photographer. It doesn’t matter how sophisticated your autofocus system is or how expensive your lenses are. Without wildlife, without the ability to predictably find and approach animals, you can’t be a wildlife photographer.

In this episode, Jared and Annalise discuss one of the most important predictors of wildlife behavior in the winter months: weather. But more than just snow, more than the cold, it’s the barometric pressure that photographers need to understand. This transcends latitudes as barometric pressure impacts wildlife from the tropics to the tundra.

This is one of those topics that needs to be discussed but never is within the wildlife photography community. Jared and Annalise discuss photographing great gray owls and gray wolves in the middle of hunt to explain the importance of this concept on their photography.

If this is a topic you are interested learning more about, not only are there several free articles about weather and wildlife you can find on the website, Jared published an in-depth feature article in the Winter 24 issue of PhotoWILD Magazine about this very topic. Subscribers have access to all the back issues, so make sure you check out that issue. https://photowildmagazine.com

In this episode, Jared and Annalise discuss their time photographing rare and endemic species in the cloud forests of Panama. Forget everything you think of about the tropics when it comes to exploring the forests that grow at 8,000 feet in the mountains. Dripping with moss and bromeliads, the high mountain peaks are like islands in the sky. Each mountain holds its own menagerie of endemic species and thanks to the elevation, each and everyone must be cold adapted despite being so close to the equator. 

Working from purpose built blinds to photograph species of birds that are rarely seen, let alone photographed, an ornate hawk eagle made an unexpected and dramatic cameo appearance in the forest nearby. Jared and Annalise discuss the challenges of suddenly finding themselves confronted with such an extraordinary opportunity in the deep forest. One of those challenges is getting past, psychologically, the urge to create knee jerk documentary photographs. Despite the rarity of a situation, composition and story are still of upmost importance - likely even more so that normally from the perspective of making a living with your photography. And in this episode, the hosts discuss how they worked to pull together creative compositions to move past the oh-so-boring bird on a stick composition, and instead create images that go beyond the trite and cliche to tell stories that sell to magazines. 

Jared and Annalise offer workshops to the cloud forest of Panama. If you would like to know more about this opportunity, check out: https://www.photowildworkshops.com/cloud-forest-panama-workshop

On this episode, Jared and Annalise talk about photographing the moose rut inside Denali National Park. Come September, once the national park bus system shuts down, wildlife photographers can drive the first 30 miles of the park. This gives us access to the prime moose rut area as well as caribou, lynx, wolves, ptarmigan, spruce grouse, and so much more. The only catch is, you have to camp. 

99% of the moose rut takes place at night. When we find and photograph moose this time of the year during the day, these situations are truly the very end of the bell curve of activity. It's sort of like "last man standing" at a bar. Let the sun hit the valley or forest floor and the moose begin bedding down or wander off to cooler climes for the day. And this means that for those photographers who are comfortable with working in low light with extremely high ISO settings, we are going to find our best opportunities just before and just after sunrise. 

Jared and Annalise discuss both the biology of the moose rut and exactly how they are able to create sellable photographs of the moose rut in Denali despite having to concentrate so much of their efforts to extremely low light situations. If you're someone who struggles with noise in their wildlife photographs, you don't want to miss this episode. 

In this episode, Jared and Annalise do a deep dive into how camera companies are adding Artificial Intelligence to our autofocus systems and the ways in which this is truly revolutionizing wildlife photography. Making several treks by boat to a horned puffin colony this summer to experiment with the new autofocus modes that capitalize on this new technology, Jared and Annalise discuss how this has dramatically improved action photography like birds in flight.

Photographing puffins in flight is a challenge for every photographer. Small and fast, flying at nearly 60mph, there is nothing easy about keeping up with and capturing in focus images of puffins in flight. However, with these new AF area modes, success rates are skyrocketing to 90% or better.

Key Takeaways  

Every camera manufacturer today has introduced Artificial Intelligence to their autofocus systems, but this is largely limited to flagship models. The one exception to this at the moment is the Sony A7RV and the Nikon Z8.

Understanding how to use these new AI autofocus modes will dramatically improve your birds in flight photography.

The real revolutionary aspect to this is the fact that these settings now allow us to focus on the things that actually make a great photograph: light, backgrounds, composition, etc.

This episode discusses a number of birds in flight techniques throughout the entire show.

Are you ready to finally master birds in flight? Jared and Annalise have two spaces open on their Epic Eagles workshop in Alaska next winter. Find out more here: https://www.jaredlloyd.com/epic-eagles

In this episode, Jared and Annalise discuss everything photographers need to know about the natural history of brown bears and how to stay safe when working in bear country. Do you know about Overt Reaction Distances? Bear bubbles? The signs and behaviors of bears we should all know to keep ourselves safe? This episode covers all of that. From the research on the efficacy of bear spray versus firearms to how food sources drive behavior, this episode is a must listen for anyone who spends time in bear country.

Moving beyond the biology of bears and what it takes to stay safe when working around these animals, Jared and Annalise discuss some of the incredible silhouette opportunities that unfolded this year along the banks of Cook Inlet in Alaska with bears.

Mastering silhouettes will have an immediate, dramatic, and tangible impact on all of your wildlife photography because silhouettes can be distilled down to the seven elements of design. Learn these, understand how they impact composition, and your photographs will never be the same again. In the upcoming Fall issue of PhotoWILD Magazine, Jared will be publishing a tour de force on this very topic.

Want to join Jared and Annalise in the field to photograph coastal brown bears in Alaska next year?

https://www.jaredlloyd.com/brown-bears-of-coastal-alaska

In this episode, Jared and Analise begin their series on photographing brown bears along the coast of Alaska. Wildlife photographers the world over know about the legendary opportunities the combination of salmon and bears provide. From July through September, wildlife photographers willing to go the extra mile, willing to hop on bush planes and float planes and travel to the remote wilderness of this landscape are presented with what can be non-stop action photographing bears as they fish for salmon - the lifeblood of this ecosystem. 

This year in Lake Clark National Park, Jared and Annalise found themselves spending day after day with two sows with spring cubs. While they travel to this remote roadless national park each year for the salmon run, this year the tiny spring cubs stole the show. 

Key Takeaways 

• Summer and fall provide different photographic opportunities in Alaska for bears. Anyone who is trying to plan a trip to Alaska for brown bears needs to understand the differences so they can capture the types of photographs they are looking for. 

For those who are interested in learning more about composition, Jared is in the middle of publishing an on-going series on the Art of Composition which can be found on the PhotoWILD Magazine membership dashboard. In addition access to all of the back issues of the magazine, and our library of ebooks, subscribers also have exclusive access to articles series such as the Art of Composition and Zen and the Art of Finding Wildlife. 

In this episode, Jared and Annalise discuss some of the unique equipment that they always bring with them when photographing coastal brown bears. Far from being something that is only applicable to bear photography, however, this piece of gear is a vital part of how they photograph wildlife in many different situations. Since the release of the podcast, many of the questions that come through to PhotoWILD have to do with camera equipment and one question keeps coming up over and over again: how and why do we chose the equipment that we use? Jared and Annalise take a deep dive into answer this question, discussing exactly what they are looking for in cameras, lenses, and why they own the ones they do and why they consider them to be the workhorses of wildlife photography. Listen to learn why Jared does not like or use the new Nikon Z8 for wildlife photography.

Key Takeaways

There are a few pieces of relatively inexpensive gear that can make or break your ability to capture the photographs you want - and they have nothing to do with camera equipment.

Working professionals prioritize very specific features in cameras

The equipment we use for wildlife photography is always adapted from other genera of photography. Even 600mm lenses were created for sports photographers, not wildlife work.

Autofocus systems and megapixel counts are NOT the top priority when choosing equipment

Want to join us on a workshop photographing brown bears? https://jaredlloyd.com/workshops