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Monahans Sandhills State Park: Wildlife photography and landscapes too.

If you’re looking for a distinctive environment to photograph desert wildlife and at the same time grab some great landscapes too, then you’re in luck. Monahans Sandhills State Park offers a stunning landscape that provides excellent opportunities for wildlife and landscape photography. The park’s dunes, grasslands, and sky create an ever-changing canvas of color and texture that can be captured in a variety of ways. In this article, we will take a closer look at the photography opportunities at Monahans Sandhills State Park

One of the most iconic features of Monahans Sandhills State Park is its dunes.
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Getting Started in Wildlife Photography: Tips for Beginners

Are you captivated by the beauty of the natural world and eager to capture stunning images of wildlife? Embarking on a journey into wildlife photography can be both thrilling and rewarding, allowing you to document the wonders of nature while honing your photography skills. If you’re a beginner with no prior experience in wildlife photography, this blog post is here to guide you through the essential tips and techniques that will set you on the path to becoming a successful wildlife photographer.

Wildlife photography can be both thrilling and rewarding
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Wildlife photography: I love my 600mm lens, but how do I get it there? Traveling with a super-telephoto lens.

Most wildlife photographers start using smaller lenses and work their way up to large super-telephoto lenses as time passes. In the beginning, I had a 300mm f4 and, like most, lusted after larger lenses but wasn’t sure that wildlife photography was something I would stick with long enough to justify the expense of a larger lens. Once I saved enough and pulled the trigger on a 600mm lens, I couldn’t wait to travel and test it out. My first trip with this monster was to Jackson, Wyoming, and Grand Tetons National Park. I knew it would be the perfect lens for the trip, but getting it there on the plane was concerning and would take some thought.

Young Pronghorn Antelope Grand Tetons National Park
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Wildlife Photography: “It’s not the camera, It’s the photographer”, well, maybe not.

  “It’s not the camera, It’s the photographer”. I wish I had a nickel for every time I’ve read that in a photography book or magazine, or saw it argued on a photography forum. While it may be true that a great camera won’t make a poor photographer take great photos, it’s also true that it won’t hurt either. Throughout my life, I’ve been fortunate enough to have several hobbies in addition to photography. If there is one thing that I have learned for sure over and over again, it’s that you should buy the best equipment you can afford the first time around. A good carbon fiber fly rod won’t catch more fish, but it will make the experience of fly fishing easier, more efficient, and a lot more fun.  The same holds true for golf clubs, skis, backpacks, and most certainly cameras and lenses.

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Beginning Wildlife Photography: Composition in Wildlife Photography

A great wildlife photo is one that captures the essence and beauty of the subject in a unique and compelling way. There are many elements that can contribute to a great wildlife photo. Sharp focus, good exposure, emotional impact, unique perspective, storytelling, technical skills, and last but not least, Interesting composition. The photo should be well-thought-out, using techniques such as the rule of thirds, leading lines, symmetry, and framing to create a visually appealing and dynamic image.

Part of composition is capturing drama and emotion when possible
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How to Wildlife Photography Techniques ; The Wildlife Photography Apprentice, a man out standing in his field : Part 2

The sun was due to rise at about 6:00 am the next day, so I was up early to position myself.  Hidden at the base of a large tree at the edge of the field,  I sat listening to the sounds of the morning as sunrise approached. I adjusted my ISO to achieve an acceptable shutter speed in the low light conditions, and I waited.  It wasn’t too long before I heard the noise of large animals moving through the brush down by the stream.  Soon a number of what are the largest members of my field ecosystem began to wander into the pasture.  A small herd of elk.

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How to Wildlife Photography Techniques ; The Wildlife Photography Apprentice, a man out standing in his field : Part 1

As we discussed in the last blog, sometimes when you set out to photograph wildlife you have no particular animal or bird in mind to photograph but simply have a location from which to take photographs.   This may be the local park, a  wildlife refuge, a lake, or a friend’s ranch.  I’m fortunate to have access to a vacation home in northern New Mexico.  It lies on about forty acres of pasture and forested land with a small creek along one side. The large pasture out back is it’s own ecosystem with  a variety of animals, insects and birds.  It is a great place to employ the technique of simply concealing oneself, standing and waiting for wildlife to present themselves to be photographed.  In effect it gives me the opportunity to be ” a man out standing in my field”.

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The Circle of Life

Walking the trail this morning I thought to myself that this may be the first morning that I just don’t see anything really worth shooting.  It’s unusual to visit our local wildlife preserve and not see a variety of birds that change throughout the seasons.  Most everytime I go out I find something to shoot.  It’s been dry in West Texas for several months and the playa lake at the preserve is almost dry. This has a significant effect on both the amount and variety of birds that visit. I was almost completely around the trail and had only seen a few Redwing Blackbirds.

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Wildlife Photography Tips: I feel the need. The need for speed.

One of the most iconic lines from the 1986 movie Top Gun. If Maverick had been out shooting  geese in flight, instead of shooting  planes with Goose, his top priority would still have been the need for speed, but a few other things would have come in handy as well.  Almost every wildlife photographer starts out photographing birds. Birds are the most readily accessible and abundant wildlife in our environment.  In the beginning capturing a simple still portrait like the cardinal below is challenging and fulfilling.  If we manage something sharp and clear we’re satisfied and happy.  Sooner or later though we become comfortable with the techniques associated with still images, and there is a desire to challenge ourselves further.  For birds this means capturing birds while in flight.

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