One of the goals of professional photographers is to get the best outdoor shots possible. Some of them have gone to great lengths to get this shot. It’s all about positioning and being there when it matters the most. Getting there on time and just in the right spot can mean the difference between landing a cover on an outdoors magazine of having a small insert in one of the pages.
National Geographic photographers started to become known for being very cunning when attempting to get the best shot. They would go all camo and dress themselves using objects and the elements in their favor. I remember hearing about one of them who wanted to get some close-up shots of a group of lions who were hunting at a distance.
With lions, you cannot make any mistakes. One mistake can very quickly put you on a very tight spot. Initially, he would park his car and shoot from a distance. He felt safer inside his vehicle, so if a lion were to see him and charge. He could just start his truck and leave immediately. If the lion caught up to him, he still had the vehicle to protect him.
He got a powerful camera lens that he used to get close up shots. The pictures were really good, but they were not great. He knew that if he wanted to get that coveted cover, he would have to do something extraordinary. The photographer had a friend who had been in the military and was an avid hunter. HE went to him for advice, and that’s when he got the suggestion of using camouflage gear.
He followed the friend’s advice and went back there. He bought a camouflage suit and used some trees and bushes, just like a sniper would have done. The only thing is that instead of a rifle, he had a camera. He got very close to the animals and started taking the pictures. The images he captured are amongst the most beautiful up-close pictures I have seen.
Photographers have been getting more creative and have thought of ways to get up-close shots of animals doing what they normally do. They give viewers a second person angle of how they look like. Like the photographer in the next video. He has put a bucket of water with a camera at the bottom. He was hoping to capture a couple of animals drinking from it, but he got a whole lot of them instead. This is great footage from an unusual point of view. Just watch!
