Thursday, September 29, 2011

Working with Animals

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Now I am not claiming to be Dr. Do-Little, but I do have a way with animals that makes all but the most abused animals of the world at least trust me, if not love me. This does not mean that I will jump into the tiger exhibit at your local zoo, that would be assinine, but I will venture into realms most other photographers steer clear of for one or more reasons.

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One of my secrets of dealing with animals, is patience. This is particularly true if you are trying to do pet photography. Animals can be pinicky about who they trust. The type of instant trust needed for an impatient photographer is not likely in 90% of pets. That trust can take hours to build, and just seconds to destroy. Farm animals can take days or weeks to build this same level of trust and wild animals can require months or years of investment.

 

So the first thing you need to do is to be patient. A lack of patience on your part is received by the animals, particularly wild and farm animals, as a predatory behavior, such as; following the animal when it moves away, running after the animal, sneaking up on the animal like it doesn't see you or hiding in the bushes, again like it couldn't smell that fufu perfume or old spice you're wearing from the moment you walked out your front door.

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The second thing you need is patience? Nope that isn't a typo. Once you have the animal somewhat trusting you, you need to make sure you don't violate that trust. Let them touch you, but don't touch them. The time where you can reach and touch will build to the point that they are constantly right up against you. Rush this step and you might very well being photographing with your long lens for a long time.


The third thing you need is to have a strong stomach. Have you ever had a cow lick you? Yeah, I said lick. Sure it's gross... but it's just spit and a little grass (freshly chewed and regurgitated for sure, but it's all natural). Most animals will investigate what you are in one or both of two ways; through smell and taste. So a cow licking you is much like a handshake to people, or a dog sniffing your crotch. They identify what you are and who you are. You being open to this type of repore building allows for you to get into a position to photograph animals in ways that might take months or years to get otherwise.

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The last thing you need is spatial and situational awareness. It is difficult to understand what certain body language means with animals unless you get to know the animals. From afar,spend some time studying behaviors. Learn what it means when a horse's ears are back. Understand the signs that are the precursor to a llama spitting. Know what it means when a cow lowers its head, and it isn't looking to eat grass. Animal behavior is a lot like law... just because you didn't know doesn't mean you didn't violate it and you are the one who will pay the price.


Always be aware of what is going on around you, especially with pack or herd animals. This is spatial awareness.

In dealing with wild animals, not domesticated farm animals, frequency is important. The more the animals see you in their environment doing what it is that you want to do, the faster they will grow comfortable with you when you want to photograph them. 

At my former employer, the office build resided on a wetland. Canadian Geese starting nesting in February. By mid April we had goslings walking in the wetlands. Every day, each break and my lunch, I went out into the wetlands to photograph. I hung out in the vacinity, within eyesight of a mated pair of geese each and everyt time I went out. I started by ignoring them, photographing other things. As time wore on, I began turning my camera towards the geese. They were alert to my actions, but I kept my distance and they never felt threatened; alert yes, but never threatened.

As time went on, I began moving a little closer, watching the body langauge of the nesting geese. If they showed signs of stress, I backed off, that is called respecting boundries, in this case nesting boundries.

Before you knew it, the eggs had hatched and I was photographing babies. Not just photographing them, but photographing them from a little as six feet away. I could do this because I was not a threat to these new parents. They knew me. They were used to me. Most importantly, I never posed a threat to them and therefore I was not a threat to their babies.

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Now let me just say this, I have never been directly attacked by any animal I was photographing, but I have been caught up in a scuffle between two male geese who were of all things, fighting over a gander. This happened because I wasn't paying attention to what was going on around me. Thank god it wasn't a couple of bulls.

Never go photographing wild animals alone, even something as cute and cuddly looking as a fawn can have tragic consequences. Fawns have moms... a doe can weight as little as 125 pounds to up to 175. Bucks can get upwards to 300 pounds. If you have never seen a show like "When Animals Attack" let me just tell you bigger men than me have been hospitalized by critters smaller than a deer. Have someone go with you and stick together. Also make sure to commincate where you're going to friends, family and neighbors as well as when you plan to leave and arrive back, and stick to that. Don't deviate. That way if you get lost or hurt, people will notice when you aren't back on time and they will know where you should be and help can be on the way. 

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If you are in the woods, or even a wildlife preserve, wear hunter's orange. Poachers don't care about wildlife preserves except that they usually make for exceptional hunting grounds. Hunter's Orange is the universal color for "Don't Shoot". DO NOT WEAR White, the term White Tail has a meaning to hunters, brown, blue, green or a fur coat. Don't worry... the animals don't care about fashion, and animals don't see in color, so everything is simply shades of gray.

If you're going to be on a farm make sure to bring boots... cow patties smell even worse in a heated car than they do in the field. Always ask permission from the farmer before entering. Always get information about the animals, particularly ask if any are particularly aggressive. If the property is particularly large, bring a hunter's orange vest... hunters love hunting on large ranches.

One of the things that works for me is that I talk to the animals. I talk in a normal voice and say various things like hello, nice to meet you, thank you, what are you doing? The animals don't understand a word I am saying but I am accomplishing a few things; I am keeping myself calm as talking does that. I am familiarizing the animals with my voice and associating my voice with a my non-threatening behavior. Sure I may look and sound like a crazy man, but it works.

Have patience. Frequent the same locations. Keep your spatial and situational awareness in the forefront of your mind. Learn about the animals you are going to photograph. Study the animals from afar for some time before injecting yourself into their environment. Never go alone. Let others know where and when you are going. Always ask permission. Don't be afraid to talk around or with the animals.

If you follow these guidelines you might have a good experience and might even get a great photo.

Good luck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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