Happy birthday Ben

Learning to shoot wildlife with a camera

When I was in Thailand recently, my friend, Larry, suggested we go to visit Michel in Kanchanaburi. Michel and his wife, Nong, take fantastic photos of wildlife which they put on flickr. They invited us to come and stay in their house for a few days. Here they are with Nong's grandson.


When we arrived we went to see the Bridge over the River Kwai which was famous in World War II. There was a movie made about it.


The next day we went off into the bush to take photos of wildlife.


Michel is going to give us some tips on taking great wildlife pictures.

After a while, he stopped the Land Cruiser and said 'See, there.'

'What?'

'In the bamboo. Squirrels.'

'Squirrels? I don't see any squirrels. All I see is lots of bamboo.'


Michel pointed and I saw it. Can you see it in the photo above?

Later I got this close-up shot.


I learned the first lesson of shooting wildlife (with a camera). Keep your eyes open and look carefully.

A little further along the track we stopped again beside another clump of bamboo. 'See the bird?'


It took me a while. But I could see it. It's tiny. How did he see it while he was driving?

I got this shot.


And I've learned the second important lesson of shooting wildlife. It's the same as the first. Keep your eyes open and look carefully.

Later we got out of the car and took a walk in the bush. I got this shot all by myself.


OK, so it's only a chicken. But it was free in the bush and it was hard to see against the colour of the straw. Can you see the baby chicken?