• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Oben CTM-2500 5-Section Carbon Fiber Monopod
  • Datacolor SpyderX Elite review and installation guide
  • BenQ SW271 monitor offers perfect color and resolution
  • Cecilia Humboldt 14L backpack offers stylish, customizable storage
  • Stacking up ProGrade Digital’s SDXC card and reader with SanDisk

Photofocus

Education and inspiration for visual storytellers

Menu
  • Blog
  • Photo
    • Shooting
    • Gear
    • Lighting
    • Reviews
    • Close
  • Video
    • Shooting
    • Gear
    • Lighting
    • Reviews
    • Close
  • Learn
    • Maximize Lightroom
    • HDR
    • Video
    • Lightroom
    • Photoshop
    • Close
  • Gear Guides
    • The Ultimate GoPro Kit
    • Architectural Photography
    • Close
  • Business
  • Drones
    • Stills
    • Video
    • Gear
    • Post-Processing
    • Close
  • Inspiration
  • News
  • Software
    • Adobe
    • Apple
    • Mobile
    • Skylum
    • Windows
    • Close
  • Podcasts
    • Audio Podcasts
    • Video Podcasts
    • Close
  • Contests

On Nature: How to compose moving wildlife

Jason Hahn 08/23/2018 0

Every animal has a distinct overall body geometry, but this shape will change dramatically as they move.  When you are composing your images, it’s important to understand this concept so you are fitting your frame and composition to them, allowing them to be alive in your shot.

Confession

Time for full a disclosure, my name is Jason and I have a reddish egret addiction.  They are just too much fun to photograph! They dance, they canopy, they give dramatic, elegant, and sometimes goofy poses.  I have thousands of pictures of them, and I can’t stop myself from taking more. As they hunt, they will change their overall shape, from narrow and tall when facing you, to wide and fairly short when in profile doing a “canopy”.  

Give your subject room to be alive

With highly active animals like this, our tendency is to just stick them in the middle of our frame, hold down the shutter button, and hope!  But, you will vastly improve your chances of getting a great image of them if you remain flexible in your composition. Pay attention to their body language so you have an idea of how they will change posture to you, and change your orientation and framing quickly to the different poses they present you.  

If they are moving, give them space to move into. Pay attention to their body position and language. If they are looking to the left, give them space in the frame on the left to look into. Giving your subjects space to be alive will make your photos come alive.

Crop don’t clip!

Anyone who has been on one of my workshops has heard me say this a million times (right along with “how’s your histogram look” and “now, where did I leave my coffee mug”…).  Cropping is a conscious choice in your composition, it looks deliberate and adds to the image.  A “clip” however, is an accident.  For example, if you frame the image to include the full body of a wolf, but the edge of the image cuts off a toe, an ear, or a tail tip.  

Full Body
Full Body
Cropping for composition

If showing only part of an animal be very careful and conscious on where you chose to “crop”, this will avoid crops that look like you made a mistake. This holds true for animals whose legs or other parts may be concealed by long grassses, water, etc.  Subconsciously we know where those legs end even if we can’t see them, not including space for the legs to end can make your animal look amputated.

QUICK TIP: Leave your lens collar loose!

With wildlife, I am usually shooting off a monopod or tripod and using a lens like my Tamron 150-600mm that has a lens collar.   Leave the lens collar just loose enough that you can instantly flip back and forth between portrait and landscape as the animal moves or as you come up with different composition ideas.  After all, you want to make sure you get both the cover and the two page spread when your awesome shots get published!

  • About
  • Latest Posts

Jason Hahn

Nature Photographer and Instructor at Hahn Nature Photography
Jason is a nature and adventure photographer who has been photographing all the amazing creatures and places this planet has to offer for over a decade. Also a Florida Master Naturalist, he enjoys teaching about photography and the natural world. He currently calls Florida home, with his wife, son, and more cats than he would like to admit. When not writing about himself in the third person, he enjoys sunsets and long walks on the beach while carrying 40 pounds of camera gear. He can most often be found wading through a swamp, hunting down a good burger joint, or enjoying time with his family.

You can find out more about Jason, including his photo workshops, at HahnNaturePhotography.com.

Latest posts by Jason Hahn (see all)

  • 10 Quick Tips for Nature Photographers - February 8, 2019
  • Understanding exposure: The aperture setting - January 22, 2019
  • Making your own snow scene - January 15, 2019

Categories: Photography Tags: close-ups composition cropping on nature photography wildlife

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
 

You May Also Like:

Please support our partners:

Adobe Stock – The marketplace where videographers and photographers make money with their video footage and still photographs. Become a contributor today!

Lume Cube – Proudly known as the World's Most Versatile Light™, Lume Cube represents the future of LED Lighting.

ACDSee – Experience ultimate creative freedom with the world's first digital asset manager and RAW editor with layers. ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2019 is the answer to your creative graphic and photography needs.

Illuminati Instruments – Maker of the Illuminati meter that measures flash & ambient, color temperature and chromaticity in a compact case that links to a smartphone.

B&H – B&H is a world renowned supplier of all the gear photographers, videographers, and cinematographers need and want to create their very best work.

Skylum – Your photos, more beautiful in minutes. Makers of Luminar, Aurora and Photolemur, Skylum adapts to your style and skill level. Check out the new Luminar 3, now available.

Perfectly Clear Complete – Built for precision. Made for beauty. Perfectly Clear has mastered the science of intelligent image correction - creating superior quality photos in record time, so you can get back to doing what you really love...in no time. Special Photofocus deal here.

V-Flat World – Lightweight and easy to transport, the Foldable V-Flat from V-Flat World makes it easy to travel, collapsing down to 40 x 40 x 2 inches. Learn more at vflatworld.com.

Adobe Creative Cloud – Creative Cloud gives you the world's best apps and services for video, design, photography and the web, whether you're a beginner or a pro! Plans start at $9.99/mo. at adobe.com.

Viewbug – Learn and improve your photography with over 500 videos. Trusted by millions around the world, join over 2 million photographers who already use Viewbug.

HDR Learning Center – Check out new ways to use High Dynamic Range photography to make compelling images. Free tutorials and posts to get results. Produced in partnership with HDRsoft.

ThinkTAP – New online education for photographers by working professionals. Be one of the first 50 people to buy our new time-lapse training for only $99 (that’s 60% off); use the code TL50.

Reader Interactions

Comment Policy: Vigorous discussion is welcome. Please use your real names and respect one another.

Share your thoughts Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Our eBooks

  • Develop Great Images in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom (Scribd | iBooks)
  • The Basic Beginner’s Guide to Photography Light & Exposure (iBooks)
  • Secrets of HDR (iBooks)
  • 72 Essays on Photography (iBooks | Amazon)

Footer

Photofocus

Regardless of the type of photography you focus on, Photofocus is here as a helpful and educational resource for the aspiring and professional photographer. Our goal is to assist in your success as an artist.

Advertise on Photofocus

Our eBooks

  • Develop Great Images in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom (Scribd | iBooks)
  • The Basic Beginner’s Guide to Photography Light & Exposure (iBooks)
  • Secrets of HDR (iBooks)
  • 72 Essays on Photography (iBooks | Amazon)

Follow Us On Twitter

Follow @photofocus
Follow @rhedpixel
Follow @amesphoto
Follow @bryanesler
Follow @PhotoLevi
Follow @vanelli
Follow @chamirastudios
Follow @HahnNaturePhoto
Follow @LauriNovakPhoto
Follow @lightroomers
Follow @michaelmuraz
Follow @MikeJHagen
Follow @rodharlan
Follow @scottwyden
Follow @TracieJeanPhoto
Follow @Matthew_JordanS
© 2019 Photofocus · All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Advertise
    • Marketing Kit
  • Authors
    • The Publisher
  • Contact Us
  • Legal
    • Contests
    • FTC Disclosures
    • Review Guidelines
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.