With a theoretical type of subject, we need to start with a theoretical question – what is wildlife photography?
Definition of Wildlife Photography
I have always had in mind the GOOGLE search definition from Wikipedia.
“Wildlife photography is a genre of photography concerned with documenting various forms of wildlife in their natural habitat”
but had taken it to be restricted to animals and not including plants. Browsing the internet it appears this is a common misunderstanding.
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The Wikipedia article refers to the definition agreed upon and published by The Photographic Society of America, the Fédération Internationale de l’Art Photographique, and The Royal Photographic Society. This definition includes all wild members of the animal and plant kingdoms. Or in their words,
Wildlife is not limited to animals, birds and insects. Marine subjects and botanical subjects (including fungi and algae) taken in the wild are suitable wildlife subjects, as are carcasses of extant species
This screenshot of a page in the Royal Photographic Society’s website announces a winner in the 2021 Wild Life Photographer of the Year competition and there is not an animal in sight – confirming it as not Wild Animal Photography.
The definition was actually developed to bring clarity and precision to the .classification of entries to photographic competitions. As such it also has a series of rather strict rules regarding what post-processing is allowed on entries. For instance, only objects that are a result of the camera eg dust spots, digital noise, and film scratches can be removed and stitching is not allowed. You can download the announcement of these rules here.
The Subject
The most obvious way of looking at the types of Wildlife Photography is by categorizing what animal or plant is the subject of the photograph.
The information presented here is not a full and correct version of the formal description of the Kingdom based Biological Classification of life but a selection therefrom presented in a simplified manner appropriate to Wildlife Photographers.
Animal Kingdom
Mammals
Birds
Fish
Reptiles
Amphibians
Insects
Worms
Plant Kingdom
Algae
Mosses
Ferns
Conifers
Flowering Plants
Types of Camera
Another way of looking at types of Wildlife Photography is by catogarising the equipment used to take the photograph.
- Digital cameras
- Film cameras
- Smartphone cameras
- Video cameras
- Robot cameras – A commercially available small robot that carries a camera and can be remotely controlled from up to 500 meters away allows the photographer to get his camera right up to his subject. The photographer’s camera is mounted inside the strongly built robot which runs silently. The tilt and hotizantle level of the camera can be adjusted remotely and an HDMI output from the camera can drive a remote monitor. It is equipped with a rechargeable battery which allows a days shooting.
- Drones – Viewing groups of animals from a drone gives new insights into group behavior and the landscape and often interesting graphic effects
- Animal Traps – a wide variety of devices allow wildlife to trigger a camera focused on a predetermined area and take a photograph of whatever trips the sensor.
- Body cameras – these have been attached to many different animals usually to record behavior rather than capture photographs.
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Focus Groups
Types of Wildlife Photography can be defined by categorizing the focus that links the animals or plants being photographed.
- Big 5 photography
- “Portrait” photography
- Nocturnal animal photography
- Close-up photography
- Herd or flock photography
- Underwater photography
- Bird photography
- Insect photography
- Tree photography
- Action photography
- Habitat photography
- Candid Camera
- Rear View Photography
Hopefully, this will reveal new things to try and encourage the identification of new and novel ideas.