I like a great wildlife portrait as much as the next person. I always try to portray my wildlife subject at it’s finest in my portraits. As of late I’ve found my interest drifting away from these perfect portraits. I’ve been working hard trying to produce strong scenic/environmental images which include wildlife in the landscape. These can be difficult images to achieve but I feel they are very informative to the viewer. It’s quite rewarding when you can pull one-off successfully.
During my “Battling Bighorns” photo tour last week I was on the lookout to capture dramatic animalscapes. In the above image I have placed the ram which is quite small in the frame in the upper left power point moving diagonally into the frame. The great afternoon light falling on the vertical rugged environment the sheep lives in tells a great story.
Dramatic action and behavior in the bighorn sheeps natural habitat highlights the image shown above. Again the sheep are fairly small in the frame and the environment dominates. Here the bighorn sheep interacting in a dramatic way with their environment carries the image.
In this image weather conditions add the dramatic element needed to give the scene visual interest. Without the falling snow and the ram this image would not work. I placed the ram on the lower left power point to create a strong composition. Dramatic light and weather conditions can lead to dramatic imagery. Fairweather photography is often boring…
With this image I used a rugged mountain background to balance the bighorn sheep in the foreground adding strong visual interest and showing the viewer the world the sheep live in. Next time your out photographing wildlife think beyond the portrait and try to produce your own animalscapes. Good luck to you!
