Recent Animal Articles

An Amazing Look into National Geographic's Wildlife Photographers

Over the last 100 years, National Geographic has brought us some of the most iconic and incredible images of wildlife spanning across the globe. Though on rare occasion, we're able to actually see the work that goes into capturing these images. Some of these amazing photos take days, or even weeks to capture. The film posted above is a great look into all the images that National Geographic captures during a migration period for various animals.

Beautifully Shot Profile Video Of Wildlife Photographer Asgeir Helgestad

"It is not about getting as close as possible, but to capture the feeling of being there. I don't want to just look into their world, I want to be a part of it." Asgeir Helgestad is a photographer from Norway whose wildlife imagery seems to step inside the world of the animal. In this short video, Asegir explains why he chose this pursuit, and what he hopes to convey with his work. Worth the watch in HD and fullscreen.

Japanese Wildlife Photographer Travels the Globe to Film Cats of the World

I happened across this serene video of a tiny kitten befriending Japanese wildlife photographer Mitsuaki Iwago as he was filming for his NHK TV series, "Wildlife Photographer Mitsuaki Iwago's World Cats Travelogue". While being lulled by the tranquility of the scene I couldn't help but think how amazing our craft is, that we can make a living doing something so incredibly delightful. Iwago-san is fortunate enough to travel the world filming and photographing cats in the streets.

Long Lens Tripod Techniques for Photographers

Whether your subject is wildlife, landscapes, sports or some other type of distance-related photography, using a tripod is a must for stable, clear images. Yes, there are workarounds, and some photographers insist they don't need a tripod. Award-winning nature photographer Steve Perry has put together an easy to watch video on techniques that work for him when he's using long lenses to capture his subjects.

5 Tips on Composition To Help You Master Bird Photography

Wildlife photography is one of the trickiest genres to shoot as it requires a lot of knowledge, equipment, and patience for even a chance at a good shot. In this video, a world-class bird photographer walks you through his best tips for improving your composition.

Embracing the Environment in Wildlife Photography

Wildlife photography often gravitates towards close-up, frame-filling portraits, capturing intricate details of the subject. However, this approach, while initially appealing, can limit the storytelling potential of a photograph. This helpful video will show you how including context can improve your work.

HOWL: An Ethical Photography Convention

Ontario is Canada’s most populous province. It contains 9 of the top 20 urban areas by population size in the country. Where, then, is there room for an annual convention on wildlife photography? Whitney, Ontario, the gateway to Algonquin: meet Howl.

Picfair's Urban Wildlife Photography Awards

Picfair is sponsoring a new Urban Wildlife Photography Awards competition intended to celebrate our growing connection with urban wildlife. Enter here. Hurry, entries close May 31, 2022 at midnight.

Should You Use a Teleconverter, or Just Crop the Image?

Where once the only option was the longest lens possible if you wanted to shoot wildlife, now we have the resolution to give the photographer some real flex with cropping. So when you're next out birding, what's the best approach? Is it a telecoverter, or just cropping?

Wildlife Photographers: Scrub Your GPS Data 

In a recent series about people, technology, and nature, Vice highlighted the growing problem of poachers who are using photographer’s GPS data to locate, harass, and kill rare animal species. In the US, one of the more prevalently poached species is the rattlesnake, a species that is almost exclusively North American.

Check Out This Photographer's Incredible Dedication to Getting the Shot

Some genres need remarkable levels of patience along with all the usual requirements regarding creativity and technique to get the shot. How long could you wait to get the image you wanted? This photographer waited multiple days for the perfect photo, and as this video shows, the results were worth the wait.

Is the Canon EOS R5 the Perfect Camera for Bird Photography?

With a huge 45-megapixel sensor that can churn out raw files at 20 frames per second, the Canon EOS R5 sounds like it could be the perfect camera for capturing wildlife. This in-depth review looks at how it performs out in the field shooting birds.

Photographing the Westminster Dog Show: Interview with Landon Nordeman

An assignment to capture images of trophy canines at the Westminster Dog Show yielded a striking New Yorker magazine portfolio by photographer Landon Nordeman. An award-winning imagemaker who frequently shoots for Saveur, ESPN The Magazine, and The New Yorker, Nordeman is no stranger to visual storytelling at the greatest dog show on earth.

How to Strap a GoPro to Your Dog and Capture Their Antics

Being a dog lover and person that runs a dog charity on the side, I am always curious as to what my rescue Pit Bull / Boxer Emma does when I leave the house. I always imagine that she just sleeps in my bed, but my family tells me she cries and stares at the door when I leave town. After seeing this first video, I've decided I will be strapping a camera to her to see what she does. Read below to see how you can too!

Learn to Find Subjects Quickly With Long Lenses

Long telephoto lenses are excellent at capturing the rich, intimate details of animals, but there’s a learning curve to using them. Before you miss another shot by not finding your subjects in the viewfinder in time, check out this video.

Why You Should Use Commercial Photography Hides

The use of commercial photography hides can be a controversial subject amongst wildlife photographers. In this article, I discuss the pros of such hides and how they can help you photograph those more elusive animals.

Ten Easy Tips for Dog Photography

The same way people portraiture requires imagination and inspiration to create something different, so does dog photography. Have you tried photographing dogs but wished you could have added something to make them stand out more? Phil Harris has created a short video to give you 10 quick and easy tips and tricks to achieve that.

Watch Live Video of Bears Fishing for Salmon

The Internet and mass proliferation of capable devices has allowed almost anyone to broadcast live video. Many have taken advantage of it in the form of things like Periscope and Facebook Live, using it to broadcast behind the scenes footage and discuss trending topics, but Explore has used it for a rather neat purpose.

Rhino Gets Belly Rub From Kind Cameraman

Cinematographer Garth De Bruno Austin was recently shooting a film on rhino poaching when one of the rhinos walked right up to him and waited to receive a belly rub, which Austin happily provided.

Capturing the Best Poses for Bird Photography

Getting a flighty little bird in the frame and snapping a photo is a thrilling experience. Many times it’s not easy. But, if you want to step up your bird photography, there are some particular poses to pay attention to that will make better images.

"Birds Of Paradise" Project Aims To Reveal Birds Unlike Anything You've Ever Seen

Wildlife Photographer Tim Laman has been working on the Birds of Paradise project for over 10 years, hiking countless miles through undisturbed rainforests to seek out and capture some of the most unique birds that are native to only New Guinea. In this trailer for both the photo exhibit and National Geographic documentary, get a sneak peek at the almost alien like avian species that inhabit the rainforest.

Fstoppers Interviews Fine Art Photographer George Wheelhouse

George Wheelhouse is a fine art nature and landscape photographer from Bedfordshire, U.K. I recently spoke with him about his contemporary portraits of animals, as well as his more traditional woodland and mountain landscapes. Though many of Wheelhouse's favorite subjects are local, he told me that he loves to travel to remote locations, particularly to Nordic areas. He also shared that he is quite fond of boreal forests like Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and Canada.

Five Tips for Photographing your Pets at Home

If you like photography, have a camera, and have pets, they're going to meet sooner or later. Here, Matt Granger gives you his tips for photographing your pets at home.

National Geographic’s Nature Photographer of the Year

The winners of National Geographic’s 2017 Nature Photographer of the Year have been announced. This year, Jayaprakash Joghee Bojan comes away with the grand prize for his wildlife photo, “Face to Face in a River in Borneo.”

An Incredible Journey Shows the Power of Wildlife Photography and Conservation

Lara Jackson is an incredible wildlife photographer, conservation biologist, and children's book author. Over the last few years, Lara has had an incredible journey, becoming highly commended in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition to then becoming an ambassador with Nikon and Save The Rhino. I sat down with Lara to discuss this journey in more detail.

Fashion Portraits Show People and Their Dogs Look Alike

Alexander Khohlov, a multi-award winning photographer from Moscow, has done the incredible. He has put together a team to style people and dogs to suit each other. Although the dogs aren't the model's pets, it's a very well executed project with regards to photography, styling, and hair and makeup, and it's set up in a studio which draws the eyes to the characters, the person, and the dog in the photograph.

Photographer Ty Foster Tugs at Our Heart Strings in 'Timeout' a Series of Dogs in 'Cones of Shame'

Most dog or cat owners have had to use an Elizabethan collar at one point or another with their pet. “It’s a necessary and beneficial part of the healing process, but to them it’s like being put in timeout,” photographer Ty Foster explained. In this photo series of his, he visually expressed the emotional hardships that our animal brethren have to endure while wearing what he refers to as “the cone of shame.” In the series, Foster goes out of his way to show the trials and tribulations that come along with wearing this shameful collar.

Photographers Build DIY Remote Controlled Submarine To Film Hippos Underwater

Drones are probably the hottest gadgets in the photography industry this year. We see them being used for commercial aerial shoots, for news coverage, for wedding photography and, well, just for fun. The guys at 'Earth Touch' recently decided to see if they can create a drone that instead of going up to the sky, will be able to go down under the water. After planning on paper, they executed their idea and built a fully functional underwater 'drone' submarine. Check out the BTS and the final result.

duck toller and miniature pinscher standing in sunset

Dogs are among of the most difficult subjects to photograph. They are unpredictable, easily distracted, and move quickly. The challenges that accompany photographing our canine counterparts are multiplied when working with more than one dog at once. Luckily, there are a few things you can do to help get the perfect shot of a group of dogs.

Macro Photography: What You Need to Know for Photographing the Smallest Creatures

Macro photography can be a fun and exciting step for a hobbyist or the full time photographer looking to shoot something different. It takes patience (in most cases if you are working with small creatures) and a keen eye for that interesting shot. So what do you need to know in order to start into macro photography?

How to Improve Your Wildlife Photography With the Topaz Image Quality Bundle

As a professional nature photographer, Topaz DeNoise is an essential part of my workflow. I had heard about it for years, but since I owned Lightroom and Photoshop, I didn’t add Topaz into my software library until last spring. I was late to the party, but at least I can save you the trouble. Just DeNoise alone is worth every penny. Come see why.

How to Pick the Winning Photo From a Series of Bird Images

There are some genres in which you simply have to take fast bursts of pictures in order to ensure you get the right image taken at just the perfect moment. Bird photography is one such genre. So, when you come home with hundreds or even thousands of photos, how do you know which to choose from those? This helpful video tutorial shares a wide variety of advice sure to assist you in choosing the perfect shot.

Are You Getting Too Close To Your Animal Subjects?

When it comes to bird and wildlife photography, getting as close as possible without disturbing the animal is often the name of the game. However, there is an issue of geometry that can sometimes ruin your shot. This excellent video will show you why sometimes, you are better off getting farther away from your subject to get the best possible shot.

Elk Charges Photographer at Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park has very clear rules about how close humans can get to animals: 100 yards from bears and wolves and 25 yards from all other large animals. One photographer disobeyed those rules and quickly learned a scary lesson.

Photographer Travels to More Than 50 Countries to Photograph Weird and Wonderful Wildlife

London-based photographer Harry Skeggs began his love affair with traveling at the age of 17 with what he describes as a "rubbish little camera." He says it was his disappointment with the quality of the images that pushed him to seek out better. Here, we take a look at some of his finest wildlife images from around the world.

Winners: Picfair's Urban Wildlife Contest

Andrew Interisano, a digital advertising specialist and an amateur photographer, has won Picfair's Urban Wildlife Photography Awards. Scroll to see all of the category winners! Of note, all of Picfair's profits on winners print sales will go to global conservation non-profit Re:Wild.

The Finalists for the 2016 Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards Are Here

The competition for the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards is now closed, but you can have a look at the numerous entries which photographers have submitted. And I must warn you, these are photos of the derpiest animals you have ever seen!