How to Make your Wildlife Photography More Captivating and Creative
- Court Whelan, Ph.D.
- Oct 5
- 6 min read
If you’ve ever felt stuck in the “field-guide shot” zone, this article (based on my full podcast episode here) is for you. This guide shares a dozen field-tested ways to push past documentary style shots and make your wildlife photos more captivating and creative—without abandoning technical discipline. Think of it as a set of levers you can pull, one at a time or stacked together, whenever the scene needs a spark.
1) Turn Up the Drive: Shoot High FPS With Intent
Moments live in single frames—expressions, eye glints, paw positions, wing arcs. A higher drive mode (15–30 frames per second, or fps, is what I'm talking about) expands your odds of catching that one superior micro-moment.
Yes, you’ll need fast memory cards and you’ll have to cull more photos in post. The tradeoff is beyond worth it, though when one frame out of a 40-shot burst carries the story better than the other 39. Use short, purposeful bursts to avoid buffer lock and editing fatigue.
Pro move: Pre-visualize what you want inside the burst: a glance over the shoulder, talons extended, a yawn at full stretch. Burst through that moment—then stop.
2) Get Low, Get Level
Changing your camera height is the cheapest image upgrade in photography--and it's a big upgrade when done right! Drop to eye level with the animal (or as close as you can safely) and shoot parallel to the ground. Backgrounds shift from dirt and clutter to distant meadow, mountain, or sky—instantly cleaner, with better subject separation. If you can’t go fully prone, a knee or squat still helps. Take a few extra seconds to explore your options, even if it means you have to move from what you thought was the prime position, as the eye-level shots turn out the best 99% of the time.
3) Engineer Background Separation (Even at f/7.1)
Background blur isn’t only about a fast lens. It’s mostly about distance ratios:
You ↔ Subject close
Subject ↔ Background far
Maximize that second distance. A step to the side, a small elevation change, or waiting for the subject to move two meters closer can turn tangled vines into a soft wash. Even at f/7.1–f/8, a big subject-to-background gap yields pleasing separation and makes your in-focus subject feel sharper by contrast.
4) Compose for Components: Photograph the Parts
Not every keeper photo needs the entire animal. Build a mini-series: the texture of a tortoises shell, elephant eye, chameleon tail curl, patterned fur, paw pads--these are all great examples. In the age of galleries, online posts, carousels, and book spreads, a set of “component” frames paired with a hero shot tells a richer story than any single image. We have a unique ability to share multiple photos to our audience like never before, so think about a variety of photos, especially when faced with the biggest, most impressive wildlife on earth.
Tip: Treat these like macro from a distance—stop down (i.e., deep depth of field) for texture when needed and fill the frame with pattern.
5) Frame With the Habitat
Look for natural frames—arched branches, gaps in rocks, reeds, converging trunks. Let that shape loosely encircle or lead to your subject. This adds depth, context, and a guided entry point for the viewer’s eye. Don’t worry if the frame elements are soft; a blurred foreground frame can be especially elegant.
6) Use Spot Metering to Craft the Mood
Most of the time matrix or evaluative metering is your friend (often called different things with different camera platforms, but I'm talking about metering that evaluates the entire frame). When you want drama fast, switch to spot metering and put the subject in the center for the reading:
Subject in shade with bright surroundings? Spot on the subject to lift it and let the environment go bright and airy.
Subject in a shaft of light with otherwise dark surroundings? Spot on the lit fur/head/feather to keep it glowing while the world falls to shadow.
Recompose after a quick center-meter if your camera offers exposure lock, or shoot a little wide and crop to taste.
7) Change White Balance In-Camera (On Purpose)
Yes, you can fix WB in RAW. But setting Daylight for cool blues at dawn or Shade for warm ambers at sunset changes how you see and compose in the moment, and often yields a more cohesive creative direction later. I find that dramatic changes in white balance after the photo makes my eye and brain look at it as over-editing and fake. Doing so in the moment, as you take the shot makes such a difference!
Cycle among Auto/Daylight/ Shade on the same scene and notice which rendition feels most like the story you want to tell.
8) Intentional Motion Blur: Paint With Shutter
“Freeze it” isn’t the only option when it comes to shutter speed and wildlife photography. For fast subjects, try 1/50–1/10 s and pan with the animal to keep the head relatively crisp while legs, wings, grasses smear into motion. You’ll throw away a bunch; the keepers will look like still frames with a pulse. Once you have your safe shots of classic "frozen motion" photos, give yourself a minute to play with slower shutters—you’ll be surprised how often one of these becomes a favorite of the entire sequence!
9) Zoom or Twist During Exposure
This is definitely a more playful technique, but it can be quite powerful in moderation: at a mid-slow shutter (around 1/40–1/100), zoom or rotate during the exposure. A smooth zoom can create a subtle tunnel effect around a centered subject. A gentle clockwise/counter-clockwise twist can streak the background while preserving enough subject shape to read. It’s tough to fake convincingly in post, which is why doing it in-camera feels fresh.
10) Exaggerate Composition
When the landscape is the story, break the rule of thirds intentionally. Place animals in the lower tenth to emphasize vast sky or tundra; or push them to a corner to amplify negative space. These “small animal, big world” choices feel modern and often more honest to the scale we experience in the field.
11) Embrace Center Composition—When Symmetry Shows Up
Centering your wildlife subject in the frame can be dull—it's why we usually gravitate to the balance that something like the rule-of-thirds offers. However, when there is uncanny symmetry in the frame, you have another option--centering your subject smack dab in the middle. Think patterned vegetation like grasses, mirrored reeds, even light on both sides, the subject looking straight on.
When the left and right (and perhaps even top and bottom) of your scene balance naturally, a centered subject reads as intentional, bold, and graphic. If you identify symmetry, try a centered frame before the pattern disappears.
12) Choose Your Background
This is one of my favorites. Instead of paying attention only to the subject, start watching what’s behind it. Pivot two steps left to trade blown out sky for dark foliage. Kneel to swap scrub for distant hillside. Wait for the animal to move into a cleaner lane. Background is not a fixed parameter—you control it with micro-movement and patience. Oftentimes small adjustments in your own position can make vast differences in the color, texture, and light of your background--use it to your advantage!
Sponsor Shout-Outs (from the podcast episode)
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Shimoda Designs – My go-to camera packs. I use the Action X40; it’s expandable, organized, water-resistant, and genuinely comfortable. Use code WHELAN10 for 10% off.
Lensrentals.com – Rent to prep for special trips or to “try before you buy.” Use wildphoto15 for 15% off your order.
Captivating and creative isn’t a filter you slap on at the end—it’s a mindset you bring to the moment. Whether it's moving your feet, your camera settings, or expectations in general, I hope these tips help to instantly inject more creativity into your wildlife photography to make your shots more captivating than ever. While these all stand alone as solid strategies, stack multiple ideas from this list on your next outing, and watch how quickly your images start feeling less like records and shots from a field guide book and more like experiences and true art.
Until next time!
Court
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