For most photographers on safari, one of the first shots that they will initially instinctually try and capture is the full frame portrait of an animal. An image that involves zooming in to fill the frame with either the whole animal or a close up head shot. But there’s actually a lot more to capturing a good portrait than just the ability to fill the frame. 

If we take a moment to consider how a portrait artist might approach the task, there is a lot we can learn and translate into our photography. A good portrait requires true consideration and understanding of the subject. It is the subtleties that will deliver an image that will prove captivating and engaging for the viewer. 

One of the key elements of potrait photography is developing your connection to the wildlife you are going to be photographing. This involves patience. You need to take your time to sit and observe your subjects. Consider every animal truly as a unique individual. Notice the subtleties of their expressions. 

Where are they looking? How do their ears move, when they are relaxed or attentive? How are they engaging with their environment and the other wildlife around them? It’s really important as a wildlife photographer that you learn to see more than just an animal. You need an awareness that they are a being with thoughts, instincts and emotions, forming both a dynamic part of their environment whilst remaining responsive to it. 

Always remember good portraiture connects the viewer to the subject, allowing them the insight to feel they know them on a deeper level, revealing the characteristics that define the individual. If the photographer hasn’t first felt and established that connection before capturing their image then the image will not engage the viewer in the same way. 

Eyes are known as the window to the soul, try to ensure a sharp focus here and ideally some light catching the eye will help enliven the image.  

The animals pose and framing are equally important in achieving a pleasing result and capturing the sense of character. If you have zoomed out a little remember that your background needs to not be too busy with detail, it doesn’t want to detract from or distract from the main subject. Stay aware of the depth of field you are capturing, have your camera in AV priority and adjust to ensure the animal remains in focus but that the background is softened and recedes. Bokeh can work very well in these situations, if your lens is fast enough and the lighting allows. 

Get creative with your framing, try multiple compositions, with practice you will know what to try and begin to do this instinctually. Until that point just move the subject around the frame, adjusting the focus points as necessary. Side profiles or an animal casually glancing back at you can often be more dynamic then a face to face stare down, so try different poses, and remember different things will work with different animals and different situations so don’t get stuck in doing the same shot for everything. One of the benefits of digital cameras is the ability to be able to freely experiment and immediately see the result so make the most of it. 

Moving on from the initial portrait, you might chose to isolate and focus on some of the smaller details: an eye, a paw, a trunk grasping a branch. Having spent time considering the animal as a whole, you are now trying to break it down so you can study the smaller more detailed aspects. This is a lesson in true observation. Make it a fun and engaging task, that allows you to really get to know and study the animals and individuals you are watching. From an elephants toe nail, to a droplet of water on a whisker or a tiny fly in the corner of an eye, let your attention guide you and your imagination run wild. 

Although this might not necessarily require true macro photography, a sound understanding of the principles will aid you greatly in achieving pleasing detail images and give you a skill to experiment with if you enjoy the challenge. 

In layman’s terms Macro photography is simply close-up photography, capturing a sharp image of a small subject and creating the sense of it being lifesize or magnified, (although there are far more technical definitions and requirements for the true purests out there). The best macro photography requires the smallest lens aperture that still allows for optimum image sharpness and enough depth of field. The aperture needs to be balanced by the exposure time to ensure you have enough light on the subject, as the smaller apertures will be reducing light availability to the sensor, but not extended too long, which would create blur due to movement, in which case your camera needs to be stabilized to reduce this and in macro photography this would be achieved using a mount. Remember to ensure you are focusing on the most important part of your subject to ensure a sharp focus here, as when you are working with shallow depths of field, objects that are mere millimeters apart can be out of focus. 

Lastly as with all photography the best advice is to just enjoy it and have fun experimenting, don’t overlook the smaller subjects whilst on safari, birds, insects and the antelopes, which are often under appreciated but abundantly common and can provide lots of opportunities to practice and also take shots that many who are solely focused on big game will miss.