To start our fall nature photography season this year, we went to Alaska at the end of August and ended up spending a lot of time photographing wildlife and birds. Although I always enjoy watching wild animals, I have never spent much time photographing them for a variety of reasons. Yet, with so many animals and birds around us, it seemed like I should at least give it a decent try and I ended up really enjoying the experience. It felt exciting to try something new, stretch my skills, and add a different kind of photography to my portfolio. The process of watching these animals and birds also deepened my understanding of these ecosystems and left me feeling more connected to the landscape. Below, I share a few favorite experiences, things I learned as a landscape photographer trying to photograph wildlife, and a few new photos.
You can see the full gallery of photos here. You can also join me for a free webinar with Ian Plant on December 18th. We will talk about the challenges and benefits of trying new photography genres—like me trying wildlife photography!
INTRODUCTORY CONTEXT
Over years of daydreaming about a fall trip to Alaska, seeing the autumnal tundra was the main thing on my mind. I hadn’t spent much time thinking about the wildlife and birds we might also see and certainly didn’t plan on wildlife photography becoming a focus for the trip. My interests and motivations related to nature and landscape photography, however, have changed quite a bit in the last few years. I now see myself as an aspiring naturalist and am much more interested in the interconnectedness between the landscapes I photograph and the species that live in or pass through these places. And, after a spring and summer of learning more about bird photography, I developed some of the basic technical skills I would need for wildlife photography (primarily a better understanding of autofocus options).
There is another reason I have not been interested in wildlife photography that is worth mentioning: I find the culture on display in places like Great Smoky Mountains National Park or Yellowstone National Park totally unappealing. I don’t want to be part of that scene. When we were in the Smokies in the spring a few years ago, it was downright disturbing to see so many wildlife photographers harassing black bears in pursuit of a photograph. I have gotten to the point where I do not look at wildlife photography unless I know for certain that the photographer cares about the well-being of their subjects and adheres to ethical practices. Without that kind of assurance, the likelihood is high that there is harassment, rule-breaking, baiting, abusive game farms, or other unsavory practices behind a photograph. I mention this here since some of the photos in my full collection of Alaska wildlife look like they were taken in very close proximity to animals. In these situations, we were in a vehicle (like the Denali hiker bus) or at a viewing area. In all cases, we treated our wild subjects with respect and adhered to ethical field practices.
Two bald eagles communicating with one another. Prince William Sound, Alaska. Fish are a primary source of food for bald eagles so they were relatively easy to find in coastal areas, especially where spawning salmon were plentiful.
PHOTOGRAPHING ANIMALS AND BIRDS FROM A BOAT
I am not naturally suited to photographing wildlife and birds. For my landscape photography, I move slowly unless the light is quickly changing and am very deliberate with my composition, framing, attention to detail, and technical decisions. I almost always use manual focus and did not understand most of the focusing options on my camera until a few months ago. I almost always work on a tripod, partially because I prefer the precision and partially because I have unsteady hands.
While I understand the concept of the decisive moment, it only comes into play with landscape photography on occasion so I am not practiced in photographing through an action sequence from start to finish. I regularly stop photographing too soon when I am observing an animal or bird. Another mistake: with the photography pace moving much more quickly, with so many things to think about in short succession, I make a lot of careless mistakes, like not fully zooming out my 100-500mm lens and then having to crop more than necessary later.
In addition to these factors, the photography conditions we experienced in Alaska required a lot of adaptation from my typical photography comfort zone. We went on two boat-based wildlife tours, one leaving from Seward and one leaving from Valdez. For both, the rain was constant and sometimes heavy. At first, I had a hard time accepting that I was going to need to use high ISOs (3200! no!) to get sharp photos due to the dark and dreary weather, the motion of the sea, and the moving animals.
Of all the species we observed in Alaska, the black-legged kittiwakes were among my favorite to watch, especially in the context of being around feeding Steller sea lions. The kittiwakes are intense birds, with single-minded focus in pursuing salmon scraps. When the possibility of scavenging arises, they aggressively flock toward the action with their mouths open. In our hours of watching the sea lions, the kittiwake cacophony (link to iPhone video) was the constant soundtrack.
Because we were visiting at the very end of the boat tour season, we had limited options. The tour out of Seward was on a smaller boat with a very knowledgeable, naturalist-oriented crew. It was inspiring to see them so excited—even at the end of the season—to spot birds and wildlife, especially the rare Kittlitz murrelet. This boat captain spent a lot of time at each stop, which helped with the photo options. The ocean was unsettled on the day of that tour so even with a good captain, the boat drifted a lot and added even more complexity to the composition puzzle.
The tour out of Valdez was on a larger, more crowded boat with a going-through-the-motions crew so while the photography opportunities were plentiful, the pace was just too fast. If we were to do this trip again, I would have put more effort into hiring a small boat for a private tour so we could slow down the pace and have potentially fewer but better opportunities. Still, I am glad we went on both of these boat tours because they ended up being highlights of the trip. And, despite the range of challenges—especially the constant rain and photographing from a moving vessel—both were photographically and educationally rich experiences.
Here, a salmon releases milt (fish semen) as it is caught by a black bear. In some ways, this is a sad end for a salmon that has returned all the way to its birthplace to spawn. When caught by a predator like this bear, the salmon sometimes will immediately release their eggs or milt. With the number of salmon swimming in this creek, it seems possible that this milt could fertilize some eggs—a last ditch biological response that has a tiny chance of resulting in baby salmon.
BEARS, SEA LIONS, AND SPAWNING SALMON
On land, the Valdez area was by far the most productive for wildlife, followed by Denali National Park. We expected to see a lot of wildlife along the Denali Highway but only saw birds (swans, bald eagles, and quite a few song birds), probably because we were there at the peak of hunting season. These land-based wildlife interactions were far more interesting, mostly because we had extended time to watch the animals going about their activities. The photography was also less frenetic and closer to how I approach landscape photography—another reason why I probably enjoyed it more.
During our visit to Valdez, pink salmon were returning in large numbers to spawn, attracting Steller sea lions, black bears, bald eagles, and seabirds. We were lucky to spend many hours over two days watching a large group of sea lions and three black bears fishing for the salmon. For the bears, it was essentially a fish-maiming festival. The bears were fishing at a creek that was thick with salmon (see a short iPhone video of the setting here), with the salmon returning to this spot where they were born to either lay eggs or fertilize eggs before dying, completing their lifecycle right where it started.
The area had experienced some recent flooding, with the rising water levels leaving dead salmon all over the surrounding rocks and grasses. The bears took turns meandering through the creek. After catching a salmon, the bear would retreat to the side of the creek and bite the salmon, looking to see if it was a female with eggs. If it was, the bear would use a paw to hold the still-flopping salmon in place and would work to eat the eggs. If it was a male, the bear would drop the maimed salmon back in the creek and move on to look for a female.
Steller sea lions are the largest of the eared seals, with adult males weighing up to 2,500 pounds. They are generous with their vocalizations and frequently spared while we were watching them feed on the spawning salmon. This sparing, especially when it is more aggressive to defend territory during mating season, can result in a shorter life expectancy for males. Here, the tussle ended quickly with the smaller sea lion yielding to the larger, more aggressive animal. With all the salmon, there wasn’t much of a need for real fighting.
The bears were generally not killing the salmon, just wounding them in their individual style. One bear would only back up with the salmon oriented horizontally in its mouth to a safe spot to engage in the maiming whereas another bear preferred to carry each salmon by its tail back to a specific rock for inspection. It was a gory process, with the pungent odor of hundreds of rotting salmon lingering in the air and hundreds more of slowly dying salmon still swimming around in the shallow creek, adding to the overall atmosphere. In terms of composition, all the dead and dying salmon are bright visual distractions. Had I been focused on landscape photography, I would have moved on. In processing these photos, I needed to shift my mindset a bit. These photos are generally more documentary so the salmon carcasses add context. Their rotting corpses are an essential part of this ecosystem, adding essential nutrients to the stream habitat, and in a wildlife photo help tell an important part of the story.
Just like the bears and bald eagles, the Steller sea lions know where to feed on spawning salmon. There are a few areas around Valdez where these massive creatures can be viewed up close as they fish, surrounded by a constant cacophony of gulls and black-legged kittiwakes. Whereas the bears were taking a slow, almost sedate approach to their salmon-maiming, I recoiled in shock when we first saw a sea lion catch and eat a salmon. After catching the fish, the sea lion violently slapped it on the surface of the water to break it in half and then rapidly consumed both halves (see short iPhone video here).
The kittiwakes are a constant presence during this process, aggressively fighting for the scraps. With their beaks open and combative body movements, they intensely swarm any center of action. They were almost as fun to watch as the sea lions. All this action, plus the rain and nonstop sounds from the seabirds, left me feeling amped up—on edge but also excited and wanting to see more. (And all that rain… The excitement kept us outside for waaaay too long and our lenses needed a day to dry out as a result.)
The arctic ground squirrels in Alaska are charming and curious. They are also an important part of this ecosystem, serving as a food source for many other species. They also have unique physiological characteristics. According to the National Park Service, “Researchers at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks have shown that during hibernation, arctic ground squirrels adopt the lowest body temperature ever measured in a mammal. The body temperature of hibernating squirrels drops below freezing, a condition referred to as supercooling. At intervals of two to three weeks, still in a state of sleep, hibernating squirrels shiver and shake for 12 to 15 hours to create heat that warms them back to a normal body temperature of about 98 degrees Fahrenheit. When the shivering and shaking stops, body temperature drops back to the minimal temperature. This type of hibernation is rare among mammals and scientists are still studying this unique physiological behavior.”
In Denali National Park, our best wildlife sightings happened while on the hiker bus and while walking on or near the park road between getting on and off the bus. We saw eight grizzly bears, including one that was foraging for berries very close to the bus, plus a mom and three cubs up on a hillside. Had the bus been less crowded, all of these sightings could have offered excellent photo opportunities. We were on the right side of the bus sometimes and the wrong side at other times, which was a little frustrating and disappointing. (The hiker bus experience overall is disappointing. It is definitely worth doing but because so many non-hikers ride the bus, it is hard to get on and off on a whim because so few seats are available to hikers looking to get back on a bus. More on that in a future post…) Outside the bus, we saw one caribou up-close plus a herd in the distance, a lot of arctic ground squirrels, and lots of birds.
The boat tours and our time in Denali National Park felt transactional. In both cases, it was exciting to see so many different animals and birds but the pace felt too quick to engage and appreciate. Our time in Valdez, in contrast, helped me understand the ecosystem on a deeper level and also appreciate the animals to a much greater degree. If I continue with wildlife photography, I want to seek out the latter more often—fewer but better. While fast-paced tours through wildlife-rich settings offer a lot of photography opportunities, I struggled with never having enough time to completely work through a photographic idea.
Spa otter. This sea otter looks like it is lounging in an infinity pool after getting a massage at a spa. While we had a few opportunities to take tighter photos of sea otters, I gravitated toward wider views that showed the otter in the context of being surrounded by an endless expanse of water because this is how we encountered them. This is one way that my landscape photography background often played out in composing a scene that included wildlife. I like the tiny animal in the big scene.
Advice for Landscape Photographers
If you are a landscape photographer and would like to try photographing wildlife and birds, here are five pieces of advice based on both my successes and failures:
CAMERA SETTINGS: Learn how to use the action-oriented autofocus modes on your camera—the options that we never need for nature photography like tracking and eye-detection. With YouTube, it is easy to find recommended settings for your camera model from experienced wildlife photographers. Starting with these recommendations will save you a lot of time and help you learn more about the capabilities of your gear. Once you have your settings dialed in, make them quickly accessible so you can respond to fleeting opportunities. I have a custom setting that makes it very quick to switch from manual landscape mode to wildlife/bird mode.
PRACTICE: If you have a big trip coming up and have not photographed birds or wildlife in the past, start practicing with bird photography in your local area. This will help you dial in your camera settings before you are in a high pressure situation. In my case, spending a lot of time on bird photography before going to Alaska helped me learn to better anticipate behavior, photograph moving subjects, and understand my equipment much more thoroughly.
EXPOSURE SETTINGS: Practicing with my gear also helped me better understand the exposure settings I would need to freeze action, which were often faster than I would have anticipated. I also became more comfortable using a much higher ISO than I ever would for my landscape photography. Denoise AI in Lightroom does an excellent job of cleaning up an ISO 3200 file, and knowing this in advance helped me feel okay about using higher ISOs when I needed to in Alaska.
STICK WITH THE ACTION: This is probably the thing that trips me up the most with wildlife photography. With my landscape work, I often create only one file (or one set of files for focus stacks or exposure blends) once I have settled on a composition, as long as the light is not changing much. I like having fewer files to sort through once I get home. This mindset is a barrier for wildlife photography. I give up on the action too early and have had to adapt to being comfortable creating a lot of files.
BRING YOUR LANDSCAPE SKILLS: All of the ideas we use in landscape photography around composition, visual design, and light are helpful if you want to do something other than the “portrait of animal” style of composition. After experimenting with a few different composition styles, I gravitate to a landscape approach to wildlife photography in which the animal is a small part of a much larger scene. With all its vastness, Alaska was a good match for this approach. This is likely the style I will stick with in the future, both because it visually appeals to me and because I think the resulting photos look more cohesive in my existing portfolio of work.
In comparison with landscape photography, I find photographing wildlife and birds to be stressful, intense, frustrating, and exhilarating—higher highs and lower lows, maybe. For my first attempt at putting effort into wildlife photography, I am pretty happy with this collection as a starting point for building a fresh body of work. With affordable telephoto lenses now available for most camera systems (like the Canon 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 and 800mm f/11), wildlife photography feels accessible in a way that it hadn’t in the past. Technology improvements to autofocus, image stabilization, and noise reduction also make it easier. And, I am a different photographer than I used to be. Adding animals and birds to my portfolio makes sense since my level of interest in these subjects has deepened. It was great to try something new!
Sarah Marino is a full-time photographer, nature enthusiast, and writer based in southwestern Colorado. In addition to photographing grand landscapes, Sarah is best known for her photographs of smaller subjects including intimate landscapes, abstract renditions of natural subjects, and creative portraits of plants and trees. Sarah is the author or co-author of a diverse range of educational resources for nature photographers on subjects including composition and visual design, photographing nature’s small scenes, black and white photography, Death Valley National Park, and Yellowstone National Park. Sarah, a co-founder of the Nature First Alliance for Responsible Nature Photography, also seeks to promote the responsible stewardship of natural and wild places through her photography and teaching.