When I prepare my photos, more than half of the work is in the before. Hard work is already starting from concepción. First of all, I try to seek inspiration, usually in the most prestigious contests. From there, I look for photographers that their work attracts me, and I start to get ideas of what they do. Perhaps the technique used, the animal they work with, the compositional ideas, in short, it may be several things that lead me to see their profiles. But they are always the point of inspiration. Then I begin to study the species which I will portray and which I will try to apply the techniques that inspire me.
Generally, I photograph species close to my environment since it will take time for me to learn their movements and if I were in another place, I would not be able to carry out all the work, especially the observation time.
While I am getting to know the species, and particularly the individual, I am leaving photographic elements, bait cameras and “human” things in the place where the scene will be, so that the animal can get used to the smells and shapes. If the animal eats a lot of some species of plant, I try to include this one in the scene (they usually end up being the innkeeper).
I also try to be careful if the animal has to be fattened, since I do not want it to stop fulfilling its ecological role.
Little by little the animal gets used to moving between the photographic equipment, making my final work easier.
All movements I follow with a camera trap, which gives me all the information on where it moves, what scares it the most and what are its preferences.
Once the animal becomes familiar with the camera site, it moves confidently and is followed to the place I begin to design the lighting.
If I use continuous light, I must wait several days for the animal to trust it. On occasions it has happened to me that they do not come any closer to the place, leaving the photo without effect; This happened to me with mice, who seem that if they appear in a place with light, they lose visibility in the dark areas and are exposed to predators, so they decide not to approach any more.
An important point in this type of photography is the first encounter with the flash. Here too some animals are scared and decide not to return. Others are scared, but when they perceive that nothing dangerous is happening, they return and end up getting used to it. And finally, there are those who do not have problems with flashes, I have even seen some that smell them while they are firing.
I do this process of adapting to flashes very gradually, the animal may not return, and my project will be ruined by rushing. As an example, if I use a perch on birds, I first let the bird perch, without shooting anything. This way he trusts the innkeeper first. Once he uses the innkeeper assiduously, I shoot a flash while he is perched and wait for his reaction, and so I gradually include flashing shots until it is not afraid of them at all. When the animal trusts the perch totally and the flashes does not scare it, it is when you can flash several at the same time and do it while the bird is arriving in flight.
If the animal trusts a lot, this is where I like to work the most. First, I take the photo I had in mind; I look for the light I wanted. The one scene I had in mind is not always simple, things happen that I did not expect, but I am polishing the details day by day to arrive at the final image. I remember taking photos of a fox in winter and that they did not come out because the camera lens froze (this happened in the Pampas of Achala where the temperature usually drops to 20 below zero C.) So, I had to manage to protect the teams from the cold and rely a little on luck so that the animal arrived early at night before everything froze.
For flash lighting, I usually have some light schemes that I like the best and I repeat them often. If the photo seeks to simply portray the species, I use two flashes at 45 degrees and one against. Thus, the result highlights the animal without looking for other points of illumination.
I also usually do against lights, for which I place two flashes with snoots behind, one illuminates the front of the animal (generally highlights whiskers if the animal has them) and the other points to the rear, seeking to “cut” the profile of the tail.
Generally, these photos that only aim to show the animal as fully as possible, I do them first, in that search for confidence with the photographic team.
Then the stage of searching for the desired photo begins. I like to think that this moment is where I start to put part of myself. I consider this stage more personal, since now I will leave what any photographer can do (technically speaking), to try to do something that comes out of me (creatively speaking). Depending on the photo I want, it will be the path to take.
I really enjoy taking wide-angle photography of animals, taking advantage of this degree of confidence that they have gained in the photographic equipment.
In addition, it is usually common to see animals photographed with long telephoto lenses that cause those incredible blurs and the subjects gain a lot of prominence. But it is very rare to see them within their environments, perhaps because it is difficult for animals to gain prominence in these scenes. So, it’s a very interesting challenge for me. If I want to include very large stages, I will need to illuminate a lot as well, for which I resort to taking long exposures and making everything light up naturally. This is nice since if there is a portion of the sky, stars can also be included. If the environment is a closed forest I illuminate it with flashes, but it requires very fine work to achieve a light that is coherent, given its direction and hardness.
The problem with long exposures is that the subject normally moves, so when I do this, I make sure that the place where the animal will be is in a space that does not receive natural light (I call this space, “negative”), then, I expose for the environment and in this exhibition, I must have a black space, where no light enters. In that space, is where the animal should be.
Now yes, I place the flashes to “fill in” that negative space with their light. Here, as I said, you have to be cautious, since the flashlight must simulate natural light, having coherence in its temperature and direction (something not easy to do).
I try several times until I achieve what I want and once I have achieved it, it only remains to wait for the animal.
Regarding the way the camera shoots, I always prefer to take photos with barriers. I have a homemade barrier that has given me great results. Of course, it is not a big deal, and it is not good for making quick movements, but it is enough for the photos that I like.
The difference between being present or not in the photo is abysmal. Animals move much calmer in my opinion, and that tranquility results in more photos per session. Yes, it is necessary to be very precise in the construction of the scene. By not being there if something fails, that failure will appear in all the photos, and no one wants to lose photos, the animal may perform an action or something unpublished and losing that moment would be unfortunate.
So, I put everything together very carefully. I check and analyze that the long exposure is not going to affect the “negative” part since if this happens the animal will end up being transparent. The flashes must also be very carefully made, if they introduce light into the naturally illuminated areas, they will lead to burning those areas.
Finally, before I leave the place and leave everything on, I take a photo of myself as an animal and inspect it. It is like a closure that everything is correct.
I have taken photos from hides and it also has great advantages, the good thing is that if something is going wrong, I can repair it right there. But clearly the animal becomes more reluctant to approach. On the other hand, it requires more patience, which is not enough for me, and even worse, it requires more time (the time you are going to be in the hide) and I don’t have it.
Finally, there is an option that I use often which is to shoot the camera remotely. This would be through a remote control. They have a long range, and the results are very good, as you can capture action. Sometimes I capture photos from a feeder in my house while I do my chores, I have the remote control in my pocket. When I see that the animal begins to appear I prepare for the capture. If the animal does not come close, I continue with my other works. Once you have taken that photo you wanted (assuming you have achieved it), the job doesn’t end there. It is that having the animal already confident and having worked so much, I like to get the most out of it.
Then the search begins for different, weird things, the ones that would technically be wrong.
I often find very interesting results that boost new ideas.
And so now, I am putting together a series photographs of the species that I am working on – showing the animas in different ways and little by little they make me grow in my way of seeing photography and its different creative aspects.
