Caution – Opinions on Filming Nature and Wildlife Can Vary

When you first start out shooting nature and wildlife, you tend to do two things. The first is to try to duplicate what other filmmakers are doing. The second is to get opinions on your footage.

Both of these can be good, but sometimes getting the opinions of others can actually do you more harm than good.

When I first got into nature and wildlife photography, John Shaw was one of the photographers I wanted to be like. So I studied all his books, (this was before the internet if you can believe it!) and tried to duplicate the results he was getting.

I think this really helped me learn about the technical side of photography. I’d shoot a bunch of slides trying to duplicate Shaw’s images, get them processed and broke out my loupe and analyzed the results. I kept a log book back then of what I did to get each image. What worked, I remembered and filed away in my photography recipe box to use again. What didn’t I tried to figure out why my image didn’t look like John’s and worked to figure out what I needed to do differently next time to do better.

I still find myself doing that but to a lesser extent filming nature and wildlife. If I see a piece of footage that really blows me away, I look to see if I can figure out how it was done so I can file that recipe away for future use.

The other, asking for advice can be a two-edged sword. If you ask the right person, their opinion can really help you grow as a filmmaker. Asking the wrong person can steer you down the wrong path or worse, kill your creativity and individuality.

Everyone’s opinion is going to be based on what they like and what works for them.

I judged a photography contest years ago and I always tended to lean more towards the nature shots while the other judge tended to lean more towards the architectural photographs because that’s what he liked to shoot himself.

So be careful when seeking the opinion of other nature and wildlife cinematographers. Take what they tell you, use what you feel will help you grow as a filmmaker and discard the rest.

Don’t ever let anyone tell you that there is only one way to do things or that you always need to do this or that when filming. Your work should stand out for one simple reason, your footage is an extension of who YOU are. You develop your personal style by marching to the beat of your own drummer, not falling in line with someone else’s vision.

And as always, shoot the ordinary and make it extraordinary!