People are always asking how to take pictures of wildlife. What they really want to know is how to get close-up pictures of wildlife. I always tell them I cheat when it comes to getting good, close pictures of wildlife. In this article I will tell you some of the secrets of getting close-up to wildlife so that you can take good pictures.
The first technique I recommend is to go to places where the wildlife is not truly wild. Many ranches have feeding programs for the deer and other wildlife. When animals start depending on humans for food they become less wild and you can approach them closer, thus being able to take better photographs. I also recommend parks, refuges and wildlife management areas where the wildlife become used to people and will allow photographers to approach them for pictures.
The second technique is to hide. Wear camo or sit in good camouflage blinds where animals will approach close to you for photo opportunities. I have also used towers and tree blinds to be able to get good pictures of wildlife.
The next technique is to use a bigger lens. Telephoto lenses will let you reach out and take a picture of animals a long ways off and your picture looks like you were standing right next to them. The big deal with telephotos is lighting and image quality. There are entire books on telephoto lenses so I will not go into it here. I will say to buy the very best you can get your hands on and afford. It will make a difference in your photographs.
There are other things you can do to get close to wildlife but most are just common sense. Drive roads where wildlife is used to seeing traffic. Make feeding or bait stations. Set up blinds at water. Wear dark clothing or clothing that blends into the habitat. Always keep down the noise. You can use remotes and trail cameras to get pictures of wildlife you would not usually see or at night for those nocturnal creatures.
My favorite technique I have saved for last as I use it more than any other to get shots of wildlife and that is sound. Lots of the pictures I have taken of fox, coon, coyote, hawks, owls, birds, deer and other animals were because I was able to bring the animal in close with a sound. Curiosity killed the cat they say but it has also fed lots of predators. I always have one call with me; my kids also use the sound as they were raised seeing all the animals called in with a simple squeak. It is made by making a kissing sound with your lips. You can amplify the sound by kissing the back of your hand or the inside of your middle finger. It sounds like some sort of baby creature or bird in distress and lots of things will come to see what is making the sound. I have called fox, coyote, hawks, squirrels, deer and many other animals to hand shake distance with this sound and gotten some pretty good pictures in the process. My wife gave me one of the new high tech electronic callers for Christmas and it is really becoming a standard tool to take along on wildlife photo shoots. It has onehundred programmed sounds and you can add custom sounds to the memory card. I can call owls, predators, deer and all sorts of birds with the library of sounds. It even has a small creature decoy that sits on top of the caller and turns around to draw attention if I want to use it. The real key to good wildlife photos is to get the wildlife to pose for a picture in the first place. Try some of these techniques and see if they will work for you too. Good shooting, Wild Ed
Once in a while a true Texan has to have a meal that basically the whole meal is fried food. Sometimes it is a taste for a chicken fried steak and sometimes it is just a meal of fried chicken. As the weather gets hot some of us go fishing once in a while and the result of that is a fried catfish lunch. Today we had fried catfish, fried jalapeños; fried onion rings with a side of pan fried potatoes. I sliced some tomatoes fresh from the garden just so I could say I ate something healthy that was not fried. For all of you health nuts all of the above was fried in olive oil. It sure was good, Wild Ed
My wife and I took some friends up to our family place in Lampasas County Saturday to put out some bait for the game camera and check on the Mustang Grape crop. We have been watching them this season in hopes of beating the coons and birds to enough ripe grapes to make some jelly for the season. Mustang grape jelly always brings back memories of my grandmothers and my mom making jelly. The process would fill the house with a wonderful sweet, rich grape smell that promised the taste of biscuits filled with butter and the rich grape flavor of the Texas Hill County. It has been many years since I was involved with cooking the juice down from the grapes and I had forgotten how purple and rich the juice from wild mustang grapes becomes as you cook the grapes down.
It looks like it would make a beautiful and tasty wine but I don’t know how to make wine so we will just make jelly this time around. If you have a good family recipe for Mustang Grape wine please send it along so that I can try to make a batch sometime. Anyway here is a good basic recipe for a really pretty and wonderful tasting Mustang Grape jelly. Hope you enjoy the biscuits and peanut butter sandwiches that will taste a whole lot better with your homemade jelly.
Wild Ed
Mustang Grape Jelly
Wash grapes thoroughly and put washed grapes in a cooker, add enough water to cover them. After the water starts to boil, cook the grapes (stirring frequently) until the skins begin to slip. When the skins will slip easily from the grapes, they are ready to press. Strain the cooked grapes and juice through a colander line with a jelly bag or medium textured cloth. Press all the juice from the grapes with a wooden spoon, but do not force the pulp through the colander. Add one box of fruit pectin to 5 cups of juice. Bring this mixture to a rolling boil and then add seven cups of sugar. Stirring constantly bring the mixture back to a rolling boil and cook for 3 to 5 minutes. When the mixture forms a string as it is poured from a spoon, remove from heat. Skim all the foam and crystals from the surface, and pour the processed jelly into hot sterilized jars. Seal immediately with canning lids before the jelly cools.
Warning: From personal experience let me warn you to wear latex or similar gloves to pick the grapes as the acid you will get on your hands burns. Also wear old clothes that you do not mind staining as the grapes stain everything they touch. Be very careful about getting the juice on anything you do not want to dye purple as the juice colors anything it is spilled on or wiped up with. Don’t ask me how I know. Wild Ed
