What is the easiest group of animal to photograph?

RatioTile

RatioTile

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
@Giant Eland and I were recently discussing what group or category of animal (taxonomic or not) is the easiest to take photos of in captivity. In your opinion, what might that be?

This is what we found:

1) Hoofstock are fairly easy because they'll stand there browsing or grazing for several minutes at a time before moving on. They also tend to pause their foraging and look up at you. As long as you have good zoom, you'll be fine.

2) Mustelids are really hard because they're always either on the move, or curled up asleep.

3) Birds in small aviaries tend to be active, visible and perch/pause their movements. Also, the vast majority of birds exhibited in zoos are diurnal, so lighting is generally good. But they fly away fast.

4) Snakes and turtles can sit still basking or resting for hours at a time, but if a snake's not showing its face it might not do so for the rest of your zoo day trip.
 
Tortoises are fairly easy ...
Cats can be challenging for the same reason as mustelids - they may be curled asleep, on the move, or completely hidden.
Elephants are fairly easy too - the trouble is actually making them fit inside the camera's frame.
 
I agree on hoofstock. Though some deer can be flighty.

The larger animals like rhinos, elephants, hippos giraffe etc are easy to photograph but not easy to photograph well as they can be hard to get ‘all in’ without making it look like you were 80 feet away. Portrait wise they are ok though. Most fun I had recently with larger animals was rhinos in the mud at CWP and rhinos in the pouring rain at Whipsnade they were awesome photo days.

Ostriches, rhea etc are easy and fun to practice portraits on as they are often curious and in enclosures with no fencing at camera level. I’d say to people starting out to go and find the large feathered friends and start to work on lights in the eyes and great light angles - they are accommodating birds!

Meerkats obviously as they do good stationary angles. Good starter animal as well as lots of fur to get nice light on, good contrast eyes and noses. And they are often muddy or earthy so nice small details to focus on.

Penguins similarly. Feeding time is also really common so they are often right up close and doing things.

I guess easy to get to photograph because they are likely to be out and active isn’t quite the same as easy once they are there though.

Most things are ok if you are happy to hang around for a long time / make repeat visits or circuits to see if something is up. I’ve waited for hours for tigers to get up and walk about, I stood watching bush dogs sleep for 2 hours once but got some lovely shots when they were waking up! It’s mad hobby when you think about it.

Birds can be easy but getting them in an activity well (bathing, flying, running about) can be harder. Good place to start with action shots are ducks of all sorts as they have a predictable flight path into water. And they do great cleaning routines.
 
I think it largely depends on the kinds of photos the photographer takes. I struggle with hoofstock, especially any kind of antelope with long horns, because I find it difficult to work with the horns in the composition. As for animal groups, I would say felids are ideal as they are not generally active and are expressive. If you wait for any time at all you'll get an interesting shot.
 
I agree with the Hoofstock, mostly they will just standing on the ground grazing or looking at others. It is easy for guys to take a good picture.
Carnivore maybe too lazy or too active when visit, Herps and Birds sometimes need luck to see them in a good view I think
 
Tetzoo Quizzer said:
Waterfowl -swans, geese and ducks
Click to expand...

I find that when swimming they tend to move their heads and bodies at different speeds, making focusing difficult. On land I agree they're easy when looking forward, but not when preening or sleeping with their heads tucked under their wings.
 
By far, definitely sea stars and urchins; they hardly move at all :p

Jokes aside, slow moving fish such as lionfish, moray eels, seahorses, & groupers (as well as jellyfish) are some of the easiest animals for me to photograph. Unlike smaller fish (who are startled by my shadow which they can see through the glass), these fish do not seem to be bothered with my presence. This, along with their tendency (from what I've seen) to swim or reside near the glass, has allowed me to produce some pretty clear and excellent photographs.

Sedentary reptiles such as snakes, crocodilians, tortoises, & certain lizards also come to mind. Most of the time, they don't move at all, but that can come with its drawbacks as well. If the reptile is hidden or obscured by foliage or rocks, I mind as well walk away, as waiting for it to move would be futile. But every once in a while, one will be resting by the glass, allowing me to take my time shooting the perfect shot.
 
It's easy for me to photograph shoebills, storks, and cranes. They just stand there, and if the surrounding environment is nice, you can take a really good photograph of them, and you can try from different angles.
 
For me, it's garden eels, frogs, turtles and tortoises, and almost anything standing still.
 
I find "hovery" fish pretty easy to get decent pics of - that is, fish that will often hover on the spot for short periods. Silverbiddies, sand-sifting goby species, cichlids, carp-gudgeons, stuff like that. Pigeon and dove species are generally cooperative too.

I absolutely adore wrasses but by god they are hard to photograph!! Often small, constant motion with no predictable pattern, constantly disappearing into rock crevices only to reappear on the other side of the tank.

Reptiles/amphibians are pure luck though, whether or not you get them in a good position or not. If they're in a good position, then photographing them is a piece of cake. If not, you're outta luck, they're probably not gonna move anytime soon.
 
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