PICTURES ARE WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS.
Pictures are used to tell stories. But a good picture can bring the very moment of events to you. When it comes to photography, what a lot of people don’t seem to understand is that the camera lens is your third eye. You have to see the world as the camera does and thus end up appreciating it more. There are different types of photography like Sports Photography, still-Life Photography, Editorial Photography, e.t.c and I can tell you from my fair share of experience in a photojournalism class that each is different from the next.
When it comes to Nature photography, one needs to look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. It needs time, patience, and silence, especially when dealing with Animals and birds. Today, a good friend of mine and a Nature photographer helps us understand how to take better photos in the wild.
Chris Ang’s Gallery & Platform is Instagram. He loves not just photos & videos but Conservation challenges (so time permitting — pls read a handful of his posts — especially the mammals (non-birds) posts. An amazing example is one about the US banning the big cats’ trade. Big Cats are not entertainment. Via Instagram, he’s been approached and is now Image Contributor to WWF, Ol Pejeta Conservancy as well as World Animal Protection (where he is also their Ambassador). Chris is the Director of Jaguar ID Project (Brazil) — where they are preserving habitat & protecting Jaguars and their ecosystem. Recently approached by the Endangered Species Coalition for a collaboration. Conservation is huge for him and Photography is a means not an end. Photography with a Purpose is his MAIN theme.
● Tell us a little about yourself and why you like photographing Nature.
Following a successful career in Business, especially after becoming unexpectedly single following the loss of the most beautiful person in my life (my late wife of 25 years) to cancer, I decided to look for the beauty around the world with my camera.
● What got you started in Nature Photography?
I became drawn to safaris (nature adventure travels). During my travel to the “last wildernesses” of the world, I found a common theme — that wildlife habitat loss caused by Human Indifference & Population Expansion (Encroachment) have caused what Biologists and Conservationists have termed a “Period of Mass Extinction”. This realization forced me to re-examine my goals. I decided that considering what I’ve learned, my quest to become a photographer could be vain, egotistical, self-serving, and sub-optimal. To be optimal, photography needs to serve a higher purpose. As such, I now practice Photography with a Purpose — where I use my photos to invite people to fall-in-love with nature and its species hoping people would protect what they love.
● What gear do you recommend for photographing nature?
In photography, the common mantra is “it’s the photographer, not the gear” that makes the photo. However, with wildlife photography for the safety of both photographer and its subject (wildlife), we would need to keep a safe distance and use longer lenses (400mm and longer lenses). We need to also consider the nature of our subjects (wildlife) — they tend to move all of the time, as such we would need a fast shutter speed and high frames per second camera that would allow us to capture the subject sharp, well-exposed, and where possible to capture their movements (behavior).
● What do you believe makes your images successful?
Today, with the proliferation of camera incorporated mobile phones, “everyone is a photographer”. As such, for images to stand-out, a nature photographer would have to take photos that mobile phone wannabe photographers would not be able to achieve. As such, where possible I try to take clear, crisp, and well-exposed action photographs — like birds-in-flight, animals leaping, hunting, running, etc. as well as general interactions — like mating, snuggling, scratching, etc. capturing animal behavior in their natural habitat that evokes an emotional response should become our goal.
● Is there one animal you’ll happily photograph again and again?
Yes, any animal that loves its photo to be taken ie one or more who are not skittish, who is relaxed and would allow me to approach it to photograph. Overall, as someone who loves and is easily amused by all non-human lifeforms, I can’t say there is a special species of animal that I would love to photograph more than another.
Find Christopher Ang’s gallery on Instagram:@chrisangphoto
Also his magnificent website with photography of his travels: https://www.chrisangphoto.com/
Listen to his interview on my podcast: https://linktr.ee/krlivepodcast
