Fritz Pölking
The Art of Wildlife Photography
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Fritz Pölking has been photographing nature for forty years and is one of the most widely admired wildlife photographers in the world. He grew up with a fascination for the songbirds that nested on the garden of his family home in Krefeld, Germany, which he started to photograph.
Fritz began to specialise in European wildlife and built up a remarkable collection of photographs of the osprey. He has gone on to travel the world and has amassed a library of over 30,000 stunning images of the world's wildlife.
Fritz Pölking's work has been widely published in books and magazines including Geo, National Geographic, Der Stern and International Wildlife.
His pictures have won a string of awards in Germany, Great Britain and the United States including the prestigious British Gas Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.
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The Art of Wildlife Photography |
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| This is a marvellous time
for photography. Never before has there been such
a variety of cameras, lenses and films, nor of
such high quality. For amateur nature
photographers there has never been so much spare
time in which to indulge their hobby. It is
easier, too, for amateur and professional alike
to reach remote and beautiful locations quickly
and cheaply. For a nature photographer it is
certainly a great time to be alive. This book is aimed at helping you to discover the fascinating world of nature photography, or, if you are already familiar with it, to show you new routes, locations and field techniques, for a more satisfying and comfortable experience. Written from a subjective point of view. It is based on my forty years of experience as a nature photographer. Consequently, you won't find generalised statements about equipment and techniques. Instead I will tell you, for example, which tripod suits me best, and why this is so. Of course there are plenty of other perfectly good tripods, but I feel this approach will be helpful to you when it comes to the selection of your own equipment. My choices are the result of long experience, and they are certainly work for me! Although I hope you will be hepled by this book, there will no doubt be opinions you will disagree with. But I believe it is better to be positive about what works for me than to make vague suggestions as to what might (or might not) work for you. However, the best advice I can give you does not relate to the technical aspects of the equipment, it is that you should learn as much as possible about your subject matter: the animals, the plants, the whole environment. To know the characteristics of your subjects, whether animal behaviour or favoured plant locations will allow you to make the most of your time in the field. But there is also a wider aspect. A knowledge of flora and fauna not only makes you a better nature photographer: it is good news for the whole world of nature. Such knowlegde encourages people to treat all life forms with respect. It leads to a deeper appreciation of life itself. You find you are making a special effort not to disturb animals, trample or uproot plants, or manipulate settings in the interest of composition. Indeed, conservation of wildlife and plants has become the policy of all developed and developing countries, and in most of them there are strict laws forbidding the disturbance of rare or endangered species. Always treat Nature with the respect she deserves. Life in nature depends on a delicate balance between the needs of animals and plants and their environment. In most countries the law is specific: you may not disturb any wildlife or damage any sites of plant life that are on the endangered list in the process of photographing or filming them, or conducting similar activities. This doesn't mean that photography of endangered species is forbidden, merely that you mustn't disturb them in the process. Such restrictions can make nature photography difficult: we can't always get the picture we want. It may, for example, be difficult to photograph a sea eagle or an owl in their isolated nests without disturbing them. A blue tit or a robin is another matter. Such birds even seek out human company. The trouble is that it is often difficult to say what the limitations are with each individual species. There are also situations which confuse the issue, for example if you cannot get a photograph of a comperatively common species without disturbing another species. Nature photographers in general consider themselves to be environmental conservationists, and to stick to the rules. Those who disturb their subjects quickly get a bad name among the photographic fraternity. Remember, some species may be common in some areas but rare in others. The bee-eater is a rare visitor to northern Europe but is common in southern Spain; in Scotland ospreys nests are even protected by patrols, but in Florida they ate abundant and almost tame. The golden rule is: treat all animal and plant life as you yourself would wish to be treated. Nature photography has a purpose beyond simple documentation. It is also a form of artistic expression. It combines factual recording with creative art, and thus helps to reconcile our technically-based society with the natural world. Nature photography is like hunting with a camera, striving to get the best possible shot of a particular animal or plant or landscape. It can also be an aesthetic experience - an opportunity for self-realisation that is not otherwise available to us in the modern world. Indeed, nature photography can serve as a refuge from the stresses of daily routine, as well as being a personally rewarding activity. But just what is 'nature photography'? Well it can be different things to different people. For myself, it is the opportunity to express my feelings about the natural world, through photography. It is these feelings that compel me to go out and capture their representation in pictures - partly, I admit, in order to share them with others. Photography can become more than just a sublimation of the hunting instinct, or a search for the perfect composition. It can share with others the deeper and more meaningful concepts of nature. Such visionary objectives in nature photography place our medium on the same level as fine arts such as painting, music and literature. We express our images of the natural world through our photograpy. Nature photography thus becomes art. Such a level of expression is not easily attained, nor can every photographer expect to attain it. You don't have to try to make every Picture a work of art. But you need to be familiar with the basic aesthetic elements, as well as the technicalities of your equipment. Images of nature appeal directly to your instincts. But sometimes I ask myself whether our photographs do reflect reality. Or are we just taking a carefully chosen slice of time in order to confirm our expectations of the natural world? Are we photographing nature in lieu of experiencing it? or, on the other hand, do we experience nature more intensely through photography, and would we experience it at all without photography? Is everything in nature without interest unless it can be photographed? We live in an artificial world. Perhaps nature photography is a link to a more authentic existence, bringing us close to life in the natural settings that were once ours. Cetainly, from my own experience nature photography can teach us plenty about life. I would be very happy if I could help you on your way to the world of nature photography through this book. There are pitfalls on the journey, but there are also summits of achievement. The farther you go, the clearer those summits become. They are the true rewards of nature photography. I wish you a long and pleasant journey into this fascinating world, and a triumphant entry in your logbook when you reach your first summit.
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