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From: anand@utastro.UUCP (Anand Sivaramakrishnan)
Newsgroups: net.rec.photo
Subject: Re: wildlife photography
Message-ID: <322@utastro.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 29-Jan-86 12:51:22 EST
Article-I.D.: utastro.322
Posted: Wed Jan 29 12:51:22 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 1-Feb-86 01:14:51 EST
Organization: U. Texas, Astronomy, Austin, TX
Lines: 33

I have some second-hand advice for you. This comes from pro
wildlife photographers in India... two of them, one the 
recognised 'dean of Indian wildlife photography', the other
an occasional consultant for National Geographic.

They told me that the longest lenses they use are of the order
of 135 mm. They often shoot from hides, trees, bushes and other cover.
Their furry and scaly subjects are from mongoose-size (weasel times 2 in
linear dimension) to elephant. Birds are almost always shot from
hides... even a tent will do, as long as the outline is not
human, and internal movement is not visible from the outside.
Sometimes it pays to occupy the hide before the subject arrives in
the hides' vicinity (eg. stream, pool, meadow, bird-feeder).

Their equipment is pretty limited on account of the need to
move (and the health and age of one of them). One uses an SLR,
the other uses a rangefinder.  Tripods are often missing,
because they may hinder the photographer in the event that
a rapid escape is deemed wise. Also, treks tend to be
quite long, and through thick growth at times.

As an interesting aside, some animals (eg elephant) stand the
slam of an SLR's shutter curtain but not the high-frequency 
of a leaf shutter.
 
Hides are generally regarded as the best way to shoot, though
sometimes one has to shoot under difficult circumstances:
boats for waterfowl, elephant-back for tiger, on foot for  
chance shots. Of course, one cannot be sure of seeing tiger
and elephant in the New World. Usually the engine of a vehicle 
that one is shooting from (if one is driving) must be
switched off for a steady camera.