We are blessed to live on 24 acres mostly surrounded by deciduous woodland. About 20 years ago when we first moved to this land, there was little evidence of wildlife or wild flowers. Over the years we have planted wild flowers, native shrubs, and trees. Our efforts, combined with natural forces such as pine beetles and dogwood blight have changed the look of the land. The populations of grey squirrels and deer have increased. The deer prune our shrubs and determine which will flourish without being eaten. Bird feeding stations maintain a happy collection of native birds for us to experience and photograph. We try to coexist and work with our environment in a natural way. The result is that many photographic opportunities are just outside the front door!
Even if you live on a small urban lot or in an apartment, you can still develop natural areas for photography. An urban yard can be landscaped to create pockets of native plants that can attract local birds and wildlife. Apartment dwellers might talk with the managers of local park areas to influence and assist in landscaping the parks for optimum photography. Urban camera clubs might try working with urban land managers. Once suitable habitat is in place, the available wildlife will start to use it.
Several years ago we were given a few guinea fowl that stayed around the house. Over several months hawks and coyotes eliminated the guineas, but toward the end of their time we began seeing wild turkeys eating the seed left by the guineas and squirrels. (Perhaps the guineas told the turkeys we were OK.) At first the turkeys ran from any movement in our house. Over many months they began to accept our looking out the windows. During this acceptance period, we studied and observed turkey behavior, sounds, and body language.
Slowly and gently we pushed into the turkeys' fear circle, and by autumn they were not running far when one of us walked onto the deck to throw corn out for the turkeys and squirrels. Over the next couple of months we could stay on the deck and watch them eat the corn and, after another month or two, could walk into the field to place grain they would eat. Several turkeys would even jump onto the feeder table at our photo blind, allowing closeup photos of feather detail.
Please note that we are sensitive to not making the turkeys dependent on our feedings. We want our grain to be desert and not the main course of their daily diet. Wildlife is healthier eating a natural diet. Plus, if you acclimate wildlife to your food source alone, you incur both the cost and the obligation of continued feeding.
A year or so later, it is now possible to walk into the field with a 400mm telephoto to photograph strutting "Tom" turkeys. A 70-200 f2.8 zoom lens with a 1.4X extender is also effective on the Canon 10D (digital) because of its 1.6 gain in focal length. Some turkeys are still not comfortable with us being close and prefer the cover of the woods, but they don't leave in a panic.
The turkeys determine the pace of our acceptance. Our actions are very important, and being too aggressive or bold could ruin the many months of work to build trust. Turkey hunting season has just started in our area, and a hunter could affect the trust the flock has of us. We hope the flock will stay on our property to escape the hunter's shotgun, but their wandering nature may put them at risk.
Strutting "Toms" follow the hens, so acceptance by the hens is the key to turkey behavior photography. React to the opportunities you encounter and don't spare film or digital storage space when a good situation presents itself. When the animals are uneasy with your presence, leave them alone. The main advantage of having wildlife close to home is that you can return another day.
Turkeys are dark subjects and require that you open up a third to a full stop (depending on the ambient light) to bring out detail in the feathers. I use a projected fill flash (set at -1 to -1 2/3 f-stop) to help with feather exposure. You need to compromise between setting the f-stop for adequate depth-of-field and a shutter speed that is fast enough to stop motion. An f-stop of f-8 to f-11 has worked for me. You can never have too much shutter speed for photographing turkeys, since a strutting "Tom" quivers and shakes its feathers, and a turkey's head is in constant motion. So try to take your photograph when the turkey momentarily stops moving. Position yourself so the natural light is behind you; otherwise the shaded part of the turkey becomes black.
Even though this article focuses on turkeys, the principles apply to other animals as well. Take advantage of photographic opportunities as they present themselves. Be patient, be open to learning, and above all be sensitive to the effect you may have on your subject. Good luck and good photography to all!