A vast majority of the time, photographers seek in their photographs to clearly see all of their subject. This is especially true for critters. There are some really, really good reason for this. When grass is in the photograph though, there is a tendency to want to make it go away. That single blade of grass going through the subjects face for some photographers is a disaster! When it comes to telling the story though, the grass is in the photo because that’s where the critter lives. The grass is part of their story. So then in telling the story of the subject, where it lives and dealing with the grass, you need to have a strategy that permits you to accomplish that all that doesn’t include a lawn mower. What I have to suggest might sound crazy, but here are two images to support my thought.
There are three key components in my formula for working with critters in grass. The long lens, minimum DoF and highnoon light. I started using this formula in the beginning of my career when working with the San Joaquin Kit Fox, a house cat size endangered critter that lives in California’s vanishing grasslands. The long lens is kinda key as it permits visual isolation with the subject being small in the frame while still being prominent. Why is this important? That blade of grass in front of the face fades away when the subject doesn’t fill the frame. At the same time, we need to show the grass because without it the critter has no home. In these times of vanishing habitat, that is really essential in the storytelling. At the same time, that long lens (these African images taken a couple of weeks ago were taken with 800mm w/TC-1.25e on the D4s) when shot wide open, creates a ban of focus that is very narrow. The vertical lines of the grass in the foreground and background disappear and that’s really important because the mind’s eye latches onto vertical lines. Lastly, the highnoon light sets the scene and creates the mood for the grass. You might notice in these photos, the light is side lighting and I in particular like that when shooting critters in grass. The bottomline is, you can’t help but see the subject even though they are immersed in a sea of grass. It’s telling their story and that needs to be the goal of your photography.