Wildlife Photography Hide

Wildlife Photography hides – any wildlife photographer will tell you that long lenses are only half the battle when trying to capture wildlife images up close and personal, a big part of it is good use of a wildlife hide.

Bush craft and understanding your subject and immense amounts of patience play a huge part in producing captivating wildlife images. Sometimes the only way to achieve this is by working from a wildlife hide.

Photography hides come in all shapes and sizes and varieties, from personal drape over camouflaged sheets to multi-person box hides. However, they all serve the same purpose: to keep the photographer ‘invisible’ to the local wildlife in the surrounding environment.

Using hides is a relatively cheap way to give you access to wildlife that you wouldn’t otherwise get the chance to photograph. However, there is far more to using them than just sitting and waiting. Hopefully this article will give you an introduction to using photography hides effectively in the field.

Which Type of Hide Should I Use?

There is quite a large range of hide types available, so before you head out into the field, it’s important to first understand the different types of hides that are available. Your choice will depend on which type of environment you want to access for your wildlife photography.

Wooden Hides

Typically you wouldn’t buy or build this type of hide if you want to go mobile. These are typically utilised by nature reserves as they are robust and long-lasting; plus they can accommodate more than one photographer at the same time. They are often left for long periods of time which means they become a part of the natural environment. If you are in a position to have a large garden or get permission form a local landowner it might be worthwhile thinking about using a wooden hide.

How to use a Hide for Wildlife Photography

Canvas/Dome Hides

Cheap and cheerful, these are basically tents that have been adapted for photography from standard pop up tents. They are easy to take with you, move and reposition. They can be quickly set up and put away. They are perfect for wildlife photographers and can be bought in a range of sizes and styles.

How to use a Hide for Wildlife Photography

Floating Photography Hide

One of the more specialist type of hide is the floating hide. They come in different flavours.

The photographer can wither choose to be out of the water or partially in the water, whilst wearing chest waders, when using this type of hide.

Lying on top of water the floating hide can be moved slowly towards unsuspecting waterfowl and wading birds.

How to use a Hide for Wildlife Photography

Cars

Not often considered, a car can offer a fantastic way to get close to wildlife. You can sit and wait in relative comfort and warmth, whilst waiting for your subject to get far nearer than it normally would. A lot of wildlife species are accustomed to the sight of cars they will accept them readily into their environment.

Bag Style Photography Hide

The Bag style photography hide works by disrupting the outline of the photographer, blending them in with the environment to make wildlife feel less wary. They are the cheapest option and are extremely easy to use, fast to put on and very adaptable.

How to use a Hide for Wildlife Photography

What’s the Best Way to Position Your Hide?

Hide positioning can be the difference between a good photograph and a great photograph.

There are a number of things to take into account and all should be considered carefully before deciding where to position your hide.

Research

Do your research. Know you subject. Each wild animal you want to photograph will require a different approach. From habitat and location to seasons.

Hook up with Facebook groups who already have experts in the type of animals you want to photograph. Pick their brains.

They might even be able to tell you where your intended subject visits and where a hide can be positioned easily and efficiently.

Permission

It is worth checking whether or not you are going to be ranging onto private land. If so make sure you have the land owner’s permission before setting up. I have found that on the whole they will be happy to help. You can always offer a couple of framed images in return as a way of repaying their kindness.

Natural Light

As with all photography, lighting is key. You do not want to be using ISO 64000! The image I captured of the Kingfisher, was in a fairly gloomy location. Luckily my 7D Mkii is great at the higher ISO ratings.

If you are setting up your own portable hide it is only commonsense to check how the light will move as the day progresses.

Background

In my opinion the background is also very important, especially if you are unable to get that close to your subject.

Personally I prefer a dark background. I will play with my camera settings to help achieve this. I take time to look at where my subject will sit against the available background. I prefer to leave the setting as natural as possible but I am not averse to removing any distracting objects such as long grass and the smaller branches and twigs. This will help to create a clean and distraction-free backdrop for your images. Time spent now will result in less time spent processing at the computer!

For this image of a Red Fox I was so low to the ground I had to remove a lot of longer grass stems in order to get a clean line of sight.

Wildlife Photography hide

Patience

If you have attempted to photograph any kind of wildlife you will understand exactly what I mean by patience. Sometimes I have waited days for some subjects to grace me with their presence. Patience is a virtue! Just because your subject didn’t turn up on in the first 10 minutes doesn’t mean the hide is in the wrong position. Be persistent and keep coming back. The best images take time to produce – don’t be disheartened because it didn’t work first time!

How to use a Hide for Wildlife Photography – Kingfisher

develop your photography skills - How to use a Hide for Wildlife Photography

This setting was on the edge of a lake and was particularly gloomy. For those of you who like to know camera settings, this image was taken at ISO 400, 1/800 sec, f/5.6 @300mm using my Canon 100-400mm Mkii.

A lot of paid hides provide hide plates for your gimbal head but I find these to be very heavy and awkward to move around when I am using a hide with different levels for example.

An alternative is my Camera Hide Plate which I designed and produced for hide photography.

camera hide plate

Getting the Shot!

You are happy with the position of your hide, the background and light, and you are fairly confident that your chosen subject frequents the area. You now can set about working on getting the shot!

If you are trying to photograph garden birds, try to capture them away from any feeders. I watched this wood pecker for quite a while in order to work out his routine. It soon became apparent that he liked to land on an adjacent tree before going to the feeder.

I simply waited for him to get to that part in his routine and grabbed the shot.

Wildlife Hide - Woodpecker on tree trunk

The great thing with using portable hides it that once a subject is used to a location you can alter the local environment to produce a whole range of images.

Careful planning coupled with a creative mind can produce untold numbers of new and innovative images from the same location!

I love my portable hide. It lets me get far closer to nature; purchasing a small seat was a brainwave as it allows me to sit comfortably whilst getting far closer to subjects that often will not tolerate you in their environment.

Another huge advantage is that a purpose-built dome hide will set you back around £200, compared to £12,000 for a 2.8 400mm prime lens!

I hope this has helped. If you have any comments please leave them below.

https://rogerchapmanphotography.co.uk/bird-hides-for-photography/