At times, wildlife photographers have to show an incredible amount of patience to get the perfect shot. Wild animals (much like humans, actually) rarely do exactly what you want them to, and when they do, you and your camera have to be prepared.
But still, how long could you possibly have to wait? Hours? Days? Weeks maybe? For Nat Geo photographer Steve Winter — who was chasing the perfect shot of a Mountain Lion with the lights of Los Angeles in the background — that patience had to extend a full year.
If you’re wondering why it took so long, one of the reasons might be that there is only one mountain lion in the world that lives in a place that would make this photo possible. The elusive cougar, named P-22, is a 125-pound 4-year-old that has quite miraculously made his home in Griffith Park, where researchers caught and tagged him.
To get this shot, he set up several IR-triggered DSLRs in special housings. The cameras would go off and trigger a flash when they sensed movement.
I've been seeing more and more wildlife shots, and with that in mind how does one go about capturing such animals. The biggest thing is to have patience, some you'll have a stroke of luck, others you'll have wait possibly years for. And for Steve Winter, he chased this mountain lion for an extended year.
Dedication to his craft.