We all know that being ethical means doing the right thing whether or not anyone is watching.
As wildlife photographers, we aren’t the only ones affected when we don’t adhere to ethical behavior. The animals we profess to love can be as little as momentarily disturbed, frightened, stressed and even destroyed, based on our behavior.
When we approach an animal, there will be a point at which it looks up at us. That is the edge of its “safety bubble.” If it goes right back to what it was doing, your distance is ok. If it doesn’t, you are too close. Move back.
Baiting animals with food, making animals noises to which you know they will react (such as mewing like a cub to get an adult to look at you), going right up to a nest or den, or cornering an animal to get a photo are all examples of unethical behavior, yet we see professional photographer and guides doing it all the time.
Remember what your mother said? “I don’t care if ‘everyone’ is doing it. You’re not.” She was trying to teach discernment to you. Did you learn anything?
When I publish or hang a photo, I want my feeling to be that of pride, not of secret shame. When you are near animals, they will occasionally glance at you as they scan their surroundings while going about their business, and those eye-contact moments are wonderful to capture. Capturing a reactive animal staring at you with widened eyes and narrowed pupils doesn’t provide the best image, especially when people who are familiar with animal behavior begin to question how you got the photo. Photos of animals disturbed or in distress are never going to have the power that a photo of natural behavior will carry.
You should go out and take photos. You should be observing wildlife behavior and their reactions to your presence. You should be aware when you are disturbing an animal vs observing it. You should be listening to your mother’s voice in your head…just because everyone else is doing it, doesn’t mean that you need to go along with the crowd. These days, being ethical stands out from the herd.