Photography is all about capturing a moment in time that can have someone look at it for a long time. Wildlife photography is no different, in fact, wildlife photography is even more about capturing that right moment. What makes great wildlife photographs great is often determined by whether a special moment was captured or not. In wildlife photography, these moments happen in a split second. As you will remember from last week's blog, this is why patience is required. Nothing can happen all day long and then all of a sudden the special moment is there. These special moments disappear as fast as they come.

Here we have all the pieces of a good image. The late afternoon sun is nice and warm. The elephant is walking into the image, there is more space in front of it than behind it. There is nice color in the image. Yet, even so, this would have been just another elephant shot had it not been for the water splash. This is what I mean by saying we should try to capture special little moments. When these moments are added to your images they are much more interesting. They often evoke questions. They often freeze something different from what the next guy has.

          So, how do you get images of wildlife showing special little moments? Here are a few tips that may help:

• Learn to know animal behavior. The better you know the animals you photograph the better you will be able to predict when something is going to happen. I will write more about this in the coming months relaying how I got the image when I witnessed a Leopard kill.

• Be ready. Yes, this can be boring but you have to be ready for when it happens it is too late to lift up your camera and shoot. Track the animal, expecting something, even if it is for a long time.

• Set your camera to expect fast action. This means a fast shutter speed and focus tracking.

• Position yourself in the best possible place. For wildlife, that means you need to be at eye-level or below. Be ahead, where the action is coming to.

Do your best to include something different, something special in your wildlife images. Make them stand out.