We often show animals in their environment and take landscape images of animals in the landscape. These images can be wonderful and I advocate composing images in this way. Then we zoom in a bit and show the animal in a way that has the animal fill the image. Zooming in, even more, we may take an animal portrait. But why stop there?

          There are many nice images to be had by zooming in even more. Photograph just a part of the animal. These images can be very intimate and interesting. At times they ask, "what is that?" At other times they have people say, "wow, I never realized that elephants have hair!" Or people comment about the texture of its skin. For many people, your photograph may be the closest look they have ever had of the animal in question. These images make us see things we have never seen before. They amaze us.

So please don't stop zooming in. Find something interesting by zooming right in, get something intimate and close. For the most part, I like these images to still be recognizable, but that is just my personal preference. I also prefer that there is still something specific that draws attention for compositional reasons.

          Challenge yourself. Shoot using different focal lengths. Go for the intimate. Give people something that they probably have never seen before. Zoom in. Remember not to get too close to wild animals, for their comfort and your safety. Use that long lens instead.