Photographing Animal Friendships

Have you even been lucky enough to be in the presence of animals which by some unknown reason seem to have formed a friendship bond with a totally different animal, completely different species often pairing up with other who seems were destined to be mortal enemies, even playing the parts of predator and prey?

I have been fortunate enough to have witnessed such scenes on more than one occasion. I got my first taste when I was a teenager as I had a neighbor whose little female dog had adopted a litter of kittens right after she had given birth to her own litter that unfortunately did not survive. I watched as each and everyday day she would patiently and without even flinching she would let them suckle for hours on end.

Once grown these now cats never left her side and seemed to regard her as their natural mother often playing with her and seeking her company. I count myself lucky to have witnessed such an event.

As I grew up and stared to fall in love with photography I would always seek out strange animal friendships in order to photograph them. It never ceased to amaze me how two completely different species would be somehow attracted to each other and form bonds which seemed to be made to last forever.

Some of the most strange bonds can be considered nothing short of impossible and these make the most powerful statements. A cat and a mouse, a tiger and a deer are just some of the most unusual samples that can be found, but they do happen.

Once you do happen to find any of these rare yet extremely beautiful scenes do the best to take various photographs that show how they interact with each other. It is not enough to simply photograph two different animals side by side. Their bonds musts be represented in the images or the final images will just look like animals that happened top be near each other and that is not that unusual as the fact that they are "friends" is.

When conducting your photography try to do so as unobtrusively as possible so that your presence will not interrupt their interactions. Take photos from various angles and aim to record various mutual activities such as playing, napping ,eating and so on.

There is a sense of "cuteness" to these images and if done properly , your images should show this as well.

These images are always sought after by greeting card publications poster publication, book publishers and many other commercial entities, not only because they are very pleasing images to look upon but also because they are rare to come by.

They capture the eye of an audience very easily and helps maintain their gaze for some time which in commercial circles is the main goal of any marketing and advertising campaign however do not approach the subjects simply from a commercial point of view. Keep in mind that you are a photographer first and foremost so approach your photography endeavor with this mindset.

Once done, if you intend on submitting the photographs to any publications whether or not you mean to make some money, be advised that you should include some detailed information in regards to the scene. Details such as the location, the individual species of each creature, which may not always be common knowledge or readily known to everyone, time of day and what behavior demonstrates that they have formed a friendship bond. All of these details add charm to the scene and creates more of a human interest from your audiences.