Make sure that animals don’t see you going into your blind and never see you leave.
ENTER INCONSPICUOUSLY
Situate the blind so that its entrance is on the back side, i.e. hidden from the animal’s view. Pick a time to enter the blind when the animals will not be around. It is important that they don’t see you going in and ideal if they never see you leave. This is easier at places that draw animals to them, like watering holes or salt licks, and more difficult near a den. Knowledge of your subject’s behavior - for instance, knowing when parents will likely be off foraging or when the den’s occupants should be grabbing forty winks - will help determine when it is best to enter a blind near an animal’s home. If you must enter when you know the animal is in the vicinity, use the techniques discussed in our section on stalking to get yourself to the entrance as inconspicuously as possible. Finally, if you are seen, the animal may not necessarily depart unless it feels threatened, and will, in time, likely settle down to its normal routine. If there are almost always animals in the area, bring a friend along. Both of you enter the blind, and then your friend can leave after a few minutes, and the animals will have been tricked into thinking no one is in the blind. They're not very good at counting.
A simple shack can be an ideal semi-permanent blind if well-located in a high wildlife traffic area. It is relatively luxurious in fact. It needs some means of covering the openings while still allowing you to take photographs.
BE PREPARED TO QUIETLY WAIT
Once you are inside a blind, first set up your camera on a tripod and point it in the direction where you anticipate there will be animal activity so you will be ready to shoot. Then, make yourself comfortable because you will have a lot of time on your hands. Bringing along a pocketbook or a guide that provides information on the animals you are there to photograph is a good idea. You should also have food and something to drink.
Keep things quiet inside, not just when the animal is present, but while you are waiting. Sometimes, the smallest noise can alert an approaching animal and keep it suspicious enough to avoid coming into range for hours or even altogether that day. Being out of sight can give you a false sense of total concealment, and just a few coins jingling in your pocket or the noise of a camera bag being unzipped can put an animal with keen hearing on alert. Make sure not to touch the walls of a canvas hide, since an animal may notice the movement. Be sure there are no reflective metal parts and no pieces of fabric flapping in the wind on the side of the blind that may make animals wary.
TIME OF DAY
Most wildlife is not to be found at mid-day. The best time to anticipate animal activity is early morning, with late afternoon coming in second best.
DRESS APPROPRIATELY
Make sure you have sufficient clothing to keep you warm. You may think you do, but staying relatively inactive for long periods in cool or cold temperatures can give you quite a chill in clothing that would be adequate for someone on the move. Besides, the temperature can drop while you are waiting, and you may suddenly need to throw on an extra sweater or pair of gloves.
Avoid the use of scented cologne, after-shave, perfume or even scented soap or shampoo. They can be a dead give-away to your presence.
You may think your blind is set up perfectly and yet wonder why the animals are staying out of sight. It could be something as simple as your after-shave or perfume that's sending out a signal you're not aware of.
CAMERA GEAR TO USE
The choice of camera equipment will mainly depend on how close the blind is to the wildlife subjects, and also on the size of the animals themselves.
Since you are likely going to reach your blind on foot and will have to lug not only your gear in, but also a supply of food, drinks, a portable seat, binoculars and other material, you should travel as lightly as possible, and with the minimum in photography equipment.
A medium telephoto lens in the 200 mm range may be adequate on occasion, however it is more likely you will need a longer lens. A fast 400 mm or 500 mm lens should do the job nicely, providing good close-ups of most species.
A tripod and cable release should be used to avoid camera shake and ensure sharpness, particularly when the light begins to fall off and shutter speeds get slower.
Selecting a sensitivity setting in your digital camera or using film in the ISO 100 range can be used when the light is bright, however you will probably find a faster film or sensitivity setting (ISO 400 or even ISO 800) to be more practical. There are some excellent-quality fast films on today's market. Bring plenty of it, or plenty of digital storage media, to be sure you don't run out just when the action picks up.
You would not normally use flash from a blind, since it will make the animals aware of your presence and since the flash-to-subject distance will probably be too great.
Having binoculars with you is a big help in picking out interesting subjects. Look for interaction among animals (a mother feeding her young, the greetings ritual when dad gets home, young animals at play, and so on), and shoot when high points are reached in activities. Ensure your lens is focused on the main players - the animals that are most active or that look the healthiest. Know your depth of field and be prepared to refocus when animals move either towards or away from the blind.
A telescope or binoculars are a big help in locating animals from a wildlife observation platform or a blind.
Do not make all your pictures tight close-ups; include the setting in some to provide interest and context. An image that places a subject in its setting is known as an establishing shot. In the case of wildlife pictures, an establishing shot from a blind relates the animals to their natural surroundings. Think of good composition when framing establishing shots, and employ your knowledge of landscape photography in conjunction with animal picture-taking.
When shooting, rewinding, changing a lens and loading film or changing a digital memory card, take measures to muffle the sounds that you and your camera make. Wrapping your camera in a thick layer of cloth or your jacket can reduce its noise output and keep animals unaware of your presence.
Move the camera slowly and only when necessary. Keep back in the blind's shade so you (particularly your face and eyes, and especially if you are wearing glasses) do not become caught in the light.
When you are away from the blind, leave a bottle that is about the size of your lens poking through the lens opening so the animals remain accustomed to seeing a reflective, rounded shape there.
Using food as bait to attract a coyote near Death Valley.
USING BAIT
When a blind is kept in the same location for a long period of time (several weeks or more), some photographers place food, a salt lick or water at an optimum shooting distance in front of it to encourage wildlife to visit regularly.
We don't encourage the regular feeding of wildlife under any circumstances, since they may become reliant on the food and it is a disruption of the natural order of their lives. In many national parks and wildlife refuges, it is unlawful to feed wildlife.
Good advice that applies to more than just coyotes.
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