Now you see me…

Wildlife photographer Andy Rouse is a big fan of doing ‘look-throughs’—pointing his camera through a hole in the foliage to create a blurred foreground. It’s a technique that works well for one or two of his favourite tiger shots.

In Africa and the polar regions, you don’t get many chances to do that, so I prefer the ‘look-over’. This involves filling the bottom third of the frame with a blurred foreground.

It’s a neat trick and gives the impression that your subject is materialising in mid-air! This article will tell you how to do it and let you in on a few secrets…

The Concept

Wildlife photographers are always searching for original methods and techniques, and the look-over has become quite popular recently. People tend to focus on the background rather than the foreground, and there’s lots of advice out there on how to create the perfect backdrop with no distractions.

However, the foreground can be just as important. Landscape photographers are taught to include ‘foreground interest’ in their shots and shoot at f/16 for front-to-back sharpness. The look-over is a slightly different technique, but it also tries to make a feature out of the foreground.

The idea is to shoot just over (or through) long grass, a snow bank or an ice floe that’s close enough to be out of focus. If you get it just right, the blur of the foreground covers up the legs or lower part of your subject so that it almost looks like it’s floating.

The Execution

Location

You can take look-over shots wherever you like. I’ve done it myself in Africa, India and Antarctica, so it doesn’t matter what country you happen to be in. All you need is a foreground object to ‘look over’!

Wildlife portraits generally look best when taken at eye level (or below), so it obviously helps if you can get down reasonably low. If you’re on foot, that’s easy enough, but it’s a bit trickier if you’re in a vehicle—or if there are bears or big cats nearby!

There may be occasions when it’s safe to get out and sit or lie down on the ground. Just ask your guide or tour leader whether it’s possible. If not, you might be able to open the side door or lean out of the vehicle.

Alternatively, you can always mount your camera on a monopod and hold it upside down over the door. You can then compose the shot on the tilted LCD screen and use the self-timer or a remote control to trigger the shutter.

It’s also possible to take these shots from a boat. When I took the shot of the crabeater seal (see main image), I was on a Zodiac inflatable near the Antarctic Peninsula. Conditions were quite calm, so I could take a few different shots, experimenting with the amount of blur caused by the edge of the ice floe.

Lens

For this technique to work best, you really need a medium to long telephoto lens with a long minimum focusing distance. That should cut down the depth of field and make sure the foreground doesn’t become too distracting.

If you try it with a wide-angle lens or one with a short minimum focusing distance, the extra depth of field means the foreground will probably be too sharp, and you won’t be able to create the blur you need to merge nicely with your subject.

Settings

You shouldn’t need to worry too much about your settings, but choosing a wider or narrower aperture will obviously create more or less blur by changing the depth of field. You can simply adjust it to taste.

If you’re shooting through (rather than over) grass, your main problem will probably be sharpness. Most autofocus systems won’t cope very well with the movement of the grass, and even eye detection might struggle. You can always switch to manual, but I’d certainly try to increase your chances by taking a long burst each time rather than single shots.

You also have the option of using a slower shutter speed (like 1/60 of a second) to blur the movement of the individual blades, but that shouldn’t be necessary if you’re close enough.

Composition

The usual rules of composition apply, but the main variable with this type of shot is the amount of blur you want. If you get yourself into the right position, you should be able to move up and down slightly to adjust how much of the frame is taken up by the blurred foreground.

It’s a matter of personal taste, of course, so you can play around with it until you find what you think is the best composition.

Verdict

The look-over shot is one of many possible ways to give your wildlife portraits a twist—wherever you happen to be and whatever you’re shooting. It’s best if you’re on foot, but there are work-arounds if you’re in a vehicle, such as using a monopod. The only real limitation is safety, so you just need to check with your guide beforehand.

There are also no special settings required, so it’s easy to experiment without worrying you’ll screw it up! Even the final composition is a matter of taste, so you can introduce as much or as little blur as you wish.

What’s not to like…?!

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