Photographing wild animals in their natural habitats

It is accepted that wildlife photography in Turkey began with the works of the German scientists who migrated to the country before World War II. Taking into account that, on the Western part of the spectrum, works in this field can be traced back to almost the invention of photography, such an inception can be considered quite late for our country. In addition, the amount of work in the country is still far below a satisfactory level despite the slight increase following the digital photography revolution in the 2000s. In fact, in the field of wildlife photography, which consists of sub-branches, such as mammal photography, avian photography and macro photography, all one can find as an academic work in the field is one postgraduate thesis on avian photography. When the potential benefits of wildlife photography for science, documentarism, art, economy and tourism are considered, this is unacceptable. The underlying reasons may be listed as; costly equipment, high traveling expenses, or the time required to execute proper work being too long. The possibility of encountering challenges on the field, the strain that learning how to use the complex equipment puts on the photographer, and the prerequisite of having deep knowledge and experience might also be regarded as other drawbacks preventing progress on the subject. The species studied on and decoding their behavior are parts of another field of study and specialization. Knowing where they live would not be sufficient on its own; these species need to be located and identified in their own habitats. In the end, this requires interactions with local people and guides which brings about a social aspect of the study. There are a lot of hardships and health risks to living and working in the open space. There is also the fact that the animals being viewed are fragile; they may easily be hurt, or even flee the area, leaving their offspring behind upon feeling discomfort. The purpose of this study is to establish a ground on which reliable, extensive and efficient data and a "know-how" on all the above-mentioned issues can be accumulated. The study focuses primarily on ranges and species found in Turkey, and while it is highly extensive, the study abstains from providing fundamental information on photography, which can easily be found elsewhere, through wildlife photography, in order to prevent an unnecessarily lengthy dissertation. Of mammal, avian and macro photography, as sub-branches of wildlife photography, each respectively have their own unique equipment. This fact has made the studies on these sub-branches differ in methods. In addition, a wildlife macro video section which has never been studied on before has been put together with practical field applications in mind. However, underwater photography, which underwent a more different historical process and requires a joint development of diving equipment and unique photography equipment, was not included in this study. Accompanying the thesis is a photography portfolio which showcases various species living in their natural habitats, mainly from Turkey, photographed during the field studies. In conclusion, this thesis stands out as the first of its kind in Turkey as an academic study as well as shedding light on the subject from a nature-friendly wildlife photographer's perspective who has been working in Turkey for a long time.