Famous wildlife photographers such as Frans Lanting, Marina Cano, and Paul Nicklen offer very different ways to see animals. Some build a picture around a quiet gesture. Others show the habitat, the people protecting a species, or a moment we would otherwise miss.
Here are 15 photographers to study, with examples of what to look for in their work. This is a selection for inspiration, not a ranking of who is best.
What Makes an Amazing Wildlife Photo?
A sharp animal portrait can be beautiful. But a photograph can also show us how an animal behaves or where it lives. When you study these images, look at why their compositions work: where the animal sits in the frame, what surrounds it, and where your eye goes first.
Then ask what the picture tells you. A glance between animals, a small subject in a wide landscape, or a person caring for wildlife can give an image its story. Technical choices should help us see that story.
15 Famous Wildlife Photographers to Follow
Use the photographer links to explore their work beyond the examples here.
1. Frans Lanting
Frans Lanting is a giant among nature photographers. His vivid storytelling is worth examining for the way an animal and its surroundings share the frame.
Lanting’s book, Jungles, lives in a prominent place on my bookshelf. I often pull out this well-worn volume and flip through the pages to find inspiration.
When you look at his work, pay attention to the foreground as well as the subject. In the cheetah photograph below, the grass helps place us in the animal’s world.
2. Marina Cano
Marina Cano is a Spanish wildlife photographer and Canon Ambassador. Her work includes African wildlife photographed in color and black and white.
I recommend examining her black and white images of African elephants. Look at the shapes of the animals, the texture of their skin, and the space between them. These are things we can study even before thinking about camera settings.
3. Marsel van Oosten
Dutch-born wildlife photographer Marsel van Oosten’s work makes a strong case for studying the whole frame. Look at how light, background, and the position of each animal work together.
His photograph, The Golden Couple, won the 2018 Wildlife Photographer of the Year grand title. It shows two Qinling golden snub-nosed monkeys resting in a forest. The Natural History Museum’s account describes how learning to predict their behavior helped him make the picture.
4. Suzi Eszterhas
Suzi Eszterhas’ photographs focus on newborn animals and family life in the wild. Her work goes beyond an appealing portrait to show the contact between parents and young.
Watch for the small gestures in her pictures: a touch, a protective position, or the way two animals face each other. They give us something to read in the image beyond the animal’s appearance.
5. Sandesh Kadur
Sandesh Kadur is a wildlife photographer, filmmaker, and National Geographic Explorer. His work uses still images and film to tell stories about animals and their habitats.
The lizard silhouette below is a reminder to look for shape as well as detail. We don’t need to see every scale to read the subject. Try tracing the outline with your eye and noticing how the leaf frames it.
6. Melissa Groo
Melissa Groo has won many wildlife photography awards. If you take a look through her website's gallery, you can see why.
Her work also gives us a reason to think about how photographs are made. Groo writes and teaches about ethics in wildlife photography. As you study her bird images, pay attention to light, behavior, and the surroundings rather than looking only for a close view of the animal.
7. Joel Sartore
Joel Sartore is known for his Photo Ark conservation project. It documents animal species in human care, including those in zoos, aquariums, and wildlife centers.
That distinction matters when we study wildlife photography: a portrait made in human care has a different context from a field photograph. Photo Ark’s black or white backgrounds put the animal’s form and features at the center of the picture. Consider how much a background changes the way we look at a subject.
8. Ami Vitale
Ami Vitale's photography connects the lives of people and wildlife. Her stories give the people working to protect animals a place in the picture.
Her work documenting Sudan, the last male northern white rhinoceros, is one example. Sudan died in 2018, and Vitale wrote about the experience in National Geographic’s October 2019 issue. Study how including a human relationship can help a conservation story reach beyond a portrait of an animal.
9. Paul Nicklen
Paul Nicklen's background as a marine biologist informs his work as a photographer. His photographs take us into ocean and polar environments.
Look at the space around his subjects as well as the animals themselves. A close portrait draws our attention to an individual. A wider view asks us to notice the water, ice, or landscape it depends on. Comparing those approaches is a good way to think about your own framing.
10. Cristina Mittermeier
Cristina Mittermeier’s photographs include portraits, travel, and wildlife. Her conservation work brings human communities into stories about the ocean.
She co-founded SeaLegacy with Paul Nicklen in 2014. The organization uses photography and film to support ocean conservation. When you explore her work, follow a series of images as well as individual photographs. Notice how pictures of people, animals, and places can build one story together.
11. Florian Schulz
Florian Schulz’s book Yellowstone to Yukon: Freedom to Roam is a beautiful example of conservation photography.
Schulz argues for protected lands to connect Yellowstone to Canada's Yukon Territory. His images of this wild part of the world are beautiful and thought-provoking.
Look for the role of the landscape in those pictures. The animal is part of a larger place, and that place is central to the conservation story.
12. Amy Gulick
I first learned of Amy Gulick while browsing the shelves of my local bookstore. Her book, Salmon in the Trees, is about Alaska's Tongass National Forest and has since become one of my favorites.
A writer and photographer, Gulick is a master at combining the two art forms. Her book shows how salmon are intertwined in the Pacific Northwest ecosystem. Photographers looking to mix visual and text stories will find Gulick an inspiration.
Read the words alongside the photographs. They can explain connections that one image cannot show on its own.
13. Morgan Heim
Morgan Heim is a conservation photographer and filmmaker. Her images explore the places where the lives of people and wildlife meet.
Her camera trap work includes a mountain lion photographed in a neighborhood. Such pictures invite us to examine the surroundings rather than crop them away. Buildings, paths, or other signs of people can be part of the wildlife story.
14. Tin Man Lee
Study Tin Man Lee for his intimate portraits of animals in the wild. The eyes of his subjects are often what first holds our attention.
Then look beyond the eyes. Notice the animal’s posture, the edges of the frame, and what the background lets us see. A strong portrait needs those parts to work together too.
15. Jenny E. Ross
Jenny Ross' work combines wildlife photography and writing with natural history, conservation, and scientific research.
Her Arctic photographs are a place to start. Look at how an animal stands out against snow or ice, and then read the accompanying information. Her work is a reminder that understanding the place can deepen the way we understand its photographs.
Conclusion
I’ve never understood the competition between photographers. Often, it seems, we are trying to outshoot one another. Instead, we should look to one another and to famous wildlife photographers for inspiration.
Choose a few photographs from this list and spend time with them. Ask what caught your eye, what the background adds, and what the picture tells you about the animal. Then take one of those ideas into your own photography. You can begin close to home, with the welfare of the animal guiding how you work.
Take a look at our Simply Stunning Landscapes course next!
