Guanaco in the Andes
Animal Portraits
Up close and personal. The word portrait evokes a frame-filling face or full body shot of the species. Who would travel to Africa’s Serengeti without longing to capture a viewfinder-filling image of a zebra, for example?
The usual goal of an animal portrait is to reveal an adorable expression, capture a defining behavior, or to showcase a majestic coat of fur or colorful feathers. Ideally, only the animal is in focus with the background blurred. This way, the subject stands out with no distractions.
The photographer’s lens of choice is a big telephoto lens. It does a superb job of filling the frame and blurring the background.
But there is another kind of portrait. An environmental portrait is a landscape image with an animal included. Using a normal or short telephoto lens allows the photographer to show off the animal in its domain. The focus is about storytelling rather than documentation.
Wildlife Photos?
If you follow the Friday Photo, you know that if it moves, I don’t usually photograph it. But there are exceptions.
Last April in Patagonia, we had the opportunity to experience some of the wildlife. The South American gray fox, the Patagonian mara (rabbit), the crested cara cara, and the Andean condor all made appearances.
But the most common critter was the guanaco (ghwuah-NAH-koh). It’s a camelid native to South America. You might be more familiar with its domesticated relative, the llama.
Like all camels, Guanacos are herbivores. They graze on grasses, shrubs, herbs, lichens, fungi, cacti, and flowers.
Guanacos live in herds composed of females, their young, and a single dominant male. Around one year of age, young males are expelled from the herd.
The reproductive groups tend to remain small, often containing no more than 10 adults. Bachelor herds may contain as many as 50 males. Though typically mild-mannered, guanacos often spit up to six feet when threatened.
Preyed upon by puma (aka mountain lions), they can run at 35 mph per hour, even over steep and rocky terrain. They are also excellent swimmers. A guanaco's typical lifespan is 20 to 25 years.
The Shot
None of us on the photo tour were wildlife photographers. However, another reason to capture an image of the Andes mountains was appealing. While the mid-afternoon light was terrible for a pure landscape image, it could create magical backlighting of an animal.
As we cruised the road, we kept an eye out for guanaco. After a short drive, we spotted a herd and exited the car. We slowly walked towards them to nudge them into position.
It required 30 minutes or so, but finally we had a solitary guanaco outlined with a glowing halo of fur with the towering Andes in the distance. I hoped this photograph would tell their story.
Thanks for looking,
Chuck Derus