As pro wildlife photographer Theo Allofs discovered, snapping kangaroos up close is harder than it looks.
Photographers who work with wild animals know a degree of patience is involved in getting close to their subjects. There are a number of factors which determine how close you can get. It makes sense not to approach a supreme predator like a tiger on foot. Needless to say this applies to all animals that are bigger and stronger than we are!
It's amazing how close you can get to African mega fauna in a safari vehicle. Because of mass ecotourism these animals have accepted the vehicle as a non-threatening part of nature. As long as we stay inside it’s possible a lion might rub his back at the bumper or an elephant rest its trunk on the hood.
One of my most interesting wildlife experiences involved red kangaroos in Sturt National Park, NSW. The term "totally unpredictable" best describes their behaviour! The first time I tried to work on a story on these strange marsupials I had to give up after only a few days. Their numbers were few after years of intense drought and their reluctance to stay near a vehicle made it impossible for me to photograph them. Then heavy rains in the drought-ridden deserts brought the red kangaroo population back to its former peak faster than anybody had expected.
I decided to go back to Sturt National Park, in the far north-western corner of NSW, to try my luck again. I found the kangaroos there in large numbers, grazing on vast grasslands – a truly impressive sight. Less impressive was the fact that I still couldn't get close enough to photograph them from my vehicle. And it was much worse trying to approach them on foot! I tried everything, until I decided just to lie down at waterholes and wait.
First I used camouflage hides, then I proceeded to crawl into bushes, until I finally just sat quietly in the open. The kangaroos saw me, hesitated and then continued about their business, sometimes only a few metres away, like I didn't exist at all. This image was taken with a 20mm wide-angle lens attached to a remotely controlled camera placed at the edge of a small waterhole only about four metres away from me. During the last hour before sunset I had the great pleasure and satisfaction of watching dozens of kangaroos hopping to and from the waterhole, like I wasn’t even there.
Theo Allofs had one of his more frustrating photographic outings pursuing red kangaroos around the Sturt National Park in NSW. In the end he found the best strategy was to lie down near a watering hole and wait for them to come to him.