When it comes to photographing urban wildlife, walking around your home is the way to go. Of course, you can also wait around for wildlife to show up in your yard, but if you don’t have one, I highly suggest you grab your gear and start walking around your urban center. If it’s safe enough for you to walk through the streets with your gear in hand, do so while being mindful of all the birds, squirrels, and other species that could show themselves to you.
If safety is a concern, consider visiting the different parks around your home. Walk around for a bit and then pick a nice spot to sit by and wait for the magic to happen. Urban forests and other natural areas close to you are also worth the visit; you’ll be surprised at the different species living near your home that you’ll be able to photograph.
Some of my best work was actually made in the apartment complex I live in in Mexico City. This place is huge and, luckily, it’s near a natural area made of xeric shrublands, housing many different and unique species. The complex itself also has a large area of this type of ecosystem as well as many yards and gardens where I’ve been able to photograph beautiful birds, opossums, ring-tailed cats, screech owls, and different kinds of lizards, such as the male crevice swift (Sceloporus torquatus) shown above.
Depending on where you live, you may be able to spot coyotes, foxes, deer, or even bears by walking around the nearby forests and parks in your town. If you are one of those lucky few who share a city or town with those kinds of species, I certainly envy you!
The species I’m able to see in my city are also pretty exceptional, even though most people tend to completely ignore them. Don’t be one of those people! Even your most common urban lizard will look amazing under your macro lens. If you can’t get close to these swift little animals, use your telephoto lens to get a nice portrait, then crop it a bit in your editing software, as I did with the image above. I have achieved some of my best lizard photos with my telephoto lens, capturing the vibrant blues of the males’ scales while they’re just relaxing on a rock while thermoregulating. I photographed this guy using my Canon RP and Canon 400mm f/5.6 lens to avoid scaring him off and shot at f/5.6 for a shallow depth of field.
I’ve also been lucky enough to run into opossums in broad daylight. They tend to be curious about the human pointing a camera at them and have allowed me to shoot a couple of nice portraits before running away. I’ve also rescued a few of them that became trapped in garbage containers. You can also use your urban photo hunts to check around different garbage cans to see if you find a trapped animal, which happens far too frequently.
Squirrels can also be great models. Sometimes they’ll stay still enough on a branch or on the ground to allow you to take some photos. I photographed this squirrel (species unknown) that had stolen an orange bigger than him from one of my neighbors’ kitchen windows and was trying to eat it while perched on a branch.
You can also spend a bit of time turning rocks and logs, especially during the rainy season, to search for reptiles like garden snakes. If there are any in your area, you might also find amphibians like salamanders, frogs, and toads. Don’t handle them, as touching them can make them sick and kill them due to their skin’s sensitivity, but grab your macro lens, zoom lens, or even a wide-angle lens and shoot away at these unique animals.
While walking around, I recommend setting your camera to a fixed aperture. I normally work with something ranging from f/5.6 to f/8, a speed of 1/500th of a second, and my ISO as low as possible depending on the lighting conditions. This allows me to react quickly to the swift wildlife that may cross my path. By setting your camera ahead of time, you can literally just point, compose your shot (the rule of thirds is a no-miss), and shoot. Remember to also activate your automatic focus so you don’t miss a single moment or get blurry photos.
So if you don’t have a yard or you’re bored of waiting around for the action to come to you, grab your camera and start walking! You are sure to run into many different wildlife species in your town.