Animals are rarely something I deliberately set out to photograph. Their movements are unpredictable, meaningful moments often last only a second, and while traveling, I usually cannot spend hours waiting in one place or carry a heavy telephoto lens everywhere I go. Still, I have been lucky enough to meet a few charming creatures along the way — from cats resting in Beijing hutongs and birds wandering beside the sea to squirrels in American parks and roosters casually roaming the streets of Key West. This photo collection gathers some of those small, unexpected encounters.
As someone whose work mainly focuses on travel photography, I usually photograph animals only when they happen to cross my path. Unlike landscapes or architecture, they cannot be carefully arranged or revisited under better light. Sometimes I notice an animal early enough to prepare; at other times, I have only a few seconds to focus, frame the image, and press the shutter before it disappears.
Professional wildlife photography is a much more demanding field. To avoid disturbing the animals, photographers often work from a considerable distance, wait patiently for long periods, and use large telephoto lenses to capture brief moments of movement or interaction. Fast and reliable autofocus, a suitable shutter speed, and the ability to react quickly can all make a major difference. From my limited experience, animal photography often feels more technically unpredictable than many of the subjects I normally photograph — although patience and an understanding of animal behavior may matter just as much as the equipment.
Composition usually needs to remain simple because there is rarely much time to make decisions. Centered composition is often the safest and most direct choice, especially when the animal itself is clearly the focus of the photograph. I also frequently use the rule of thirds, placing the animal slightly away from the center so that the surrounding environment becomes part of the story. A cat sitting alone in a hutong, a gull standing beside the waves, or a squirrel among fallen leaves can tell us something not only about the animal, but also about the place in which I encountered it.
The kinds of animals I notice also change from one destination to another. Cats and dogs are common in many Chinese cities, and some parks in Beijing are home to friendly community cats that seem perfectly comfortable around people. In the United States, I began to notice squirrels almost everywhere, while Key West surprised me with chickens and roosters freely wandering through streets and gardens. Forest parks and wetlands are better places to observe groups of birds, while destinations such as the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden offer more opportunities to look for geckos, insects, and other less familiar species.
I am certainly not an experienced animal photographer, but perhaps that is also what I like about these images. They were not carefully planned or patiently staged. Each one began with a small moment of surprise: noticing a pair of eyes in the shade, an animal pausing in the right light, or a brief connection before it quietly moved on.
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