Wildlife Photography: Making It Real - with Photoshop!

Jim Zuckerman is a top stock photographer, published author, and longtime BetterPhoto instructor. He shoots such an exciting array of subjects - from people and cultures, to exotic travel and romantic Europe. He also photographs nature and wildlife.

"It’s always thrilling to have close encounters with intriguing animals," says Jim Z. An example is this Meller’s chameleon, which he captured during a weekend photography session in St. Louis.

(c) Jim Zuckerman

However, he adds: "I didn’t like the shadows that were created behind the chameleon so I used Photoshop to replace the original background with a photo of out-of-focus foliage. Now the picture looks exactly like I wanted it, and this is how it would look in the wild in East Africa if I had used a long telephoto.

"Even though I try to shoot scenes with natural-looking backgrounds, sometimes it’s a challenge if the animal is moving all over the place. And this guy was definitely frisky."

NOTE: Learn more about JZ and his online photo courses: BetterPhoto online photography school page