Estonian wildlife photographer says animal behavior, timing shape the shot

Estonian surgeon-turned-wildlife photographer Ilmar Kaur says it's not just luck and timing, but animal behavior that turns shots into stories.

Speaking on Vikerraadio, Kaur said he and his son Verner have photographed everything from courting bears to a curious lynx, usually during unpredictable encounters in the wild.

He said good wildlife photography should show more than just a subject.

"It shouldn't just be a close-up or portrait," he explained. "Animal behavior is crucial too. You should always keep both in mind."

After several near-misses, Kaur recently fulfilled a longtime dream of photographing a lynx — and not just once, but twice.

"I've run into lynx several times, just never managed to photograph them," he said. This spring, however, Kaur was in the right place at the right time — once in the forests of Viimsi Peninsula, and again near their family's country home.

"Lynxes are very curious and pretty tolerant of humans," he added.

He was a teenager in the 1980s the first time he saw a bear, but didn't end up encountering one again as a photographer until just a few years ago.

One of his most memorable encounters came last spring during mating season.

"My son Verner and I came across two courting bears," Kaur said, adding that they managed to watch the bears in peace for a good ten minutes.

"Maybe the reason we managed to get so close was because they only had eyes for each other," he said. "Nothing else around them mattered."

Kaur said he and his son don't use hides, or camouflaged shelters, when photographing wildlife, relying instead on chance encounters in the field. It takes time, he admitted, but it is always time well spent.

"Even if you don't end up getting the shot, you always get more out of it than you put in," he said.