How to Build Photography Blinds
Using a blind to take candid photographs of wildlife combines the art of photography with the skill of hunting. A blind is a place of concealment, a place from which to hide and shoot...a photograph. There really is no difference between a hunting blind and a photography blind except that in one you have a gun and in the other you have a camera. A photo blind is good for photographing insects too.
Instructions
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Clear the immediate area around where you expect to have the best chance of observing your subject.
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Place your blind in a position that will have the type of visitors that you wish to photograph, such as along a game trail or watering hole. Select a position based on the type of camera lenses you expect to use (telephoto, macro, wide-field) from your blind. The blind should be far enough away from where your subject will be so as not to be obvious. This distance will range from yards or feet for most animals, or just inches for insects.
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Build a light framework using natural materials such as sticks, tree limbs, rocks or bushes and secure them together with twine. A simple lean-to formed by leaning a log against a tree, and then stacking smaller sticks against it to form a wall, will work in some cases.
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Check the size of the framework while you are building it to ensure you have sufficient room to move around (about 5 feet from side to side will work). While you are building your framework, keep the line of sight from the blind to the photo zone free of obstructions.
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Check your field of view when the framework is completed but before you attach the burlap camouflage material (in some cases, very little covering will be needed). Walk around and ensure that you will be able to observe from your blind all areas you can reasonably expect to photograph.
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Attach the camouflage material to the framework with twine while leaving an opening for your camera lens to poke out. Cover the camouflage material with a few items naturally found in the immediate area like leaves, sticks and pine branches to help the blind blend into the natural surroundings. Enter the blind and recheck your field of view.
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Tips & Warnings
Scout the area ahead of your photography date to become familiar with game trails and the animals there.
Wash your clothing in scent-free soap so that animals will not detect unnatural odor that will cause them to shy away from your photo area.
Finding materials to build your blind should not pose much of a problem but you may also bring a commercially available frame if you don't mind adding to the weight (cameras, tripods, etc.) of your equipment.
Remember that when you are in a blind, you are hidden and other people or animals could unexpectedly stumble upon your position. Mark your blind with a few strips of orange florescent tape to alert other people to you, and keep an eye out for animals approaching from the other side of the blind.
