I am not a wildlife photographer but I still love photographing animals. I don't often photograph animals in the wild, mostly in fields, zoos, or farms. I love animals of all kinds and their presence, and they don't have to be right next to me, gives me a nice feeling of relaxation and belonging to nature. After all, we ourselves are nothing but another species of animal.

In this photo gallery, I want to show you the most interesting photos of animals I have taken so far. And I hope that more and even better ones will come with time! A large part of the photos are free to download and can be used wherever you want (you can find many more of my free photos on my other website Libreshot.com), others are available as printed photos.

Cattle

Cats

A beautiful grey curious kitten photographed with a very shallow depth of field so that only the eyes and whiskers are in focus and everything else is out of focus. I took this photo in front of our house in Kolovraty.

Birds

Although this beautiful parrot is originally from Australia, I photographed him in Prague Zoo. They have a big cage there that you can enter and admire these beautiful creatures pretty close up.

I called this photo "Angry Pigeon". But it is certain that the pigeon was not actually angry. It's just us humans who like to attribute human characteristics to animals. I took this photo in Prague.

Horses

The home of this wild horse (Equus ferus) is the Milovice Reserve, which is part of the amazing "Czech Landscape" project - https://www.ceska-krajina.cz/. In addition to wild horses, you can also see European bison and Aurochs, which have been bred back - the original ones were extinct.

I took this photo when I was a tourist guide in Mongolia. It was not an easy job at all and so almost every day, when we reached our destination safely and on time, and when I managed to find decent accommodation and food, I would take my camera and go exploring.

Deer

I photographed this deer on my way from work on my bike in the village of Šeberov in Prague. There is a small game preserve with deer, sheep, and goats. When I stopped there and was looking at the animals, after a while this gorgeous deer came right up to me. Even though he probably came because he was expecting some goodies, the feeling of close proximity with such a majestic animal was wonderful for me. We stood there across from each other for several dozen minutes, looking at each other. Then I took out my camera and took more long minutes of pictures.

Reptiles and Amphibians

Insect & Spiders

Monkeys

Zoos evoke conflicting feelings in me. When I was a kid, I loved the Prague Zoo, where I went several times a year alone and enjoyed the proximity of wild animals. At the time, I didn't realize how much animals suffer in cages.

Now I am very aware of it. But I also know that many zoos play an important role in reintroducing wild animals back into the wild.

The ideal situation would probably be if zoos did not try to keep as many animals as possible at any cost. Instead, they would select only those for which natural conditions can be created, even in captivity, so that the animals have not only enough space but also social interaction and entertainment.

This is unfortunately not the case for the hamadryas baboons at the Liberec Zoo in northern Bohemia. The expression you see on the baboon in the photo says it all.

Goats and sheep

I photographed this beautiful animal in Kolovraty using a selective focus technique with a very shallow depth of field. Only the mouth is in focus and everything else is out of focus.

Until recently, there were two goats living there. Sadly, one of them, about to give birth to a young at any moment, died because people fed it bread and other unsuitable food.

Fish and Aquatic animals

Mustelids