Animals & Wildlife | Fine Art Photography

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

Detail of the face and eye of a beautiful brown cow with a sad expression.
Detail of the face and eye of a beautiful brown cow with a sad expression. The photo is free for download. Aperture: ƒ/4, Camera: NIKON D7100, Exposure bias: -2/6EV, Focal length: 90mm, ISO: 100, Shutter speed: 1/125s.
A black cow with a yellow tag in her ear.
A black cow with a yellow tag in her ear. I took this photo in the Bohemian Paradise in the Czech Republic. The photo is for free use. Aperture: ƒ/5.6, Camera: NIKON D7100, Focal length: 300mm, ISO: 250, Shutter speed: 1/200s.

Cats

Curious kitten.
Curious kitten. Aperture: ƒ/1.8, Camera: NIKON D7100, Focal length: 35mm, ISO: 250, Shutter speed: 1/1000s.

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

Minimalist photograph of a silhouette of a statue on the Charles Bridge in Prague, on which a seagull sits.
Minimalist photograph of a silhouette of a statue on the Charles Bridge in Prague, on which a seagull sits. You can buy this photo printed and decorate your apartment with it.
Curious green parrot - Scaly-breasted lorikeet (Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus).
Curious green parrot - Scaly-breasted lorikeet (Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus). The photo is free to download. Aperture: ƒ/5.6, Camera: NIKON D7100, Focal length: 300mm, ISO: 1250, Shutter speed: 1/500s.

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.

Angry pigeon.
Angry pigeon. You can download the photo for free. Aperture: ƒ/6.3, Camera: NIKON D7100, Focal length: 300mm, ISO: 100, Shutter speed: 1/160s

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.

The head of a vulture. Portrait photo of a beautiful scavenging bird, taken in Prague Zoo.
The head of a vulture. Portrait photo of a beautiful scavenging bird (Eurasian griffon, gyps fulvus), taken in Prague Zoo. The photo is free for download. Aperture: ƒ/5.6, Camera: NIKON D7100, Focal length: 105mm, ISO: 500, Shutter speed: 1/640s.

Horses

Beautiful wild horse - Exmoor pony in nature reserve in Milovice near Prague, Czech Republic.
Beautiful wild horse - Exmoor pony in nature reserve in Milovice near Prague, Czech Republic. You can download the photo for free. Aperture: ƒ/5.6, Camera: NIKON D7100, Focal length: 300mm, ISO: 200, Shutter speed: 1/500s.

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.

Two horses tied to a post near a wooden hut, Lake Khovsgol, Mongolia.
Two horses tied to a post near a wooden hut, Lake Khovsgol, Mongolia. You can download the photo for free. Aperture: ƒ/5, Camera: NIKON D7100, Focal length: 35mm, ISO: 100, Shutter speed: 1/320s.

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

A portrait of a beautiful deer. Photo is free to download.
A portrait of a beautiful deer. Photo is free to download. Aperture: ƒ/5, Camera: NIKON D7100, Exposure bias: -2/6EV, Focal length: 70mm, ISO: 500, Shutter speed: 1/80s,

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

Two Cuban ground iguanas (Cyclura nubila) resting on dry wood in terrarium in Prague Zoo
Two Cuban ground iguanas (Cyclura nubila) resting on dry wood in terrarium in Prague Zoo. Camera: Olympus XZ-2, Focal length: 24mm, ISO: 400, Shutter speed: 1/320s, Aperture: ƒ/2.5,
Edible frog (Pelophylax esculentus) in the Czech Republic.
Edible frog (Pelophylax esculentus) in the Czech Republic. For us Czechs its English name is very strange 🙂 The Czech name of this frog could be translated as "Green Jumper". You can download Aperture: ƒ/5.6, Camera: NIKON D7100, Focal length: 105mm, ISO: 320, Shutter speed: 1/250s.

Insect & Spiders

A tiny spider on a green leaf .
A tiny spider on a green leaf was photographed with a 90mm macro lens in a flowerpot on our balcony. Aperture: ƒ/7.1, Camera: NIKON D7100, Focal length: 90mm, ISO: 640, Shutter speed: 1/400s. You can download this photo for free.
Beautiful red and black beetle in green grass.
Beautiful red and black beetle in green grass. Photo is free to download. I took this photo not far behind our house in a field near the cemetery in Kolovraty, Prague.
Macrophotograph of a ladybird or ladybug crawling on a sedum reflexum plant in a garden in the Bohemian Paradise in the Czech republic.
Macrophotograph of a ladybird or ladybug crawling on a sedum reflexum plant in a garden in the Bohemian Paradise in the Czech republic. You can download the photo for free. Aperture: ƒ/5.3, Camera: NIKON D7100, Lens: Tamron SP 90mm Macro, Focal length: 90mm, ISO: 250, Shutter speed: 1/640s.
A fly on the blue table in Greece.
A fly on the blue table in Greece. Photo is free to download.
Old wooden hives - Photo is free to download.
Old wooden hives - Photo is free to download. Aperture: ƒ/5.6, Camera: NIKON D7100, Focal length: 250mm, ISO: 1000, Shutter speed: 1/400s.

Monkeys

A sad monkey behind bars in a zoo in the Czech Republic.
A sad monkey behind bars in a zoo in the Czech Republic. The photo is freely downloadable.

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

White and black goats in the Mongolian Gobi Desert. The photo is free to download.
White and black goats in the Mongolian Gobi Desert. The photo is free to download. Aperture: ƒ/11, Camera: NIKON D7100, Focal length: 220mm, ISO: 500, Shutter speed: 1/1000s.
The sad brown goat behind the fence.
The sad brown goat behind the fence. You can download the photo for free. Aperture: ƒ/1.8, Camera: NIKON D7100, Focal length: 35mm, ISO: 100, Shutter speed: 1/250s.

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

Sea urchin in the hands of my son on the beach in Croatia. You can download the photo for free.
Sea urchin in the hands of my son on the beach in Croatia. You can download the photo for free. Aperture: ƒ/11, Camera: NIKON D7100, Focal length: 62mm, ISO: 100, Shutter speed: 1/250s.

Mustelids

Wolverine (Gulo gulo), which I photographed at the Zoo in Hluboká nad Vltavou in South Bohemia. The photo is free to download.
Wolverine (Gulo gulo), which I photographed at the Zoo in Hluboká nad Vltavou in South Bohemia. The photo is free to download. Aperture: ƒ/8, Camera: NIKON D7100, Focal length: 300mm, ISO: 400, Shutter speed: 1/400s.

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