A mother red fox takes care of her kits at Crestwood Park in Cottonwood Heights.

When it comes to photographing wildlife, patience and persistence are just as necessary as a camera. That’s something West Valley City wildlife photographer Daniel Lindhardt has learned over the past decade as he has traveled across Utah seeking to document animals in their natural habitat.

Sometimes it can take years for the perfect shot to materialize. Such was the case with the herd of bighorn sheep in Utah County that Lindhardt regularly visited for three years, only to be frustrated with the composition of the photographs he took home. But he kept coming back, hoping to capture the quality of photo he knew was possible. Least year, his perseverance was rewarded.

“I finally got them in the snow with a decent mountain backdrop,” he said, “and one of the biggest rams I’ve seen in the area happened to pose for me as he was chasing his lady friends.”

Lindhardt’s path to becoming a wildlife photographer began in the marshes along the Great Salt Lake, where he used to hunt ducks. He started going out to photograph the ducks as a way to study their behavior, and as an excuse to get outdoors when it wasn’t hunting season. Eventually, he gave up hunting; now he only shoots animals with a camera.

From ducks, Lindhardt started photographing other birds, with raptors – eagles, hawks, owls – being his favorite. He now seeks out any creature on land or in the air. He spends as much time as he can toting his camera up Big and Little Cottonwood canyons, American Fork Canyon, Provo Canyon, Zion National Park, St. George and elsewhere.

As wild animals tend to be skittish around humans, he has learned to be stealthy as he approaches, making sure the wind isn’t blowing his scent toward his photo subjects. Sometimes it is a matter of letting himself be seen by the animals and waiting, silent and still, until they get used to his presence.

Lindhardt has learned to read cues from animal behavior to predict what they will do next. He knows that if a perched hawk or eagle suddenly lifts its tail and poops, it is a signal that they are “lightening their load” before taking flight. And he knows that a moose that pins back its ears and raises the hair on its shoulder hump is definitely not happy.

He has had some run-ins with cranky moose, which despite their cute and friendly appearance are actually some of the most dangerous wild animals one is likely to encounter in Utah. Once, the herd he was photographing had a couple of small bulls who weren’t big enough to compete with the big bulls.

“But they wanted to compete with somebody,” Lindhardt said, “and I became their competition.”

As the bull moose charged closer to him, he hid behind some trees. Eventually, they became distracted by something else and moved on. All things considered, it was a fairly benign interaction.

“I wasn’t concerned for my life,” he said, “I just had to get moving a little bit faster.”

He had another scare when a bear suddenly came charging out of the brush and ran in his direction. However, it turned out the bear was just running away from another group of people.

Certain times of year are better for photographing animals than others. Mating season, for instance, presents some of the best photographic opportunities.

“The animals tend to have only one thing on their mind,” he said, “and they don’t care as much about the photographer.”

Bobcats are some of the most elusive mammals in Utah, but they can more readily be found in winter, when they leave clear tracks in the snow. On one of his favorite photo expeditions, he and a friend spent three hours following bobcat tracks on a property near a home in Utah County.

Having found plenty of tracks but no bobcats, they were ready to call it a day – but then Lindhardt caught some movement out of the corner of his eye. Suddenly, a bobcat walked out onto a path – with its two kittens following close behind. The animals began feasting on a roadkill carcass, occasionally taking a break to play with each other, not seeming to mind the humans taking photographs.

No matter whether he comes home with the shots he wanted, Lindhardt said, being outdoors in the company of wildlife is time well spent.

“As a hunter, I was able to observe the animals,” he said, “but I wasn’t able to witness the behaviors I now watch on a daily basis – courtship behaviors, interactions with moms and babies. Being able to get out and be in the presence of the animals is most rewarding.”