Bored Panda contacted Marina Cano, an award-winning wildlife photographer and Canon ambassador who told us what it takes to capture wildlife like a pro. Marina’s work has been on the covers of National Geographic, and in 2015 she was a finalist of the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest.

With so many funny photos of wildlife and animals surfing around the internet, one cannot help but wonder what makes it so difficult to capture that golden shot. “It lies in how unpredictable the animals can be,” explained Marina, “but that’s also the most exciting thing about capturing the one perfectly timed photo.”

According to Marina, the most important thing to know before taking a camera is that “whatever happens in the day you will come back home happy to be in the wild.” On top of that, you need to be passionate, because in this case “you won’t blame anything and just enjoy it.” And how many times have we blamed the wobbly camera, crappy weather, and bad light?

A day in the life of a wildlife photography professional looks “more or less like a normal job,” except when you shoot in the bush. “The days in the bush make this job the most enjoyable profession on Earth.” Marina said she wakes up at around 4:00 and she’s happy to know “I have the rest of the daylight to spend in nature, to be witness, and to expect, if lucky, to capture the most extraordinary action out there.”

In wildlife photography, nature dictates everything. That means that in order to get that picture, you need practice. But some things should be inherent to an animal and wildlife photographer. You need to be able to keep silent, stay still for long periods of time. Remember that nature is their home, and you’re the guest.

You should also learn to keep your eyes open for every little thing. Animals living in the wild have adapted to their environments extremely well. Taking a nice shot usually takes days of hard work and dedication, so you need to be patient.

We previously wrote about the photographer who took a perfect shot of a kingfisher after 4,200 hours and 720,000 attempts. This award-winning shot of an eagle also took Norwegian photographer Audun Rikardsen 3 years of wait. So, yeah, we are talking years of wait in the pro game.