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Photo of the Month Archives - 1998 |
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Preconceived Ideas
This winter's trip to Bosque del Apache, I went with one idea in mind, everything was fair game. I wasn't going to focus in on just the Sandhill Cranes as I had in the past. I was going after anything with feathers and that moved. It was my first trip to Bosque with autofocus big guns, my F5's tuned up with the F5 software and I was going to make the most of everything. Well, I came back with images I had only dreamed of in the past. The power and magic of Bosque, the weather pattern because of El Nino and the technical gear I had, allowed me to take my imagination as far as I dare take it and I was greatly rewarded. This mixed flock of Red-winged Blackbirds, Tri-colored Blackbirds and Yellow-headed Blackbirds in flight is an example of what I mean. At the Farm Field, this large group of blackbirds was amongst the Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese. While it is easy to focus in on those two glamorous species, the blackbirds grabbed my attention. I hoped that they would fly in mass once, with no other species such as crows, cranes or geese amongst them at that moment when the flash was flat. And luck was with me, as they did! The flat light allowed the blackbirds to go black so their red, yellow and white feathers would pop. The low contrast of the light was also desired because of the high contrast nature of the blackbirds themselves. I used basic panning to stay with the flight as they flew from right to left. And I employed "blurring" which you'll be able to read about in the next upcoming BT Journal. I shot this with the F5, 600f4 AF-I with TC-14e on Agfa RSX 100. +1/3 compensation was dialed in because of the overcast light, shutter speed was around 1/15. And when I got my film back, I was elated to see that the vision I saw through the viewfinder and in my heart was on film. That's what communicating through photography is all about! I Love Shorebirds!
This photo along with all the others I took while on Sanibel were taken handheld shooting the 400mm on the F5. I shot handheld for a number of reasons. One is because of the freedom to move with moving subjects. On the beach, I was photographing birds flying, walking, foraging and fighting, all requiring mobility. The 400mm is perfect for this! I also think it's tons of fun, not being stuck behind to or tied to a big tripod. Another and probably a more important reason is the angle of shooting. One reason why this image is successful is the low angle in which it was taken, minimizing the foreground and picking up more of the background in the photograph. Sitting down on the beach and hunched over, I was able to photograph the Willet from its point of view as it strolled by. I really like shooting shorebirds like this and the really lightweight and sharp Tokina 400mm made this easy to do. Watching the Willet, the waves, and the foreground busyness requires having equipment permitting flexibility of function. Shooting vertical with the F5 AF sensor selected for the head, using the vertical firing button, resting elbows against my knees and just being able to watch the Willet in the viewfinder not only made taking its picture easy, but fun! That my friends, is what it is all about! Marvel and Magic
Now while I would like to take credit for finding this marvelous bird, it was my good friend Arthur Morris who first showed me where it hangs out in Florida. This past week, I took another group of avid birders/bird photographers to photograph this same, great little bird. And the magic keeps on happening! Reddish Egrets shade the water with the wings, as seen here in this image, so they can see and catch fish below. Now while this photo might lead one to suspect this is a passive form of fishing, the opposite is the truth. This little egret runs about the lagoon like a made man trying to catch fish. I can't think of a better challenge or way of honing ones skill with panning, AF and metering than to photograph this great little bird. It is also the fastest way I know of convincing someone they need to press the shutter release and let the film rip. Without doing that, there is no way of capturing "THE" image. And while the magic I first referred to might have you thinking the magic of the moment, and that was special, that isn't what I was referring too. I was referring to how one photographer shared something special with me, and I in turn, shared it with others. And over time, we all had an experience separately that we could all relate to and share. There are grand rewards in such exchanges, and what I think photography is all about! Just Hanging On!
This little bat, just a tad smaller than your fist but weighing just a few grams, can consume up to forty pounds of insects in a night! Knowing that, it's not hard to see how they can mine bat guano. Bats do an incredible job keeping the insect population in check. Some species are pollinators. But no matter their role, they are a vital link in our wild heritage that is slowing being lost with few caring because of the long term "vampire" stigmatize they possess. I've spent some time with the California Leaf-nosed Bat, but not nearly enough to suit my desires. These little bats are, very sweet. They are as soft as the softest fur you might imagine. When they brush by, their touch is incredibly light, not making a sound as they wing past. They are very animated with their big eyes watching you, their ears moving back and forth to hear better their world around them. There is nothing icky about them, they are a marvel to be enjoyed! They get their name, California Leaf-nosed Bat because one, they were first described in California (though found in AZ) and second, because of the "leaf" around their nose. This skin around their nose helps them with their echo location. The California leaf-nosed Bat's "hearing" is so acute, they can detect and pick off a cricket of a branch of a shrub or ground while still in flight! They don't hear the movement of these insects, but their radar is sensitive enough to be able to determine that's what they have in front of them. A truly amazing evolution in biology! This particular species of bat is not easy to photograph. They tend to not like white light from a flashlight, so they are gelled with a red filter. While one can see all right to move around (the minds were dug by Chinese laborers, not six feet tall, I still have a few lumps) it's very hard to see to focus a camera. This photograph was taken with an F4e, Sigma 400f5.6 Macro zoom and two SB-24s. I use the AF illuminator to find and focus on the subject. I then let all the technology in the camera take the photograph, permitting me to simply enjoy the world of the California Leaf-nosed Bat. Up Against a Wall
The six of us were on this slope in April opposite the canyon where this ram stood for a very specific reason. In the winter 1997 issue of the Journal was the story of the endangered Sierra Nevada Bighorn. Along with five others, I serve on the board of directors for the Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Foundation. A major part of our work is the raising of funds to promote research and conservation of this magnificent creature. Three of the six of us on that slope opposite this desert bighorn are on that board. All of us were present to marvel and photograph these stunning mammals in the wild, while raising funds for the Sierra Nevada Bighorn. Later that same afternoon, we took our guest shooter and his wife to view the Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep across the Owens Valley in the Sierra Mountains north of Bishop. It was not lost on our guest shooter that from where we were photographing the Desert Bighorn, we could look across to the home of the Sierra Nevada Bighorn and if we had good enough scopes and vision, would could have actually seen them perched on their granite spires. Up the Sierra canyon we went as a snow storm brewed. We passed a nesting Great Horned Owl as we went up the drainage, its head slowing rotating to watch our passing. With a cold biting wind driving the snow into our cheeks, we spotted five white dots high up on the slope. We watched the ewe group as they moved about their rocky home foraging. We looked across the valley to the sun light White Mountains and to the canyon we had just left the ten rams chewing their cud. After a half an hour, three more ewes had venture out into sight, permitting us to view nearly ten percent of the world population of the Sierra Nevada Bighorn. After a while we moved on only to stop again as we enjoyed the passing of a Bobcat moving across the slope. The next day, we went back to the White Mountains and the ram group of the previous day. We could only see five of the ten rams. Four were up slope, way out of range for our lenses or legs. The one, the ram pictured here, was across a gorge from us four hundred yards away. Our guest shooter was so excited as were we all, to be in the same domain as this superb mountain climber. With the world's leading biologists on bighorn as our guide, we had come up to this ram without alarming it. The ram accepted our presence and permitted us to join it in its lofty kingdom. The sun was dancing in and out of the clouds. Our ram stood on its perch and watched us and the other rams below it, rams hidden from us. We were perched on the side of a ridge, so slanted that to have a level platform, one tripod leg was fully extended while the other two were completely closed up. This ram is a magnificent example of its species, a large six year old ram, master of its world! We moved forward in small increments, moving only as far as the ram would permit before displaying signs it was uncomfortable. Those signs most would be head inflections and small hove movements. Watching the subject is key! Over a period of half an hour, we slowly closed the gap between the ram and ourselves to just fifty feet! The photo you see here was taken at that distance with the 400f2.8 AF-S at f/5.6. You might ask yourself why is the photo a vertical rather than a horizontal image? The bighorn lives in a vertical world, on the slopes of mountains where it can find forage and safety. By shooting in a vertical format even if the sheep are not on a cliff, communicates that vertical world. We can't loose sight in all the excitement of being so close to wildlife, that we are communicators. We stood at this distance shooting roll after roll while enjoying being in the presence of the master of the cliff. I personally like the 400mm focal length for big game because is does not "compact" them visually. I like my big game to look big, muscle bound, masculine and stately in appearance. This is the preconceived impression the general public has of big game. It's for this same reason I like to shoot them at a slightly upward angle, to emphasize this statuesque feeling. I was very thankful that Nikon loaned my this prototype 400f2.8 AF-S at this time, because this was a moment that I would have wanted no other lens but this one! I'm constantly reminding you what a difference you and your photography can make for our wild heritage. Here's another example and idea for you to take and use to make a difference in your own backyard. Donating a print or your time in the field is a simple, rewarding and very effective way to make a difference. As you can see, the story behind this photo is an unique, special and important one with ramifications that will last long after this day was done and the sun had set on these bighorn sheep. If you want to read the entire story, you'll have to pick up a copy of the Spring Journal. But I hope that if nothing else, we've inspired you to go out and make a difference! It's the Light
I watch as the buck continues to graze. I look out to the east where the sun is just starting to rise in the early morning fog, the light is marvelously soft. I slip out of the car and start to walk up the hill with my F5 and 600f4 towards the pronghorn. It's just me, the buck and the wind atop the grasses as the sun continues to rise. I didn't have much of a prospect of getting really close to the buck I thought, being so out in the open, my walking straight towards it. But I went on figuring if nothing else, I would have a nice walk. Walk I did, right up to the buck! I was 40 feet away when I set down my tripod and took my first shots. The buck could care less I was there, walking straight towards me as I stood there. It then walked around me, so close I could have rubbed its back with my hand, and down the hill it went. Well, I figured that was that, and started to walk down the hill behind the buck. Somebody watching might have thought it was a strange adaptation of a scene from Dances with Wolves. We, the buck and I, got down the hill right next to my car. There, there was a small knoll which the buck decided to climb and forage. At this point, the buck was backlit and in that great, early morning light with the slight overcast, I had to get around the buck so it would be front lit And so I proceeded to go around, the buck ignoring my every more. I was able to fire off five rolls before the buck saw another buck on the next ridge. It flared its butt telling me it was not happy at the sight of the other buck and that my shooting time would be short. With its last mouth full of grasses, it bolted down the slope to chase the other buck. The marvelous grasses and hills for a background, the grand light coming up and the subject at hand, my goal of grouse was quickly forgotten. Another marvelous opportunity had presented itself and to me, that's the magic of wildlife photography to me! |
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Text & Images Copyright © 2007
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You go to special places typically with preconceived ideas of the photographs you want to capture. Often, and being human, we forget to take off our mental blinders to the possibilities beyond our preconceived ideas.
I LOVE SHOREBIRDS! Living now as I do in the mountains, I don't get enough time with them so whenever I can, I plop down on a beach and photograph them to my hearts content. This Willet photographed on Sanibel Island in Florida was the perfect subject for my lust for shorebirds, and my final test of the Tokina 400f5.6 AF ATX lens. No, this is not a new lens on the market, just a new one to me and I really like it. 
The marvel and magic wildlife photography brings to light! Those into birds might look at this photo and say to themselves, "Snowy Egrets don't do this kind of behavior, this is a thing Reddish Egrets do" and you know what, they're right! This is not a Snowy Egret, but a white phase Reddish Egret. In the birding world, they are kinda special and this one has been haunting the same stretch of beach for many years.
Bats are a vital part of our wild heritage. I'm still amazed even today when I show this image on a screen, I see folks in the audience squirm in their seats. They go into even more contortions when I tell the tale of ascending 900 feet in an 1890 mine shaft to take this photograph. When I start to describe how some of the California Leaf-nosed Bats brush by me, they head for the doors! 
This months Photo is excerpted from the up coming issue of the 
I've flown to South Dakota to photograph the Sharp-tailed Grouse on their lek. I've arrived a few days too late for the really big show, so I'm cruising the back hills of Custer State Park. I've spent a fair amount of time there in the past year with my good friend John Herbst. At a marvelous locale he has shared with me, I spot this lone Pronghorn buck walking the crest of a hill. I get out of my rental car, set up my gear and watch the creature graze the hilltop.