Saturday Blues
Most photographers work a 9-5 job, leaving for the weekend the pursuit of their passion, wildlife photography. But when the film comes back from the weekend shoot, Saturday's images are typically not as good as Sunday's. This can range from sharpness, to exposure to composition. Furthermore on Saturday, they miss more images, simply too slow on the draw. What's the problem and how to cure it?
Photography is like anything else you want to perfect, constant practice is required. Those five days during the week when you don't shoot bring down your Saturday shooting. Your Saturday shooting is what brings up your Sunday shooting. To make the most of both days and to improve week in and week out you must practice during the week. How do you practice?
The first thing is to grab your camera and hold it correctly in your hands and focus on objects in a room. Do this first with a smaller lens using correct hand holding techniques. Next, put your camera on a longer lens and do the same thing. Finally, put your camera on your longest lens on it's tripod. Use proper tripod technique and practice focusing on different objects in the room. Don't know what proper hand holding and tripod techniques are? Best come join us at one of our seminars and find out this and much more.
In the process, switch the apertures, play with other camera features you typically use, whatever it takes to stay familiar with your equipment. By doing this when Saturday comes around, you're all ready with your equipment and ready to take those great images. You're not spending valuable field time getting reacquainted with your gear. That's why your Sunday images are better than your Saturday's.
Now I realize this sounds rather odd, but I've been doing now for over a decade. It only takes minutes and since I love the feel of my camera gear, it's not really that hard a task. Always remember, the most important element in photography is the person behind the camera. That's you!
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The Flash and the Flashlight
The easiest way to understand the pattern and direction of flash is with a flashlight. Not just any flashlight, but a Mini MagLite. This small flashlight can be Velcroed to the top of your flash head and help you see the light from the flash. It's the same idea as a modeling light on studio strobes, only customized for the nature photographer.
Why the Mini MagLite? When you turn the end housing of the flashlight, the light beam can go from wide to narrow and then back to wide again. When shooting with a wide angle lens on a SB-24,25 or 26, the flash automatically (if set so) zooms to 24mm. To understand the coverage of the flash, turn the flashlight housing so the beam is wide. Now, walk up to you subject and look at the lighting pattern the flashlight creates. Also note the shadows, how harsh they are and where they fall. Using a telephoto, turn the flashlight housing to a narrow beam and look at the same things.
How does this help you become a better flash photographer? First, you start seeing the light, the most important element in photography. Many have a hard time understanding when to use flash fill. If you can see the shadows in you subject from the ambient light and then can understand where to place the flash to soften or eliminate those shadows, think how much your photography will improve!
What about working at night, where the flash is the key light source rather than the fill? One flash by itself is a contrasty light source. It is also a flat light source. By adding a second flash, you can create shape and texture and character to the light. But where to place that second flash? What about shadows you create or eliminate? Get a second Mini MagLite and attach it to the second flash. You'll see and learn very quickly when and where to place that second flash.
With this knowledge, you'll start understanding flash. This in turn will make understanding the technical side easier. And don't worry about shooting with the flashlight turned on, the flash overpowers it's effect. For more info on the technical aspects of using a Nikon flash, click on over to my flash tech paper.
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An Untapped Resource
Getting close physically, using optics to isolate, is the basis of my photographic success. You can find out about the optics in Moose's Camera Bag, but what about getting close physically to wildlife? This requires a working knowledge of basic biology. We're not talking about Ph.D. stuff here, but just the basics so you can understand what wildlife is communicating as you approach them. By understanding basic biology, you not only get better photographs more often, but safeguard the subject's welfare as well. Where can you find out information about basic biology and not spend hundreds of hours in the field to do so? There is an untapped resource you all have available to you.
Believe it or not, a great resource for finding out about basic biology is as close as your television! I'm sure you've all seen at least one program on a particular species or locale of interest on the Discovery Channel or National Geographic Explorer. But did you take notes while watching, or just enjoy the show?
For example, did you note the time of day the photography took place? Did you note the lighting and what made the subject look the best? Did you note how close to the subject the film crew got? How did the wildlife react to the film crew? Did you note in the acknowledgments any resource you could tap into for more information? Did you record the show on tape for later viewing and reviewing? These are just some of the things you can learn about wildlife and never leave your home.
I have a large library of tapes I've made on programs about subjects I would like to photograph. I watch these asking myself the above questions and much, much more so when I go into the field, I'm that much further ahead of the game. Knowing basic biology gets you closer, gets you those unique photos we all strive to capture on film and most importantly, protects the welfare of the subject. This is a win-win situation you just can't pass up!
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F5 & Horizon Lines
There are many out there in photo land who, like myself, have a heck of a time getting horizons straight (level) in their photograph. My cheek bones simply don't allow a camera to rest on my face squarely, it wants to go goofy. Prior to the F5, to remedy this problem we just bought an E Screen and used the horizontal lines etched in it to straighten out our act. And up to now, that has worked great.
But as many are finding, the E screen for the F5 is hard to find, if not impossible. Further more, the loss of knowing which AF sensor has been selected on the E Screen is a major drawback (with the F5 E screen, you must depend on the arrows on the right and top of the viewfinder, or the LCD panel to know which AF selector has been selected). To date, only the EC-B screen that comes standard with the F5 provides full operation. So, how do we straighten up our F5's to the horizon while we wait for the day an EC-E screen comes out?
What I've been doing for a long time now is to line up the horizon using the three horizontal AF sensors. You can use either the top or bottom line of the AF sensor bracket as a guide. I've found the bottom line works the best while providing me the room to prevent my horizon line from being dead center in the frame. The three AF brackets that line up horizontally when shooting vertically can help as well, but they aren't as big or as easy to use.
Now this is not as easy an operation as with the old E Screen, but I have found with practice, it works just fine. While I miss my old E Screen in my F4, I sure couldn't live without my F5. This little distraction is well worth the price of the images the F5 delivers for me!
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Learn From Photos Already Taken!
Many are under the impression that money is required to capture great photograph. Others, feel it takes equipment to capture those great images. While these two elements make it easier, great image requires seeing light. How do you learn to see light?
One way is to look at other photographs. Look at those photographs you admire, whether it's your own or those of others. Look at the direction of the light striking the subject. You can tell direction by where the highlights and shadows fall. For example, it the subject front lit, side lit or backlit and how does this lighting pattern effect how the photograph communicates about the subject?
Look at the highlights and shadows and analyze how much detail the photograph has maintained. This is a hint as to the quality of the light and it's relationship to the film. Remember that film can only hold about three stops of information from the highlights to the shadows. If there is detail in these two areas, than the light was very soft. If detail is lost in the shadows or highlights (black blacks or white whites), then he range of light was greater than that of the film. This is when you should look to see if flash was used. How can you tell this?
Again, look at the highlights and shadows. Compare them to the direction of the light. If the light is striking the top of the head of a subject for instance, and there is light on it's breast, may be a catch light in the eye, there's the possibility flash was used. Look for where there should be shadows and if there is none, flash was used. If the photographer used flash correctly, it won't be obvious that flash was used at all, the sign of a true craftsman.
By recognizing in other photographs light and it's qualities, you'll learn to see it when it happens in nature and through your viewfinder. If you're lucky, you have a natural gift for seeing light. If you're not lucky, you have to work at it. Always remember that no matter if someone gives you equipment or not, it's still the person behind the camera that counts!
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To Buy or Not to Buy
With the introduction of the new 70-180f4.5-5.6 Macro Zoom, I have had more than my fare share of emails in regards to the question, "should I buy the lens?" Now I can't answer that question as I don't know folks, their camera bag or shooting habits, but let me give you some of my thoughts on the subject as I see it.
The 70-180 macro zoom is an incredibly sharp lens. It was not made to replace the 200f4 AF macro nor does it replace this lens in the Nikon line up. If you read my camera bag pages closely, you probably already know my thoughts on this lens even though you won't find it there.
The 70-180 accepts 62mm filters, this is killer! You could easily base your system on this lens adding the 20f2.8 and 35-70f2.8 to round it off. What's the reasoning to this? The 70-180 lens is a multifunctional lens because you can use it for macro to infinity work anywhere within its zoom range. If you want to travel into the field with one lens that can cover lots of photographic situations the wildlife photographer might come across, here the lens. You could photograph big game at one turn, and then shoot a mushroom at the next, never changing lenses.
Now should you sell your 75-300 and 80-200f2.8 and buy this lens? I don't think so! If you're just starting out and want one lens that performs beautifully in many different situations, is this the lens to buy? You bet! And if you want to really tease yourself, think about attaching either 62mm close-up filters, 5T and 6T to the 70-180 and see what magnification you can achieve.
To buy or not to buy, this is the question you must answer for yourself. Don't get caught up in the speed thing but think through your lens purchase by whether the lens gives you your money's worth in performance and flexibility while filling a hole in your system.
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The Most Important
Element in a Photograph
There is one element that I concern myself with more than any other in my wildlife photography, the background! The background is what communicates to us the world in which the subject lives. The background is what makes the subject pop, allowing the subject to hit the viewer of the image right between the eyes. The background is what separates the pros from those wanting to be pros.
Many are under the belief that I as well as my peers use long lenses to make a far away subject seem near, filling the frame. Nothing could be further from the truth! I have always used an 800mm lens (either 800f5.6 EDIF or now, 600f4 AF-I w/TC-14e) because of their ability to manipulate the background so easily. Many of wondered what my statement, "Get Close Physically and use Optics to Isolate the subject" is really all about. It's about the background!
The furthest from my subject I typically will be is 60 feet. This is because of the image size I desire. With my 840mm lens, at this distance, I can literally move laterally just an inch left or right, up or down, and completely change the background. In this way, I can remove unwanted items or include those desired. I can include a color or tone that makes the subject pop by the smallest of movements. I can also include those elements in the background that help tell the story about the subject and it's world.
If you study your favorite photographs, you'll find it's the background that really makes the photograph. Even with the best light, finest optics and most creative mind, without an outstanding background, your photography will never be as good as it could be. You need to ask yourself one question every time you frame up you photo in the viewfinder, "What's Your Background!"
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Is the Best the Best?
I'm frequently asked "what's the best lens" for this or that? Is Nikon better than Canon? Will this manufacture's lens produce a "marketable" quality image? When I'm asked these questions, I know the marketing firms of these companies are earning their money and writers like myself are not succeeding in getting the message out. So, I want to try again to explain this very basic point.
IMHO, the lens manufacturer is irrelevant in the pursuit of a "marketable" image. It has always been my personal belief that a brand new Nikon, Canon, Sigma, Tokina or Tamron lens is just as sharp as the next (while down the road after years of use and perhaps abuse, this might not be true). Further more, as a communicator, I personally cannot be so short sighted as to pigeon hole myself with just one brand, limiting myself and my ability to communicate. For example, to shoot ultra wide angle images with the F5, I must use either a Sigma 14f3.5 or Tokina 17f3.5 to take advantage of the F5's RGB meter. And in competing with my good friend Author Morris in the arena of bird flight photography, I need to turn to the Tokina 400f5.6 or Sigma 400f5.6 to compete with his killer Canon 400f5.6 Ultrasonic. That doesn't mean I'm not a loyal Nikon user because I am using these other brands. It just means that at this point in time, Nikon doesn't offer these lenses, or tools, that I need to capture what I see on film.
I think this term "marketable" is put on to high on a pedestal as well. In high school, my photo teacher who taught me so many important lessons that I still fall back on today, illustrated this point the best. He gave us his students the use of his Nikon F (the camera in those days) to go out and shoot with. He used a Kodak Hawkeye 120 camera. When the day was done, film processed and printed, his images were much better than ours, even though we had the "pro" camera. The point being that it's the person behind the camera that counts. You can take the worst optics on the market today and still capture an image that resolves more line per mm than the finest presses (this same image though would probably make a poor enlargement). It's the photographer and his technique that renders the sharpest images in the final frame.
While a proud, long lived and diehard Nikon user, I don't limit myself and don't recommend others, limiting themselves to just that brand of optics. Open your mind, your camera bag, and often your wallet, to the entire world of photography. You will come back not only with better images, but you'll be a happier and more successful photographer!
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Raincoat for Your Gear
'Tis the season, to get wet! I have found over the years that some of the best photography is taken in some of the worst weather. While this is good for our images, it can be bad for our gear. So I want to tell you what I do to keep my gear dry when shooting in rain and snow.
I carry in my vest pocket a large, Ziplock bag. Now these aren't the kind you buy in the grocery store, but the ones you find at office supplies. They are very thick, big and heavy. Besides making a great diffuser on sunny days, they are large enough to slip over your F5, lens and tripod head. The Ziplock part is cool because you can partially close up the bag in case it is blowing.
For my 600/F5 rig, I carry in my vest pocket a large trash bag. Where I will reuse the smaller Ziplock I just described, these tend to be good for just one use. There is a very important qualification when selecting these bags which might not be transparent on the surface J
Both of these bags need to be clear, not colored. Why? One reason is so you can see your controls and functions easily. Another is because some cameras need ambient light to light up the viewfinder information. But the most important reason is so you can see if condensation is forming on the inside of the bag and getting into your equipment. I have found that K-Mart is the only regular source for large trash can bags that are clear.
Now when shooting with the 600/F5 on a rainy day, I will cut a vertical slit in the front of the bag and then pull it tight across the front lens hood. I let the bag stretch so it's a tight fit. This permits me to shoot with no obstruction while keeping the bag in place and gear dry. I don't cut a slit in the back, just look through the plastic. I have found this works great, even when changing film.
So next time the weather gets you down, get yourself and your gear dressed to go play in the rain. As I said, some of the best images are taken in the worst weather!
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You Gotta Want to Learn to Excel!
I just spent the week with some very gifted photographers. Two of the group were totally new to bird photography, as in, not even knowing 99.9% of the bird species. Both were very proficient, both using Nikon F5s and killer optics. Both having a passion to try something new and expand their photographic expertise in the wildlife arena. They're what photography is all about!
These two gents knew all about shutter speeds and aperture. They knew all about their F5s and lenses. They knew more importantly what they wanted, to learn! They wanted to grow, to become more proficient in their craft and be able to have more fun in the process. A lot can be learned from them, their questions and insights as they progressed through the week.
"Tell me more about depth-of-field, I don't understand all the ramifications of one f/stop to another?" "Why is the background often more important than the subject?" "You can really find birds to photograph here?" "Why do I use a 400mm now and not the 600mm?" "Now I see why!"
Where's the Tip of the Month in all of this? While we might be able to grow ideas from reading about photography, while we might learn technical insights into our craft from a web site, the real learning comes in the field! I truly wish more photographers would learn this very important lesson, using precious time to further their talents and experiences rather than some of the other much more common, wasteful uses of photographer's time.
I am commonly asked "Where do I find the time for all that I do?" The time comes from the total desire to be out in the field shooting. The techniques I use to find time come from way back, partly from when I worked a full-time job and then crammed all the photography I could in every other minute of the week. I still do all those things! I want to experience the thrill of learning something new every time I go out as those two gents discovered last week photographing birds with me. Asking questions, finding answers and being rewarded with the great photographs from that learning process is one of the greatest thrills of wildlife photography. I challenge you to experience it all you can!
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Want to Learn About Light?
Want to learn about light? Watch an old black and white movie (not a colorized version). How will watching an old B&W movie help you learn about light? In the old B&W days, they couldn't rely on color to help communicate emotions, character position or importance as well as other critical factors in making "the big screen" come to life. They had to rely on light, and they were masters of it! Just watch an old Hitchcock movie and you'll see what I mean.
Watching an old B&W brings to life for you the importance of light in communicating photographically. When color is striped away, your mind focuses on the light. You might say, "why not just shoot B&W film to learn light then?" The problem is you'll still be seeing color with all its tones when you're shooting and not until you get back the film will you see things in B&W. By watching a movie that's all B&W, you can only vision the world in those tones, the tones of the available light.
You'll see the light that works, and the light that doesn't work. If you're really observant and quick, you'll see the light and then, see the colors they are related to by doing a little brain work translating what you see into real life. Some of the real classic B&W films have incredible light communicating everything dear or feared by humans. Recognizing and remembering these patterns and qualities of light and then using them along with color, your photography will grow by leaps and bounds!
If you want to take this a step further, look and B&W films and then, look at those "new" color films that replaced the B&W images. I'm not talking about colorized B&W movies, but actual color flicks. You'll see that you're not the only one who might have problems seeing light as the first color film makers didn't take what they learned about light to the world of color. The films are typically "over lit," probably caused by the introduction of color "wowing" the production.
Photography is all about light! The more you learn to see light, are a student and stalker of light, the better your photography will become. Grab some popcorn, a cold drink, sit back and relax. Take in a good old black and white movie and learn what photography is all about, light!
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Capturing The Image
How do the “pros” capture the image when it comes to those incredible action photos? Be it skiing, football or wildlife photography, capturing the image comes from knowing how to press the shutter release and keep pressing! I’m not talking about just once and then letting up your finger, but pressing it down and ripping off an entire roll in four seconds if you need to. That’s how those great action shots are captured.
Let me spell it out how it all works. You must keep in mind that the slowest part of the photographic equation is the human factor. There is no way we can press the shutter release the instant we see a great action shot happening and capture it perfectly. To beat the “human odds,” you need to be bold, daring and risk taking and willing to burn a whole roll in a second if need be. When the action begins, before the moment actually happens, the shutter should be firing. When the action image does occur, it will be somewhere in the images you are already taking. Not that any of these images would hit the trash can, but the image can be captured without any second guesses!
For example, this explanation came up during my recent safari at Bosque del Apache. In the moment of photographing the explosion of snow geese in mass, a participant asked about capturing the image. The image being one where all the elements are just perfect, the placement of the geese in regards to each other, the wing flaps all the same in the cycle of a wing beat, the bills not being hidden, the background, all the elements come together to make the image.
No one can see such moments frozen in time, process that image, press the shutter release and capture the image! Time doesn’t hold still when the action begins, life moves on and if you’re not willing to burn that film, crank the shutter, you won’t ever capture those incredible images. Film is the least expensive facet of our passion, yet many guard it more than their big lens. If you want to capture those once-in-a-lifetime photos of wildlife in action, burn the film and capture them!
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Big Game - It's the Light!
Folks think that photographing big mammals is a snap, but they tend to miss the fact that it's the light that really counts! It's true that once you get up on most big game species (taking into consideration that most photographers do this in a "park" settings) they don't go anywhere fast. This ability to get close knowing the subject won't bolt away lulls many photographers into a false security or even worse, nonchalant attitude towards capturing the image. For me personally, I find photographing big game a bigger challenge than birds, because of light.
Big game mammals IMHO can't be flashed filled when there is a deficiently in the light, when the contrast, the shadow area, is too dark for the film to hold detail. While this is OK in many instances, it's not all the time. Along with stalking the big game, you've got to stalk the light!
My preferred light for 90% of my big game shooting is slight overcast to overcast light. The only exception to this might be shooting a big game species backlit, but even that is rare for me to do. Why do I like this light source and quality? The lack of shadows mostly. For my own photography, and this might not apply to yours, I find I like to see detail in most of the fur and mussel structure of the big game species. I want to show them off at the finest. This light also requires me to be a careful student of color, to make the subject pop and come to live in light that might not be punchy.
When you're 25 feet away from a wild pronghorn like I was with this month's photo of the month, it's real easy to get excited and forget the basics, even easier to forget going beyond the basics and create an image that really grabs folks imagination. But don't get lulled into thinking that just because your that close, the image is an automatic great image. I have over a 1000 images of pronghorn in my file, but I still approach each one as if it's the first or possibly, might be the best I ever captured. I look for the subject and then I look for the light. It's the light that counts!
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