Season's Greetings to all around the world!

Whoa….Guess there was a question or two

I want to thank the 478 folks who in the first 24hrs of the blog posting have already emailed from around the globe questions and thoughts for my new book. I guess I should have done this book a lot sooner, it has been 7 years since my last book on wildlife photography. I have to come clean, when Scott suggested I do this I didn’t think I’d get much of a response. That’s one great thing about this profession, everyday I learn something new!

One very common question I thought I’d answer right now. The #1 question has been on workflow with a Part A and a Part B. The Part A is workflow in regards to getting all the back end business of getting images from the camera to the home/office network safely. I’ll be addressing that in the book no doubt. You can find the “old” answer (because technology does keep changing) here. The Part B answer, well, those who asked it will be disappointed with the answer. The basic question is, “what’s the workflow in Photoshop you use to make your images look so good, how do you know how to crop?”

I shoot Raw +Jpeg and unless you’re looking at a gallery print (a process that requires Photoshop for things like sharpening for content and output), what you’re seeing is the Jpeg that came right out of the camera. My wildlife images don’t see Photoshop (other than sizing and creating the blog poster) and are in fact the Jpegs from the camera. I’m pretty old fashion in that way and, well, a stick in the mud where I’ve drawn the line. I consider myself a nature history historian, many of my images are the only image of a species that exists. I use every tool and technique at the point of capture to get it right, right from the start. When you look at any of my wildlife images, even though it was captured digitally, it’s just like if you looked at an old fashion slide. It is what it is. This will be a big part of the book. So the brief answer to the Part B workflow question, camera craft is how I get the quality you see.

When it comes to my landscapes, well that’s a totally different animal. They fall under the giant umbrella of Art and as such, I use every tool, both camera and computer to grab your heart strings. The image above is a good example of that. This is a D1 image taken with the 80-400VR from the Denali Hwy of the Alaskan Range back in Oct, 2000. Man, does it have noise and a color cast. Both of those things had to be dealt with in post to make the gallery print. After that, Nik’s Silver Efex Pro was used for the B&W conversion. (Oh yeah, this is one of my favorite images.)

I want to thank everyone who has written with their input and  words of encouragement. To be honest with you, I wasn’t nervous about writing the book until I read all that folks expect of me! Thanks also for coming to Moose News Blog as well, we appreciate your support!

And from the other side of the fence

We all have a different perspective on life which in a free society is a great thing because we can voice it. This week, I’ve heard a lot of perspective on the D3x. So much so, I put up that annoying animated Gif which did it’s job, stopped the angry pricing emails from coming to me (as if I’m in the garage assembling the camera and selling it to Nikon). Then started the emails from folks like the one below. I just wanted to share this view from the other side of the fence.

“I saw your BLOG Sunday night on the new D3X and figured that I would drop you a e-mail to see what you think, then being gifted with a “tiny” bit of common sense I figured half of the “Free World” was probably sending you the same e-mail asking you the same question.  So I went digging on line to see what I could find, wow, I thought I had walked into a pre-school that had just had just canceled snack time.  The whining and crying caught me a little off guard, so I enjoyed the article last night and the link over to Scott Kelby’s “Adobe Photoshop Insider”.

They act like a kid crying in the isle of a Toy-R-Us, they should have purchased two Canon MKlll’s, brand new, shot less than a 1,000 frames, sent them both back to the factory TWICE and still found out they wouldn’t auto-focus on a turtle crossing the street!  Then you get to sell two new cameras at a 50% loss because nobody will by a brand new used model released from a camera manufacture that should have known better.  On top that you have a ton of glass you have to sell at a loss because the acorn falls off the tree and hits you in the head and you find out you can get a much sharper picture with a camera made from a little company called NIKON.  They should feel my pain!

I don’t take pictures to make money anyway, I am not that good.  But it is great to put pixels on my hard drive or photo paper that evoke passion and emotion and I am gratefully reminded of this everyday when I open up files from the past seven years of my two kids whom are now seven and five.  I couldn’t put a price on those memories that fade through time but are revisited when you actually see them on the screen or on photo paper in front of you, the true definition of “Priceless”.”

D3 or D3x?

The emails are flying in, “Are you getting a D3x?” Hey, I’m Moose Peterson, I can’t help myself, silly question! Like I already mentioned, just being able to do my Ultra Wide Panos with the D3x kept me up last night planning locations I want to visit and revisit this winter. Making it easier for me is the fact the decision was actually made for me. A client wants what the D3x has to offer and is going to pay to have it. But what about you?

To me it’s real obvious just like deciding between the D3 and D700. Approaching it strictly from a business point of view, if you can’t make money on the expendature, why even consider it? If you’re not going to see a 200-300% gain in your photography, just don’t go there. As has been correctly pointed out, the D3, D700 & D300 are great bodies. If you already have them and they are paid for or been thinking about adding them to your bag, then go make merry and don’t get caught up in the new kid on the block.  And if that doesn’t work, here’s another thought on the matter if it helps.

How was Tre Lit?

After the shock wears off that Moose photographs models (though that’s how I started a dark age ago) and does a pretty good job, next comes the question, how was Tre lit?

The lens used was the 14-24AFS at 24mm. I was no more than two feet away from Tre. The light is a single SB-900 with its wide angle adapter attached and being shot through a Lastolite Trigrip, 1 stop. The flash was geled with a 1/2 cut CTO. My assistant Josh is holding the Lastolite and SB-900 so the Lastolite is actually resting on the lens barrel and the flash is perhaps four inches away from it. The camera has -2 dialed in, the flash is at -2/3comp.

While I know enough to be dangerous, I’ve not produced anything to teach it to you online (which is what the emails have been asking: appreciate the kind words). If you want to really learn this stuff and from the master, the guy who has taught me TONS, you need to check out Joe Mcnally’s online videos at Kelby Training. You can get a little taste by checking out his blog from the same shoot were I photographed Tre.

The bottonline on Joe & my photographs from the NAPP Safari is they were done with just one light. If you want personal flash inspiration, be sure to join us at DLWS where Joe teaches these techniques for three days, in the classroom and in the field.

Blog hits 100 Countries

What you see above is a map showing all the countries where MooseNewsBlog has been read in the last 30 days (the green areas). The counter just hit 100 countries today. It’s a cool time when from a small office in the Sierra we can “beam” out across the planet images and thoughts to be shared with other like minded folks. The power of photography is pretty darn awesum is reaching out when even there might be a language barrier. It just gives one at times hope that we can make a difference with a mere click!

Thanks!

Monday followup Answers

First, thanks for all the kind words about the images I posted last week. The portraits seemed to garnish the most attention, I guess folks just simply don’t think of me doing “portraits” especially with flash. I received lots of emails with lots of questions which I answered. I wanted to just take a moment to answer some on the blog.

*What was my favorite island? – Kauai by far!

*Are we doing any workshops in HI? – Yes, we have a DLWS scheduled for next March and we’re looking into doing a Base Camp there as well (dang cool birds on the islands)

*How’d you get your gear around? – Sharon & I both used our MP-7 which worked great. The photo above shows what I took and how it was packed.

*Will I be cruising again? – NO, at least not while teaching photography

*Do you really like the D700, or are you being paid to say that? – Yes, I’m being paid so I can now retire and not have to blog another thing. Really, can’t believe folks still ask that question. Yes, I love the D700 it did a great job. No, I was not given a D700 nor paid to say that.

*How many images did you come back with? – Darn interesting question. Photos that went into the library were around 3100 but I came back with about 6000, the balance being “experimental” shots taken while putting the D700 and SB-900 through their paces. I still don’t have all the answers I want on the SB-900, more testing to do.

*What lens did you find you using the most in “tourist” mode? – the 24-70AFS rocks and is the lens I used the most.

Thanks to all who take the time to write, hope this helps all.

Fiddling the Morning Away

So we left the house at 01:00 to drive to the airport (which is 3hrs away in Reno) and saw lots of cool wildlife on the way, managing to hit none. We parked, got our luggage and headed to the ticket counter. There, we find our flight to HI scheduled for 06:00 which as of 11PM last night was still on time, had been canceled. Not to worry they say, we’ve rebooked you on another flight leaving at 2PM! You are in rows 9 and 40, so you can at least wave to each other. I just love flying these days!

In the midst of the public address system stating “we have a fire condition, stay in your area,” we hear fiddling going on. After a while, I looked to find this 10yr old virtuoso playing. He’s got this huge crowd in front of him, his fiddle case filling up with cash and large photographic mural of Tahoe Basin behind him (light sucked and reflection a killer, but better than sitting). I go ask his mom if it was OK to take a couple of snaps, grabbed the D700-24-70AFS and proceeded to take a couple of snaps. It summed up our morning pretty darn succinctly.

With luck, my next posting will be from a sunny, romantic beach in HI and not the gate of some airport. Have a great one folks!

Photo captured by D700, 24-70AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film

Life's give and take

Life has as we all know it’s pluses and minuses. One of the pluses is the wisdom that comes from getting older and having a laugh over the silly things we did as kids that we now know were really stupid. As one get’s older one of the BIG minuses is the passing of friends. That’s not as easy to get over.

I was saddened to receive an email from Jim Clark about the passing of Tom Vezo this week. I knew Tom well back in the 90′s, the film days and shot with him on a number of occasions at some memorable locations. His big smile on those cold mornings at Bosque just after lift off are hard to forget. He was out hiking with his wife when life caught up with him, doing what I’m sure he enjoyed.

Luckily for all of us, he left behind his passion and love in his photographs and words. Tom also was passionate about the preservation of his home in AZ. You can learn more about Tom visiting his website or those things folks are writing about him. But you can learn about Tom best through his photography. I can only wish Tom continued great shooting!

Life’s give and take

Life has as we all know it’s pluses and minuses. One of the pluses is the wisdom that comes from getting older and having a laugh over the silly things we did as kids that we now know were really stupid. As one get’s older one of the BIG minuses is the passing of friends. That’s not as easy to get over.

I was saddened to receive an email from Jim Clark about the passing of Tom Vezo this week. I knew Tom well back in the 90′s, the film days and shot with him on a number of occasions at some memorable locations. His big smile on those cold mornings at Bosque just after lift off are hard to forget. He was out hiking with his wife when life caught up with him, doing what I’m sure he enjoyed.

Luckily for all of us, he left behind his passion and love in his photographs and words. Tom also was passionate about the preservation of his home in AZ. You can learn more about Tom visiting his website or those things folks are writing about him. But you can learn about Tom best through his photography. I can only wish Tom continued great shooting!

Happy 4th of July!

The WRP Staff, Sharon Jake & myself wish you all the best this 4th, wishing you all the freedoms this vast land has to offer your lens!

Hard Light Spring?

I’ve received a whole lot of emails of late in regards to holding details in highlights / whites. It would seem it’s a hard light spring out there. Let me see if the answer to this current common question helps you.

This is an American White Pelican in FL photographed with a 600mm. As you can see even in this small file that the highlight detail is still intact. But rather than look at the highligths/whites, look at the shadows because there’s the key to the answer. Notice how you can see detail in the shadow area to the right of the wing? This is due in part because of the light bouncing off other parts of the pelicans body. But the BIG reason why there is shadow detail is because of the quality of the light and there lies the answer to the problem.

The photo was taken bloody early in the morning, 05:20 to be exact. Why is that so important? The sun is not high in the sky blasting away with all its might on the scene. Holding highlight detail is directly dependent on the quality of the light. Not the exposure, not the camera, not the post processing but on the quality of the light. If you’re having problems holding highlight detail, you need to examine the light you’re shooting in.

Most cameras have a tool to help you learn light, what manufactures call Highlight Warning, what I call Blinkies. These show you exactly where in the photo you have lost highlight detail. It’s then upon you the photographer to decide if that’s a good or bad thing and if it is a bad thing, you, the photographer must make the decision how to deal with it.

Light is everything and is the answer to this common question. Hope that helps.

PS…another common question is where is Base Camp going in 2009? At this time, we’ve not decided the locales so you’ll just have to be patient.

No Need to Adjust Your Set

Drove five hours (it was snowing when we left the house) and put in our time at the spot the biologists had emailed me about yesterday. What you see above is what I have to show for my time. Zip!

Why am I blogging zip? This is just as much a part of my success as an actual image. Wildlife is just that, wild life and it does whatever it wants to do whether I’m sitting there waiting or not. Coming back with nothing is simply part of the game.

And tomorrow, I’ll be in place before the sun comes up and waiting there until the sun sets. If things go my way, I’ll be spending my time tomorrow night going through images rather than blogging. If not, well, I’ll be looking at the same thing, an empty flash card. Either way, I’m still ahead of the game.

Getting Even!

So, we’ve got these gorgeous *^+%#@# lillies in the house. They’ve been driving my nose to the extreme of sneezing explosions. But they are gorgeous, and they just won’t die! So, it occurred to me that I should get even in my own unique way, I’d shoot them bastards!

The lighting is a very simple two flash set up. On the lens (105VR) is a single R1C1 flash unit (the SB-R200) with a second R1C1 flash on a C Stand holding it right behind the petals. And this is what I came up with.

My bad luck, after shooting them, they are still gorgeous (didn’t even have to do anything in post) and still they live so back they go to the living room to continue on tickling my nose.

Photos captured by D3 (firmware 1.10), 105VR, 2 SB-R200 flashes on Lexar UDMA digital film

When was that first click?

I’m a very firm believer that we need to know where we came from to have an idea where we’re heading. This is very true for photography! Now, since we don’t all have access to Joe McNally to ask him personally how it was way back when, Natl G has been good enough to put up this very cool timeline you can find here. Did you know the first wildlife photographer to use flash was a Natl G shooter back in the 1890s named George. The same guy helped get this little bill in congress passed called the Migratory Bird Act. It’s just dang amazing what photography and wildlife photography has brought to this world! Check it out, it might just help your photography.

Thinking of you BUDS

Badger, dood, I asked but they just don’t ship these killer, yummy pancakes. I thought of you with every bite tickling my tongue, the ginger lighting up the pallet.

 

Joe, I thought of you too man, sorry you’re not here yet. I’m not sure Brad has the same sentiment though.

 

 

Made your summer plans?

With two new feet of snow on the ground and more falling, it’s a great time to think of the warmth of summer, AND the great opportunities there are for photography. Sharon & I already have our plans so now it’s time to do the homework so we’re ready to go. One of the projects this summer involves Griz and as you all know, it’s a long time favorite of ours. One of the things I do to prepare is go through my old images to see what I’ve captured in the past, the images that work, those that don’t and how I can improve. At the same time, I think about what new camera gear and techniques I have to bring to an “old” subject to make it a “new” subject.

For example, looking through my old griz images, I noticed I don’t have many horizontal head shots. Lots of verticals like this bruin at Brooks Falls, but very few horizontals. Something to put down on the list to do. My collection of battle wounds, close up shots, is pretty slim as well, something to further investigate. Both of these shots mean getting tighter on the griz so that might mean taking the 600VR rather than the 200-400VR. I don’t know, it is a decision I’ll have to think about in the months to come. But that’s the benefit of looking at what I’ve captured so far so I can improve on what’s to come. Make those plans now, so you’re photographically ready to make the most of them when they’re in the viewfinder!

Photo captured by D1, 400f2.8AFS w/TC-14e on Lexar digital film

On Thin Ice?

While I have real problems with some of the unreal imbellishments of global warming and its cause and effect as seen on TV lately, being an arctic traveler and witness, I have no doubt things are changing and not for the better. Those in the endangered species business know that what typically causes a species to become extinct is some small coup de grace able to take advantage of a weakened system. For some arctic species, the handwritting is on the wall of a coup de grace a comin. I’m not saying the sky is falling, but many of its support beams are buckling, severely. Become educated and voice your opinion one way or another. It is your wild heritage!

This photo was taken a couple of summers back at the end of our ANWR float trip, it’s what’s left of the ice pack in June in the Beaufort Sea. We saw five Polar Bears, way off in the distance, one was a family group with spring cubs. We never saw though any of their main food source. There’s way too much open water in this photo.

« Previous Page — Next Page »