Sunset Color….WB Thoughts
I’m often asked how I get the color that I do in my sunsets. The formula is real simple. I switch WB to cloudy and its constant 6000k and I underexposed by at least one stop. That’s it.
The Splash
I love shooting the splash! Shooting with the D3x though, it’s a challenge that I really like going for. Since the D3x shoots at 1.8fps, you really only get one chance at catching the splash. The game I play with myself to get the shot is watching the eye of the heron/egret. Just a nanosecond before it plunges into the water, the nictomebrane that covers the eye starts to close. When I see that happening, I click the camera. Now it’s not 100% accurate in timing since I don’t know if the bird is going to plunge straight down or out a ways but that’s part of the game. You can see the water splash is going straight in this photo of the Little Blue so that means the head went straight down. If you look at the photo for a moment, you’ll realize the light is a little hard. Why? To freeze the water you need a fast shutter speed. When do you get a fast shutter speed? When the sun is higher in the sky. One of the trade offs in getting the shot.
In the Bag
D3x
600f4VR AFS
TC-17e II
Gitzo 5561SGT w/ Wimberley Head
You Get What You Wish For?
I have this well earned reputation of kinda wishing up the photo I want. Like in this situation at Ding Darling when I spot the Belted Kingfisher. I see and I say out loud, “I wish that kingfisher would land on that perch and check things out.” And there is lands…
Then I focus my lens on this closer perch and say out loud, “Now I wish it would land on this perch” and there it lands. At this point those around me start looking for a remote control as if I have a robotic kingfisher (which would be cool). Of course, folks ask me how I know that, how’d I do that? I give them the Moose smile and sunder off. Then I turn to my friend and tell him the secret. I’ve been to this spot a whole lot and I’ve watched the kingfisher for a long time in this spot and I knew it as a 50/50 probability it would land on those perches if it landed on another perch first. And it was this knowledge that permitted me to have the teleconverter on and the lens in the right place to make the clicks. Because background is everything in this photo! Any sky and it will pull your eye right from the little white breast. And if that happens, I loose your attention. In wanting to tell the story, all these little subtleties must be dealt with and the best formula I can give you for doing that is to combine biology with technology.
In the Bag
D3x
600f4VR AFS
TC-17e II
Gitzo 5561SGT w/ Wimberley Head
Osprey are Just Fun!
You know, these are a lot easier then aircraft to photograph. They go so much slower! I simply love osprey, comes from my days of shooting with Roger Tory Peterson who fought so hard to bring them back from extinction. They really took it in the short from DDT. These are like great photos and they are more then just panning practice. They are simply good fun that brings back great times shooting with Roger. That’s what this wildlife photography thing is really all about, simple pleasures!
In the Bag
D3x
600f4VR AFS
TC-17e II
Gitzo 5561SGT w/ Wimberley Head
and still a jacket. Really,who turned off the heat in FL?
It’s All in The Light
When your eye looks into the shadows of a mangrove swamp, this is what you see. Since our eyes and brain are so sophisticated and sensitive, we see into the shadows in the background and the business of the roots which scream out at you so you don’t take the photo. But if you train your mind’s eye to see light and understand light like the camera, then looking at this same scene you would see this….
Since the camera can only record five stops, the white of the Snowy Egret makes the background shadow information disappear. I saw lots of photographers pass up these shots today and it saddened me. Nice click that only required seeing like the camera. Simple lesson, hard to learn.
In the Bag
D3x
600f4VR AFS
TC-17e II
Gitzo 5561SGT w/ Wimberley Head
and a jacket. Who turned off the warmth in FL?
FL Birds – Great Times!
Spent a great day at Ding Darling just goofin…comeback to see how this was done.