Dec 22, 2017 | Wildlife Photography
Rocky Mtn Bighorn
With the new snows of the season, I thought I’d answer a common question that floods in this time of year. “How do you (as in Moose) expose for snow?” Of course, living in snow, I have a number of off the cuff answers, but I’ll move past those and get to the heart of the question as I look at it. What color is snow? Unless a Moose or dog has passed by, it’s white, right? The common belief that if there is snow in the scene, automatically dial in +1. A recommendation that comes from the meters of the 1970s. We’re not in the ’70s. I honestly don’t think there are viewers of your snow photograph who wouldn’t recognize the white stuff on the ground as snow. With that being true, then seeing detail in every crystal of the snow (what +1 might does for you) is not mission critical to tell the viewer the white stuff they are looking at is indeed, snow. With that storytelling in place then, how do I expose for snow? Exposure is YOUR greatest tool to express the feeling, mood, and life in your photograph. Just because you see something white, don’t automatically do anything.
Bald Eagles
captured by D5 / 800mm
We have two photos here, both of snow. The feel of both is totally different. The top photo has a bluish-gray cast, the bottom photo the snow is your basic snow white. The top image makes me feel cold, that’s why I underexposed it in camera and did not remove the color cast in post. The bottom image, I exposed normally (no comp) and did remove the color cast in post (using ACR). The key to exposure for both images is the RANGE of light in the entire scene and not the fact there is snow in the scene. I exposed for the subject and not the white stuff. Like with most of my photography, I try to keep the light range within 3 stops. When that’s the case, then I just have to click, the D5, D850, D500 or D7500 meter will do the rest. When it’s outside the 5 stop range, to deal with the greater range of light I shoot with the D5, D850 and overexpose. This is totally ass-backwards from what I did for thirty years but it brings into play the 6 stop range of those cameras. Look at the light between the photos in that post and this. Can YOU see the difference in the light falling on the scene? It is exacerbated by the snow, but not determined in whole by the presence of snow.
SO how does Moose expose for snow? Just like any other scene, it depends on the subject, the light on the subject, the light on the rest of the stage and then the story I want to tell within the confines of my viewfinder. Exposure is way too powerful a tool to just dial in some value of exposure compensation automatically. The world doesn’t need another technically perfect photograph. The world needs another photograph with passion to move the viewer!
Dec 18, 2017 | Wildlife Photography
Gtr Sandhill Crane
captured by D5 / 300PF
I’m often asked how much lens do you need for bird photography? My response is a really old quote, “Go out with your longest lens or else you’ll comeback short!” And with that I always add, what’s the story you want to tell? Because for me after being so fortunate to photograph birds for four decades, the answer is real simple. Let me illustrate.
Gtr Sandhill Crane
captured by D5 / 800mm
My quick answer to the question is, 400mm as that’s the lens I started with. The long answer is 800mm but only us nutjobs spend that much on a lens. You really need to reach down and decide if you’re going to go with the herd and the easy route and simply stuff a frame with a bird and call it art, or the hard route and fill the frame with the birds word while making the bird the subject. Ya, it takes less lens for the latter, but a whole lot more skill and passion. And the complete bird photographer has both crafts in their back pocket to call on as needed. It’s real simple when the viewer looks at your bird photograph, do they ask is it a bird, is it a plane or is it …. ?
Dec 18, 2017 | Landscape Photography
Had a very interesting conversation over the weekend with someone wanting to be a photographer. What amazed me was this person’s only camera is an iPhone. Nothing wrong with that except this person wanted to make their livelihood as a landscape photographer. They didn’t know if I shot landscapes but asked my advice on the matter anyway. Since the podcast I recorded sounded way too much like a Moose rant, I decided to delete it and write a calmer post.
The conversation sent my mind back to other conversations about the income side of photography, the expense, and the income. The one thing in those conversations that is essential as far as I’m concerned about photography, especially the business of photography is the passion! I guess I’m really old school or just old, but I have a hard time understanding how a photographer can make it down the long road, be it hobby or profession without that desire to be a visual storyteller that passion propels forward. I feel you have to have it to put into your photography for others to get the passion out of your photography. So while I have no clue if this post will make you feel any better about your photography, but I know getting this off my chest in a calmer way makes me feel a whole lot better. That’s cause photography is all about feelings and not some pie in the sky!
Dec 14, 2017 | Wildlife Photography
Bosque is so good for the soul! And it doesn’t suck for photography either. But mornings like today make those statements pale by comparison! Timing is everything at Bosque, and that timing all centers around light. The light for the inflight of Geese to the pond and the outflight can make magic turn into a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the camera and soul. Here are two quick pics from this AM which barely scratch the experience but for me, will always remind me of the moment, forever!
Dec 12, 2017 | Wildlife Photography
Gtr Sandhill Crane
captured by D5 / 800mm
A very special place for critters, birds, Sandhill Cranes, in particular, is Bosque del Apache NWR. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have been coming here forever and this week being here with dear friends is extra special. Sandhill Cranes are an amazing bird coming to Bosque to overwinter, storing up reserves to make the flight back north in the spring to raise the next generation. Their biology at Bosque is pretty straightforward, eat, eat, eat and not be eaten. They roost at night is the very shallow ponds so the approach of predators can easily be heard, then head to the fields during the day to forage. They do all of this with amazing grace and elegance … except ….
Gtr Sandhill Crane
captured by D5 / 800mm
Those shallow ponds that afford the Cranes a prewarning can turn this otherwise elegant birds into a comedy act. There are mornings like this morning when the air temp gets down there (13 degrees this AM) and a surface layer of ice forms. It’s not so thick that the Cranes are frozen in place but frozen enough they can walk on it and it leaves a ring of ice around their legs. Now to get airborne, the Cranes have to take a few running steps which, with their long legs is easy in the shallow water. But when there is ice, that can’t gain any traction and that’s when their elegance goes out the window and they seem to know it. You can see them look around, you know that look of “hope no one is watching” as they take that first step. That’s the fun to try to photograph. This morning was full of that kind of fun which what makes wildlife photography so enjoyable!
Dec 5, 2017 | Landscape Photography
I just love winter, but you all know that already. I love the cold and photographically, I love the white. And there is no better photographic example of that then when the trees are all dressed in white. But getting those photographs take a little planning because winter doesn’t mean automatically you get white trees. There are a couple of factors required to capture the white, here’s some details.
Cold is the first essential. Snow sticks (or hoar frost forms) when the air temp is really low, below freezing. It starts with moisture, either wet snow or in the air (hoar frost) that the cold temps then freeze to the limbs of trees. Next is the lack of sun because this means warmth. With these conditions, you then need to personally deal with the cold (gloves, jackets and the all-important footwear) and your gear is warm. Then you need to deal with technical. White balance is the first thing. We associate the color blue with cold which might not be the right WB but it’s your story, what do you want to say? Everyone knows snow is white, is that the color you want? You then have to answer this color question via WB for your photo. Then there is exposure, is the winter storm coming, happening, or leaving? Based on how you have that determines how you expose. So plan your trip to be in the right place at the right time with the right gear and the right technique so you can capture the trees draped in white!
