Jan 23, 2017 | Wildlife Photography
While the snow isn’t pillin up on her keyboard at her desk, the 25 degree breeze is coming in as I shoot. I love shooting our birds in winter and Sharon has them stacked up like cord wood waiting to get to the feeders. The Clark’s Nutcrackers are 7 individual thick waiting to get to the suet. These amazing bird are sitting on eggs right now which considering all the snow and temps, is amazing! Normally a shy bird, they see Sharon making her morning rounds to fill the feeders and they come right one down. They are a ton of fun and warm up our days! The photography is pretty straight forward, D5, 800mm with the SB-5000 in a Hexi 24 Speedlight Softbox with Shoe Mount Flash Bracket (24 x 24″) Fabric Grid for 24 x 24″ Quikbox Air-Cushioned Light Stand (Black, 8′) with the WR-R10 doin the talking. The only challenge is to not let Sharon freeze!
Jan 13, 2017 | Landscape Photography
Ever since Saturday, we’ve been in the grip of a pretty big winter storm here in the Sierra. There are times, like when the drive has just been cleared of snow and a big dump of new snow covers it, that we mumble about the storm. But then there are moments like what you see here that we really treasure being able to be amongst the clouds. Making the photos simply required being out in the elements waiting for the right moment to go click.
Shooting with my favorite, D5 / 24-70VR, I ventured out when I saw the wind gauge on our wx station hit 20mph. Why that wind? Well with the nice powder that was falling, I new that with that wind, it would be blowing about dramatically. That drama in the blowing snow and being backlit is what makes the intensity in the storm come to life. Once the combo comes to life in the viewfinder, I make the click. Then I came back into the digital darkroom and with Luminar, quickly made the B&W you see here. Just remember, some of the worst weather can make some of the best photography!
Jan 5, 2017 | Wildlife Photography
They are smaller than a dollar bill but take prey twice their size without batting an eye! The No. Pygmy Owl has long been a favorite bird of mine. A lifetime ago we rehabed them and ever since, I’m always, always looking for them. This one was photographed years ago in Yosemite at the base of Lower Yosemite Falls on my first outing with the then new, 200-400VR. We have them at our the home and every so often, we get a glimpse of them. Years ago I was out shoveling snow off the driveway when I heard this sharp shriek behind me. I turn around to see our friendly Pygmy Owl just ten feet behind me tightly holding a Siskin in its talons it had just caught. Shovels don’t make a very good camera so all I have is the memory. Yesterday while out shooting with the new Wildlife Kit, I saw a Morning Dove dive down while flying down the alley (our name for a group of trees on our property). Just then out of nowhere a Pygmy Owl, half the size of the dove, stooped on the dove, missed, and then landed just out of site. By the time I got the D5 / 300PF out, it was flying off. While I keep the gear out all the time for just such subjects, I’m amazed how many times they kick my butt. It’s just the fun, challenge and reward of backyard bird photography.
Dec 29, 2016 | Wildlife Photography
Red Fox
Is snow really white? Sure, it is in drawings and our imagination but in reality, is it really white? Since I look out at snow many months each year, I can tell you that it’s not always white. When is it truly white? When there are blue skies and bright sun. That’s when it’s white and bright (and exposure problems might occur). But as soon as you remove the sun, the color of snow radically changes from white to blue. Does its color really matter? It does if you have a story to tell. If you want to say it’s cold, blue is a great color cast for snow. You want to say it’s vast, you might want gray. That’s what you see in this photo of the Red Fox. How did I get gray snow and not blue (as there is definitely no sun at this moment)? I manually adjusted the White Balance. Yes, I know many just deal with that in post but being not only old fashion but very time conscious, I want it done right in the camera. Don’t know how to make any of this happen? Get a big white towel and drag it around in different types of light, sun, shadow, mixed, and take photos and teach yourself. You might not only learn something cool, but vastly improve your storytelling.
Dec 27, 2016 | Landscape Photography
Upper & Lower Yosemite Falls
Winter has the instant feeling of being cold. In large part because when people see snow, they think cold. Add to this the normal preponderance of the color of blue, and folks just feel cold looking at a snow covered landscape. Now if you want that cold feeling to come through (misery likes company, right?) than that’s good. But what if you what folks to feel the warmth of the sun on that cold day? It’s really easy to do, especially if you get up to greet the sun. You just need the smallest amount of that warm color (yellow/orange) in your frame and folks will feel the warmth. The trick? You’ve gotta know light and white balance. You’ve got to get it right in the camera to start with and then finish it accordingly in post. I’ve used two examples here of what I’m talking about. Just remember, it’s all about light and emotion, so along with WB has to be exposure to tell a story the viewer can feel.
El Capitan
Dec 21, 2016 | Wildlife Photography
After my Podcast yesterday, I was flooded with emails about underexposing when shooting in snow. You’d think I’d said something really political by some of the responses. To start with, shooting with the D5 / D500, these three photos if I were to shoot them today (these are older images), I would dial in -2/3 exp comp to communicate the feeling you see in the images. And this is where most photographers get lost with my message. I’m not exposing for some graph or somebodies theory. I’m exposing for my heart because exposure = emotion. In telling the story, we must put what we’re feeling in the photo for those not standing beside us when we went click!
The slight warmth coming from the rising sun on the Bison can be felt because of the overwhelming cold in the photo. The deer looks safe because of the overall warmth in the entire photo super imposes over the natural feeling of cold from the snow. And that tinge of warmth on the Polar Bear walking the edge of the Beaufort Sea is because of the two colors in the frame. And that color is coming from underexposing to bring out the blue and using WB to maintain the warmth. Understand, this is all being done at the point of capture, not in post. This is thinking through the subject, the story and the emotion YOU want to place in your photo when you’re at the camera. This is not easy stuff because you have to reach down inside and feel this through your being and then use the clinical controls of the camera to bring it to life in your photo. But that’s what brings joy to these cold worlds. When you insert yourself into the photo and come up with success!
