Dec 13, 2016 | Wildlife Photography
Just where does your eye go in your photos? We want the eye of the viewer to go to our subject first and then wander around in the photo, comeback to the subject and then wander off again. This is how we tell the story we want to tell about the subject. It’s why we select the lens, the f/stop and place we place the camera, to tell the subject’s story. The one element many photographers miss though is the light and bright, the one element that EVERYBODY’s eye goes to when they first look at a photograph! If that light and bright is or near the subject, perfect. But if it’s something that takes the eye away from the subject, then bad. Here is a simple example shot at Bosque two weeks back. The top photo was taken only 3 seconds before the bottom photo. The range of light is such that the horizon is blown out creating artifacts while taking you eye away from the exploding geese. The bottom photo shows how bright that sky actually was because when it fills the frame, the geese are silhouettes. When your heart is connected to a photo, it can override your mind’s eye. But the viewer of your photograph doesn’t have that emotional connection. So when you look at your photographs, ask, “Where’s the eye going?”
Dec 5, 2016 | Wildlife Photography
Gtr Sandhill Crane
captured by D5 / 800mm
Sandhill Cranes fly with amazing elegance and grace! Their long wings grab so much air with each stroke, it sends them gliding through the air with little effort. Watching them fly, it’s very easy to see this grace but when you stop it with a camera, the motion and grace is often not captured. Is there a trick to this? Is there a wing position in flight that says this more than another? In saying this in a photograph, I tend to try for a couple of things. First, I try to start firing the camera when the bird is at the top of their wing stroke (crane on the right). I don’t know what it is but it seems to work out when you rip the shutter to capture the best wing strokes. The other thing I do is go for synchronized flying. Shooting with the D5 / 800mm (so I can shoot with Auto Area AF), I look for two birds flying together. They tend to at some point synchronize their wings beats so when one is up, the other is down. The thing with this is, they don’t always synchronize where you want them to and, they tend not to do it for long. But if you look for it and shoot for it, your odds are better at capturing it. Just something to stick in the back of your mind when you’re wanting to speak about the elegance of flight.
Nov 26, 2016 | Landscape Photography
Heat shimmer especially with long glass can cause a real issue with sharpness. But isn’t there times when we want to limit sharpness? First thing that comes to mind is DoF, something we use very mechanically to limit the focus to help tell the story. So why then couldn’t heat shimmer do the same thing? Here, the Very Large Array, those dishes way in the distance are blurred out by the heat shimmer. But do you need to see them sharply to know they are there? Doesn’t it add mystery to this mysterious place with them being out of focus, kinda “out of this world” mystery? So shooting D5 / 800mm / TC-14eIII then not only compacts the three miles of track, but brings into play the heat shimmer to finish the storytelling. Just a thought.
Nov 18, 2016 | Wildlife Photography
That little bird, the Upland Sandpiper can fly! See how they are sending email, that’s right emails, about their route!
Nov 17, 2016 | B&W Photography, WRP Ed Zone
Stinson 9F
captured by D750 / 24-70VR
You’ve probably received the email and said something like, “Oh, something new for the digital darkroom” and then deleted the email. I’m here to tell you, that might was a BIG mistake because Luminar available today has at least ONE thing you need to own! My challenge is to explain all that Luminar from MacPhun is all about in a blog post, and I can’t. You’re going to want to head to here after reading this post to at the very least learn more but let me tell you why you’re going to do that. What is Luminar?
You might rightfully so think Luminar is a stand alone Raw file processor because it is. What you won’t understand until you start to work with it is that it’s a Raw file processor with layers, effects and so much more. And it not only works its magic on Raw files but you can use it on layered PSD files, that’s right, PSDs. To understand how all of that works, you need to watch the videos on the MacPhun site. The potential here alone is worth the price but I’m excited by another feature of Luminar!
With a simple click, you can make Luminar a plug-in that works within Photoshop. Why would you want to do that? Great Question, let me show you!
This one feature of Luminar is more than worth the price of the app, its Black & White engine! It is hands down the best B&W engine I’ve even used and I’m all over it! What you see here is just a HINT of all the controls you have to quickly and easily convert your images to B&W. You can create presets which I highly recommend cause with a simply click, you have a gorgeous B&W. And as you can see, they work with your Smart Objects.
I regret I have just this most cursory tease preview of Luminar to share with you because there is so much more. But I’ve always promised to share with you my advances in B&W processing and this is my current love. Luminar is available today, check it out!
Nov 15, 2016 | Wildlife Photography
Ruddy Turnstone
captured by D5 / 800mm / Panning Plate
Turnstone, turnstone, what kind of name is that for a bird that is found most often on the beach? We have two turnstones in North American, the Black and Ruddy, this is a Ruddy. And their name comes from their constant habitat of turning over debris looking for food. Unlike many of its beach neighbors, Turnstones don’t constantly prob the sand looking for a bite to eat, but under debris where the rest of the birds never look. It always fascinates me to watch all the different species of shorebirds gather and feed with minimal competition in the same little patch of sand, all finding what they need to survive the day. Beautiful!
Ruddy Turnstone
captured by D5 / 800mm / Panning Plate
In these first two photos you have two different stories of the Ruddy Turnstone. The above is your basic intimate with the subject shot, the bottom is the biology unfolding. While they were both taken with the D5 / 800mm w/TC-1.25x but the top one, the rig was resting on the sand with the Panning Plate and the bottom photo with the rig on the Gitzo mounted to the Zenelli. The difference in elevation changes two things. The biggie is the background and next is the comfort of birds to feed. Birds feel very vulnerable when feeding so if shy and feeding, being close and on lying on the sand might keep them at a distance. In the case of the Turnstones though, they only have so many opportunities to feed, that debris. Then to get the bottom photo we need to combine biology and technology.
Ruddy Turnstone
captured by D5 / 800mm / Panning Plate
It simply requires understanding how the Turnstone got its name and use that knowledge to stack out that debris. Because at some point they will come to check it out and if you’re laying on the sand and they come to YOU on THEIR terms, then you can get the biology with the clean background. There are times then when knowing what goes into a critter’s name is your clue to the biology to exploit to make your photo. Pretty simple once you connect the dots :-)
