Isn’t it obvious with this photo? Why is that? Well, in this straight shot taken at Kodachrome Basin, just like everyone else, I saw a beautiful moon in person and the mind’s eye made it big and special. But put that cold heartless bastard to your eye and instantly that beautiful moon looks like what I’ve always called a “processing mistake” (an old reference back to the days of film). We’re drawn to the moon like a moth to a flame, and we all know how that turns out for the moth. Technically, it’s real easy to get the exposure, a full moon is Basic Daylight (ISO-Shutter Speed f/16) or you Spot Meter off the moon. The problem is visually, the moon, unless you use a long lens is always small in the frame. That’s why I’ve always gone old school when I really want a big moon in a photo, double exposure (photo below). That is the actual moon that evening, but when the photo of the buildings was made, it was hidden behind a dust cloud. It was also smaller. So once the dust thinned I zoomed in on the moon and made a double exposure. Not a great shot but it was fun and that’s really the important part. And while I suck at taking the photos, I do recognize photos those are well done. Those are the ones where the moon is part of the story, not just sharp.
There is NO one way to work with wildlife, this is especially true with birds! There are many paths to success so then the way to find your path should include the fun factor. When you include that, then lying on the beach has to be one of the best techniques (Kelby class on the technique). We’re working with birds about the size of your fist darting about a world that is full of visual distraction. To make them visibly pop, we need to either make them larger in the frame or remove the visual distractions. Getting down on their level accomplished both with a lot of fun mixed in. Here’s a video showing you the technique in action a few days ago.
The video was shot with the new Nikon KeyMission 360. It was attached to a flash arm over the 800mm lens. It’s a 4k video (be sure to set it to 4k when viewing) resized down from 2.1Gb to 524MB to upload quickly to YouTube. Clicking on the arrow in the top left corner or dragging the hand around in the frame, you can see how we’re shooting in 360 degrees using the Panning Plate from the surf. You can see it all which might help you work with this killer technique!
Which format, horizontal or vertical tells the story best of this Red Squirrel munching? It was a pretty easy photo to take. The Red Squirrel had his mind on one thing, food. Getting close with the D5 / 300PF was easy, real easy so then after that challenge comes the question, which way to turn? I have a favorite based on the action, background and light. When it comes up in your viewfinder, do you know which way to turn? If you don’t and if the opportunity presents itself, take it both ways and then look at the photo later in the hopes you’ll start teaching yourself which works best for your storytelling. Because there are times when you don’t have the luxury of shooting it both ways so you must commit. It’s a question that never goes away … which way to turn?
We were walking the back trails at Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. I was looking for Moose so was looking for something big. I had just made a turn on the path when I caught out of the corner of my eye movement, something small and gray under a tree. My mind said Lynx since they are here. I slowly moved forward to see what the movement was and I come around a tree to see a male Spruce Grouse … displaying! This is October! I moved forward a little more and I could see a second male grouse displaying. What gives, courtship is in May … they are all confused!
Then I spot the female up in the spruce and the dots connected. Now why the males thought in October they had any chance with this female is still a mystery but I didn’t care. For those of you who have not seen a Spruce Grouse in the wild, they are not a smart bird. You’ve seen in the movies folks throwing rocks at them when hunting them, that’s real world! So for the wildlife photographer with a 300mm lens, getting up close and personal for the shot is real simple. For me, this was my first opportunity in all these years to get a female Spruce Grouse in a Spruce in real nice light and not have a blown out background. So while the male watched, we photographed the female as the sun slowly set. And the male … he turned and walked away, still all confused.
You can’t help but be swept up in the landscape that is Alaska! While we were up here to photograph specifically Moose, the search for them took us to gorgeous locales. That’s why the 18-35AFS was packed in along with the rest of the gear. So in the lull in the action, off we went to photograph the wonders around us. The skies were perfect to tell the story of how cold it was where we were shooting. Using the very simple Multi Exposure technique, capturing the flowing creek handheld and bringing that story home was easy. This is important because the Gitzo had the 800mm with the Zenelli head. That’s why this technique is so cool, you can do it even without a tripod!
