Apr 4, 2016 | Landscape Photography
There are times when the camera just sits there staring at me and in my guilt, I see it saying, “What, you forgot me?” It was one of those weekends when photography just took back seat. That’s until the last hours of Sunday when we snuck out and headed to the lakes. The clouds were floating by, the light kissing this and that peak, it was just to inviting not to make some clicks. So with Sadie leading the way, off we walked.
In my mind’s eye, I was shooting B&W. The blue sky background with the great clouds, the dark granite behind the snow, even the dark water with the bright highlights, all said B&W to me. While everything in the camera is the same, the way that I arrange the elements in the frame is often slightly different. So I put the D5 up to my eye, zoom the 18-35AFS to 18mm and what I had in my mind went from B&W to color. Using Dehaze in ACR and Nik Pro Contrast & Tonal Contrast and it was done. I thought all was well until I went vertical. Then what I thought was a color photograph reverted back to a B&W. What changed in the frame? The lines of white on the right and left is probably triggered my thoughts back to B&W. But the short time out behind the camera put those things I wasn’t getting done way down on the priority list. There is something great staring through the viewfinder, time rolls by.
Mar 31, 2016 | Landscape Photography
The glory of spring is celebrated in the wildflowers that carpet our landscape. While I love looking at them, I’m just not into getting down on the ground, in the breeze, arse in the air photographing them. Yet, I can’t just pass them up. So over the years I’ve come up with strategies permitting to capture their beauty while minimizing the the aspects of wildflower photography I detest the most. Here are two examples of the techniques I use to give you an idea of what I’m talking about.
The top photo was taken with a 300PF and the bottom with the 18-35AFS. The two techniques are kinda focal length dependent. Both techniques are blossom quantity dependent, that is, there are more then one blossom in the photo. This is because not every single blossom as to be tack sharp for the photograph to work. So if there is a breeze, it won’t ruin the moment or cause me to stand around for hours waiting for them to stop. The top technique is using a long lens, minimum DoF with a darkish background to make them visually pop. The bottom photo is shooting wide and over the top of the subject. Over the top means, you’re standing nearly right above the foreground blossoms and then tilting the lens down so you just have a sliver of the horizon. With the tilt out monitor on the D750, no sticking the arse in the air, easy peasy! While I can’t go full blown into posey pics, I sure can get into the grander version with these simple yet effective techniques.
Mar 11, 2016 | Wildlife Photography
A great question that constantly winds up in my inbox is, “Where do you crop critters?” Unfortunately this great question has NO good answer. There is no guide, no book, no rule so in helping folks, I try my best with simply saying, “Try to avoid the uncomfortable crop.” That answer barely describes itself so with the latest askers request, I’ve posted four images here which demonstrate what I consider as uncomfortable crops. As you can see, I have these images which in itself means I saw some redeeming value if only to demonstrate, uncomfortable crop. Cropping or cutting into a critter so body parts are missing is the issue. How much can you not include and still cause it to seem, uncomfortable? The first thing I try to avoid is a crop which makes it appear I took a head down from a wall, hung it outside and took its photo. The Pronghorn and Bison are good examples of this. Too far back or too far front is another thing I try to avoid (the Moose). And random pieces of leg are definitely not a good thing (Douglas Tree Squirrel). I wish I had some rule or guide to pass along as an answer, but this is about the best I can do.
Mar 9, 2016 | Landscape Photography
Next fall I’ll look through my files of the images I took this winter looking for inspiration and I know I’ll say, “Why didn’t I get out and shoot more?!” I know already I didn’t shoot enough of the birds at the office this winter and I’ll regret that. My gut tells me I didn’t get out and brave the wx enough and shoot the magnificent landscape right out my front door. So all I want to do is enlighten to the mistakes I know I’ve made this winter so in these last days, you might not make the same. I was fortunate enough to spend a grand week in Yellowstone in January and was able to scratch one off the bucket list, shoot at West Thumb in winter. That hint of color in the white landscape is something I love to do. Shooting the 18-35AFS, in the cold to capture the steam, in the overcast to create a monochromatic landscape, with a sweeping view, is one winter scene I wanted in my files. What eats away at me is, how many others views are out there waiting I didn’t make it to? I hope it’s not too late to get out with the camera for the last days of winter.
Mar 2, 2016 | Wildlife Photography
The Roseatte Spoonbill is such a gorgeous bird, especially in the spring. It’s then their pink becomes almost neon as they dawn their best for attracting the opposite sex. The beauty of them is the subtle shades of pink that sculpt their form. Then there is their bill that gives them their name. A resident of our southern Gulf states the majority of the time, they take on the allure of being a tropical bird making them even more mysterious as beautiful. In the search for photographing these magnificent creatures going beyond the basic portrait seems like it might be a challenge. But the only challenge is finding them early in the morning, the rest is pretty simple.
It’s when the sun first kisses them that they tend to get cleaned up for the day. Better known as prenning, they are putting all their feathers in order while water proofing them once again. Of course, we could say the males are grooming themselves to look good for the ladies and we might not be too far wrong. The challenge then is to find those locales where they spend the night where the sun first kisses them. There are actually lots of locales where that happens, I’m fortunate to know a few. Then once there, the next challenge is having a long enough lens to control the background because you are often shooting up on them on perches. The light coming through the canopy in the background, that bright highlight, can ruin the whole early morning feel. In this case, I was shooting 800mm / D4s and moved constantly to keep up with the birds and the background (underexposing -2/3. Lastly, I wanted more then just a portrait. Early in the morning when they are “grooming,” those wings spread and the bill moves about. That little bit of biology brings interest and a storytelling brings life to the Spoonbill. With that color, that’s all it takes to make someone stop and look at your photo.
Feb 24, 2016 | Wildlife Photography
Spring always brings one question to my mind. “Who thought way back when, this was the way to attract a mate?” When you watch the Great Egret perform their ritual, one surely must ask. Part of their ritual is what is called sky pointing. This is when the male Great Egret at the nest starts crouched down, bill down in the nest platform and then they rises quickly, completely stretches their bodies with their bills pointing into the sky. Briefly, they are as straight as a post. If you’re a female Great Egret or a wildlife photographer, this is pretty darn exciting! And catching the sky pointing in action takes skill for both the female and the photographer.
There are a couple of factors to take into consideration. The first and most important to me is the background. I feel the longer the lens, the better you can select and control the background you like best. I was shooting with the 800mm and in both of these images, I moved so I have a nearly all dark background in one or one with some light. Both have drama and both have a totally different feel. Next is catching the action within the frame with some elegance. I shot with the D4s because of its fast FPS cause I wanted personally to capture the sensual curve of the neck/body with the tip of the bill in the frame. Now this pose is not the “sky pointing” because it’s not quite the entire pose. But the sensual curve of the neck it gone in sky pointing when completed. So getting this shot requires gear, biology, light and patience. Or, the basic ingredients to every successful wildlife photograph.
