Left the house at 01:30 for the airport. Finally arrived to catch a different flight at 12:40. Then flight out of DEN was delayed cause of storms. So at 20:40 we lifted off and in avoiding the storm to the north and our destination, we went east then northwest and it took us into an amazing show. These are four clicks taken with the D750 / 14-24AFS out the window as we zoomed about. It was spectacular, simply glory on high!
They live at the top of the world. The animals the color of winter, Mountain Goats have long been a favorite species of mine. Their home is nothing short of spectacular! How do you say that in a photograph? This recent photo is a quick example (not the best though) to illustrate my point. How do you say in the same frame, “They live at the top of the world?” Well, you gotta include that in the frame and the easiest way is with a long lens. Not for image size cause as you can see, that’s not what I’ve done. But because of the narrow angle of view and ability to pull in the background. Shooting with the D4s/ 80-400VR3 at 250mm and getting below the Billy, the background pops and in doing so, makes it pop while telling its story. It’s a simple recipe that works so powerfully, long lens depth.
Many all black bird species have a gorgeous iridescence to them, when, and this is the important part, when they have a direct light source on blaring on them. The iridescence works on the very basic light principle, angle of incidence equals angle of reflection. This means in simple terms, the sun must be higher in the sky than we would normally like to see those colors in the black. It also means that if we use flash, in a hot shoe or in a flash bracket, this does not get the flash far enough away from the camera to get a big blaze of that color. You can simply think of it as requiring bad light to get those colors.
How do you make than a decent looking photograph if you have hot, constrastly light in order to get that iridescence in the black? There are a couple of things you can do and I share these photos of a Brewer’s Blackbird to illustrate them. I’m shooting across a creek with the D4s / 800mm w/TC-1.25x (1000mm) and that’s part of it, the narrow angle of view. That narrow angle of view permits you to move only an inch one way or another to get that angle of reflection. At the same time, select the best possible background for the nasty light. The creek is reflecting light which helps with the shadows. And I’m underexposing -1/3 more than normal to take the edge off the light. Combined, this makes the most of a bad scenario. Is this the only way to capture that iridescences? By no means, no! But it is the most common. When you’re looking for a subject when the light isn’t playing nice, just think bad light for color.
There is nothin more common in the Northern Latitudes then the Columbian Ground Squirrel! And when it comes to the basic challenge of making the uncommon of the common, you can easily find hours of fun in chasing the Columbian with your lens. In early spring as the snow is still melting away, they are coming our of hibernation and they have two things on their mind, food and sex. That means photographers who are patient meld into the background. This gives you the opportunity to shoot them at their level making the uncommon out of the common.
With food and sex on their minds, getting close physically is rather simple. All it really takes is a little time and observation. They will telegraph where they like to sit and spy on each other and that’s where you need to get. Shooting with the D4s & 80-400VR3, the top image was taken while I was down on one knee. Shooting at 400mm, the CGS went about lookin about, groomin and defending its little piece of turf. Shooting at its level puts the viewer of the photograph staring in its eye making a physical contact. That’s important. The bottom photo taken with the same rig, the CGS went up on a rock so I could shoot standing up and still be eyelevel. Both are basic biology that get the viewer involved and that’s where you want to take your wildlife photography.
Feeling and Seeing the final photo when the camera is pressed against your eye is important. One thing we talk about a lot when we’re out shooting on our workshops is “How will you finish the photo.” There are times that part of that conversation is removing the “touch of man” and a very common removal are wires. This morning at a favorite pond of mine, we were shooting sunrise. Shooting with the D4s / 18-35AFS at 20mm, the two wires stretching across the pond were very obvious. These are actually incredibly easy to remove!
To remove the wire, you need your Spot Healing Brush tool. Make sure its Soft Edge and that you’re Sampling All layers. I prefer doing this in a Empty Layer. Click on one end of the wire you want to remove. Then move down to the other end of the wire. Hold down the Shift Key and click again. You’ll see Photoshop draw a line between the two click and the wire disappear. That simple! One other finishing tip to add here. Photographing a reflection in water, water “sucks” up a stop of light so it’s exposure and color is richer than reality, in this case the sky. So in ACR, a Split Grad is used, dialed down -1 and saturation brought up to 25. This evens out the exposure top and bottom. So knowing these tools when you go click at the camera makes going click at the computer quick and easy.
When I started, it was film days and there was no Photoshop. In those days, we did everything we could to never include the “touch of man.” This is a prime example of what I’m talking about. Up at Many Glacier in Glacier Nat’l Park is this amazing waterfall at the outflow of the lake. I can stand there for hours watching it. This morning, wanted to use my new technique (this shot was taken handheld with NO filters) to capture the flow. In the process, this building was incorporated in the shot with is kinda abynormal for me. That old school thing. I’ve been changing slowly to include more when the “touch of man” brings something to the story. Now if this building were pink, it would not be in the frame. But in the Nat’l Park browns and where it’s located, I decide to include it. Shot with D4s & 18-35AFS, I very carefully included the building and not the van parked in front. I’m still pondering whether I’m “In love with it” but it’s growing on me. Can’t you teach old dogs new tricks? Perhaps.