Dec 2, 2009 | Wildlife Photography
The D3s has an improvement over the D3 that’s not been documented nor that’s been in the press. I know what it is, seen it in action and can tell you that it’s a nice improvement. What is it? This photo of the Osprey shows off the improvement, can you tell what it is? And being the rotten person I am, I’m not going to tell you here but you can read about it in the upcoming BT Journal :)
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP7243.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
Osprey fly with such an unique pattern that making an image with an unique pose really isn’t a challenge. The tip toeing here makes me smile.
Photo captured by D3s, 600VR w/TC-17e on Lexar UDMA digital film
Dec 1, 2009 | Wildlife Photography
While down kissing the sand, a Ruddy Turnstone came running through the scene. I was video taping when it first went through and didn’t want to cut the clip short so ignored it but hoped it would come back. I went back to shooting stills and it didn’t show. Later, yeap you guessed it, I was shooting video again when it appeared (one problem shooting video with a still camera). The D3s makes it real simple to go to still shooting from video so I sacrificed the video and made a couple of clicks.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP6530.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
Then I noticed the background, the very small waves rolling it at the feet of the turnstone. I really liked the little wave so I kept that in the forefront of my shooting eye. I never got the shot with the wave with the body position. I put this concept down in my idea file to follow through with it this March when we go back for FL for our Base Camp. Could make a cool shot if everything comes together in one click.
Photo captured by D3s, 600VR w/TC-17e on Lexar UDMA digital film
Dec 1, 2009 | Wildlife Photography
When it comes to shorebirds like this Black-bellied Plover (in winter plumage), I really prefer kissing the sand. Doing this permits me to control the background and really put the isolating power of the 600mm to good use. Even so when shooting at the shoreline, you’ve got to watch the background for constant changes (and the unexpected wave!).
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP6011.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP6016.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
You might be looking at the two images and not seeing much difference between the two images but it’s there. The degree of white in the background and how high it comes up behind the plover is what I’m looking at. The lower image is the one I like best between the two. The motordrive had to rip to capture that nuance. While I try to see it, squeeze off the shot to make the image with one click, I still ended up squeezing off three to get the one. You’ll probably also note the horizon line had got that slight slant to it. Still playing with that idea.
Photos captured by D3s, 600VR w/TC-17e on Lexar UDMA digital film
Nov 30, 2009 | Wildlife Photography
We spent a marvelous week in FL working and shooting, shooting and working with a bit of eating and carousing with good friends thrown in for good measure. A bit of the working we did was to film a new show for Kelby Training on bird photography. Jake was here and together we got five hours of tape shot, damn good day!
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP6279.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
I was quite happy that one of the birds we got to spend a whole bunch of time, the American Oystercatcher, was around and in good numbers. On the west coast the Black Oystercatcher is the norm so when on the east coast and I get up on the American, I love the change of pace.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP5960.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
In the upper image you can see how we would normally photograph birds on the sand with the sand leveled in the viewfinder. While this looks the most normal, it’s not reality. The bottom image is with the camera plum to the earth and depicting accurately the slope of the sand into the sea. When the thought first popped in my mind and I acted upon it, I wasn’t sure if I liked the final results but now, I’m liking them more than the level sand shots. It’s something new and ponder. I like pushing myself, something good always comes from it!
Photos captured by D3s, 600VR w/TC-17e on Lexar UDMA digital film
Nov 17, 2009 | Landscape Photography
The weather of last week has melded away to absolutely gorgeous stuff which was the perfect start for our DWLS NY – the Joe Tour. With all of us hopping into a bus, our first stop was Central Park. What a gorgeous morning with that killer fall nip in the air. After a short briefing, our great group headed off into the park and the perfect start!
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP1891.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
Ida didn’t blow away all the fall color and in fact, she probably arranged it perfectly for us along with cleaning everything up and making the tree trunks black. It was the perfect combination along with the sprinkling of earlier risers taking advantage of the day. Shooting was pretty easy, find the pattern and shoot!
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP1951.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
I’ve been shooting a bit of fall color this fall, pretty darn lucky in my timing. So rather than go for the overall ground, tree, color landscape type photo, I made the mental effort to look for patterns in the color itself. This is one of the more successful images from the morning in those regards.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP2558.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
I happened to see McNally spool up and gitty up in a particular direction. I saw what he was after so decided to follow along. I don’t know if Joe took this photo as I stopped to help a student for a moment. I was glad when I was done this cool shot was still there. I had worked a lot of narrow DOF this morning and this is a pretty neat example of how I was approaching it. What a great start with a really nice group of shooters!
Photos captured by D3s, 70-200AFS VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film
Nov 11, 2009 | B&W Photography, Random Thoughts
We love visiting NYC! It’s got an energy and character I don’t think you can find any other place. Using points, we uped our room as in, we went up to the 25th floor so we could have the view you see in the last blog and this. While they’re not pine trees, the vertical lines out the window just fascinate me.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP5869.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
I don’t know if it’s the contrast of the shapes against the lines or the novelty of the water towers themselves, perhaps they make me think of the old west, whatever it is they just grab my eye!
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP5878.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
This is the roof top view from our room looking left and right. I spent most of the night shooting them and then once the light came up (what light there is) I just kept on going. It’s a search for patterns, textures and character. The entire time I was thinking B&W. Looking for whites and blacks is the key because they are what give a visual depth to the varing heights of roofs and towers. I just love it!
Photos captured by D3x, 50f1.4 AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film
