Apr 23, 2020 | Wildlife Photography
Allen’s Hummingbird
captured by D5 / 180-400VR
Hummers pretty much around the country are doin that “birds & the bees” thing right now. This is the perfect time to capture photos like this, the males “defending” their feeder. This display is part of a displaced aggression showing visually to other male hummers that he “owns” this feeder. So how did I get the shot?
Out of frame right is a hummingbird feeder, no more than 14 inches away (4:1 sugar water, no food coloring). The perch you see that the hummer is perched on is just a “stick” that is held by a Justin Clamp that is attached to a light stand. I can move that perch around based on the light and the background, the background is a biggie! I have the camera rig (you can use any length lens you have) on a tripod. The camera set to Aperture Priority, matrix metering, and more importantly, the advance set to Continuous High. I have manually prefocused on the branch and then I focus just a titch closer. Then I wait. When the hummer starts to land or starts to take off, the hummer begins to fly. It’s perched and it even hiccups, I hit the hammer. And that’s how I got the shot. It will take a couple of sessions but give it some time because it’s a great time for hummers!
Apr 17, 2020 | Landscape Photography
Cabin fever, landscape photographers are really feeling it judging from the emails of the past week. Getting out on the road, starting the day with a vast landscape stretching before you and then the celebratory breakfast with friends recounting the wonders seen and memories made. I know of no substitution for this marvelous experience other than the real thing. Good thing it’s not too far off in our future. In the meantime, can you sharpen your landscape photographic skills without leaving your home? I think you can and it starts with stretching your imagination!
I selected two photos I took standing inside and shooting out a window to illustrate my thought. One is with a very wide angle lens, 14mm and the other shot with a long lens, 200mm. The goal, of course, is to tell a visual story about the landscape and that comes from inside you. The challenge comes from taking what YOU see every day and making a photo that others don’t see every day and sharing that experience with them. You might see that tree all the time, how can you share that tree which has come to mean something to you, with others? Does it require just light, clouds, a bird, a swing, what? You might see that incredibly small detail of a weather vane all the time, but what light, depth of focus, what focal brings the viewer of your photo in intimate contact with it? This very simple yet very difficult self-assignment of your home landscape are lessons you can easily use once you get back to that vast landscape you long for. Because, in reality, it all starts with the landscape our the window!
Mar 31, 2020 | Wildlife Photography
Sharp-shinned Hawk
captured by D750 / 300PF / TC-14eIII
While the photo of birds on the feeder can be cool, that’s not truly the goal of backyard bird photography. The goal is the photo of the bird off the bird feeder. Typically, this is the bird waiting its turn to go and feed. This makes the placement of the feeder not as critical as the perch you want to photograph the birds on prior and after their feeder visit. That perch should have a great background and the perfect light for the time of day you can spend shooting. In this case, this Sharp-shinned Hawk is not waiting his turn to feed at the feeder, but rather feed on what’s feeding at the feeder. It is a perfect example of the bird on the perch shot you want to be after.
The formula then is kinda simple. You’re offering the birds food, the feeder. You then offer them shelter in the form of a shrub or bush. Between that shrub (about 7-10′ away) is the perch you want them to land on. It’s a pretty simple formula and once you have it down, you’ll have lots to photograph and fun to be hand in the process!
Mar 24, 2020 | Wildlife Photography
Steller’s Jay
captured D5 / 800f5.6
It’s no real surprise, photographing birds in backyards is really big right now! I’ve been flooded with emails asking for help getting feeders up and birds coming to them so they can be photographed. This is great, I couldn’t be happier. Understand that the “Field of Dreams” doesn’t instantly apply to birds. Just because you put out feeders doesn’t mean birds will instantly appear. It sure can but more realistic is it taking a week or more. I have lots of posts here on the website about backyard photography, got a book or two on the topic as well. The best resource I have to offer up is my KelbyOne Backyard Bird class. If you have specific questions, you too can email via the link on the website. Happy to help any way I can.
On a side note, the perfect lens for backyard bird photography I think is the 500PF. Right now, Bedford Camera has a couple and if you order from them, mention the Moose Discount for special pricing, free shipping and probably no sales tax.
Mar 24, 2020 | Landscape Photography
Palouse Church
captured by Z7 / Z14-30
Every time you put your camera up to your eye, you gotta ask yourself, “What’s the subject?” Without that key element in the photograph, it is really, really, really hard to then arrange the rest of the elements to tell your story. With a photo like this of this lonely church on The Palouse, deciding what’s the subject can be a challenge. You might think it’s the church itself. But then you see the clouds and then you’re vision is brought down around again to the church. What is the subject?
Palouse Church
captured by Z7 / Z14-30
Is it possible the subject isn’t a specific element but all them wrapped up together to express an emotion? If you think an emotion you are invoking can be the subject, then how can you tell its story? Can shooting in color or B&W be a way to arrange the elements to instill that emotion that is the subject of your photograph? I think so, I do that all the time as I think emotion can be a subject. The challange is that some aspects of photography we’re comfortable with take a backstage and an aspect of photography a lot of photographers are very uncomfortable with, emotion, is center stage.
Mar 20, 2020 | Landscape Photography
Weber House
captured by Z7 / Z24-70f2.8
The Palouse has an incredibly rich history that you can see in its people, land, and buildings. They are all very independent, strong and very much part of the fabric of the region. There are hundreds of old barns and homes that dot the vast landscape and I think I’ve stopped and marveled at least at half of them. I continually return to ones I’ve photographed before, check out ones that I would love to photograph but didn’t before and search for new ones. No matter what, every trip to The Palouse is always filled with old treasures.
Old Barn
captured by Z7 / Z24-70f2.8
This trip to The Palouse, I had for the first time the Z and its very fun #17 Charcoal setting in my arsenal. Not B&W, not Sepia, #17 I think of as a “tintype” kind of look. While perhaps a tad older than the structures themselves, this look I think brings a little something extra to the story I want to tell about this part of The Palouse history. You might notice that both are backlit and might be wondering why. That’s because the photo for me isn’t of just a building, but a home that’s home on The Palouse. The land is as much of the story of the buildings as were those who once lived in them. Now in my vivid imagination, I have big backstories to the hows and whys of these buildings that to keep the story short, I sum up as, little house on, The Palouse.
