Dec 12, 2013 | Wildlife Photography
So one of the aspects of winter I look forward to when the snow is falling at the home, are shorebirds on the beach. I just love shorebirds at the water’s edge! They make me laugh, they challenge my photography and they are fun to photograph. You can’t ask for more from a subject. Now is a great time to be on the shore looking for them. Some will have a tad of their summer plumage left making them looking just a tad special. You will have to first scan the water’s edge with bins to find the one or two individuals, but when you do, hot dogs. This a Short-billed Dowitcher I found last winter that is just such an individual. And once I find them, I work them just as long as I can.
The one thing you’ll notice that is the same in both of these photos is my point of view. I’m down in the sand at their level. It’s a favorite technique of mine I’ve used for decades. You’ll find a whole class on it here on Kelby Training in fact. These were shot with a D4, 600f4 w/2x using a Panning Plate. The benefit of getting down low are numerous. You can control the background, you can look them in the eye, you minimize the foreground and you make them comfortable so they come closer. And, it just feels good to lay in the sand like a kid again. So when the cold of winter starts to settle in, head to the beach with your long lens and have some fun with the shorebirds!
Dec 5, 2013 | Wildlife Photography
Yeap, that’s the outside temp right this moment at the office and I love it. And you guessed it, I’ve been tossing out the window boiling cups of water. Love that sound! But back to photography. This is a great time to be working with critters, especially big game and birds at a bird bath. Steam is a great source for interesting photographs. Steam can come from breath, hot springs or simply from a heated bird bath. You can photograph the breath like you see from the moose, or the collection of the steam on the critter like the Bison. When you see that breath or you see those frozen crystals on the fur, the viewer of the photo though in the warmth of their home, know it’s cold out and that’s the goal. But here’s the trick to this whole thing.
Steam, be it a vapor or frozen (when than it’s ice), the only way you can see it is when it’s against something dark. And that’s the trick to some, basic staple to me. Backgrounds! Backgrounds are everything but even more so in this situation. For example, there are no photos from my bird baths here to illustrate my points. That’s because not until this summer, could the backgrounds around my bird bath be manipulated to be dark. They’ve always been white snow so I’m racing to get this posted and back behind the camera to see if my plans work. But you can look at the left side of the Bison photo to see what I’m talking about. The frozen hot spring steam almost disappears with the white snow background.
Some are thinking, “That’s too cold for me!” Here’s the trick for that. First, shoot from the inside of your home. Next, shoot from the inside of your vehicle (what I did with the Bison). Lastly, limit your time outside (what I did with the Moose). Figure out what you need for DoF, Exposure and everything else and set that in the warmth of the home / vehicle and then when you head outside, you can wear thick gloves so all you need to do is be able to depress the shutter. Keep in mind that you’re not going camping in the -10 (but that is fun too), you do have that warm interior to get back to so make the shot while you can. Well, gotta get back to my bird baths. Stay warm out there!
Oh yeah … remember that breath you’re trying to capture and how it turns to ice at these temps? DON’T breath on your camera’s eyepiece, you’ll have the same problem to the point you can’t see. I use the Nikon DK-17A Anti-Fog Eyepiece to help with this problem.
Dec 3, 2013 | Wildlife Photography
Like my good friend likes to say when we’re out shooting but there is nothing to shoot, “We’re sucking dirty pond water!” And that’s how it is right this moment at the office with NO snow! I have the new shooting gallery all set up and ready to go, D4, 800f5.6, SB-910 powered by SD-9 shooting through the Wescott Rapid Box Octa triggered by Pocket Wizard but not ONE bird to point it all at!
With no snow, there is plenty of free water, the main attraction for birds in the winter (free water is water that is not frozen). At the same time with no snow cover on the ground, there is plenty of food that’s easy picking. Lastly, the weather hasn’t brought the birds down in big numbers so the bottom line for Moose’s photographing birds from his desk is, sucking dirty pond water.
You might be wondering why there’s flash in this formula. One of my favorite shots is of this dirt common Cassin’s Finch (making the uncommon out of the common). This male’s red cape comes to life in this bluish light of snow by the kiss of flash. The Octa is to make the light source much bigger than the subject so YOU don’t see the light. It’s big and soft which matches the falling snow. Oh snow, please, snow!
Oct 17, 2013 | Wildlife Photography
“It’s so cool, he’s still here and drilling” read the text I received from Sharon while still in the Tetons. All of the Aspens on our property have gone bare with fall except one. Our biggest Aspen still has green leaves and that’s the only reason I can figure we have a new buddy in the yard. This immature Red-breasted Sapsucker has been in the yard for over a week now, never really leaving what we now assume he feels is his tree. The sapsucker get their name from their drilling “wells” in living trees so the sap pools and runs out. They drink this nectar and eat the insects that are attracted to the sap. Hummers love these natural feeders as well, but ours have all headed south. You can see our buddies progress as he rings the trunk. Does it kill the tree? Surprisingly, no. He’s a really cool little dude, you can walk right up to the tree and look up and watch him, he doesn’t flush.
On the photographic side, sapsuckers and woodpeckers can be a challenge since they are often high in the tree. In this particular case, if I were trying to photograph him from the ground, I wouldn’t do it. The angle up is just too much for a nice angle. But I am able to shoot across to our buddy from our 2nd story deck. With the D4 / 800AFS with its TC-25E at 1000mm I could get the image size you see. The key here is the use of flash. Using the Wimberley F-9 Flash Bracket for Head Version II to hold the SB-910 (powered by Nikon SD-9 with a Better Beamer (shortened SC-29 connecting it all), I shot. When our buddy was on the right of the trunk, it was much easier to meld the flash and ambient light. When he was on the left of the trunk, the use of flash is much more apparent. Why is that? The mind’s eye sees the brightness on the back of the sapsucker and expects a shadow. The combination of the light of the flash and the bounce off the trunk, fine tuning flash exposure for the left side of the trunk took longer than our buddy gave me. On the right side, it was a simple click. The whole time, I’m using CS e4 which permits me to set the ambient light exposure compensation and flash exposure compensation independently and that is critical for my style of shooting. While you’re reading this, I’m back out on the deck with our buddy. I have a small window each morning to shoot as the sun rises and leaves the trunk. mtc
Sep 27, 2013 | Wildlife Photography
With 50knt gusts, first dusting of snow on Mt Yak and the flocks of Emperor Geese winging their way south, there is no doubt the season has changed. Alaska this time of year is unpredictable and gorgeous! In our modern life with internet, cities and cars, the spirit of the wilderness is often missed by most. This if for no other reason is why I love being a wildlife photographer. It’s a simple journey back to basics.
Our time at Hallo Bay, Alaska was nothing short of magical. It was also very typical of any wildlife adventure where you plan a year in advance to photograph a critter that has no calendar. We were anything but skunked during our time with as many as seven individual bears photographed in any given day which included mom with three spring cubs. And while being at point blank range with a griz eating barnacles is way beyond way cool, that’s not really the point when we venture out. And it shouldn’t be the only goal of your photography with any critter.
Those of us so fortunate to be on that beach, in that meadow or on that mountain slope with our wild heritage need to strive for perfection in capturing the story. This doesn’t come overnight (in my case still on going after 30yrs) but in that journey, we capture the stories that grab heartstrings and that’s why we continue to do it. And in sharing those stories, our photos, with others we bring back a small slice of what it is to be a wildlife photographer. It permits all to step back a moment from our every day lives to journey back to basics. It brings into our lives the spirit of the wilderness.
Sep 26, 2013 | Wildlife Photography
After three weeks, we’re finally in route heading home with 22k new images. To say we are incredibly fortunate is an understatement and right now, I’m really feeling the pressure to share all the stories. But the reality is, I can’t get them all out fast enough in enough ways to say … wow! After Photoshop World, we went right to the Reno Air Races, their 50th and man, was it incredible! All the fun, racing, shooting and a first for me, daily entries took that 8 days and condensed them it seems to a heartbeat or two. I’ve not even told you the story about the “Great Rain” or the rest of the story of Peterson’s Flying Circus (THANKS to all who dropped by and left a bunch of dead presidents!!!). But because of that experience, Jake, Brent & I are creating a whole new website / gallery / teaching zone (mtc on that). Phew, just thinking about the week makes my head spin! With our trip to AK right after Reno, our duffles were packed the week before and left in the truck because we went literally from Stead Airport to Reno Airport to fly to Alaska.
I’ve been looking for this location in Alaska for bears for twenty years and we’ve finally found it! Hallo Bay is without a doubt an epic location for watching, observing and photographing grizzly bears (yes, we’re takin a 5 folks there August 2014)! It is a wilderness camp, you are surrounded by bears, wolves and birds and there is NO ONE anywhere which includes phones and email! I don’t have enough words to say it all, hoping I have the photos. I’ve been writing notes like a mad man to remember it all as I go through all the images. I hear the call for our flight, it’s time to head home where I hear we had our first dusting of snow at the house. Those folks spending the weekend with us at our Photoshop for Shooters class are in for a great weekend with great scenery and a new story and photo or two!
