Jul 13, 2011 | Wildlife Photography
There are actually many things in nature that change radically season to season. One prime example are oaks and maples. I have always wanted to do a year long portrait of just one tree. Taking its photo during an entire year just to see all the changes. In 30yrs, I’ve just never gotten off my butt to do it. What I have done though is this same idea with critters. Mammals are a great choice like this Arctic Fox. I love showing these two images at presentations, folks never believe me that they are the same critter. Its summer coat (top photo) is so vastly different from its winter coat (the all white one). And when you look at the muzzle, it is hard to believe they are the same critter.
Here’s the cool thing about this photographic challenge. First, you’ve gotta do your homework and see what animals that interest you have such big changes during the season. Then, you’ve gotta go out and get those photos during those seasons. Finally, and this is the best challenge, you’ve gotta get those photographs out to educate others. When you find such projects in wildlife photography and you take them on, your photography grows in ways you can’t imagine until after it’s accomplished. It’s a great project to start in the summer!
Photo captured by D2XS / D2H 200-400 on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jul 6, 2011 | Wildlife Photography
They are so cute! I just love grouse chicks. As soon as they are dry after hatching, they are up and going! Now they might trip on the grass, run under mom everytime a pine needle hits the ground, but they are just amazing! Now, how do you take advantage of this kind of situation?
First, I’m incredibly lucky this all unfolded on our property. It’s just me and the grouse. Watching their actions, feeding and moving on, watching their path and looking towards where they are going you can figure out possible places they will stop and graze. Mom is walking as slow as she can, the kids are running all out to keep up. And the light….it’s just dark!
With all that movement and the slow shutter speed (1/25 – 1/80), any movement will blur. That can be a plus and a minus depending on how you plan your shot. Using Peak of Action, you can stop a lot of movement even at slower shutter speeds. You will still have images that are soft, but you will have many that are sharp. In this case of the dandelion blossom disappearing, I like the little bit of movement.
Still on one knee, handholding and with the light no better, I was shooting nearly wide open. The band of focus is pretty narrow and at 400mm and how close the click was to me, it worked perfectly! I didn’t want the background in focus, didn’t want the foreground either so I placed the chick as you see it in the frame for those reasons. Pretty simple stuff, just having fun shooting the wildlife in the yard.
10min later, they are heading back towards the forest and the rain is coming harder. I had errands to run so I put the camera in the house, told Jake where the grouse family were and left. As we were leaving, Jake was walking out with his 200-400 and had more fun with the family until the down pour just got too intense.
Why no flash fill? I know that question is coming so thought I would head it off at the pass. Many reasons, the main one being I liked the light quality. I didn’t need to mess with it, I wanted the stormy feel to the images. The next, it would add more weight to the gear and I was already shooting slow enough I didn’t want to hassle it. Lastly, I didn’t want to take the few extra minutes to grab it. Could you use flash fill here? Heck ya, easily and quite successfully. If all conditions were perfect, do you wish you had grabbed your flash? Nope! Why not? Flash would have changed the whole feel. I like it just the way they it is.
Photos captured by D3x, 200-400VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jul 6, 2011 | Wildlife Photography
My wife has the best eyes! Besides being able to melt me to the kwik, when it comes to spotting wildlife, there is no better! “It’s, a, come quietly, don’t disturb the dogs, ah….it’s in the yard!” She was looking for the word Sooty Grouse but her mind was stuck on Blue Grouse which is what they were called just a couple of years ago. No matter, I knew what she was saying. I walked over to the window, spotted them, saw their line of travel, grabbed the gear despite the rain and got outside. It was dark when I started, shooting at 1/25 under the pines and at 1/80 when they family went out across the open.
By the time I got outside, the family group, hen and 4 chicks had moved from the front to the back and over to the neighbors. They were focusing in on dandelions, the young leaves and flower blossoms and doing a good job cleaning them up. It wasn’t like I had some place to hide, the rain was dropping so I took a knee and let them walk up to me. And they did, walked right up to me and then pass me. We always wonder if this is the same female that has been coming to our meadow for a decade, one of her chicks, just who she is. When a Steller Jay flew overhead, one of the chicks (7-8 days old) scurried for safety under mom. I like this shot. mtc
Photos captured by D3x, 200-400VR2 (handheld) on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jun 27, 2011 | Wildlife Photography
“Say thank you now!” I don’t know how many times I was reminded that growing up, but it sure seems like it was an awful lot. It was one of those lessons in life which made no sense to me at the time but man, it sure does now. It seems at times we got to where we are all on our own but we know that’s not the case. There are an awful lot of folks behind us helping get where we are. This is especially true if you’re successful in photography!
While I am thankful for those who have shared their photographic knowledge with me, I am more thankful for those who have shared their worldly knowledge with me. For example, I have written forever that my success as a wildlife comes from the biologists I work with (and now in aviation it’s the pilots making me successful). Like the marmot project up in AK, I would never had my glass on the Alaska Marmot one day and then on the Hoary Marmot (pictured here) the next without dedicated biologists. The adult and spring young were amazing subjects and ones we would have not gotten on without the biologists. We had to make the shots, but they got us there to make those shots. Like I’ve always told our sons, “I can open the door for you but you have to walk through it.”
In photography, no matter what genre you’re in, saying thanks is a must and not just for your own sake! Had an conversation with someone in the last couple of days that brought this topic to mind and I guess, because for me it seems rather natural, the story really fried my feathers (yes, Moose have feathers). Bottomline, the person I was working with had been burnt by a number of photographers, not just one but a number. He’d put himself, knowledge and time out their for these photographers and he never got a thanks, a print, a file, nothing. The photographer took and never gave back. And yet, because of their nature allowed one more, me, into their world. It might seem strange, but I do this blog to say thanks to those long ago who gave freely of themselves so I could grow. Most of them I know don’t read the blog because sadly, time has marched on and they have passed. But that debt remains that a simple thank you still doesn’t suffice. So sending the biologists prints of this moment in this marmot’s life with flies buzzing all around them yet taking time to say hello means alot. Means a lot to the biologists and to the photographers who come along after me so the door is still open for them.
What’s the best way to say thanks? The words at the moment don’t hurt, that’s for sure. But the best way is the gift of art. If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a million times, giving the print is the best thing you can do. It say thanks like no other gift. And on the business side, if your art is hanging on someone’s wall, they will never forget you. That my friends is very powerful stuff! We keep the Epson 4900 humming all the time making thank you prints and what flows from them just keeps the world turning. I had no clue growing up how much that constant reminder of saying thank you would effect me later on. It drives me nuts when folks don’t say thanks to me and even more when other photographers burn bridges when they don’t say thanks to those who make the photograph possible. Many ask what’s the secret to making it in this business for 30yrs. I know it’s not my charm, but it might be I at least know how to say thanks. Thanks goes a long ways!
Photos captured by D3x, 600VR w/TC-20e3 on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jun 15, 2011 | Wildlife Photography
The Panamint Chipmunks are out in force this spring, the ground seems to be moving there are so many of them. They provide hours and hours of entertainment especially right now as they are in love. You can easily spend hours chasing them with glass right now as they run about finding mates and making chipmunk love and come back with very few clicks. They just don’t hold still. Seriously, you can see 20+ at one time from our office window darting about! Well, I don’t have that kind of time plus, I’ve made a click or two of them over the years so I pick my time and place.
What I do anymore is wait for them to come to me. That really is simple, they climb Tree2 and wiggle across the branch towards the feeders and wait their turn in line. Our yard is bursting this year with Evening Grosbeaks and they rule the roost. Other then the Steller Jays, no other bird, chipmunk or squirrel takes them on. There can be as many as 8 at the feeder at one time (with a dozen waiting in line) and that’s enough bills to hold everything else at bay. This makes for a great photo opp for me as the chipmunks wait their turn.
Using my favorite “out the window” lens, the 300f4AFS, i simply stood at the window when I saw a chipmunk make its move. Part of the trick is to not flush all the grosbeaks (Evening and Black-headed, no Rose-breasted yet) that scare off the chipmunks. The grosbeaks are so close I need my reading glasses to focus on them, that’s close! There are only certain times in the day I’ll do this, when the light spotlights certain parts of the branch. Many of the branches are too thick so I won’t shoot things on them. Others are just not to purty and others have bad backgrounds. So my shooting time is a narrow window. When the conditions are right, I just wait until I have a character show up. I liked this guy (I knew it was a guy when it turned around) because of the determination that was on his face trying to wiggle into the feeder line. Because of that I underexposed a little more then normal to make the shadows drop and opened the lens up to f/4 so only its face was sharp. What often happens and always makes me laugh is the frustration the chipmunks often face and how they display that when they can’t get to the feeder. The bottom shot is so typical, that is the reaction when the frustration gets to them. These kinds of photos besides being so much fun to shoot are great money makers for a couple of reasons. Most don’t spend time with chipmunks and who doesn’t love a chipmunk making them good page fodder. Too much fun!
Photos captured by D3x, 300f4AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jun 9, 2011 | Wildlife Photography
Here in the Sierras, nesting is now in full force with most species just now setting down on eggs. I realize we’re behind some areas and a head of others but here at home, it’s time for portraits. What do I mean by that? The majority of bird species, the female with her dual plumage does most of the daytime nest tending. The males, the brighter colored of the two is either standing guard or bringing food into the female. Either case, they tend to be T’d up on a perch dying for their portrait to be taken.
The first thing you need to do is find the nest. That often requires some bin time, sitting, watching and learning. The males will often have one perch they favor and that’s what you need to find. Once it’s found, you kinda wanna figure out their routine. Not that you can set your watch by it, by you wanna limit your time with a camera to safeguard the nest. No photograph is worth sacrificing the welfare of a subject! With all of this, look at the light and background. With the Raven above, it was real simple. Nice lighting and clean background. With this American Kestrel, great background but not so nice light. This is a great example where flash fill was needed.
This perch the male California Gnatcatcher used after it left the nest, not before. I kinda like those better because the pressure to take in food and being careful of predators is not so intense so the critters are more “relaxed” in the frame. The last thing you can do is keep the bird off nest! This is also my favorite kind of light for taking portraits, that’s overcast. Overcast not only is this giant softbox but means cooler temps which works best for the nest. Heat stress kills and kills fast!
But using overcast light, you either need to introduce flash for color (Captured has a whole chapter on this) or have a reflector to bounce in light. In the Gnatcatcher photo, the sand/shrubs did a great job reflecting light into this bird so small, it weight less then a nickle. The Upland Sandpiper, a favorite bird of mine, the white side of the Suburban acted as the reflector and did a killer job! Now how long can you stick around and take these portraits? I don’t know about anyone else, but I get bored pretty fast because once you set up and make the clicks, not a whole lot will change. I do take the time to watch the routine so I have an idea for when the eggs hatch or the kids fledge, otherwise I make the great portrait and move on so I don’t effect the adults. With subjects normally always on the move, it’s nice that at least for a short time each year, they will hold still for a portrait.
Photos captured by D3x, D2xs, D1, D3, 600AFS / 600VR w/1.4 or 1.7x on Lexar digital film
