Jul 8, 2009 | Wildlife Photography
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/DMLCKYP0008.swf, 500, 402 [/swf]
As we stood creekside photographing the Dippers, baby everything appeared literally at our feet. I mean, at our feet, so close you couldn’t focus on them. I hate that! This baby Yellow-pine Chipmunk is just a sample of the small mammals that we saw. The cute little bastard wouldn’t hold still! The baby Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel was the cutest. It couldn’t have been more than a couple of weeks old. It held still for a couple of clicks.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/DMLGSGM0003.swf, 500, 402 [/swf]
And like the Dippers, the light bringing light to the scene was all flash. The SB-900 is mounted onto a Wimberley Flash arm. This keeps the flash over the lens axis and put the shadow behind the subject. Exposure comp is dialed down so even though it is technically acting as flash fill, since the kids are totally in shade, it brings up the exposure value and more importantly the color value to create an image appearing like open or filtered shade. Photography is all about light and wildlife photography, you often have to take the light to the wildlife to make the image.
Photos captured by D3x, 600VR w/TC-14e, SB-900 w/Better Beamer on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jul 8, 2009 | Wildlife Photography
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/DBZDR0302.swf, 500, 402 [/swf]
In between the very brief times the parents were at the nest, they foraged along and in the creek. They keep you spinning as you try to keep up with them. They keep you guessing when they go underwater, water moving so swiftly you wouldn’t venture in, and then pop up ten feet down stream. Then are great bird, they are a great challenge.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/DBZDR0226.swf, 500, 402 [/swf]
These two photos have a couple of things in common. Yeah, the subject is one of them. Another is the rock and Dipper are all lit by flash (they were in complete shadow) and the last, the watery background is ambient light. Using and applying flash so no one can tell you’re using flash is incredibly important in wildlife photography. In both these cases, a Better Beamer was used, being feathered so the center of the light beam was sent over the head of the subject. The exposure comp dialed into the flash was -.07. The Nikon flash magic did the rest.
What’s going on biologically? The top photo, the Dipper seemed to be “stalking” a bug, I’d never seen that pose before and it held if for a long time before diving. The bottom photo, the Dipper is cruising the rapids looking for food, employing it’s “diving mask” second eyelid to keep the spray from blurring its vision.
Photos captured by D3x, 600VR w/TC-14e, SB-900 w/Better Beamer on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jul 7, 2009 | Wildlife Photography
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/DBZDR0386.swf, 500, 402 [/swf]
I needed some teaching images for a project, so Jake & I headed out at 05:00 starting on the shore of Mono Lake. After a very good couple of hours there, we headed off to the hills. We went to where we always know we can photograph birds, the creek. Most of the nesting birds are just starting to fledge their young, the American Dipper was no different. They build a moss “iglo” nest next to or under a waterfall, a crazy affair that is really cool. You see it here with the fledgling on the left at the entrance of the nest that then goes back under the ledge. You also see one of the major problems of photographing the nest, water! We’re talking lots of it that splashes and sprays often getting between you and the subject and messing up an otherwise cool photo.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/DBZDR0193.swf, 500, 402 [/swf]
The other big problem which interacts with the first is, it’s dark as sin! Flash has got to be used and with a roaring creek between you and the nest, the Better Beamer is a must. How does that interact with the water? The spray and splash is between you and the nest, or to be more exact, between the flash and the subject. Since it’s closer and somewhat opaque, it creates a curtain of haze that kills the photo. To get the photo like you see here, you have to make the most of every opportunity when the adult comes in and cross your fingers there is no water blowing up. The flash is acting as flash fill in these photos, set to -2 Comp to just barely bring up the exposure and more importantly, bring up the color.
Photos captured by D3x, 600VR w/TC-14e using the SB-900, SD-9, Better Beamer on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jul 3, 2009 | Wildlife Photography
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/DBLVS1019.swf, 585, 414 [/swf]
The Violet-green Swallows at Mono Lake for the most part were all on eggs. This time of year, you can always count on some being late, having a nest failure and renesting, something making them think about sex and not photographers. I had that 600VR over my shoulder, I had to make it earn its keep for the morning. This male had just brought its mate a fresh feather and was feeling quite pleased with himself. Can you tell?
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/DBZST0013.swf, 585, 414 [/swf]
The main reason I took the 600VR with me was because on our last visit, I had seen a Sage Thrasher working the shrubs. I was hoping it was still around and with all the summer tourist that head to South Tufa, would be a little more habituated. Well, we found the little guy and he was pretty cooperative. The problem was time, we were out for landscapes and not wildlife so Jake and I made clicks while we could and then off we went on to other great light up the hill.
It was a good morning!
Photos captured by D3x, 600VR w/TC-17e on Lexar UDMA digital film
PT= Private Tutoring, it’s not a place
Jul 1, 2009 | Wildlife Photography
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP8474.swf, 500, 402 [/swf]
I’m in the office for the week, pounding the keys to get writing projects done. While I’m not “outside” shooting, the activity out the window is picking up. Nesting is at its height and the adults are taking full advantage of the free food. They pay by posing like this female Cassin’s Finch. The lighting on the finch is from a single SB-900 through a Micro Apollo.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP8461.swf, 396, 600 [/swf]
We’ve had an incredible number of stormy and rainy days already this summer. Normally they don’t come until August but I don’t mind, they bring great light. When we don’t have the clouds, we have this kind of light. While it’s cool for a moment, it soon becomes just too heavy a light for the Band-tailed Pigeons.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP8487.swf, 500, 402 [/swf]
It’s the massive flock of Evening Grosbeaks that now dominant our feeders which are the funniest to photograph. The color of the males is killer even on a cloudy day. Their very loud whistle tells of their presense long before you see them. It makes being “stuck” behind the desk almost pleasurable!
Photos captured by D3x, 600VR on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jun 26, 2009 | Wildlife Photography
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/DMLGSCN0244.swf, 396, 600 [/swf]
I was pulling images for a book project on mammals and rummaging through my Columbian Ground Squirrel files and came across this oldie but goodie. Looking through the list of speices I was pulling for the book, they were all “common” species that you would find at a picnic area or pullout along the road. Nothing exoctic, nothing hard to photograph, no technical challenge or requiring long glass. Basic dirt common species that for whatever reason, other photographers chose to just not shoot. Why is that?
This little guy had his home right outside a condo we were staying at in Canada a number of years back. All I did for the photo is open the window and shoot out, didn’t even have to leave the condo to make the click. And for all that effort, I’ll have a nice pay day when it’s added to all the other “common” species I’m sending. And while it’s a common species, the photo isn’t. Being a picket, mouth open and calling with the light nicely bouncing around takes the common and make it shine. So while getting the common critter in the viewfinder might be simple, the challenge for you the photographer is making something out of nothing you could say. Because when you get paid for shooting the common, there is nothing common about common.
Photo captured by D1, 600f4AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film
