Dec 22, 2017 | Wildlife Photography
Rocky Mtn Bighorn
With the new snows of the season, I thought I’d answer a common question that floods in this time of year. “How do you (as in Moose) expose for snow?” Of course, living in snow, I have a number of off the cuff answers, but I’ll move past those and get to the heart of the question as I look at it. What color is snow? Unless a Moose or dog has passed by, it’s white, right? The common belief that if there is snow in the scene, automatically dial in +1. A recommendation that comes from the meters of the 1970s. We’re not in the ’70s. I honestly don’t think there are viewers of your snow photograph who wouldn’t recognize the white stuff on the ground as snow. With that being true, then seeing detail in every crystal of the snow (what +1 might does for you) is not mission critical to tell the viewer the white stuff they are looking at is indeed, snow. With that storytelling in place then, how do I expose for snow? Exposure is YOUR greatest tool to express the feeling, mood, and life in your photograph. Just because you see something white, don’t automatically do anything.
Bald Eagles
captured by D5 / 800mm
We have two photos here, both of snow. The feel of both is totally different. The top photo has a bluish-gray cast, the bottom photo the snow is your basic snow white. The top image makes me feel cold, that’s why I underexposed it in camera and did not remove the color cast in post. The bottom image, I exposed normally (no comp) and did remove the color cast in post (using ACR). The key to exposure for both images is the RANGE of light in the entire scene and not the fact there is snow in the scene. I exposed for the subject and not the white stuff. Like with most of my photography, I try to keep the light range within 3 stops. When that’s the case, then I just have to click, the D5, D850, D500 or D7500 meter will do the rest. When it’s outside the 5 stop range, to deal with the greater range of light I shoot with the D5, D850 and overexpose. This is totally ass-backwards from what I did for thirty years but it brings into play the 6 stop range of those cameras. Look at the light between the photos in that post and this. Can YOU see the difference in the light falling on the scene? It is exacerbated by the snow, but not determined in whole by the presence of snow.
SO how does Moose expose for snow? Just like any other scene, it depends on the subject, the light on the subject, the light on the rest of the stage and then the story I want to tell within the confines of my viewfinder. Exposure is way too powerful a tool to just dial in some value of exposure compensation automatically. The world doesn’t need another technically perfect photograph. The world needs another photograph with passion to move the viewer!
Dec 18, 2017 | Wildlife Photography
Gtr Sandhill Crane
captured by D5 / 300PF
I’m often asked how much lens do you need for bird photography? My response is a really old quote, “Go out with your longest lens or else you’ll comeback short!” And with that I always add, what’s the story you want to tell? Because for me after being so fortunate to photograph birds for four decades, the answer is real simple. Let me illustrate.
Gtr Sandhill Crane
captured by D5 / 800mm
My quick answer to the question is, 400mm as that’s the lens I started with. The long answer is 800mm but only us nutjobs spend that much on a lens. You really need to reach down and decide if you’re going to go with the herd and the easy route and simply stuff a frame with a bird and call it art, or the hard route and fill the frame with the birds word while making the bird the subject. Ya, it takes less lens for the latter, but a whole lot more skill and passion. And the complete bird photographer has both crafts in their back pocket to call on as needed. It’s real simple when the viewer looks at your bird photograph, do they ask is it a bird, is it a plane or is it …. ?
Dec 14, 2017 | Wildlife Photography
Bosque is so good for the soul! And it doesn’t suck for photography either. But mornings like today make those statements pale by comparison! Timing is everything at Bosque, and that timing all centers around light. The light for the inflight of Geese to the pond and the outflight can make magic turn into a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the camera and soul. Here are two quick pics from this AM which barely scratch the experience but for me, will always remind me of the moment, forever!
Dec 12, 2017 | Wildlife Photography
Gtr Sandhill Crane
captured by D5 / 800mm
A very special place for critters, birds, Sandhill Cranes, in particular, is Bosque del Apache NWR. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have been coming here forever and this week being here with dear friends is extra special. Sandhill Cranes are an amazing bird coming to Bosque to overwinter, storing up reserves to make the flight back north in the spring to raise the next generation. Their biology at Bosque is pretty straightforward, eat, eat, eat and not be eaten. They roost at night is the very shallow ponds so the approach of predators can easily be heard, then head to the fields during the day to forage. They do all of this with amazing grace and elegance … except ….
Gtr Sandhill Crane
captured by D5 / 800mm
Those shallow ponds that afford the Cranes a prewarning can turn this otherwise elegant birds into a comedy act. There are mornings like this morning when the air temp gets down there (13 degrees this AM) and a surface layer of ice forms. It’s not so thick that the Cranes are frozen in place but frozen enough they can walk on it and it leaves a ring of ice around their legs. Now to get airborne, the Cranes have to take a few running steps which, with their long legs is easy in the shallow water. But when there is ice, that can’t gain any traction and that’s when their elegance goes out the window and they seem to know it. You can see them look around, you know that look of “hope no one is watching” as they take that first step. That’s the fun to try to photograph. This morning was full of that kind of fun which what makes wildlife photography so enjoyable!
Nov 28, 2017 | Wildlife Photography
Douglas Tree Sqrl
captured by D5 / 800mm
Think he’s been watching Peanut Cartoons through the window?
Winter has come to the house … and we love it! One of the best things is how it concentrates all the critters at our feeders, free water, and houses (be it shrubs or birdhouses). It makes observing them easy, fun and always entertaining. Nows the time to stock up on supplies and make sure you have those unfrozen sources of water available for them. It’s 13 degrees outside as I write this which means any water not warmed with a heater will be a rock. This little Douglas Tree Squirrel is waiting his turn to get to the bird bath. Free water is so important to critters, no more so than in the winter.
Nov 17, 2017 | Wildlife Photography
One of the great things about wildlife photography is the simple pleasures a simple click can bring! We’ve had 36hrs of rain here at 8200′, over 4 inches so the critters have been hunkered down. The sun came out this morning as did the birds in great numbers. Often with storms this time of year, migrants that normally fly on by stop to wait out the storm. It’s one reason the 800mm is left set up, ready to shoot at the first shout of “BIRD!” Then when conditions are right, they greet the day in the sun refueling on our property. This morning a secretive favorite of mine appeared. Sharon first called him out and for the next twenty minutes, we watch the Varied Thrush rummage through the underbrush looking for morsels (not been on the property that we know about since ’08). Then it hopped up and T’d up long enough for me to make a couple of quick portraits. And now my day is made. Simple photographic pleasures!
