Jun 28, 2017 | Wildlife Photography
After sitting, stewing, and sleeping on it, I came up with minor changes in our technical tools and ideas and they started to payoff for us. Still shooting with the captured by D500 / 300PF / 2x SB-5000 set up but have made better use of Auto Area AF. The idea, of course, is not only capture the photo but have a ton of fun and enjoy the magic that is hummingbirds. We got much closer to that today. Now it’s still not “the” photo I want, but it’s now moving in the right direction so while slow progress, it’s still progress.
Jun 27, 2017 | Wildlife Photography
I’m down in nirvana, or to birders better known as Madera Canyon. It’s been thirteen years since our last visit here and we have a great, advanced group taking on the challenge of photographing hummers in flight. The goal is not to take a photo of a hummer frozen in the air, the goal is to bring to life in our still the magic that is these flying jewels. Today, I went down in flames not even coming close to the goal! Thirteen years ago, we didn’t have such cameras as the D500 to use with flashes like the SB-5000 wirelessly (using WR-R10 powered by SD-9 and light modified by Rogue Flashbender 2) which makes a huge difference. And shooting with the 300PF is a simply a joy. And while we’ve come so far in technology and gear, the same challenge of subject and light remain the same. So while technically the photo is OK, the light pleasant, it is miles from my goal! Will I get there in the week I have? I don’t know and if you don’t see a post here showin results, well, then, you and I will both know that answer to that question.
Jun 23, 2017 | Wildlife Photography
It’s essential that the more we click, the better we click! Because if we don’t learn from our photographic past, we are doomed to relive it over and over again. One of the huge challenges is remembering what we’ve done, the good and the bad and remember which is which so we avoid one and embrace the other. That’s kinda what this week’s podcast is about. Perhaps if we look at the lessons we learn on a minute by minute scale, the bigger lessons might stick better. Case in point.
A week ago we had this amazingly cute and cooperative Arctic Hare. When we first stopped, he wanted nothing to do with us, slowly sliding off into some low cover. Doing an 180, we walked to where I thought he might emerge. He did and when he did he found the four of us there staring at him through our lenses. And with that, he could care less we were present and went back to munching. Biologically and photographically, that’s perfect so now we could work on getting that one photo that summed up our experiences, tell the story visually!
None of us were using long glass, I was shooting the D7500 / 300PF and was perhaps 7-9′ away from the little guy. And when he first emerged he was in a shadow of a Spruce. The light was not optimal, to say the least. We were in the last rays of the sun and I saw our shadow on the rock. I said that I wanted the Hare to come out because I wanted to catch his shadow on the rock. To facilitate my thought, we all moved back to give him room to move out into the last rays of the Arctic sun.
After a short time, he grazed down into the light. While I like the sitting shot with the touch of glow to the head, I knew it could be better. Then there was the feeding shot with the shadow on the rock so we’re getting closer to what I had previsioned but still, it could be better. The shoot while only lasting about fifteen minutes was progressing from a simple record shot of a species existence to … well … a moment that summed up our time with this cute critter. Because the last shots I got captured the Hare’s cuteness, goofiness and that shadow that times it in with the long summer days of the Arctic. The photograph progressed right in front of our eyes, getting better with every click. That was in part because of seeing where we were at and having an idea where we want to go and what we thought we needed to make that happen. The trick is to apply this fifteen-minute lesson to a weekly, monthly and yearly lesson for all of our photography. Some shots here work, some don’t, kinda like our weekly, monthly and yearly efforts. You learn from it all and your photography will evolve and that’s the goal. Because with knowledge and passion we can reach that goal, that our photograph progression never ends!
Jun 22, 2017 | Wildlife Photography
You know what I’m talking about, we’ve all had to deal with them. The unsightly stick in our critter photos, argh! The mind’s eye loves vertical lines especially when they have any kind of texture taking the eye away from our cute and fuzzy subject, argh! So we tend to go to great lengths to either make them disappear or simply not take the photo in the first place. This photo of an American Robin demonstrates a technique I try to use whenever possible.
First, keep in mind I’m shooting with a very narrow angle of view. In this case, the D500 / 800mm permit me to move just a small distance, 6 inches to the side to incorporate out of focus leaves to help hide the annoying branch. Now in order to move over to grab that leaf, I also had to move backward. Subject size is not a priority when the subject stands out visually so with that branch now hidden even through the Robin is smaller in the frame it stands out more. Now if you’re not shooting with a long lens, this technique is harder as you’re taking in more of the world. It’s just another example though why I like the long glass.
May 26, 2017 | Wildlife Photography
“Just how much background should I include?” This is a very common question that I receive all the time. It just came in as a possible podcast topic. Being a visual answer in my mind I was waiting until I had the same subject with three different backgrounds to answer it. My recent time at Magee Marsh with its waves of busy warblers provided the images I needed to explain how I look at the background and its role in telling the visual story.
Northern Parula Warbler
captured by D500 / 800mm
In answering this question for myself, I first start with the gear I’m going to use. With birds in order to control the background, I use either the D5 or in this case, the D500 on the 800mm. That combination provides an incredibly narrow angle of view permitting easy tweaking of the background with slight movements to right or left, up or down with the gear. With that it comes down to your own style of photography and that’s really to the heart of the question of background.
Northern Parula Warbler
captured by D500 / 800mm
There are three classic examples here of backgrounds for birds. No background, just a touch and fully occupied. As you can see, I like to use all three because each one tells a little different story based on the subject and that’s what photography is all about to me. At the same time, it’s the subject and the light on it that truly determines which background will work best. There are a number of things that takes the mind’s eye to the subject and then through the whole image. Knowing these and applying them really determines the background to me. With critters, their gesture, their attitude, their character really impacts the background and visa versa and which photo I’ll put out. In these three images, it’s the bottom image I love the most and it’s all because of the gesture in the Northern Parula Warbler. While it might have the “busiest” background but because of the light on the background and the subject, you can’t help but see that gesture. So rather than have a fixed background in my mind I have to have for a photograph, I work with what’s presented by the subject at the time of the click. I don’t know if that answers folk’s question but that’s how I visually think about how much background.
May 10, 2017 | Wildlife Photography
It’s a real simple formula for capturing birds in flight. You want the sun and the wind on your back. Here’s a real simple illustration of the point. This pair of Forster’s Tern on day one had the wind coming in from the right. Because of that when the mate came in for a landing, it was going sidewise to the camera. While OK, it’s not the most desirable.
The next day the light and the wind were hitting our backs and the terns, were landing while flying right into the lens barrel. It’s really just the simple. The rest was having the reach (shooting with the 800mm w/TC-1.25e) and the FPS (shooting with the D5) to capture the slow decent to the stump. So with that the photo was made as the wind has it!
