Just How Important is WB?
I realize this is just a Moose thing because the rest of the world just does it in post, but I am very conscious of the White Balance (WB) when I’m shooting. This is for the simple fact that when I look at my images back in the computer, I don’t want to try to remember what the light was like. I want to know from my images. And when it comes to critters, this is very important to me. So this is what I do. I always take a frame when I go out with all the settings I think should be dialed in and then I chimp. I then look at the LCD to make sure all is working as it should (ever shot a HDR and forgot to turn off bracketing?). This includes WB especially when shooting in light that is not 5500k. The above image was shot in Auto WB and while it was close to what I was seeing, it wasn’t right on. All I did to get the shot below was to dial in A6. This raised the WB from 4400k to 5000k and that little but brought the warmth back to the frame. It’s just another little piece of that craftsmanship puzzle I use everyday.
Time with a Medalist
“Awesome, I may have to do a short portrait with my 3 medals somewhere with the mountain top/background.” The text read from our dear friend and former neighbor Meb when he confirmed we’d be home during his next visit to Mammoth. We’ve had lots of fun with Meb over the years, photographing him for his own personal project as well as commercial work for his sponsors. Well with the addition of the medal for winning the 2014 Boston Marathon, it would seem Meb wanted to do the medal portrait we’d always talked about. But he put a twist to it. He wanted his favorite high altitude training grounds in the background. We were more than happy to oblige!
The shoot was actually pretty simple, once the right location was found. Wanting Mammoth Mtn in the background and with it having no snow, it needed to be an evening shoot. Meb not being “real” tall, needed to find a place that he would be higher than the camera. This is so he would be not only taller than the mountain, but so I would be shooting up on him naturally. Then there was the light, I wanted main light from the flash doing the lion share lighting Meb, the ambient light bringing life to the background. Because of the wind we’ve been having, I went with a beauty dish up close and personal to light Meb. I knew I’d have it above and angled so the light would fall off keeping the medals from blowing out. And I wanted a sidelight on both one side of Meb as well as the sage in the background. I wanted just a hint of the Eastern Sierra in the photo as that was Meb’s request.
With the spot found, we arrived early and set up the Profoto B1 / 27″ Beauty Dish Reflector on a C Stand (32lbs of weight on it because of the wind) and took test shots (which took seconds with the Profoto TTL), shooting with the Df / 85f1.8 AFS and the Profoto TTL. As you can see from the BTS photo, it was a real simple set up but the results were what were desired and we were done in minutes. Meb is off to NYC for the marathon this coming weekend and hopefully he’ll be back up with a new medal so we can take a new portrait. Go Meb!!!
The Boys of the Bush!
The key to success for the majority of photography is knowing your subject. Something taught to us when we’re real young when it comes to writing, it totally applies to photography, especially wildlife photography. The open African woodland habitat that is Mala Mala is not your stereotypical African savannah you conjure up in your mind when picturing the bush. While I had been studying my mammal and bird ID books prior to going over, I was ill prepared for what we encountered. Besides the overwhelming sensory overload of critters ~everywhere~ you look, there is the challenge of making the photo that is more than a memory of that amazing moment. Step in the Rangers, the Boys of the Bush.
Roan, 27 and Greg, 24, grew up in this African environment of the “bush” and it shows. On top of this, they have spent their time in school, Greg with his degree in Zoology and Masters in Wildlife Mngmt. But what really makes these two rangers unique, at least to me, is their love and total dedication to the bush. There wasn’t ONE critter they couldn’t ID, there wasn’t one piece of biology I asked about they couldn’t speak about in great length. And there wasn’t ONE critter that we wanted to photograph they did’t have us on top of with the great angle. They are Rangers, they are not guides and within minutes of working with both of them they had my complete respect and admiration! If I were working a project back here in the states, they would be just like a biologist with all the knowledge and ability to get me intimate with a subject. And they are the reason the entire group on safari with Images in Africa Safari came back with the amazing images we so cherish!
When we were on the stalk for critters which you’ll see in the KelbyOne Class we shot, we were all business. But when not, well, boys will be boys! That’s probably what made the safari so memorable for me, the friendships that were made. Well, I wanted to have more than your casual clicks to remember these two by. So one chapter in the KelbyOne class is about bush portraits. Now what makes bush portraits different from normal portraits? Well, let’s just say you normally don’t get chased off your video set while shooting a class by a GIANT freakin Rhino that is charging two younger Rhinos out of his territory! You should have seen Adam’s face when he was told to jump, fast, into the Landi! You could sum up bush portraits in one word, fast! Shooting with the Df, 18-35AFS and SB-910 on a SC-28, the portrait session went like this: stop vehicle, look for critters, click to see base exposure for portrait, tell subject to look in this direction, put flash in place, click photo, drive in direction of critter. These Rangers, Roan and Greg and Brandon (not pictured here) worked wonders for us. We are so indebted to them. They made the safari so special and I will always smile when I look at these portraits because I know the story behind their making. And that’s what photography is all about!
And Then There Was Adam
If you would have told me up to a week ago, that I would ever travel, anywhere, anytime, in my lifetime with my own videographer, I would have told you, you were nuts! I mean, that stuff just doesn’t happen in the real world. There isn’t just someone with immense talent, enormous passion and plane old fun who follows one around with a video camera aiding in recording and telling the story. Well this past week in Africa I had just that and I am forever grateful that my long time friend and producer, Adam was long to tell the story of our safari and the African wild heritage!
A scheme hatched eight months ago, Adam was able to come because of the generosity of Images in Africa Safaris and the creative genius, Perry at KelbyOne (the producer of our Warbirds Film). Of course, the original concept for Adam going was to create a new class for KelbyOne. But Adam and & I knew before going it would be much more than a class (and as it turned out, an epic journey). While we were incredibly fortunate to make the journey and see Africa in a spectacular way, a class on just wildlife photography or travel photography was never Adam’s or my goal. You see, even Africa and its rich wildlife diversity is in grave danger. For example, all EXIF data is scrubbed from any photo taken of a Rhino as you see below. The explosion of life, the spectacle of species and the scale of life is bigger than a single click. Adam and I wanted to tell that story more than anything else. We realize many will never have the opportunity to go on safari, it was for those that we put in the 21hrs days, six days in a row to bring back footage and the story we know you’ve never seen before! Adam is a dear friend with great passion and we’ve done many great things together. This is our best so far!
But as you might imagine, screwin around is a HUGE part of our production process. When the camera is on and we need to get the work done, we do just that. But when the camera goes off, and I think it’s part of our team’s creative process, we goof off. So Adam gave himself the self assignment of doing selfies with all the critters. The one he hadn’t gotten all week were with Rhinos. So, literally, the last day, the last drive, the last hour, he got his selfie and his self assignment was complete. While we were on a serious mission with a serious task at hand, fun is still the corner stone we use to create each project. While I’ve told Adam thank you many times in many ways over the years for all he has done to aid me in telling our stories, I wanted to, once again, tell him publicly thanks. What we do is important, it does make a difference. Thank you my friend!
MLP RBDimmitt
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Bob raised the bar so high for MLP, it’s sad to let him go! Bob came a long ways and accomplished a lot during his time as a MLP. He got more articles published, more magazine covers than many pros during the same period. He embraced the ideas and made them his own to huge success! He restored my faith that the editorial market is not dead, especially for the newcomer, in fact, it’s quite alive and he proved that it’s still looking for those visual communicators wanting to make money, telling their story through photographs. Bloody well done Bob!