Clapper Rail captured by Z 9 / Z600f4TC
The sun hadn’t broken the horizon at Stono Cnty Park when the chorus broke out across the marsh. The inky shadows in the tall grasses’ movement could be seen, chicken-sized shapes slowly moving about. The tide was rising, and the shy Clapper Rails were being forced from their seclusion. The sun pops out and in bands of light, the clapper is exposed. The range of light is over seven stops, which means the shadows will go black, with no detail. That’s contrasty light, it’s also their world, their story. Photographically, what do you do? Personally, I want those shadows to go black as that is their world. If they step into a ray of light, like the top photo, it says it all. The bottom, it tells a story as well but a different one. As visual storytellers, it’s upon us to make the call. Contrasty or storytelling?
Clapper Rail captured by Z 9 / Z600f4TC