Review: Bosque Workshops

I had the opportunity this year to make it to Boque Del Apache Wildlife Preserve for the first time - WOW!  Fantastic landscape and the birds (geese, ducks and cranes) certainly did not disappoint.

Since this was my first time there, I decided to participate in a photography workshop with seasoned veterans (Rick Sammon and Juan Pons) who knew their way around the preserve as well as a camera - and they most certainly did not disappoint!

Our workshop began on the evening of December 5th and the weather was a real challenge - 8" of snow at the beginning on the week and below zero temperatures for the rest of it.  Juan and Rick were determined not to let the weather deter us and found new and interesting places to shoot for the first day and a half (when Bosque was actually closed due to the weather)  The alternate sites were fun and full of adventure but most importantly, the guys kept it very upbeat and interesting.  Once we were able to enter Bosque, we were treated to a true winter wonderland, with Juan scouting out super locations for both morning and evening while Rick provided excellent insight into composition and new techniques.  Always eager to lend a hand, these workshop leaders were a delight to the entire class.

Now, their dedication and first class instruction was really great - but what makes these two fellows truly unique is the care and concern they show to all of their participants, regardless of skill level.  In this day of "photo egos" and the many "professionals" flying at a higher than thou level - both Rick and Juan were firmly planted on the ground, providing excellent instruction, encouragement and support - even though their skills certainly flew high.

I can enthusiastically recommend both of them for their learning style, passion and sincere desire to help aspiring photographers.  Checkout some of their work, learning materials and upcoming workshops - you won't be disappointed!

• Rick's Workshops
• Juan's Workshops

Stay in Focus!

Mark

White on White

Excerpt from "The Shooter's Blueprint" Series

I've received a lot of questions lately due to a guest post I did on Photographer Rick Sammon's Blog regarding capturing a white subject on a white background.  Especially with winter around the corner for some of us, I hope the tips below help.

Shooter's Blueprint

White Subject on White Background

The settings will vary depending on what the exact scenario is, so let's use the parameters below.

The trick to this shot is to expose as far to the right as you possibly can, without blowing any highlights out.  With a white subject, you want your data to be almost entirely in the right third of the histogram.  Anything less than that and your whites will start to look muddy, and correcting them will result in less than stellar results.

Blueprinter’s disclaimer – there is always more than one way to accomplish something, this just happens to be the way that works for me.  All adjustment references are related to Apple Aperture software - other packages have similar adjustments.

Camera Setup:

• Exposure Program: Shutter Priority
  • Aperture is not an issue with this shot - there is only one subject and it is fairly far away.  (Depth of Field on this shot was around 1.5 feet)
• Shutter Speed: For a moving subject, 1/1,000th is minimum - I chose 1/2,500th for these owl shots
• ISO: 400
• Exposure Compensation: 1.67ev
  • It's takes time to get a feel for this, just remember what you're trying to accomplish (exposing for the whites, as far to the right as you safely can and no blown highlights) takes practice.  It was a bright day and a lot of white in front of me - I started at 2.0ev and came down slightly after consulting my histogram. (oh yea, take test shots before the feathers start flying!)
• Focus: AI Servo (Canon speak for continuous)
• • I used a cluster of focus points in the right of my frame as this owl was making his runs into the wind (right to left).  Using the right points allows me to leave room in front of the owl.
  • When focusing on a white subject, find some contrast to lock onto (that's how most focus systems work)  The Owl's upper chest with the dark bands was perfect and roughly on the same plane as his head and eyes.

Original RAW Shot

Original Histogram

Post Processing:

• White balance: Tweaked slghtly
• Black point: Adjustment cranked up about halfway
  • Just shy of blocking the dark claws
• Definition Slider:Moderate adjustments (up to half way)
  • Be careful not to blow any highlights out in the process
• Shadows Adjustment: Moderate to high adjustments here returning depth and detail
• Levels Adjustment:Basic adjustments as needed for accurate balance.
  • Be careful of a blueish color cast bleeding over into the subject
• Sharpening: To personal taste and output goals

The adjustments above yielded the results below.

Final Image

Final Histogram

Your digital sensor captures more detail in the right third of the histogram, so the goal here is to get as much of this "white" data in that area - without blowing any highlights - I know, it's a thin line to walk, but you can get ever closer to it with practice.  Post processing (Black Point, Definition and Shadows adjustments) then allows use of this maximum data to adjust as needed and end up with a great shot!

One Final Tip . . .

This technique is accomplished shooting raw - so don't go by the image on your camera's back screen as reference in the field (it will look washed out).  Rather make sure you didn't blow any highlights (no "blinkies" in your histogram) and create your final image in post.

Have fun and stay in focus!

Mark

Nothing to Shoot Here!

How many times have you thought the same thing - "nothing to shoot here" Really?  Are you sure?  Because there is beauty to be found everywhere and in everything - if you know HOW to look at it.

For the past few weeks, "attractive" subjects have been a little harder to come by (it's just that time of the year, right before some of the more interesting migrations begin) and the only plentiful targets have been Ring Billed Gulls and Canada Geese.  So, what else was there to do but focus on gull and geese!

Why bother, you may wonder - a question thats been asked by  more than one passer by recently, "they're just trash birds and poopers" a older gentleman recently asked me.  Well, if you don't know how to look at them - maybe that's all they are.

The "right" way to look at these creatures is with an open mind.  Study a gull for a period of time, they're quite accomplished fishermen!  The search patterns they run, identifying a target, followed by sometimes very aggressive dives straight into the water are amazing!  More than not, they'll come up with the fish in tow.  Also the interaction and behavior of these gulls, interesting and amusing at the same time, as they fight for freshly caught fish and landing spots.

gull 2.jpg

The same thing goes for geese in my book, fascinating behavior and social interactions.  Watch a male put his head to the ground and "growl" and he waddles to an interloper is a blast to watch.  And if you catch them in the right light, they're actually very nice looking birds, just like the gulls in the photos above.

geese.jpg

These types of subjects are also very challenging targets, depending on the light.  You can really learn a lot by nailing down the exposure of these two - a white bird in an overcast sky is a different shooter's blueprint from a white bird with a dark background.  And give it your best shot on a Canada Goose in bright morning light - try not to blow out the white patch between the black neck and head, it's tough!

So find the beauty (and the challenge) in everything, it's out there - if you know how to look for it!  Plentiful subjects that can be attractive and offer a nice photographic challenge - sounds good to me!

Stay Focused!

Mark

Learn Your Subject

The single best way to learn about your subject is to observe them for yourself.  Books and articles are a great start and help a bunch, but nothing takes the place of experiential learning - it tends to "stick" better this way, at least for me. Now, you may ask, "I'm a photographer, here to take a picture, why do I need to learn about . . . drag racing, birds, airplanes, etc?"  Well, first off, it can be a lot of fun - but from the photographer's perspective it can keep you from missing "the shot".  Let's take a look at an example.

Consider the Egret above.  As I've mentioned before, action photography can be boring - and the morning watching this egret was no different.  Now, having observed these animals before, I knew the following points (which helped me find a egret in the first place)

• It is common for these animals to hang out for long periods of time at sources of moving water, where it is shallow enough for them to walk.  Gently moving water at the edge of a river or stream is another favorite place (as it was for the egret in the vanity image at the beginning of this article)
• When they lock in on a breakfast target, they move very fast.  If your camera isn't already at your eye, it's easy to miss most of the action.

This fellow stood in the same spot for a good 40 minutes, moving his head around, but not much else.  Now, since I was hand holding, keeping the camera at my eye was a non-starter.  Heck, even with a tripod I probably wouldn't be scoping him out every minute.  Ok, so we're faced with a conundrum . . . we know these guys move fast when the time comes, but it can take 40 minutes or longer before something happens - how do we know when to get the shot?

He's where the benefits of observation come in.  Notice in the image above that the egret has leaned his head slightly forward and is looking down - something has caught his attention.  It's a subtle move, but I knew from observation that it indicated a "target" was located. (Hint, bring your camera to your eye now).  At this point, one of three things is likely to happen:

• It could be a false alarm or the fish moved away
  • The egret's head will move back to a more straightened posture
• The target is close, and within reach of a strike
  • Thrusting his head in the water, a fish becomes breakfast
• It's a good target, but requires repositioning.  With the head still focused down, a step or two is taken before a strike.
  • Example in the image below.

If you've been paying attention (and not watching the ducks take a bath), you'll have enough time to deliberately bring the camera to your eye, focus and check your settings.  You're ready if a strike happens.

From strike, until the fish slides down the throat, can take only seconds.  So if you're not ready, chances are you'll miss the shot all together - or get a shot off - but it's out of focus as you had to move too fast.

So take some time and get to know your animal subjects (same thing goes for any other subject, really).  It's a great thing to do later in the day when you've lost the light anyway.  And here's another tip, what you learn about one subject can usually benefit you with others.  As the shot below indicates, Great Blue Herons hunt in a very similar fashion, long periods of standing around looking, and about 10 seconds of pure action.

I've noticed that Blue Herons will strike more quickly (you don't usually have a bent neck as a tip off) and more aggressively - often spearing the target with their beaks.  What an amazing thing to watch!

Mark

Don't Take That Picture!

I recently grabbed my camera and my wife one evening to catch a great sunset, only to find out I didn't bring the requisite memory card with me (yea, rookie mistake).  So what to do now?

Well, I actually sat on a bench with my wife, held hands and watched the majesty of a great sunset!  It was a wonderful evening and reminded me that we need to take time and experience some of these moments - without your eye always stuck in a view finder.

The image leading this post comes from one of my favorite Bald Eagle locations and, as I think about it, I've never taken the time to put the camera down and just enjoy the moment.  I've never seen an eagle before three years ago - this was a "bucket" item for me and I have yet to take the time and just experience it.  This will change during the coming season - I'm going to take the time to see it with my own eyes . .  and enjoy a short moment in real life!

So a little advice, take the time for yourself every now and then - and enjoy living the moment!

Hmmm, ya know . . . now that I think about it, I know I had a memory card in that camera . . . . I wonder if my wife . . . ?   Naaa, I just forgot it!

See the light,

Mark

Make Lemonade!

It happens to all of us, amateur and pro a like, you think you have a great shot in the field, only to get home and find out it's just not quite right.  Maybe you blew the highlights a bit, or missed the focus, or . . .  take your pick, there's a whole bunch of possibilities!   So what do you do now, trash it?

I don't think that should automatically be the next choice - at least not yet!  If the image has some character, let's get creative and try to save it!  Take a look at your image editor of choice (or plug-ins that work with it) and see what filters are available - just start playing around with the options - try black and white and go from there -  see what happens!  (remember, you were probably ready to trash the shot - so it's not like you going to ruin it or anything!)

The shot above was almost completely "bad lemons" (blown highlights and out of sharp focus) but it had some character to it  These fellows were having a gentleman's disagreement over a lady and the goose on the left seemed to be yelling directly in the the other chaps ear.

From the Imperfect Photographer's Dictionary . . .

Bad lemons: all the sugar in the cupboard won't make these images sweet!  A really bad lemon usually has three or more critical flaws (the geese above have two) or a particular flaw is exceptionally bad.  For example, if the focus was so terrible that you couldn't identify the critters as water fowl, that would probably qualify!

This image was too cute, I had to do something to save it.  My personal choice in filters is Nik Color Efex Pro and the primary effect in the goose image is an effect called "Glamour Glow".  Now it's still not a great image - but I like the personality it has!  If an image is technically perfect, but boring, there's not much you can do - but an interesting image will give you some latitude and allow some imperfections to be overlooked.

Give it a try the next time you end up with lemons, make some lemonade.   Checkout my "lemonade" gallery, I decided to get my own collection together!

I've included some links  to a few good creative filter packages, check out the trials and see what you think!

• Nik Color Efex Pro
• Nik Silver Efex Pro
• Topaz Adjust