Action Can Really Be Boring!

That's right, boring!  You can literally spend hours of waiting for a quick 5 minutes of pure action.  Patience is a virtue in nature photography.

On a typical eagle outing on the Mississippi River, it's not uncommon to stand for 2 hours or more with literally no action except for the occasional eagle coming and going.  Then, seemingly out of no where, a silent command must go out to all eagles - it's time to fish!!  For the next 5 to 10 minutes you'll have all sorts of action everywhere, you won't know where to swing your camera next.  This is the way it goes for me with most nature photography.

There are really two main things to keep in mind:

• • Do Your Homework. All the patience in the world won't do you any good if you're not in the right place.  Here are a few homework tips:
    • In the post Always Look Close To Home, I discuss how to find great opportunities right in your own area.
    • Investigate sun rise and sun set times in your area - also the exact position on the horizon the sun sets for that particular time of year.
    • Scout the areas for the animal activity you're looking for.  If in a local, state or national park - the rangers or workers are invaluable information sources on what's going on, strike up a conversation!
    • Spend time in the area.  Get out an take a walk, see a sunset or just hang out.  The more you are familiar with an area, the more you will notice.
    • Be Patient.Your research and scouting done, now you're on site - waiting for the perfect picture.  Here are a few things to keep in mind:
      • It depends on what and where you're shooting, but you'll generally need to keep still.  (Duh!)  Unless you're really good, the birds and animals will know you're there - but will tend to ignore you or become used to your presence (to a point).  Hopping around, popping the top on a soda can or anything similar will greatly reduce your chances.
      • It will be common to have an entire trip that doesn't yield any results - this is standard fare and where the patience really comes in.  If you've done your homework and know you're in a good spot, then give it time.  The critters don't always run on a perfect schedule.

It's also useful to keep in mind that you're out in the field, probably in a beautiful place, enjoying the country-side.  Enjoy that for what it is, some of the best trips I've had resulted in not a single image - but a very peaceful and relaxing outing filled with fresh air!

See the light,

Mark

Don't Ignore the Mundane

There is beauty and great images to be found in everything - don't overlook the obvious just because "it's always there".

We can't all live where the fantastic shots are everyday occurrences - but we certainly can get creative with what we do have to work with.  Find what is regular and common in your particular area (for me it's gulls, Canada Geese and squirrels) and work on different concepts and techniques.  Work on identifying and photographing your common subjects on the "perfect" background.  Spend some time with these commoners and look for interesting behavior or quirky composition.

It'll help put the fun back in your photography - and that's the primary idea anyway, right?  Good photography is what you're able to find interesting in a subject - not the interesting stuff that just lays around for everyone to capture.

Who knows, the local squirrel may even give you the "thumbs up" for not overlooking him!

Stay in focus,

Mark

Friday Funnies - September 28th

Huh??  Peanuts?  You have PEANUTS!

Don't ever forget that nature can be as close as your own backyard, you need to take the time to notice.

This little chipmunk got very comfortable with us over the summer, running right up to us as long as we didn't' make any sudden moves.  Bringing his family along with him, he got very used to the nuts we'd bring.

Look a little closer, and find some of the wild in your own backyard or neighborhood.

Stay in focus,

Mark

Revisit Your Work

What a difference three years can make!

I mentioned in a previous post to never go back and delete your older work - always save it as a reference of how far your photography skills have come.  I still hold firmly to that statement, even though your previous work may be obviously sub-par to your current capabilities - keep it as a timeline of your progression in the hobby.  There is another reason, however, why you might want to go back and revisit some of your previous work  . . . your editing skills have probably improved significantly.

Go back and take a look at some of your older images - ones that you still feel have pretty solid photographic elements - take an original copy of that photo and reprocess it as you would do it today.  You may be very surprised at how far you've come.

The opening image in this set is from an air show three years ago.  The image capture is pretty solid, with good exposure - and it demonstrates my processing skills circa 2009.  The picture below is the same image, processed with my 2012 skill sets - the difference in skill growth is obvious to me in several areas:

• Composition: a much better crop demonstrates a better grasp and positioning of the main subject
• Contrast: more detail (that was in the original image) is now popping out
• Selective editing: sharpening, shadow work and color corrections are now applied to only the areas that need them

So don't go back into your past albums and delete any of your images - but do go back and revisit some of them.  You'll be amazed at your progress - and may just find some hidden gems waiting for your contemporary skills to be applied.

Stay in focus,

Mark

Friday Funnies - April 20th

Kick Me!  I'll Kick Ya Back - Get Out Of My Pond!

Another lesson in always being ready for the action.  The Coot on the left was being mercilessly chased by the other for about five minutes - you knew something had to give.  Sure enough, the "chasee" turned around and proceeded to kick the snot out of the "chaser" - and those are some serious feet to get kicked with!

I almost left this pond, but decided to hang around just in case.  It's a good thing I was prepared, this brawl was over in about 15 seconds!

Stay in focus,

Mark

Friday Funnies - April 13th

No, REALLY  . . . It Was THIS BIG!!

Courtship and mating season are an awesome time for wildlife photographers, I love the shows that are put on!  Many species are at their most colorful and you can always count on a fight breaking out early on.

Males can suffer in many ways, loosing a fight is just one of them.  I've seen many male Cormorants (like the ones above) put on the most detailed courtship dance . . . to a female that could care less, or wose yet - to one that was "already married"!

It's spring, and love is in the air!

Stay focused,

Mark