Wildlife Photography across the Water: Going Sloooooow

Thursday 7 April 2011

Going Sloooooow

Sometimes its nice to push your creativity and digital certainly allows that much more than in the days of film, Once you have a good portfolio of a specie why not experiment and try to get something different and unique, I was in this position in Japan where we had spent a few days shooting the Red Crowned Cranes, Once the light started to dip people would pack up and go whereas we decided to stay until it was to dark to focus and have a play with slow shutter speeds and just see what came out, The cranes are large birds so panning with them would be easy, Its nice to use a slow shutter speed to blur the wings and background but keep a sharp head, Its all very hit and miss but good fun and if one does come out good it looks great, To get the best effect you really need the subject flying parallel to you, You will soon learn just how fast or slow you need to get the effect that you want, It got to a stage where the light was completely gone and the birds were taking off in small groups so you knew that everything would be blurred but what the hell it may look good and if it doesn't then its not cost anything but cold fingers and extra time deleting, Now the images may not be to every bodies taste but i shows some creativity on your behalf and it gives you some practice at panning and it has to be better than being stuck in a hotel room

Dave

1 comment:

Ashley Hugo7 April 2011 at 21:58
Ive been trying this over the last few days for my College work, as you say a lot of trial and error! But like with the second image it can produce some stunning final results!!
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Bio's

David Courtenay, a self taught wildlife and nature photographer, has been capturing images for over 30 years. He has had a passion for wildlife since early childhood and remembers being glued to the television whenever Survival, Wildlife on One and other natural history documentaries were shown. In the 2006 he swapped his established career for the life of a wildlife photographer, such a move demands a measure of uncompromising passion and commitment.

David has travelled extensively throughout Europe as well as spending more than 7 months in India working with local guides and trackers in search of Bengal Tiger, Asian One horned Rhino and Asian Elephant. He has also photographed Wildlife in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sumatra, Africa, Canada and America. Working closely with Conservation companies he tries to raise funds to help Wildlife that has been put on the endangered list by poaching and habitation loss

Martin Dyer has had a passion for avian wildlife since childhood, particularly raptors. Photography was also another keen interest and it was with the specific availability and control of the whole process that digital offers that Martin was then able to combine the two in 2003. Based in the UK, Martin is a regular visitor to Scotland, specifically the Isle of Mull to watch the Eagles resident there. Other trips to Europe and around the UK are usually part of Martin’s agenda in a typical year.

However, as a firm believer on making the most of the local patch, Martin has spent a lot of time and hard work creating a wildlife garden which is reaping the rewards with many new species and varieties of wildlife. A keen member of a number of wildlife photographic groups, Martin is keen to expand his portfolio into other areas of wildlife, and has already established a wide portfolio of images of fungi.