Wildlife Photography across the Water: manual mode

Monday, 18 January 2010

Trip Report-New Jersey-Harlequin Duck Gallery

I thought it might be better to split the trip into photo galleries as there were soo many good oppotunities with various species of duck and fox, The main reason for my trip was to shoot wintering Harlequin ducks so i will start there, All my shooting of sea birds was done in Manual mode, The reason for this is to get consistant exposures, Rolling/crashing waves will cause under and over exposure in any other mode due to to changing tones i.e white wave tips and then dark water will try and fool any cameras metering whereas the light falling on the birds is a constant, I was also shooting white long tailed ducks and black surf scoters again something that would cause exposure problems in an auto mode, There was a tower out at sea that was off white in colour and i would take a test shot of that and adjust my metering as needed, Mostly the setting was -1/3 to -2/3, I mainly used the D3 with a 1.4x or 1.7x extender with the 600VR lens, I also used the D300 with a 1.4x and 600VR as this allowed some extra crop and faster focusing over the D3 and 1.7x combo, The 1.7x does slow the AF alot so at all times when waiting for action i had the camera focused at distance so it would grab the bird flying towards me quicker, Getting good images of fast flying ducks takes alot of practice, By keeping the lens focused at distance and then following the bird flying towards me at distance gave the camera time to lock on and then track the bird allowing me to just pan as the birds flew nearby and take shots when it looked good in the view finder, The harlequins didnt fly as much as the other birds but i did get a few chances in which i converted a couple into good sharp images, Some images are full frame whilst a few are cropped

Dave

Thursday, 16 July 2009

Trip Report-South Carolina

Finally-Internet access, I have just spent a couple of days in Southern South Carolina, My friends had the chance to use a house free of charge and were kind enough to ask me along, So a social/photographic trip in one,Very much a splash and dash, No real time to search for places to go but i did notice a sign to a wildlife preserve close to the house so spent a couple of mornings there,First thing as the light rises quickly and gets harsh, The preserve had a couple of lakes/ponds with egrets/herons, Ospreys etc, The egrets and herons were very densely populated so lots of squabbles and fighting, Birds constantly flying in and out so bird in flight shots were the order of the day, I did try to get some original type shots not just a bird against a blue sky but tried various things both front and back lit, I used the Nikon D300 as i feel this still to be the best camera body available for this type of work, I shot in manual mode all the time metering off of the tress or sky and used the 600F4 VR, Image quality from this combo is very sharp and the AF is quick to grab the subject and stays with it,I have now moved to Northern South Carolina and will be here for 2 days so time to get out and explore ready for the morning session, One thing i will say is that South Carolina is a beautiful place but so far extremely humid, The first morning i made the mistake of having the AC on in the car and the camera/lens took an hour to de mist as soon as i got out of the car it was a wall of heat-probably 85% plus humidity, I haven't been anywhere like that since being in the jungles of Sumatra, Today i didn't make the same mistake and could shoot almost straight away

Dave

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.