| [Not a valid template] |
|
This image of a Coastal Brown Bear cub that has just grabbed part of a big salmon from its mom was created at Geographic Harbor, Katmai National Park, AK by Jana Vladimirovna Bogdanova, Robert O’Toole’s girlfriend. She handheld the Sigma 50-500mm APO OS HSM lens at 210mm with the Nikon D300s. Auto ISO: 450. Evaluative metering at +1/3 stop: 1/250th sec. at f/8 in Manual mode. See more on Jana’s photographic experience below. |
Digital Nature Photography is Too, Too Easy
Jana began photographing with a telephoto lens just four days before she made the image above. She received a modicum of instruction from Robert. My grandson Sam Egensteiner, all of 12 years old (but very smart), effectively began photographing on the hummingbird day trip that preceded our cruise. I gave Sam very little instruction. Compared to film, digital capture is child’s play. Point and shoot and start making great images…. Learn to hold the camera still, learn to read and adjust the histogram (a five minute lesson at most), and learn to frame your subject–easy with a zoom lens, and you are pretty much there.
| [Not a valid template] |
|
That is of course Jana on the left and Sam on the right. |
Notice that Sam has his left hand well out on the lens barrel with the palm facing to the sky. Many folks show up on IPTs holding their zoom lenses back by the camera with the palms of their left hand facing the ground. Not surprisingly they have big problems creating sharp images. (With your hand on top of the lens with the palm facing the ground to some degree you are hanging the lens rather than supporting it.)
| [Not a valid template] |
|
This image of a Buff-tailed Coronet with its tongue out was created by my grandson, Sam, at Tandayapa Lodge, Ecuador, with the Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS lens, 1.4X III TC, (handheld at 280mm) and the Canon EOS-7D. ISO 3200. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/400 sec. at f/5.6 in Av Mode. |
I suggested that Sam add one stop of light to ensure that the histogram was pushed well to the right. He had already learned to add and subtract light with the thumb wheel and was easily able to follow directions. Within a few days Sam knew when to add light, when to use the metered exposure, and when to subtract light. And he learned to raise the ISO when he needed more shutter speed in low light conditions.
So what’s the point? While Jana and Sam are surely intelligent folks my point is that with a bit of instruction, anyone can learn to create fabulous images with digital capture. Be it by studying ABP and ABP II, by taking an IPT, or by hanging out on Bird Photogrpapher’s.Net, pretty much anyone can do it. To repeat, concern your self with these three basics: Learn to hold the camera still by holding it properly or using a tripod, learn to read and adjust the histogram (a five minute lesson at most), and learn to frame your subject–easy with a zoom lens. Do those three things and you are pretty much there.
Shopper’s Guide
Below is a list of he gear used to make the two images in this post. Thanks a stack to all who have used the Shopper’s Guide links to purchase their gear as a thank you for all the free information that we bring you on the Blog and in the Bulletins. Before you purchase anything be sure to check out the advice in our Shopper’s Guide.
Support both the Bulletins and the Blog by making all your B & H purchases here.
Remember: you can earn free contest entries with your B & H purchases. 11 great categories, 34 winning and honored images, and a $20,000+ prize pool. Click here for details.
Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS lens. This relatively inexpensive, lightweight and versatile lens was a favorite of mine for years until I succumbed to the sharpness (with both TCs) and the speed of the 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II (see same next).
Canon EOS-7D. I tried to borrow two 7D bodies from CPS for this trip, one for Sam and one for me but alas, they only sent the one. I have missed its light weight and its killer AF system. (See Sam’s dark morph Red-footed Booby flight image coming soon).
Nikon D300s
Sigma 50-500mm F4-6.3 APO OS HSM Nikon mount. I have seen with my own eyes the amazing images that Robert has produced with this versatile lens and Jana did not do to bad with it either! (Note: Robert is a Sigma Professional.)
Sigma 50-500mm F4-6.3 APO OS HSM Canon mount. This is the same lens with a Canon mount.
Delkin 32gb e-Film Pro Compact Flash Card. These high capacity cards are fast and dependable. Clicking on the link below will bring you to the Delkin web site. There is lots of great stuff there. If you see a product that we do not carry let us know via e-mail; we will be glad to have it drop-shipped to you and save you a few bucks in the process.
|
I pack my 800 and tons of other gear in my ThinkTank Airport SecurityTM V2.0 rolling bag for all of my air travel and recommend the slightly smaller Airport InternationalTM V2.0 for most folks. These high capacity bags are well constructed and protect my gear when I have to gate check it on short-hops and puddle jumpers. Each will protect your gear just as well. By clicking on either link or the logo below, you will receive a free gift with each order over $50.
Dead right, Art- it IS easy: it frequently amazes me what hard work some people make of it.
I’ll add that I have no history or background in film – my passion for wildlife/bird photography started in 2006 and prior to that I’d done precisely NOTHING – but as I’m often heard to say, “it’s not rocket science”.
Oh – and “if I can do it, anyone can.”..!
But as Dave says, the things that make the difference between technically competent and special may be harder to come by, and I know that my background as a birdwatcher (introduced to that pleasure as an eight-year-old by a school teacher who was the great, great, [and so on] grandson of the engraver Thomas Bewick) has helped immensely with understanding the behaviour of birds, which understanding often really helps in getting me to where I need to be for compositional purposes.
There is of course another dimension that needs to be learned – conversion and post processing skills, which are an inherent and vital part of the wildlife photographer’s tool kit – and they don’t always come so easily.
Again, my point is that there are tons of folks with great gear who travel to great places who simply do not take the time to study and to learn. When I began, there was pretty much zero good information around on getting the right exposure. That has changed drastically in recent years and even more dramatically with digital. The info is there. Anyone can learn it. But there are many folks who think that if they buy a great camera and a big lens that that makes them a competent nature photographer. Not.
It might also depend to a degree on who your grandfather is….
🙂 Again, as I said, anyone can learn to create fabulous images with digital capture. Be it by studying ABP and ABP II, by taking an IPT, or by hanging out on Bird Photogrpapher’s.Net, pretty much anyone can do it. To repeat, concern your self with these three basics: Learn to hold the camera still by holding it properly or using a tripod, learn to read and adjust the histogram (a five minute lesson at most), and learn to frame your subject–easy with a zoom lens. Do those three things and you are pretty much there.
Artie – both are great shots, and I certainly take your point. But I wonder if you have had similar experiences in instruction to these:
1. Some folks seem to have a much better eye for composition than others.
Agree.
2. Some are more observant, and therefore able to find more things to photograph.
Agree.
3. Some are better naturalists, with the skills and foresight to get into position to take great shots.
Agree.
4. Some are more creative, finding unique viewpoints.
Agree.
To clarify my point, there are lots of folks who spend many thousands on gear and head to locations where they are surrounded by great wildlife yet they have no clue as to how to get the right exposure, how to hold their camera or make sharp images with a long lens, or simply how to get the whole subject in the frame with a simple border around it.
I agree that capturing a technically competent digital image is easy – and getting easier with every generation of camera. My students quickly learn to take well-exposed, sharp photographs.
Well, there are many who have great problems learning to do that. I see them in the field every time that I head out, and I see them at seminars and on IPTs.
It’s the composition that takes a much longer time to learn. So I’m wondering – how much of your instructional time is on exposure and sharpness and how much is spent on developing the other skills to consistently make great images, and has this changed over the years?
On BPN, where I am getting close to 20,000 posts, my comment cover a wide range of problems from the basics to advanced stuff on composition. And it is the same on IPTs. One thing that I forget to mention above is light angle. How hard is it to learn that on sunny days you need to point your shadow roughly at the subject? Not very. I know one twelve year old who learned that quite easily. Yet every time I go out on a clear day I see lots of folks working 90 degrees off sun angle creating images that need to be deleted asap. And heck, I am not talking about working in nice backlight….
With film, I guess that I spent more time on exposure because it was so much more difficult them.