Grey Wolves_DSC6249
Grey wolves at play
Grey wolves at play
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Feb, 2015Views
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Awards
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Contest Finalist in Animals Are Beautiful Photo Contest
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Magnificent Capture
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michelbissonnette
March 05, 2015
Join the conversation. Add a comment or even better, a critique. Let's get better together!
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nandicmb
August 31, 2015
Congratulations on winning the Contest Finalist category in Animals Are Beautiful Photo Contest!!
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at Park Omega Wildlife Park in Montebello, Quebec in Canada. It is one of the largest wildlife parks witch is home to a variety of wildlife animals such as the grey wolf ,the artic white wolf,coyotes,red and arctic white foxes, black bears bison, moose just to mention a few. It is what I like to call a wildlife photographer`s paradise.Time
This shot was taken at 2.51 pm in the afternoon under a cloudy overcast sky. This overcast sky acted as a great huge soft box eliminating any harsh shadows that would normally be caused by the sun during this time of the day. When I shoot wildlife in the winter I prefer to shoot after a fresh snowfall so that the ground is covered under a virgin blanket of white untampered snow.Lighting
Whenever I am doing wildlife photography I am always concerned about the lighting and it`s direction. A harsh sunlight reflecting off a bright white background can often whitewash that perfect rare once in a lifetime shot. In wildlife photography you rarely get to choose which location to choose from as you’re at the mercy of where the animal is at any given time especially if he’s a fast moving target. The lighting is such an important factor so I always try to plan my shoot day based on the weather forecast. On cloudy overcast days I’m out shooting these beautiful creatures and on very sunny days I`m in the studio working on my photo editing or outside playing with my golden retriever Molly.Equipment
For this shoot I used a Nikon D700 which is a full frame DSLR, a nikor 70.0-200.0 mm f/2.8 fast lens which is my preferred all-time lens for wildlife photography.Inspiration
What inspires me to photograph wildlife especially this shot was how amazed I was about how this pack of grey wolves interacted between each other. For a brief moment it appeared like these wolves where fighting each other but then I quickly realized that whey where actually just playing.Editing
Very little post-processing was done to this photo other than some slight sharpening and adding a slight vignette. This photo was also cropped because I wanted to draw particular attention to the mysterious playful nature of these two grey wolves.In my camera bag
The equipment that I carry in my bag depends very much on the assignment of the day, For example when I photograph wildlife I prefer to travel as lightly as I possibly can because climbing steep terrain and maneuvering through congested trees and bushes can be very challenging with 50 lbs. of unnecessary gear in your back sac. So what you will find in my bag are both my Nikon D700 and D300 DSLRs because you never know if one of your cameras will quit on you 5 miles out in the deep woods at the worst possible moment, been there done that and I was not a happy shooter. I also bring my Nikor 70-200 mm f/2.8 lens along with my 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens as well as my 2x lens extender for when I need that extra reach, my SB900 Speedlight for when I need to lighten up those nasty shadows and of course my light weight monapod for reducing camera shake and fight off any wildlife that may think that I`m their morning snack, just kidding. Plenty of memory cards and spare batteries and also be sure to bring your cell and or a good compass to help find your way back home.Feedback
If you are planning to shoot wildlife you need to plan for the unexpected because capturing that once in a lifetime shot happens fast and last for a very short time so you need to have the right gear but most importantly you need to know your equipment and how to use it appropriately. Be ready to take your shot at a moment’s notice. A good wildlife photographer is similar to a hunter, when that deer pops up from nowhere loading your unloaded gun at that very moment is an opportunity lost so be sure to have your camera ready to fire at a moment’s notice. When photographing wildlife I always set my camera in shutter speed priority and set my shutter speed at a minimum 1/500th of a second. So for example photographing a picture of a fox sitting on a rock I will set my shutter speed between 500th and 1000th sec, for slow moving subject between 1000th 2000th sec and for fast moving subjects between 2000th sec and 4000th sec..The last piece of advice that I can offer is patience!!!patience!!!patience!!! .Oh and most of all enjoy yourself.
