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Jul, 2016Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
Someone's backyard in Mobile, AL. I was part of a photo tour for their annual birding event in the Fall.Time
We ended up at this location sometime in the late morning I think. My records aren't handy at this time.Lighting
Nothing special here. I just had to take what was given me at the time.Equipment
The camera used was a Canon 1D Mk4 with the 400mm F2.8 lens and maybe the 2x. A good tripod is always necessary for a shot like this. You'll never hand hold this combination at the distances this was shot at, about 30 ft.Inspiration
Well the whole purpose of the trip was to go birding and photograph birds. For me that meant that I joined a group of birders and follow them around. They find the birds for me and I shoot. In this case the bird was a rare sighting this far East. The group was really excited to find a Rufus in Mobile. A treat for them and an opportunity for me. Just what I was after for the trip; to photograph something rare and exceptional. It did, by the way, take a few shots to get a keeper.Editing
I shoot raw so post processing is a must. The process is really simple though, and first I crop if necessary to get rid of junk that distracts. Then I adjust black point and then white point to make sure that there is some black and some white in the image. After that I balance out the shadows and the highlights so that there is detail in each. This process pretty much mimics Ansel's Zone System. Proper processing is a must and all photos are processed to achieve what I just described. My advice is to be judicious and above all don't over process.In my camera bag
The afore mentioned 1D MK4, and 400mm F2.8 with doubler for birding. I also have a couple good tripods and various lenses and accessories as well. for lenses I also carry a 70-200 F2.8, a 180mm macro, 50mm and 28mm primes, and a couple of wide angle zooms. I also carry a main flash and a ring light as well a a 50d for backup. All in all about sixty pounds of gear go with me on these kind of shoots and though I don't always carry all of it you can bet that most isn't far away.Feedback
Do what you can to learn about your chosen subject. In this case I went to a bird fest. As I mentioned above I joined a group of birders and followed them around for the day. They're great at finding the birds because they study and develop their eye to find them. I usually have to share the view through that big lens since they can't get that close, but it's worth that price. All great pictures take some sort of planning and preparation regardless of the subject to pull off the shot. I have moon pictures that took six months to achieve, same thing with many of my wildlife photos. Being at the right place, at the correct time with the correct gear dosen't just happen by chance. Patience is a virtue, and it applies especially to photography. It means taking the time to do the prep work and to set aside the priorities to be out at the right time and place and sitting and waiting. It also means coming back time and time again when nature just didn't cooperate. It should go without saying you also need to know your gear. Many of these opportunities a measured in minutes, some even seconds. Preparation just can't emphasized enough.
