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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in St. Augustine Florida on April 14,2008 during Bird Fest. The venue is at the Alligator Farm which makes for an interesting story in it self. The question is why would you go to an alligator farm to photograph birds? Well the answer the unique synergy of creatures in God's creation. Every year in April, the alligator farm becomes a rockery for all sorts of these large exotic birds, and the reason for this is that it is the safest place on earth to lay eggs, hatch them and then raise the young. There is no way that predator's that would steal the eggs or young could survive a swim through the alligator infested waters to get to the trees where the nests are. The birds know this and every tree branch that will support a nest has one or more. It is a sight to behold.Time
The meta data records this as 11:42 AM.Lighting
It's high noon on a sunny day in East Florida and not much can be done to manipulate the lighting. You deal with this by making a good composition and good exposure.Equipment
I used my EOS Digital Rebel with my EOS 400EF f2.8 with a 1.5 extender all sitting on a sturdy tripod. On a shoot like this the correct equipment is essential. The distances can be quite long and so good long lenses are essential and so is a good sturdy tripod. You are not going to hand hold 560mm even with stabilizers and the like.Inspiration
The purpose to this trip was to capture pictures of exotic birds. The Alligator Farm was just one of the many venues on this trip. I had a good yield for the effort here.Editing
Yes I do post processing, and get upset at the accusation of "Photo shopping" an image. I don't like over processed images, but all images need processed. I shoot almost exclusively in raw so processing is a must. Besides that before there was Photoshop there was Ansel Adams. He pushed the boundaries of processing in his day and would have embrace Photoshop if he were still around. I use Lightroom as my main digital asset management and "darkroom". I do have a full color capable darkroom with capacity to 4x5 negatives and prints, but haven't used it since going digital. My process is very similar to what you would do with film in a darkroom: 1. A great image always starts in the camera. No amount of processing can make up for a bad negative. Period. 2. Now we go to the darkroom (Lightroom); a. Any cropping is done first. I was taught to shoot loose and adjust later. b. Set white balance. In manual processing even this decision is made by the photographer. c. Set black point. All images should have some pure black or they look flat. d. Set white point. Same reason as black point. You've now established your dynamic range for the image. e. Adjust shadows for good detail. f. Adjust highlights for good detail. g. Adjust for any needed color corrections. h. If needed do any burn/doge work now a readjust steps c. through g. if needed. I. I also add some clarity and vibrance at this time. j. I also adjust saturation at this time. Usually I don't adjust saturation but have actually toned down an image a bit. k. Next is sharpening. Be careful here. Over sharpening isn't good. l. Now noise reduction. Again be careful here. Over processing is obvious and accounts for that "photo shopped" look. That's basics of my processing philosophy/ technique.In my camera bag
I have quite a collection from which to choose. For this shoot my two longest lenses, a EOS 400EF f2.8, a 70-200mm f2.8, a Backup camera which in this case was the Rebel, 1.5x and 2.0x extenders, and a sturdy tripod. Everything else stayed locked up.Feedback
One word, PLANNING. Shoots like this don't happen by accident. Know that you want to accomplish and come home with. Study to make sure that you're capable with you skills and the handling of your equipment. Every time I grab my gear I have a plan and intended outcome. Yes there are times that I get some unplanned opportunities it was still the planning that allowed me to come away with something special because I was ready for it.
