11/6/2015
Nature Photography
Why Bother With Nature Photography?
Today Fundamentals: Tech Stuff
Some Fundamentals Underlying Objectives: Birds and Wildlife
Insects: Butterflies, Dragonflies, Bugs 1. Get best image quality practical
Landscapes 2. Increase the percentage of “keeper” Flowers and Plants shots
Tradeoffs, tradeoffs, tradeoffs
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RAW vs JPG Tech Stuff
Exposure • Usually manual or Av • MUST adjust speed/aperture or exposure compensation • Set histogram always on for display Autofocus • Single point or single + surrounding pts • Back button focusing with continuous focusing (AF Servo) RAW (vs. JPG)
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Fundamentals Birds and Wildlife
Light • Quality • Direction
Composition
Critical but we’ll only touch on today in some of the genre sections
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Birds and Wildlife
A Key Problem
Getting close enough
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Two Ways to Get Closer
Stalking Use a blind
Use your car as a blind when convenient
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A Key Way to Get Closer: Effective Focal Length Equipment
Camera/Lens Sweet Spots: 400mm on a Canon 7D crop DSLR
Super zoom compacts 400mm x 1.6 = 640mm full frame equivalent Crop DSLR using 400mm f5.6 lens • Canon 100-400mm L • Tamron 150-600mm (newer) Canon 7D using 600mm f4 lens • Sigma 150-500mm (newer) + 1.4 teleconverter (making it f5.6) 600mm x 1.4 x 1.6 = 1,344mm DSLR using 600mm/500mm f4 lens + teleconverter
The Well- Equipped Bird Photo- grapher Geek
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Default Set-Up For Birds Light
Turn on camera and start with: Manual, esp. for birds in flight (sometimes Av) Quality of light 1/1000 Direction of light f/8 ISO 400-1600 depending on amt of light Fill flash High speed continuous drive (unless using fill flash) Handheld; occasionally tripod (with loose head for moving • For catchlight birds) • To supplement low light Have binoculars and field guide
Consider using Better Beamer and fill flash set to -1 to -1.7 flash exposure compensation
Take test shot and adjust from there
Quality of Light
Early morning or evening
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Harsher mid- day light
Direction of Indigo Bunting harsh light Light
-Side -Front -Back Lighting
P.S. Get Low
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Deep woods: Let your fill flash be your Fill Flash fast shutter
1/320 Fill light + F6.3 ISO catchlights 1250
340mm
Flash 600RT With Better Beamer
Exposure can be critical - check your histogram Wildlife Photography Rule of Thumb
When you get a good shot, shoot.
When you get another good shot, shoot again.
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What you didn’t see
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Best Place To Start?
Your backyard
And your pictures gradually get better
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Then add some tricks
Create backyard blinds
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Or use an actual blind (~$60)
How close to crop? Filling the frame
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Next Places To Try Another place to try:
Adopt a local forest preserve, state and county park(s)
Best time – early morning
Go on local “led” field trips The zoo • ENSBC (Evanston North Shore Bird Club) http://www.ensbc.org/ • Lake-Cook Audubon http://www.lakecookaudubon.org/ • Volo Bog http://dnr.state.il.us/education/INTERPRT/volo/VOLOBOG.HTM#programs • Others: Chicago Audubon, DuPage Audubon, Chicago Ornithological Society, Illinois Ornithological Society
Check IBET for current activity • Web only http://www.birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/IBET.html • IBET - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ILbirds/ - like LCCC Yahoo group • IL Birders Forum - http://www.ilbirds.com – for more discussions
Don’t forget post-processing (for legal changes)
Rarity or degree of difficulty is not a factor in CACCA competitions White overcast sky problem - Original capture
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You almost always want a different background
Key Factors
Get out - create more opportunities
Have camera with you
Be patient
Relax and enjoy nature – let photography be a plus
Be ethical
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Bugs: Butterflies, Dragonflies, Bugs: Butterflies, Dragonflies, Damselflies, Insects Damselflies, Insects
PhotoNaturalist free ebook: http://photonaturalist.net/how-to- photograph-dragonflies-free-ebook/
Getting close up: • Macro lens • Closer focusing telephoto lens • Canon 500D close up diopter (for any DSLR make) • Extension tubes Working Distance and Magnification
Extension Tubes vs. Diopters Telephoto
with with only Extension Tubes Close-up Lenses
Lens Native Focal Length Magnification
12 mm 25 mm +2 Diopters +4 Diopters
→ 50 mm 0.15X 0.39X 0.65X 0.25X 0.45X
100 mm 0.14X 0.26X 0.39X 0.34X 0.54X
200 mm 0.16X 0.22X 0.29X 0.56X 0.96X
Lenses used for above comparison: Canon EF 50 mm f/1.4 USM, Canon EF 100 mm f/2.0 USM, Canon EF 200 mm f/2.8 II USM From Cambridge in Color Canon 500D http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/macro-extension-tubes- closeup.htm#calculator-closeup
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Telephoto + 500D diopter
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Some Considerations
Best months: June-August (when birding is poorer)
Narrow depth of field a key issue
Be very conscious of the background
Handheld or tripod
Shoot in a flat plane parallel to your sensor Not parallel to sensor
Parallel to sensor Ditto with butterflies
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Look for ways to make it interesting
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Landscapes Landscapes
Light:
Best light –30 mins before sunrise through early morning golden hour AND same in reverse for sunset
Side lighting best - front lighting can be flat looking
Flat front lighting Better side lighting
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A Sunrise Sequence Why Is Light Around Sunrise or Sunset So Prized?
Let’s see.
10 sec.-2.5 sec-30 sec HDR exposure @ f22 ISO 200
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.4 sec.-.1 sec-1.6 sec HDR exposure @f20 ISO 100
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1/5 sec.-1/60 sec-1/4 sec HDR exposure @ f14 ISO 100
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Alpenglow – before sunrise/after sunset
1/20 sec-1/80 sec-1/5 sec HDR exposure @f13 ISO 100
Default Set-Up If The Sky Is In The Picture
Av mode (aperture priority) F11 (or f22 if you need it) You MUST use either: ISO 100 (or 200) Wide-angle lens On a tripod HDR (or equivalent) Use a circular polarizing filter With a remote shutter release (or 2 sec timer) Consider using mirror lockup if shooting in ¼ - 1 sec range Graduated Neutral Density Filter
Use exposure compensation to get best first image exposure you can
Take HDR - Use exposure bracketing +- 2 stops with three exposures or Graduated Neutral Density filter
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For night shots, use:
Shutter speed under 30 secs
ISO 400 or more
Fast lens f2.8 or better if available
Landscapes Background
Composition: Try for foreground, mid ground, and background Midground
Horizon line not in the center (ok for reflections)
Have a clear subject
Adjust your shooting position Foreground
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Example of a Centered Reflection Lovely Colors But What’s the Subject???
Adjust Your Shooting Position Some other considerations Up and down, side to side Don’t always shoot at eye level
Leading lines
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Moving water – 1/15 to 1/5th sec shutter (HDR too)
Black and White Don’t Forget to Shoot Panoramas
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Flowers
Flowers Flowers
Bright but overcast days best Photonaturalist ebook: http://photonaturalist.net/free-ebook-on- • Avoids harsh shadows wildflower-photography/ • Gives saturated colors Close up equipment as with bugs
Depth of field often crucial Use diffuser or light box when sunny • Need high f stop to keep all of subject in focus • Results in slow shutter speeds so need tripod– although some shoot handheld Wind is your enemy • Want out-of-focus background • Consider focus stacking or high/low f stop for post-processing
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f2.8 f22
Morning dew
100-400mm lens with 500D diopter
Two layers using layer mask
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The End
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