New to photography..first wildlife photos/post

Hello,

This is my first post and I am so excited to share my pictures with you. I am relatively new to wildlife photography, however, I specialize in animal behavior for a living and after many missed opportunities for "money shots", I finally decided to purchase a DSLR!

I will be honest, I am still getting the hang of it - I am still learning techniques involving ISO, aperture, and shutter speed, yet, in so far..I am loving it! While I predominantly purchased this camera for Africa (where I have been/will be working on my research) - I am first trying to learn the mechanics and basics in the areas where I live (both US and UK).

Anyways, here are my first photos (literally from this week).

I am slightly disappointed in my photos..however, I am still happy and eager to share them with you.

Here is a link to my Flickr account as I do not know how to load photos up directly to the forum (if anyone can provide some inference than I would be much obliged)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/125799115@N04/

Note: I am also a novice with editing, however, there was some minor tweaking via exposure, saturation, and sharpness via lightzone..I still do not know how to layer).

(also...I have a Nikon D5100 and a nikon telephoto 70 300 lens af-s vr)

Hi, and Welcome!

I took a look at your flicker account. Looks like you have had a lot of fun seeing some really cool things. Don't get discouraged that the photos are not coming out the way you want them to. You just started a week ago. Given that, i think you did great for your start.

There are some definite places where I think a little technique could have turned some of the shots in to real winners. Is there a photo in the group you wish to start with?

Thanks
James

James,

Thank you so much for the compliment and for viewing my photos!

I am having a hard time deciding between the deer photo and the photo of the ducklings. The reason for this is that the deer photo is nice, however, it is a bit grainy and there is a bit of exposure. Same goes for the ducklings..I like the interactive behavior shown in it..however, it is a bit "off".

I think one of my issues is that I am having a hard time with balancing aperture, iso, and shutter speed..especially in darkly lit scenarios. This becomes even more confounding when I try to switch these settings (if the animal is moving or staying still). Most of the photos that you see were taken either at dusk or in a forest with low levels of light.

Im sorry! I digressed! Would you mind starting with the ducklings or the deer? :-)

Alec

https://www.flickr.com/photos/125799115@N04/14380300797/in/photostream/

Let us start with the deer.

It is a nice, soft image of a white tail deer. It is, however, a really difficult exposure to get given the light source behind the deer. First am I right in assuming it had been under exposed and brought out in post processing? I ask this because there is more image noise on the deer's neck, face and back thigh than I would expect.

James

you are 100% correct. I tried to bring out some of the colours by using the hue/saturation tool in lightzone. I did a few other things, however...I don't recall what :-/...mainly just sharpening and raw exposure.

Hi Alec,

Sorry for the long delay. I was out pretty much all day yesterday. LOL, I am WIPED. It was a great fireworks display though - possibly the best I have ever seen.

Anyway, OK. Now that we have that piece figured out, my assumption is that your camera was set to meter on the light source behind the deer. i.e. you exposed for the bright light and not for the deer, which means that the dear got real dark. So, when exposing an image, you need to make sure that you are exposing on the object you want, and not what the camera thinks is right. This can be done a few different ways. I typically junk the 'zone metering' that is on the camera. I use a 'center weighted' meter which uses a weight towards what is in the middle of the frame. There is also something called 'spot' metering, which allows you to pick one little piece of the frame and use that as your specific, perfectly calibrated spot to meter from.

Now, in either case, this image would have resulted in a properly exposed deer, but the bright light in the back probably would have blown out. Also, depending on how dark the deer was, you may have found that the shutter speed was going to get realllly slow, meaning that if you are hand holding, it might cause shake problems. As I said, this was a tough image to pull off.

OK. Does this make sense? If it does, we can move to the actual composition itself.

James

yes it makes sense! thank you!

Ok. Let's go to the composition now. This is a really sweet, pleasing photo. However, there are some things that might make it a stronger composition.

1. In this case, the deer is really your subject. It is not part of a landscape, this is a portrait. With that in mind, you really need to be thoughtful with your foreground and background. For example, the branches crossing the front of the image.

2. In terms of the deer, her tail is cut off. Also her hooves. I am fine with this so long as the composition is stronger as a result. I am not sure what the photo gains without these elements in this case.

3. In terms of exposure, if at all possible, get that sun behind you so that the light is falling (as much as possible) on the deer.

Does this sound reasonable, Alec?

James

Thank you so much for the information - I agree that I have to be very thoughtful of my composition - especially in a heavily forested area where there is alot going on. In terms of lighting on the subject - that is something that I undoubtedly have to work on as I often take photos around sunset or in a forested area - this is especially true since I am only taking photos in aperture/shutter priority and manual.

Thank you once again for the commentary!

You are welcome! It is enjoyable to discuss things in depth. Do you want to discuss another image?

James

That would be fantastic!

Thank you so much for giving the time in order to help me grow into a better photographer! I thought the duckling photos would be interesting to look at

I personally like the photo..yet, I presume that it was shot too far away for it to have turned out well. Regardless, I really enjoy the dynamic behavior found between the two ducklings as well as the contrasting colors between the birds and their environments.

What do you think?

Hey,

I 100% agree about the dynamic interaction between the two ducklings. I also agree with you that unfortunately you feel a bit far away from the action in this photo. However, for me, the primary issue is that the obstruction of the grass is significant enough that it impinges on the dynamic play between the two little guys (lol, whatever the genders are).

Think of photography as being the exact opposite of painting. In a painting, you start with a blank canvas and you can rearrange things as you wish. The canvas gets developed based on how you create it. In photography, you start with a full canvas and you need to figure out how to reduce to the bare bones in order to tell your story.

Now, given that these are wild birds, and you are a distance away, it may not have been possible to be in a place to isolate the ducks photographically. As a documentary photograph, that works out just fine. If you are looking to create a wildlife portrait, however, that is where you need all of the elements to come together.

Thoughts?

James

I agree with you 100%

you can also see that issue with the frog photo (during mid-croak). In fact (I haven't posted these photos yet), I took some great photos of a baby muskrat while I was in Cape May but there was some foliage that came in between the animal in the camera (more like a long piece of grass that looks like a green blur).

Moreover,

I guess a portrait photo's aim is to get primarily the animal in the foreground with the scenery in the background, which I guess requires both strategy and luck (like most things). I slightly edited the photo (same as before..saturation, etc). Do you believe it works? I can post the original if you would like..I am really trying to get involved with lightzone as I feel that utilizing these programmes are essential to photography.

For example, I took a very nice photo of the same muskrat with its mother, however, it was definitely taken too far away and the exposure was a bit off. All of my photos are taken both RAW and JPEG, however, I am still trying to get used to the program in itself. the Duckling photo is a prime example of me experimenting.

Did you post both versions on the Flickr site? I did not see them, so I don't have a reference point anymore. On that note, honestly, I am not the best post processor on the planet. There are some things you can do in post...actually, some folks are rather amazing at it. I just don't have the patience to sit and learn. I like spending my time with the camera.

In answer to what makes a photo - it really depends on what you are trying to create. Sometimes, all you can make is a documentary photograph. Getting too close to wildlife can be dangerous (to them, typically).

Right now, my pet project for wildlife photography is to make the wildlife part of the scene, but not "the scene." LOL, that can be really difficult, particularly when there is a big beautiful bull in the frame. However, that is the direction I am TRYING to move. i.e. I want to create landscape compositions that show wildlife doing what they do naturally. The problem with a head shot in the wide is the same with one in a zoo. You have no idea where it is being taken. It is one of the things I like about the duckling photos you shared, as a matter of fact. The idea that the ducklings are doing what they are doing and we are seeing a larger image. It is just a matter of isolating some of the distracting elements.


If you haven't post those muskrats! I love seeing critters I don't typically get to see every day - particularly here in the city. :P

James,

I am terribly, terribly, sorry for the late response - I was in the field for a month and now I am getting ready for the new semester (I am a professor as well...which is a tough occupation when your students confuse you to be well...another student due to your age).

In any event, I posted the muskrat (unedited) in flickr. Additionally, I posted a few other photos as well.

I do have a question for you and if I asked something similar in the past than I apologize.

I primarily shoot around sunset. For me, this is the best time because animals often become way more active. If you look in flickr, there will be a photo of a heron. I love the action, however, as you can tell, its a bit gritty (I had to turn up the ISO a bit). Do you have any tips for photographing behavioral shots (meaning fast movement) around sunset? If I turn up the shutter speed to 1/1000 then the aperture will go down to f 4.5 which I do not find to be acceptable. I have been trying to find a nice balance so that I can take decent photos despite going later in the evening..do you have any tips?

Cheers

Alec

Hi Alec,

No sweat off my back! The great thing about a post is that it is here for you when you get back. :P May I ask where it was you are off teaching?

As to being confused for a student, I think we all go through that. In my field, many of the social workers out in the community are younger than the parents they are working with. LOL, only recently have I begun to feel older than everyone. Of course, I am not....it just feels that way. :P

I wish we could get at the image better than flickr. Do you want to send me a file? I will be glad to look at it. I will also embed it into a post here for you. :P

James,

I am terribly, terribly, sorry for the late response - I was in the field for a month and now I am getting ready for the new semester (I am a professor as well...which is a tough occupation when your students confuse you to be well...another student due to your age).

In any event, I posted the muskrat (unedited) in flickr. Additionally, I posted a few other photos as well.

I do have a question for you and if I asked something similar in the past than I apologize.

I primarily shoot around sunset. For me, this is the best time because animals often become way more active. If you look in flickr, there will be a photo of a heron. I love the action, however, as you can tell, its a bit gritty (I had to turn up the ISO a bit). Do you have any tips for photographing behavioral shots (meaning fast movement) around sunset? If I turn up the shutter speed to 1/1000 then the aperture will go down to f 4.5 which I do not find to be acceptable. I have been trying to find a nice balance so that I can take decent photos despite going later in the evening..do you have any tips?

Cheers

Alec