Going Vertical #2

at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/04/going-vertical-2.html



I've decided my project is going to be to shoot and post vertical shots for a good while.

Flickr really like horizontal images, or square images. Vertical images are not as popular, although I did recently come across someone's flickr stream that was almost completely vertically composed images.

Flickr's Explorer is almost always non-vertical shots, the non-vertical shots just work better for computer screens and the site's layout.

At a recent photoclub meeting the presenter had many panoramic shots taken with a panoramic camera. Most times you'd think of a pano you'd think horizontal, right? Well this person also had some vertical panos, like 1 foot wide by 6 feet tall. It's such an odd thing that it struck me. He's a pro and said that they sell well the tall narrow shots because they can fit in to place where wall space is very limited. And wow, yeah, that makes such great sense.

I'm going to try a few vertical panos if the subject looks right for it.

Here's another vertical shot, that I posted a while back, a rare thing...



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Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon
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Going Vertical #2

Great Falls National Park Spring 2010

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/2010/04/great-falls-national-park-spring-2010.html.

The River's water levels are coming down, and the herons are fishing in the main falls some. Over the last week I saw Great Blue Herons flying around with nesting material, as well as competing for spots to fish from.



There's a rookery up river that is pretty active, and an eagle's nest too. The eagle appear to now have a chick. I didn't follow the exact dates, but the chick might be 2 weeks old now.

I forgot and now remembered some of why I like Great Falls so much. The herons and water are such great attractions, and not having to drive a hundred miles (bombay hook refuge, blackwater refuge) is a nice change of pace.

While there I also saw a couple bluebirds, as well as many vultures (turkey and black). There was also a Red-Tailed Hawk with some crows dogging it on more than one occasion over the main falls.

I highly recommend folks visit Great Falls National Park. Bring a tripod and a short and long lenses.




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Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon
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Great Falls National Park Spring 2010

Make photos pop - selective sharpening

I've done a little guide already once showing off selective sharpening, here's another good example.



read on for more details



The background has a nice blur to it, but the bird needed to be sharpened.

here's the starting image with level adjustments already



And here is a layer with just the bird sharpened and everything else masked out



Then the lower layer is added back (to being visible) and you get the selectively sharpened image...




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Make photos pop - selective sharpening

Visiting My Great Blue Heron

I've been visiting "my" GBH a couple times a week again for a couple weeks in a row, and he hasn't disappointed.



read more...


He's mostly got the pond to himself.



The lower sun angles of fall is nice as is the color of the foliage in the reflections / water...

Unlike many birds that freak at the first sight of a human, this one can be "friendly" and not bothered by people passing by or even directly interested in him.



When I visited him last night he was near his little island, and then flew around here and there, and then I approached him and he was hunting and let me get to around 10 or 15 feet.



This is the same heron that I've been checking on since August! He's the BEST!



-J

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Visiting My Great Blue Heron

A couple of different GBH perspectives

I'm in the middle of working on a wildlife presentation I plan to give in a couple of months to a camera club in my area.

I've taken a couple of passes at picking images, and well I've got a lot at the moment, just over 100. I'm not sure how long I'm expected to present, but I'm guessing it's around an hour or so. What I want to convey in the presentation is not camera technique, or just lucky snapshots.

Wildlife photography is about not disturbing the subject, and showing off a moment, which might just as well never been seen and still taken place. It's hard to find a balance between getting close enough for the image you'd like to take, and not causing a response in the animal/subject, ie witnessing a response to the photographer vs. just natural scene.

Read on for a couple of photos and quick stories related to this.



GBH close


The above image was a unique encounter. The bird was hunting in a small patch of water (ditch) along the Wildlife Drive of Blackwater NWR in Maryland. I suspect he was a juvenile, and not among the strongest. During a couple of passes along this spot, I photographed him from the car, and then later from outside on the road, not very far. What I think this photo and encounter shows is that not all animals behave the same, and sometimes you can get lucky.

Coming Towards me


This image pleases me on a few of levels. First, it was an overcast day, and I probably thought the light wasn't great. But it worked well. Second, the bird is flying from one fishing spot to another, as a result of competition from a second bird. And he's coming towards me, which is not something you get often with a Great Blue Heron... And lastly, the reflection and pose grab me as behavior and photographic magic that can't be planned for.

-Jon

Oh and here's a bonus video of red fox images, in case you missed it. It's one of my favorite image-montages....





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A couple of different GBH perspectives

Wildlife Observation, Prediction, and How to Be Ready

I'm hoping this post turns in to just the first in many that offer some insight in to nature and my photography. In the past I've used my flickr stream and the photo descriptions to cover some of the details about how I got a photo or what I saw.

Beginning with this post, I going to move the bulk of my writing here. Part of why I'm doing it is to create a resource for others, and part of it is as a log of my own personal development as a photographer. I'm also hoping to turn some frequent and insightful writing in to some cash via AdSense.

Great Blue Heron on the Lake

Nikon D300, Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 D VR, Gitzo GT2941 tripod.

Recently I went to Centennial Lake in Columbia Maryland to take some photos. I got there an hour or so before sunset. What I initially found were a few ducks and geese, nothing too special or interesting. After about 15 minutes I noticed there was a Great Blue Heron across the lake working the edge of the lake, fishing. He was pretty far away, just a dot practically. I tried to keep an eye on him, and occasionally has to strain to see him as he moved around, he was that far away.

The casual observer might have moved on. There just wasn't much hope for a chance to get anything good. But since I'd been to this lake many times before, I held out hope. I've seen Bald Eagles fishing here, Osprey, Turns, and a variety of other wildlife, so I know there's potential here.

Then I recalled a pattern I'd seen before here. As the sun goes down Herons fishing across the lake wind up in the shade, and the light just drops off. Some times they fly to an area on the other side of the lake (the side I was on) and as they come in the setting sun makes for some great light. I waited almost 30 minutes and shortly after the light would have been perfect, it happened. The heron began to fly my way. I started with a couple photos hand held, and then quickly put the camera on my tripod and took a series of photos as he cruised by and landed a hundred yards to my right. The only way it could have worked out better is if he moved 10 minutes earlier in better light, and if he landed even closer.

So, I turned what could have been a wasted trip to the lake, in to a chance to be patient, predict what could happen due to past visits, and got a photo I like.

A similar photo where previous observations and prediction took place was this bald eagle photo, where I'd learned how a particular spot eagle perch was due to the closeness to an Osprey Nest and the eagle's desire to steal the Osprey's fish...



-Jon
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Wildlife Observation, Prediction, and How to Be Ready