Chasing Light - Plan, Update, Fail...

From: http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

The below image is a good example of how the sun can peek through a narrow opening. Sometimes clouds have a well defined edge. The below is from a Sunrise at Bombay Hook Refuge in Delaware. At the time I took it I realized that the amazing light was only going to last for the brief period of time while the light painted the underside of the clouds and the land.



Another time this setup played out was at Portland Head Light in Maine. The good light and photo oppertunities all took place pre-sunrise. The light was sneaking over the horizon and hitting the underside of the morning clouds. This day by the time the sun had actually risen, it was over. Once the clouds got in the way there was nothing special to see or photograph.



With those two days as the setup...

The last two night here in Maryland we had cloudy and rainy forecasts. I went to Great Falls Monday evening, and nothing special materialized. I was hoping for some breaks in the clouds, some magical light. My visit lasted an hour or so, and I took maybe a hundred or two images. It was a decent trip, but no photo gold that night.

Then Tuesday morning as I left for work I already knew the evening weather forecast was for 60% chance of rain. In the morning the skies looked pretty mixed, and rethought if I wanted to visit Great Falls, and still decided not to. By late afternoon however I saw that the cloud cover had a pretty well defined edge on the west side. The potential for the sun lighting the clouds from underneath during the sunset existed. So I left work, got my camera, and went to Great Falls. During this visit it rained a little and was just pure gray. There was absolutely nothing special to see. And I couldn't see any cloud-edge from the river's edge.

I left.

Then from the DC beltway, about 10 minutes later - at sunset, it HAPPENED! The sun peeked through, and there was about 2 or 3 minutes of MAGIC LIGHT!

I'm not sure what the lesson is, because it was my flexible nature that made me change my plans not to go in to plans to go. And then based on observations of the current conditions I gave up. Exactly what I hoped would happen did, but I out thought it and I left. Fail. Lol. I guess the lesson I will hope to learn is that when planning sunset shooting, I will be sure to stay until the actual time of sunset, because it can be hard to judge that final few minutes.

What bugs me is that the two examples above, the photos, are the precise same thing except during sunrise. They were both awesome, and lasted just a few minutes. Had I driven a hundred miles to shoot sunset (or sunrise) I would not have given up so easily. For me Great Falls is about a half hour drive.


Here's a nice sunset from the VA side that was taken a couple years ago.

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

Nikographer.com / Jon
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Chasing Light - Plan, Update, Fail...

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