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When photographing wildlife, always keep an eye on the Sun

May 5, 2009 by Steve Berardi 8 Comments

Photo by Steve Berardi
Photo by Steve Berardi
There’s a big problem with the photo above, of a female Rufous Hummingbird. Can you spot what it is?

Okay, maybe the headline gave it away, but in case you haven’t figured it out yet, the problem is that big dark shadow on the bird’s breast.

Why did this happen? Simple: I wasn’t keeping an eye on the Sun. I don’t mean that literally, of course. If you really kept an eye on the Sun, you’d go blind pretty quickly (not a good condition for photographers!).

But, when you’re photographing wildlife, it’s a good idea to keep track of the Sun’s position, to avoid harsh shadows from appearing on your subject. You’ll most likely want an evenly lit subject, unless you’re exploring a creative type of photo. [Read more…] about When photographing wildlife, always keep an eye on the Sun

Filed Under: Tips, Wildlife Tagged With: bird photography, how to photograph hummingbirds, hummingbird, lighting, natural light, nature photography, rufous hummingbird, Wildlife, wildlife photography, wildlife photos

How to get a perfect exposure of an albino Red-tailed Hawk in flight

March 18, 2009 by Vic Berardi 14 Comments

Photo by Vic Berardi
Photo by Vic Berardi
This photo of a nearly all white albino Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) was taken in northern Illinois this past weekend, at midday.

This plumage variation of Red-tailed Hawks, although not necessarily rare in
occurrence, is somewhat rare in opportunities to photograph. When I first saw the bird, it was perched in a tree directly above me. The lighting was perfect as you can see in this photo below: [Read more…] about How to get a perfect exposure of an albino Red-tailed Hawk in flight

Filed Under: Wildlife Tagged With: albino red tailed hawk, backlit subject, bird photography, how to photograph birds in flight, how to photograph hawks, iso speed, manual exposure, red tailed hawk photos, shutter speed, sunny 16 rule, Wildlife

How snow can help you get better bird photos

February 15, 2009 by Vic Berardi 5 Comments

Photo by Vic Berardi
Photo by Vic Berardi

Photography is all about light and the use of it. Photographing birds in winter brings a special kind of lighting not available during the rest of the year–reflective snow cover. Fresh fallen snow and bright sunlight offer both spectacular results as well as tricky exposure decisions.

Bird photography presents many challenges with the various plumages that are exhibited. Some birds are very pale underneath and some are very dark, creating exposure difficulties for the photographer. Do you expose for the sky but leave the undersides of the bird either overexposed or underexposed? The result of these decisions is many times a poorly exposed photograph. The front lighting that reflective snow cover brings can alleviate some of these decisions. [Read more…] about How snow can help you get better bird photos

Filed Under: Tips, Wildlife Tagged With: bird photography, how to photograph birds, snow bird photography, snow photo exposure, wildlife photography, winter photography

What is a natural photograph?

February 1, 2009 by Vic Berardi 20 Comments

Photo by Vic Berardi
Photo by Vic Berardi

Sometimes as nature photographers, our minds focus too much on getting a good photograph, instead of just enjoying nature and being there to capture some of the light we come across.

It’s important to keep nature natural, and I’ll tell you a story to help illustrate what I mean. It’s about the ethics of attracting animals by “baiting” them–feeding them in an effort to get them to come closer to you, so you can get a photograph. [Read more…] about What is a natural photograph?

Filed Under: Philosophy, Wildlife Tagged With: baiting owls, bird photography, natural photograph, nature photography, photo naturalist, red tailed hawk, rough legged hawk, snowy owl, wildlife photography

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