The Way We See It: October 2011

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Tip #6: Tripod = Creativity

After Sunset - Crex Meadows, WI
Canon 5D Mark II + Zeiss ZE 35mm f2.0 / 30 Second Exposure

Can a piece of gear really inspire the inner creative? While equipment will never replace an idea or vision, it can be the facilitator. If I were to rank the value of each item in my “bag,” my tripod would always be number one. In fact, during a recent camping/photo excursion I managed to leave my three-legged companion in the woods. The mere thought of losing this friend set off a chain of events that included a bit of panic. Fortunately for me, I was able to retrace my steps and find this pillar of stability waiting for a comfortable shoulder to escort it back to civilization.

After Sunset #2 - Crex Meadows, WI
Canon 5D Mark II + Zeiss ZE 35mm f2.0 / 30 Second Exposure

A tripod will enhance the image-making experience, promote creativity, and slow time. The mere act of setting the legs and leveling the horizon diffuses the immediacy in the moment. Constrained by the limitations of a bulky yet stable platform, the burden of the "sticks" will suppress the impulse to shoot. Here, the emphasis is on fewer refined compositions that capture the essence of a moment. A tool for the creative, the tripod is a friend to those who embrace a thoughtful and deliberate approach to photography.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Tip #5: Go for the Shallow Depth of Field

Matled Howler Feeding on Canopy Leaves
Canon 7D + 300mm f2.8 @ f2.8

Cameras are great, but lenses are better. While ambient light reflected off the subject is capable of producing an image through a glassless aperture (see pinhole cameras), it is the lens between the subject and photographer that focuses light onto the image sensor. We photographers will often speak about the character of a lens. Difficult to put into words, we use terms like "micro-contrast," "color palette," and "depth." As someone who values the experience of image making above all else, I have a confession to make... I am obsessed with quality glass. There is something seductive about a brilliant lens that can focus light with a clarity that has to be experienced in order to be understood.

Red-eyed Tree Frog on Heliconia
Canon 5D markII + 180 f3.5 Macro @ f3.5.

So Tip #5 is about using this quality glass that we attach to our image making devices. Shoot the Lens at its Maximum Aperture. The maximum, or widest, aperture is the smallest number on the aperture ring or dial. Often listed as f/1.4, f/2.8 or f/4, these maximum apertures focus the reflected light with a shallow depth of field. While the ultimate sharpness of your lens may be compromised by its maximum aperture, the softly blurred fore and background will increase the perception of image clarity. Simply put, the maximum aperture isolates your subject and makes the image "POP!"

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Tip #4: Be There

Migrating Pair - Crex Meadows WMA, WI
Canon 7D + 300 f2.8 + 1.4x Converter

The heading says it all... Be There!

Grab your camera and whatever lens you have and be the photographer. Do your research, find an event, a festival, or migration. Make the great images happen by placing yourself in the right place at the right time.

At the Landing Strip - Crex Meadows WMA, WI
Canon 7D + 300 f2.8

Every October Sandhill Cranes migrate to the Crex Meadows Wildlife Management Area. With over 30,000 acres of wetland, brush prairie and forest habitat this is an oasis for spring and fall migrants. While the photography is seldom easy, this refuge is a little known hotspot for birders and wildlife watchers. Being There is about making opportunities, chasing the butter-light and welcoming serendipity.

Sunset Flock - Crex Meadows WMA, WI
Canon 7D + 300 f2.8

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Tip #3: Out of Focus

Summer Flowers - Yellowstone National Park
Canon 5D Mark II + 300 f2.8 @ f2.8

Tip #3: Purposefully defocus your image and shoot at your widest aperture. In doing so, color, tone, and form become your subject.

Lilly Pads - William Obrien State Park, MN
Canon 7D + 300 f2.8 @ f2.8

While I am fairly certain that this will not be my most popular photo tip, I am compelled to toss it out and see if it sticks. In a world of DSLRs where high resolution and "micro-contrast" are king, we suffer a vision deficit. The never-ending search for the sharpest lens and most pixels now lead us astray. Take a break from the perfection compulsion. Search for the good light, rich tones, and pattern... translate these things into your personal vision.

Snow Storm - Tamarack Nature Center, MN
Canon 20D + 400 f5.6 @ f5.6

Friday, October 21, 2011

Tip #2: Block the Sun

Tip #2 : Sunrise in Joshua Tree National Park
Canon 40D + 17-85mm IS Lens @ 85mm

Use a tree or animal to block the sun and make a silhouette. This technique will allow you to emphasize the graphic form of your subject and capture the burst of color that accompanies sunrise and sunset.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Project 101: Tip #1

Acaciascape in Black and White - Tanzania, Africa
Canon 5D + 17-40L w/ polarizer

With over 140 posts and three years devoted to this blog, I’ve decided to mix things up a bit. The Way We See It has been a gallery to me and a writing exercise. It is a place where I’ve discussed our biological heritage and the importance of respecting the evolutionary history of life on Earth. This blog is my soapbox and my place to vent; it has been a cathartic experience and an abject failure. For all the things that this blog is, it has not tapped into my key skill.

I make the abstract simple. Both a learner and an educator, my life is devoted to teaching. While biology is my subject and photography is my art, I excel in finding the easy where others see the hard. Here lies the core objective of Project 101. While I may not be the best nature photographer on the web, among my readers, or in my town, I am a store of ideas, knowledge and experience. This information, bottled-up and under pressure, is crying to released. So I’ve decided to uncork the fountain and share 101 Tips for the beginning and experienced nature photographer. My goal is to share one image and one tip every other day...

Tip #1:

There are no rules in photography and no one person can be the “Rules Police.” Photographic “rules” are suggestions based on compositional patterns and exposure preferences that appeal to the average viewer. Breaking these rules can transform a photograph into an artful image.

Tip #1: Break the Rules
Looking out of the Frame - 'Ol Pejeta - Kenya
Canon 7D + 300 f2.8IS L

I have decided to begin Project 101 with “breaking the rules” because many of my tips are suggestions. If you don’t like them, don’t use them. Be the photographer you want to be, rely on your experience to define your vision.

I’d love your feedback as this tips list progresses!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Searching for Fall

Infrequently invoked and rarely sought, luck is not a part of my vernacular. Some live the “Life of Riley” with good fortune following their every move, while others tend to be in the right place at the wrong time. In photography, good timing is one element that can inspire creativity, in its absence creativity must be borne from within.

In a rare move, I decided to pre-plan a Fall excursion. As the school year approached, I requested a personal day in early October, reserved a campsite in the woods, and prepared the camera gear for Autumn’s technicolor. A wet summer and mild September promised an explosion of color. News headlines fed the enthusiasm: Peak of Fall - First Week in October. “Damn I’m good,” I thought to myself, filled with pride in my skill at predicting ephemeral events.

Driving north and west towards Itasca State Park, I began to question the wisdom of my decision. Forty-mile an hour winds hammered the Jeep and pushed the pop-up camper as we sped towards our "idyllic" destination. Founded in 1891, Itasca State Park is one of the oldest in the nation. Known for its contiguous expanse of old-growth red and white pines, this park is a remnant of Minnesota’s pre-logging era. With trees that approach a rarified bicentennial status, there is no other location in this heavily forested state where you can walk among the ancients. Better known as the headwaters of the Mississippi River, visitors can navigate the width of this iconic waterway by wading through an ankle deep stream.

As we approached the park, majestic pines were mixed with skeletons of deciduous trees. Magnificent maples, aspen, and birch swayed in the wind as leaves flew about and settled to the ground. The receptionist at the park boasted about last week’s display “...the best color in twenty years, too bad you missed it.” I tried not to let my disappointment show, and shrugged off the loss as an opportunity. Timing can inspire creativity... but creatives find inspiration from within.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Eye Candy

Sweetwater Sunset - Kenya
Canon 5D + 70-200 f4L @ 175mm

We've packed the pop-up, grabbed the gear, and are off to chase some Fall color. With predictions of forty mile an hour winds, I've left expectations at home and will let the conditions define our vision. Two days in the woods await... So, with little time to conjure anything of note, I'll take my leave and let today's image do the speaking for me.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Poetic Reflections

One Tree Hill - Manning Trail, MN
Canon 5D mark II + Zeiss ZE 35mm f2.0 @ f16

Teacher’s Lament

Educator, biologist, artist - a distilled biography for the minimalist.

Ego and need dictate behavior. The id, dependent on accolades, forces the artist to yield its creativity to the educator.

Call it partition. The artist owns summer; Fall belongs to the realist - worker bee.

It is a beautiful day in Minnesota and a free spirit walks the woods in search of discontinuities, patterns and color. At the whim of a muse, the mind wanders gazing deeply into shadows cast by the directional light of sunrise. Streaks of light strike the landscape like haphazard blotches of oil point. North America is ablaze in Fall color.

Mired by the need to eat and stay warm, papers must be graded.

Before the Cranes - Crex Meadows, WI
Canon 5D mark II + Zeiss ZE 35mm f2.0 @ f16

It’s Fall in Minnesota - Free Your Inner Artist