The Way We See It: May 2013

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Go with the Flow

Old Cider - Stillwater, MN
Canon 5D mark iii + 17-40mm f4.0L & 3-stop B+W ND

We've adopted another puppy and with this comes the duality that accompanies every major decision. The fun of jostling a belly with stumpy legs is tempered by sleep deprivation and zero dark-thirty walks. The older dog, Sequoia, must endure the annoyance of puppy teeth in order to eventually have a worthy playmate. Dichotomies are at the root of so many of life's experiences. When we embrace the dichotomy we begin to see with greater clarity.

To produce this photograph I needed to balance my vision with the limits of my circumstance. The light was changing rapidly as heavy winds moved the clouds aloft. The streaky sky was quickly becoming overcast, and the tree I sought to photograph was trembling in the breeze. Rather than fight nature, I let the conditions dictate the process. I must have encircled the tree a dozen times before settling on this vantage point. The apple blossoms were in full bloom, but the wind foiled any attempt to make them my focus. The path of least resistance was to embrace the situation. It was here, before the composition was set, that I knew the image would be a black and white photograph. I added a 3-stop neutral density filter to my 17-40mm lens and zoomed to maximize the size and texture of the trunk. I waited for a massive gust of wind and shot a one-second exposure to capture the rustling of leaves. With windows facing into the apple orchard, I embraced the dichotomy and captured this familiar place in a new way.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Practice your Craft

Portrait of a Bear (Ursus arctos) - Radium Hot Springs, Canada
Canon 7D = Canon 300mm f2.8L IS @ f2.8

It's not often that I have the opportunity to make a tight portrait of a large predator. In fact, other than my safari experiences in East Africa, I have found the pursuit of carnivores to be among my greatest challenge. Large predatory birds always seem to be just distant enough to frustrate, while mammalian carnivores rarely reveal more than a glint in the eye. So when faced with a fleeting moment, I want it all to be automatic. Here, automatic is not a dependence on some predefined camera mode but, rather, a reference to mechanical memory. The way I see it, the difference between maximizing success and minimizing failure is practice.

I was a photo-newbe in the 1980's. Those were the days of photo magazines, books and film. Magazines and books were cheap, and film was expensive. As result, I spent more hours reading about photography and playing with jewel-like cameras than taking pictures. When I did shoot, it was like driving with my foot on the brakes. Fearful of wasting money and making poorly exposed images, I was a paralyzed by the process. As my income and knowledge expanded, so did the willingness to experiment. My skills and my vision are a product of the past, but the quality of my work has everything to do with the present. While there is little doubt that I've benefited from a thousand rolls of film, shooting medium format negatives, and laboring over a light box, this is not a requisite for today's aspiring photographer. What took years to make ten-thousand images can now be done in months, weeks or days. Digital is the great liberator and equalizer because each image is as disposable as it is precious. Once you've made the primary investment, picture making is free. So, if you want to be prepared to make the shot of a lifetime, work the trigger finger and practice your craft.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Good Morning From Stillwater

St. Croix Scenic River - Stillwater Area, MN
Canon 5D Mark iii + 17-40mm f4.0L @ f16

A postcard from home...
Spring has sprung. Missed you all winter... welcome back!

Thursday, May 16, 2013

High Key Deer

Young Buck (Odocoileus virginianus) - Tamarack Nature Center, MN
Canon 50D + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

On Saturday morning I took a hike looking for signs of spring. The crisp pre-dawn air bit at my hands as if to remind me that this winter was less than a distant memory. With each step I sunk into the saturated earth rich with autumnal leaves discarded and relegated to the decomposers of the world. There is a smell to early spring, and while it is mid-May, the late snow and unseasonable cold conspired to stretch winter beyond its normal limits.

So as I walked, I watched for the signs. Migratory birds sang throughout the leafless forest as crows mobbed an owl pair looking for shelter. The animals were on the move. Herds of deer froze as I crossed their paths. Stealthy in wolf country, they seemed more like pets than something wild and untamed. I would stop, stare into their obsidian eyes and project their thoughts into my own. Nearly 20 deer later, I challenged myself to see them in a different way. The sunrise bathed their weathered bodies from behind, so I chose to capture the dawn of spring juxtaposed by broken bodies that struggled to survive this winter.

Backlit and Wary (Odocoileus virginianus) - Tamarack Nature Center, MN
Canon 50D + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Chasing Chickens

Chicken Dance (Tympanuchus cupido) - Bluestem Prairie, MN
Canon 5D mark iii + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS + Canon 1.4x Converter

I tend to be a minimalist when compared to most wildlife photographers. My ego might claim that this constraint is by design, a way to force creativity, but reality is less kind than the fiction. I am a minimalist because I live within a restricted budget. Teaching offers great flexibility to a creative, but financial success is not one its perks. Were it not for the budget limitations of being a public school educator, I’d probably be a walking camera store rather than a minimalist. So whenever I plan a wildlife shoot, I’ve learned to dwell on the details... details are the difference between producing something good and making something great.

Head On (Tympanuchus cupido) - Bluestem Prairie, MN
Canon 5D mark iii + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS + Canon 1.4x Converter

Prior to leaving for Moorhead MN, I studied the maps of the Bluestem Prairie SNA and searched the web for photographers who have worked these blinds in the past. Since my dates at the lek were scheduled well beyond the peak mating period, I was less than confident that this experience would be much better than my shoot at the grouse blind in 2008 (See: I Laughed in the Face of Chaos Theory).

Truce (Tympanuchus cupido) - Bluestem Prairie, MN
Canon 5D mark iii + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS + Canon 1.4x Converter

Climatic chaos (the late Minnesota spring) was my only consolation. Historically, the prairie chicken lek is most active in mid-April, and the interesting territorial behaviors diminish as daylight hours grow and the temperature warms. It turns out that this year’s unseasonably late snow might have been an unexpected bonus. The cool weather delayed the hens, so the males were forced to maintain their territories until the females were in the mood. By the time I was able to get to the blinds, the males were out in full force booming, hooting and fighting for a piece of turf. If these males intended on propagating their genes, they had better stick around to strut their stuff. In the end, it was the combo-platter of preparation and luck that conspired to create an unprecedented opportunity to capture the drama so late in the season. Lucky or good, I don’t care... May 4, 2013 was a great day to photograph prairie chickens in Northwest Minnesota.

Get Out! (Tympanuchus cupido) - Bluestem Prairie, MN
Canon 5D mark iii + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS + Canon 1.4x Converter

In the next post, I’ll focus on the gear and techniques I used to get the shots.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

I Laughed in the Face of Chaos Theory

After the Dance (Tympanuchus cupido) - Bluestem Prairie, MN
Canon 5D Mark iii + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS + Canon 1.4x Converter

I spent the pre-dawn hours of April 20, 2008 in an observation blind at Crex Meadows Wildlife Management Area. It was predictably cold, and as daylight approached, I feared that we were in for a tough shoot. A heavy sky blanketed the prairie with gray, and the grouse we hoped to photograph appeared to have all but abandon their lek. Four cloistered hours later, we managed to produce a few “keepers” (see Tip #63), but I was far from satiated.

Booming(Tympanuchus cupido) - Bluestem Prairie, MN
Canon 5D Mark iii + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS + Canon 1.4x Converter

Expectation is the wildlife photographer’s curse. While there have been occasions that I have happened upon an interesting nature event, most of my good work is the result of research and repetition. Pre-planning a trip and documenting annual ephemeral patterns is the only way I can manage to shoot with some degree of predictability. However, as pessimistic as it sounds, it is important to prepare for the disappointment. While animal behavior can be defined by statistics, and climate data can suggest a trend, chaos (“the butterfly affect”) influences the patterns we see on any given day.

Choose Me! (Tympanuchus cupido) - Bluestem Prairie, MN
Canon 5D Mark iii + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS + Canon 1.4x Converter

Preparing for a shoot requires a plan to cope with the unexpected. Just when a pattern becomes evident, you’ll find that predictable events of the past may not be easily predicted in the future. Unlike a studio shoot where light can be controlled and a model can be posed, ecological systems dictate nature’s events. One perturbation to life’s chaotic web often results in an unintended consequences. It is the unpredictability that draws me to this craft. If it were easy, I’d be bored and the pursuit of my art would relegated to someone else.

I Dare You to Cross the Line (Tympanuchus cupido) - Bluestem Prairie, MN
Canon 5D Mark iii + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS + Canon 1.4x Converter

So it was with my prior experience in the blinds at Crex Meadows and the recognition that there is no “sure thing,” that I embarked on my weekend adventure. A rain/sleet mix accompanied me as I traveled towards the northwest. Arriving near sunset, I had enough time to check-in at the lodge, but lost the opportunity to check-out the blind. I set my alarm for 3:45 a.m., and laughed in the face of chaos theory.

Deflated (Tympanuchus cupido) - Bluestem Prairie, MN
Canon 5D Mark iii + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS + Canon 1.4x Converter

Watch the blog for future posts about the ecology of the Greater Prairie Chicken (Tympanuchus cupido) and discussions about the making the images.