The Way We See It: Arizona

Showing posts with label Arizona. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Tip #61: Telephoto, Tripod, Head and Hand

Arizona Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) - Saguaro NP, AZ
Canon 7D + Canon 300mm f2.8IS L w/1.4x @ f4.0 and 1/100 second

The following is my technique for maximizing detail when shooting in less than ideal conditions.

Use the tripod.
Don’t attach the camera to the tripod, use the dedicated collar on your lens.
Compose and lock it down...
Rest the left hand over the tripod collar, but don’t press down.
Gently place your eye against the eyepiece.
Squeeze the shutter release.
Shoot three to five images in continuous mode.

Peccary (Tayassu tajacu) - Saguaro NP, AZCanon 7D + Canon 300mm f2.8IS L w/1.4x @ f4.0 and 1/100 second

Although the latter technique may reduce your ability to shoot it fast and recompose, it will increase stability when the light is fading and you need to get the shot.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Tip #58: The Anthropomorphic Image

Something Stinks Around Here - Collard Peccary (javelina), Pecari tajacu
Canon 7D + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS + Canon 1.4x Converter
Saguaro NP, AZ

An·thro·po·mor·phic, adj: ascribing human characteristics to nonhuman things

It is the “cardinal sin” of the sciences, especially in zoological and botanical disciplines that require pure objectivity. The anthropomorphic biologist fails to see the adaptive nature of a behavior, lacks a clinical assessment of an interaction and allows emotion to betray the implications of the data. I can still recall the red marks on my first undergraduate thesis. Years of research produced pages of data that were written by hand and analyzed with primitive computers. My experiment was controlled, the statistics were accurate and my conclusions were sound. However, the analysis in my discussion lacked the scientific approach that stressed objectivity above everything else. I was reprimanded and forced to write and rewrite the thesis until it was devoid of humanity.

The Old Man - Savanna Elephant, Loxadonta africana
Canon 1D markII + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS + Canon 1.4x Converter
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Twenty-three years later, this aging biologist and educator is also a photographer. The scientific mind is the objective mind, while the high school educator is the master of anthropomorphism. Atoms want to embrace as they form chemical bonds, prey strive to avoid predation, and plants try to grow towards the light. Claiming that hydrogen is the “slut” of the atomic world to oxygen, the “player,” who does nothing but take-take-take in the pursuit of electrons, I console myself that these sins are for the greater good ... the education of the next generation.

Broken Jaw - Mantled Howler Monkey, Alouatta palliata
Canon 7D + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS
Selva Verde - Costa Rica

As in education, anthropomorphism is the wildlife photographer’s friend. It is human nature to see ourselves in nonhuman beings, as this is how we build meaning from what we observe. The technical skills of the nature photographer fulfills my scientific mind. The pursuit of the subject, the assessment of phenology and the research of behavior are my science, but my goal is to transcend the technical and find the hints of humanity in my prey. Anthropomorphic images allow the viewer to see their nature in nature, and suggest the importance of conservation. When pictures define humanity with the absence of humans, we help others to see ourselves as just another biological being. Tug at some heart strings, promote conservation and search for yourself in your subjects.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Tip #57: Use a Lens Hood

Macro Study - Saguaro National Park, AZ
Canon 5D Mark II + Canon 100mm f2.8L IS

I’ll credit this tip to one of the most talented nature photographers and photo educators, John Shaw. Don’t buy a protective filter, buy the correct lens shade for of your lens. I do not own a single protective filter. In fact, I only own two filters ...a variable neutral density filter and a polarizer. These filters allow me to do things that the lens and camera can not do alone.

Chollo Sunset (Opuntia fulgida) - Saguaro National Park, AZ
Canon 5D Mark II + Zeiss 35mm f2.0 ZE @ f11

Lenses are designed by the manufacturer to a tight tolerance with a specific number of glass elements cemented in groups. This design is intended to optimize sharpness and contrast while minimizing distortion, aberrations, vignetting, and flare. The addition of a filter was not part of the original design and can ultimately reduce the overall image quality.

Desert Lupine (Lupinus arizonicus) - Saguaro National Park, AZ
Canon 5D Mark II + Canon 100mm f2.8L IS

As a nature photographer who shoots in damp and dusty locations, I recognize the importance of protecting my expensive optics. Yet rather than use a filter, I use a lens hood. These plastic tubes that attach to the barrel of my lenses do more to protect and enhance my images than any UV filter could dream of doing. In addition to deflecting abrasions from routine bumps and bruises, a proper lens hood blocks extraneous light and reduces flare. By controlling how the light strikes the front optical element, I am able to increase contrast and detail while preventing ghosts and hotspots from creeping onto my pictures.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Tip #56: Same Subject Different Light

Saguaro During Sunset - Saguaro National Park, AZ
Canon 5D Mark II + Canon 17-40L @ 17mm

The pleated green trunk, patterned spines and enormous columnar body define the iconic tree for which Saguaro National Park is named. Ubiquitous across southern Arizona, the saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) is a keystone species in this borderland region of the Sonoran Desert. Sinks for drenching rains, the pleated bodies expand as roots absorb ephemeral bursts of water. Gila woodpeckers (Melanerpes uropygialis) and gilded flickers (Colaptes chrysoides) peck at the soft flesh excavating nesting cavities that serve as a refuge to numerous birds and small mammals. Fragrant hints of ripe melon lure bats to white nocturnal blooms, while bees pollenate saguaros throughout the morning hours. Damaged flesh becomes a meal to collared peccary (Tayassu tajacu) and a source of water to any that chews the soft “meat.”

Midday Sonoran Desert - Saguaro National Park, AZ
Canon 5D Mark II + Zeiss ZE 35mm f2.0 1 @ f/11
Three shot-HDR stack processed to capture detail in both the highlight and shadow

A model for a lesson in community ecology, botanical inhabitants of the Sonoran clearly illustrate the way plants compete for limited resources while restricting the impact of invertebrate and vertebrate herbivores. Saguaros grow in the shade of old acacia and mesquite trees, while shading the growth of Opuntia, ocotillos and smaller plant species. Vestigial leaves form sharp spines that protect the tree from herbivory, however once penetrated, a wounded cactus will seal the damaged flesh with a tough tissue called a callus.

Saguaro Night - Hacienda del Desierto, AZ
Canon 5D Mark II + Canon 17-40L @ 20mm
240 second exposure @ iso 400

For this tip, I suggest that you look to photograph iconic subjects in different light, times and locations. The saguaro is synonymous with Tucson, Arizona. Like white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus), it is an over-photographed subject in nature photography. Rather than despair about what has been done in the past, seek to define the icon for yourself. Search for angle and composition that pleases eye, and don’t fear the work that precedes you. It may be a familiar subject, but if you have not done a careful study, it remains to be novel and open to your unique vision. On these occasions, it is important to state the obvious...

Light makes the photograph and the photographer captures the light.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Tip #54: Familiarity Breeds Success

Saguaro Sunset - Saguaro National Park
Nikon D100 + 300mm f2.8 AFD

Knowledge and experience can increase the likelihood of a happy accident. Web research and forum friends can get you “there,” but the opportunity to photograph wildlife, dramatic light and climatic conditions are ephemeral. “The revisit” is a practice to which I subscribe. Frequent travels to Costa Rica, Badlands and Joshua Tree National Parks have paid dividends. Familiarity breeds success, and I measure this success by the diversity of wildlife I see and the images I make.

Ocotillo Study - Saguaro National Park
Nikon D100 + 20mm f2.8 AF

In 2003 I purchased a Nikon D100, 6mp DSLR. I sold three film bodies and ponied up nearly $1500 to make, this, my first digital buy. Intended to be a companion to my medium format Pentax AF645n bodies, I held my nose and entered the digital revolution. The Nikon was paired with a 300mm f2.8 AFD and 20mm f2.8 lens. It was an expensive experiment, but it also had the potential to breath new life into my art. Intended to be a supplement to the large negative landscape photography, I knew I’d love the immediacy of digital but was not prepared for the improved image quality.

Saguaro Study - Saguaro National Park
Nikon D100 + 300mm f2.8 AFD

In February 2003, the year I waded into the digital waters, Tamy and I journeyed to Saguaro National Park in Southern Arizona. The images that accompany Tip #54 were made with that D100 and they changed the way we now approach this craft. Nearly ten years later, Tamy and I are returning to Saguaro National Park. We look forward to our evenings on the edge of a wilderness and developing a fresh intimacy with this unique desert ecosystem.