Pay Attention to the Subject / Environment
Lets start this section with another ‘cry shot’, by now you are getting to love those shots, right!!!
They show the painful side of photography, the almost shot, the wish I got it shot, the, I want to tear the hair out of my head in frustration shot – you get it, right?
For the photo below, I was paying attention to the subject, I did anticipate the possibility of this run, but the resulting photo is not a quality photo I want to keep.
Let’s talk about what went right first:
- The bear is framed correctly, has room to run to the left, the direction it is heading
- I managed to pan reasonably on target with the bear, even though I was shooting from a gimbal
- Its a hard to get action shot, a valiant attempt, the environment and light pretty good for this subject
- The eye of the bear is highly visible and open, the uplift movement of the bear really conveys fast motion, the leading paw shows the claws (details)
- I anticipated the possibility of the bear running when I saw another approaching
What went wrong here:
- I was already pushing my ISO limit for a D4s (2500 ISO), I could have gone to 3000 ISO to get more speed, but the shutter speed is the problem here
- 500th of a sec just isn’t fast enough for this sudden burst of speed from the black bear
- It was late evening, overcast, low light, I could have used more light for this photo, the timing and environment beat me
- I anticipated the possibility of this run too late, I should have tried to check my speed when I first saw the second bear approach, maybe at -0.3 ev exposure compensation, f4.0 and 3000 ISO I might have gotten the shutter speed to 640th or 800th of a sec.
- My panning might not have been timed perfectly with the motion of the bear, I personally don’t pan as smoothly on a gimbal as I do handheld.
- Essentially I almost had everything right, except the light conditions probably played the biggest role in the failure to get this photo, just not enough light to get the speed I needed to stop motion
- These moments are few and far between, but alas there is no other option but to try again, you can’t make a bad photo good !
If we go back to the title of this section ‘pay attention to subject / environment’, what does that mean, what am I asking you to do? Good question really, and hopefully I have an answer for you that you can relate to.
I am asking you to consider some of the following items when looking through the viewfinder:
- How is the animal or subject framed in the view, does it have room to move, does the photo tell a story
- Are the animal’s eyes visible, are you focused on the eyes
- How is the environment helping or hurting the framing of the subject, are there obstacles in the way
- Are you shooting at funky angles to the subject example: shooting from above, does it look right
- Does the animal or subject look relaxed and natural or scared and distressed by your presence
- If motion is involved are you capturing the subject the way you intended to. Pay attention to details like feet, paws, position, action, convey the story or something happening – pay attention to the details
- If eyes are involved, do they catch a glint of light, are they sharp, are they looking towards you or away, are they open or are they closed, are they squinting. Any of these are ok, as long as the final photo conveys what you intended it to and is the best photo you could achieve at that moment.
- If the environment is going to obstruct the subject, would waiting a few minutes while it walks along matter? Would it, let’s say, move from a less visually appealing sagebrush type environment to a photographically more appealing long grass or open plain setting. Would changing your angle to the subject frame it better and ultimately produce a better photo.
- What is the subject doing, about to do and are you anticipating that are you ready for it. Do you need to move, change the angle, change settings etc.
- These are just a few factors, there are countless more. It’s just important that you consider everything and when evaluating a series of photographs pick the one that most represents the story you want to tell.
Some people might say are you kidding when I say I am not happy with the below photo, but there is a branch in the forefront of the photo between me and the moose I did not intend to be there. I actually saw the beauty of this shot (without the branch) before I put my eye to the viewfinder, I thought I would get nice separation of moose to background with that moody hazed light to the top right of the photo. That was how I wanted it all framed, to place the moose to the left and the foggy hazed backdrop to the right bringing the moose’s face and antler right in your face. I ended picking a frame from about 5 minutes later, but it wasn’t the frame I wanted, I could and should have seen this branch in the viewfinder and moved slightly left to eliminate it, but I was caught in the moment and excitement again.
This is another ‘cry shot’ from me, I love everything about this photo except the branch and if I had a wish to improve on it, it would be he opened his eye a little more. Regardless of the mistakes, the other elements of the photo I had right, distance to subject, framing, composition, story, tone and mood, camera settings. By the way, this is backcountry photography in the Grand Tetons area, hiking off the beaten trails and finding our own photos that only we will have from that moment and not a group of others tagging along.
The next photo was a remote chance to begin with, but I have told you many times interaction shots are my holy grail and I don’t get that the opportunity to be in front of a huge bull moose courting a cow moose in the woods that often.
I can’t tell you if I saw the tree to the right in the viewfinder at the time I was photographing, I know my heart was beating a million miles an hour trying to nab this shot. Had I seen the tree or the calf messing with my framing, I could have done a couple of things. Moved right slightly to eliminate the tree, assuming an unobscured line of sight was there, I also had my 600mm with me, I could have used that or attached a 1.4 TC to bring the subjects closer and concentrate on the smooching, this would have eliminated both the calf and tree.
The lesson here is sometimes you are so focused on the central part of the viewfinder and core subject, that you don’t always see things that will subtract from the photo. You need to make yourself consciously check the scene and look for such obstructions or negatives, I know it is not always possible, but the more aware you make yourself of such issues the more successful photos you will come home with.
The environment is an important part of the photo and needs to be considered and the whole composition evaluated when setting up the shots. Use the environment to your advantage and look for ways to use the environment to enhance your photo and story telling.
Where are the eyes on your subject looking, are they open, are they shut, are they looking away from you or do they appear to be looking straight down the barrel of your lens. The eyes are everything and you instantly connect when they suck you in. Take a look at the photo below of a male black bear, I consciously kept this left photo to show you the difference and the power eyes have. The photo on the left would have been a failure and the photo on the right success. You need to take several bursts of shots because you can’t see at the time of shooting if the subject is blinking, looking at a funny angle, bug flying in front of the eye (immediate photo spoiler), by taking several short bursts you will have the opportunity to pick the best eyes out of the possibilities.
Wildlife photography still comes down to you getting out there as often as possible and trying to get those shots. Learn from your successes and mistakes and keep getting better.
Let’s finish this section with a successful photo and one that I am proud of. It has environment, it has mood, it has action, it has a story and I somehow managed to get this photo during a blizzard, its magic and what makes me keep trying to do this crazy thing called wildlife photography.
Final thoughts on why I define this image as successful:
- It has mood and story
- The environment helps tell the story
- Those big bright yellow eyes are wide open and appear to be gazing down my lens
- It is framed nicely
- The gray part of the background is actually the ocean, it helps make the snow highly visible and shows how heavy the snow was falling
- There is no snow in front of the eyes that would have spoiled the photo
- I didn’t need 2500th of a sec – 1000th or 1200th would have done – but what the heck the shot is a keeper :)
- This photo came to me through patience and persistence