Backgrounds

Backgrounds are critical in photography. A bad background can ruin an otherwise excellent photograph. A good background can enhance even a mediocre photo. Backgrounds are critical, so learn to pay attention to the background when making photographs.

This background is nothing fancy. In fact, that’s why it works. The white clouds in the background help to eliminate any distractions and help the subject of the bull elk stand out in this photo. I do wish the blue sky was brighter, but otherwise I think this photo works. What do you think?

 

Bugling in an Unusual Pose

This bull is bugling in the fall rut as many bulls do, but I was struck by his somewhat unusual pose in this photograph.

His back legs are spread out slightly, which created an interesting angle in his left rear leg. The bugling posture is typical, with antlers tilted backward. I am not sure exactly what it is about this photograph that I like, but I do like it. Do you?

It’s an Uphill Climb

It is an uphill climb for the elk.

Now that the breeding season of the fall is nearly over, the elk have to regain their strength and gain much-needed energy and reserves for the winter. The winter season can be harsh on the elk range and survival depends greatly on preparation. If an elk does not prepare well, it will die in the brutal weather brought on during the cold winter months.

This photograph was captured on the last week of September and while it shows a nice bull elk starting to walk up the hill, I think it foreshadows the uphill climb required by all elk over the upcoming winter months. I do always find it amazing how one photograph can provoke us to think so much, and this photo is no exception. Is this merely a photo of one bull elk making his way up a hill in the fall, or does this photo have much more to communicate?

 

Flexibility & A Study in Depth of Field

This photo shows the incredible flexibility of a cow elk. Her head is turned all the way around as she is licking her back. I guess to fight off pests and to keep clean, an elk just has to be flexible!

This photograph also provides a study in depth of field, a feature in wildlife photography that can be used to bring attention to the subject at hand. The method requires a large f-stop, which decreases the depth of field and only allows a small distance of the photo to be in focus.

In all honesty, I should have used a slightly smaller f-stop to include a bit more of the subject in focus. Look closely at the contents in this photo and you can see what is in focus and what is not. The forehead of the cow is in focus, but so are the leaves to the left of the elk’s head. Everything else, both the foreground and the background, are out of focus.

The technique is successfully used to highlight an animal and bring it out of its natural habitat in a photograph. Most animals blend right into their environment and this makes it hard to photograph them. Utilizing a shallow depth of field helps to do this.

I’m not sure I like this photo all that much, but it does provide some fodder for some photo instruction and it does show the incredible flexibility of a cow elk.

 

 

Google+ Rocks!

I started using Google+ on July 31st. I saw other photographers getting really stoked about it and I wanted to give it a try. At this point, Google+ was only open by invitation, so I reached out and Martin Bailey was generous enough to give me an invitation.

I started using Google+ right away and haven’t looked back since. I love Google+! I like the way photos appear on this social medium and I like how it incorporates Circles of friends, family, acquaintances, and colleagues. You can really funnel down to whom you want to send messages.

But the best of all is the rapid growth my Google+ account realized since I started. In just 2 1/2 short months, the number of people that have me in their circles already exceeds all my Facebook friends! This is nothing short of amazing to me.

My conclusion? Google+ rocks!

 

Elk Silhouette

There is just something special about a silhouette that is fascinating to me. I am not exactly sure what it is, but I do like silhouettes.

Creating a silhouette is easy to do and with today’s digital cameras you get instant feedback to see if you got it right or not. One evening this fall we were watching elk and this bull appeared on the horizon line. The sky was a tint of blue and conditions were just right for a silhouette. The method for creating as silhouette is to expose for the sky, which is the brightest part of the image. Here’s how I do it most of the time: I tilt the camera so that the viewfinder is filled with the brighter sky, then I press halfway down on the shutter release. This calculates the exposure setting in the camera’s computer. Then, while keeping the shutter release halfway down, I recompose the photograph in the viewfinder to my liking. Then I focus using the back button and press the shutter release all the way down to capture the image. Easy!

 

Open or Closed?

 

I came across this spike during my trip to Elk County at the end of September. He was feeding with a cow who both found some delicious red berries to feast on. It had just rained all morning and I was heading back to my cabin after yet another wet morning. I found these elk serendipitously within a very short drive of my cabin. My photo morning wasn’t over yet and I was thrilled!

I first took a few shots from out of my truck window and then slowly went outside to get some better photographs. The two elk accepted me or were so interested in those delicious berries that they didn’t mind me and my camera. After a quick, intense look at me, this spike went right back to eating. And I kept clicking the shutter release.

Fortunately, I captured this spike right when he was looking straight at me. Now here is the question: Is the photograph with his mouth open better than the one with his mouth closed? Which one do you like the best?

 

Elk Slideshow on YouTube

Sometimes I am a bit envious of my photo buddies who shoot video of wildlife. I am a still photographer for better or worse. I believe that videography is a much different skill set than photography. For whatever reason I prefer photography. I also don’t really care for the longer editing time spent on video nor the storage space required. Perhaps it doesn’t hurt that I was taught on black and white film photography back in my college days. I still have that old Minolta film camera and all my darkroom equipment. Some things are just difficult to part with you know! I do enjoy digital photography and Lightroom, but every once in a while I pine for those old darkroom days!

I was talking with a friend of mine, Matt Parton, who is into film photography. In fact, he wrote and is producing a new web series called “Imagine Frank.” He told me that many people have put slideshows up on YouTube so it isn’t exclusively for videos. At the same time I was having trouble establishing a link on website to the mp4 slideshow of the Pennsylvania Elk I recently created. After talking more with Matt I was convinced enough to give it a try.

You can now view my slideshow on YouTube and the link to it from my website works perfectly. This was a great way to show the slideshow featuring the “Pennsylvania Elk Photography Experience” that my good friend and colleague hosts with me twice a year. This photo trip features three solid days of wildlife photography and we get many opportunities to photograph the majestic elk of Pennsylvania. Three photo workshops are included. We also recently added a day-trip option as well.

Here is a slideshow of photographs captured during previous “Pennsylvania Elk Photography Experiences.” I hope you enjoy viewing it. Take a look and leave a comment on what you think of it. Thanks!

Capture photographs like this at our “Pennsylvania Elk Photography Experience!”

Anatomy of a Triple

 

 

 

James Shank, a high school sophomore, hit a bomb into right-center field today at the Navy Baseball Showcase Camp. He was facing an extremely good pitcher, who is showing excellent promise himself. This pitcher is a freshman at West Virginia University now and is hoping to transfer to Navy. From the looks of it, he will be a very nice addition to the team here. James worked a 2-2 count and got a fastball. He ripped it in the gap and the ball bounced to the fence. He easily rounded the bases with a standup triple.

I thought it would be fun to show the photos from his hit today and break it down so you can see the anatomy of a triple. The hardest part is hitting the baseball, of course, especially against a quality pitcher. The matchup between a pitcher and the hitter is always fun to watch. It’s a cat and mouse game. The pitcher trying to paint the corners of the plate and get ahead in the count; the hitter trying to work the count in his favor and earn a hitter’s pitch. 2-2 is about the same as 0-0, or is it? At the beginning of the at-bat, both the pitcher and hitter are even. They both have room to make a mistake and still live in this matchup. When the count goes to 2–2 the next pitch could be the end of the line for the hitter. Yes, they call this an even count, indicating neither the pitcher or the hitter has the edge, but it seems to me that the pressure is more solidly on the hitter because the next pitch could have him walking back to the bench. All the while, the hitter is working the count and trying to figure out what the pitcher might be throwing. Stay back, look for the fastball, and react to the curve. When the pitcher has a sidearm delivery, it ups the ante even more! Release point is different in this scenario and the hitter has to adjust. 2 balls, 2 strikes. What will the pitcher throw next? It’s a fastball and it’s a triple! The hitter was 1 for 2, batting .500 for the day, and the pitcher strikes out the next batter faced.

These photos do not show all the drama of a triple, but they do show some of the energy and excitement of a player hitting the ball and rounding the bases, who then cruises into third and shakes the hand of the third-base coach.

And that’s the anatomy of a triple.

Frustrated Bull

You cannot see it in this photograph, but there is an entire field of cows very close to this bull. The problem for this bull is that none of the cows are ready to mate. So, this bull is frustrated.

I’ve watched bulls in the rut for many years now and there is a pattern which repeats itself over and over. A bull will follow a cow, sniffing to see if she is in heat. Typically the cow will trot or run away. This leaves the bull frustrated and almost every single time he will bugle at this exact moment. This is the time to be ready with your camera, which is exactly what I did here in this photograph.

Watching and observing animals is not only enjoyable, it can teach you to be prepared for the best photographic moment!