We just got back from a great Grizzly bear trip, and the best part was, aside from the grizzlies themselves, was the people we met. In particular, we met a kind and generous photographer, Mike, who was open to my incessant questions and a wonderful, patient teacher.
It was not only a great refresher of some things I have tried to embrace, but also of new tricks and techniques I had yet to learn.
I am fond of the close-up / fill-the-frame wildlife portrait, and Mike reminded me, that while a portrait has it’s place, including some of the atmosphere and environment the animal lives in makes for a more compelling photograph.
While the foggy and raining days were interesting and added a lot of character and moodiness to the scene, they can also be difficult to get sharp images through the haze.
In bright high contrast lighting situations, I learned to try rim light shots by stopping down my exposure to compensate for the harsh highlights.
Getting low to the ground allows one to take advantage of the reflections on the water, and bring the photograph eye level with the animal.
Action makes for compelling photographs, but it should be of the face with the animal coming toward you, not butt pix of the animal running away.
Capturing personality and gesture are key to a more successful image.
For birds in flight shutter speeds of 1/3200 sec are best. Sadly, I only got foggy golden eyes and eagle.
A blue sky makes for a terribly boring background, made so much more interesting by landscape.
Probably the most important lesson was that there is just no substitute for great light, where your subject is well lit.
I came away with lots of grizzly photographs and furthered my education in my passion of photography. I can’t thank Mike enough for his help and mentorship.
Thank you, Mike.
See more grizzlies here …https://kritterspaw.com/2024/10/20/grizzlies/
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