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Shutter Speed

The shutter speed is the length of time the shutter remains open, allowing the light to pass through the aperture and onto the sensor (Figure 3.10).

Figure 3.10 A shutter-speed graph.

A fast shutter speed (1/500, 1/1000, etc.) stops action. Bright light or a high ISO setting is required to stop action (Figure 3.11). Handholding the camera is easiest with a fast shutter speed. Slow shutter speeds (1/15, 1/30, etc.) blur motion (Figure 3.12). A tripod is an essential tool in the making of blur-motion images to get a smooth panning action.

Figure 3.11 A fast shutter speed stopped the spraying water drops in midair as a Common Grackle bathed.

Figure 3.12 A sense of motion is captured with a slow shutter speed, blurring the water while keeping the motionless bear sharp.

Light

Light is the basis of all your exposures. Light is ever-changing and wildlife is constantly moving, so you must be ready at a moment’s notice to adjust the settings on your camera to deal with the changing light to capture the spontaneity of a fleeting instant.

Your camera meters the amount of light in a given situation, evaluates the settings you have made, and formulates an exposure. The brighter the light, the faster the shutter speed to stop action, the smaller the aperture for great depth of field, and the lower the ISO for noise-free images. The lower the light, the slower the shutter speed, resulting in blurred motion. A wider aperture renders shallow depth of field. High ISO settings allow shooting in lower light with a cost of greater noise. The direction and quality of light adds mood and drama to your images. How you handle that light and where you place yourself to capture that light all plays into the end result, your image.

Quality and Quantity of Light

Quality and quantity of light go hand-in-hand. Many situations that have the best light also have low light, whereas the times of day with the greatest amount of light are often too bright and contrasty for the quality of light you are looking to record. Dedicated wildlife photographers will get up at o’dark thirty and head out to be in place and ready for sunrise to capture the golden colors of early morning light bathing their subjects in a warm glow (Figure 3.13).

Figure 3.13 With the sun over my shoulder, the warm light casts an even glow on the sandhill crane, emphasizing the feather detail.

In a matter of minutes the sun rises higher in the sky, the warmth of the early light fades away, and the quality of light moves into cooler tones, changing the mood entirely (Figure 3.14).

Figure 3.14 The angle of the sun changes the quality of light. Cooler tones prevail around mid-morning.

Overcast light is a good, safe light for photographing mammals and birds (Figure 3.15). The light is soft and diffused, enabling you to capture the greatest detail along with good color saturation. Once the beautiful light of early morning is gone, I prefer an overcast day to prolong my shooting time.

Figure 3.15 The diffused light of an overcast day enhanced the detail in the hair and horns of a Bighorn sheep.

Stormy weather is one of my favorite shooting conditions because of its dramatic light and extreme effects. While everyone runs for cover, I stay out in the worst of weather and poor light to capture the intensity of a blowing snowstorm and a bison’s struggle to survive (Figure 3.16). You need to know how to expose for the flat (quality), low (quantity) light to emphasize the severity of the situation and capture the blowing snow.

Figure 3.16 Low light and a small aperture enabled me to shoot at a shutter speed slow enough to capture the blowing snow in motion.

Sunny days give you another challenge to deal with—shadows (Figure 3.17). Once the sun has risen into the sky on a sunny day, the light gets hard with strong highlights, heavy shadows, and an exposure range that is greater than your camera’s sensor can capture, making you choose the area of most importance