Wildlife Photography_ From Snapshots to Great Shots - Laurie Excell [21]
Figure 3.17 The hard light of midday brings with it bright highlights and heavy shadows.
* * *
Note
Most photographers wait out the middle part of the day, downloading and editing images, and waiting for the sun to drop lower in the sky and the light to become softer and more pleasing to the eye.
* * *
Direction of Light
Light not only has quality and quantity, but it also has direction. And like quality and quantity, the direction of the light is part of the overall equation that makes your images look the way they do. In some cases you can control the direction by simply placing yourself on the axis from the sun that you desire. More often than not, however, you are forced to work with the direction of light based on the subject’s location and whether or not you have freedom of movement.
Front-lit subjects (Figure 3.18) show the greatest detail in feathers or fur with little to no shadows. This light is easy to expose when using your camera’s meter, and the exposure range is usually within the sensor’s capability to capture information from the brightest spot to the darkest shadows.
Figure 3.18 Front light is considered best for capturing great detail and low contrast.
Sidelight adds texture, form, and shape to an image (Figure 3.19). Contrast is greater with the shadows and highlights defining your image. Images exhibit more drama, and your subjects exhibit more character with contrast, shadow, and light directing your viewer’s eye within the frame.
Figure 3.19 Sidelight emphasizes the texture of a grizzly bear’s fur.
Many people avoid backlit subjects because they feel that they lose detail in the shadows. I find backlight to be very dramatic and bold, lending a graphic element of shape and form to the subject. With the subject revealed as a silhouette (Figure 3.20), an air of mystery and drama is added to the image.
Figure 3.20 A backlit pelican coming in for a landing is recognizable by its silhouette.
Putting It All Together
All the best equipment and proper shooting techniques are useless without good exposures. The exposure I choose is dictated by light, my subject, what it is doing, and the effect I am hoping to capture. By understanding light and the elements in the exposure triangle, I have complete control over the effects I can achieve with my images. During a spontaneous moment between two Bighorn rams vying for a ewe’s favors, I compromised some noise by selecting a high ISO to reach a shutter speed that would stop the action and give me a sharp image (Figure 3.21).
Figure 3.21 Low light and fast action called for a high ISO to capture the moment.
When a grizzly bear crossed the river, climbed out on the far bank, and began to shake (Figure 3.22), I thanked the photo gods for the backlighting that emphasized the spray of water against the dark background. The lack of detail in the bear draws the viewer’s attention to the spray, which is really the subject in this image. With plenty of light to stop the action, I was able to keep my ISO low, and to emphasize the silhouette effect, I dialed in minus one stop of exposure compensation (more on exposure compensation in Chapter 8, “Advanced Techniques”).
Figure 3.22 Backlighting highlights the spray of water as a bear shakes.
Exposing for a subject in a snow scene is not the challenge it once was. My meter does a great job of getting me in the ballpark, and based on the Highlight warnings, I can make adjustments to my exposure while I still have a chance to get it right on the spot. When a bull elk paused from grazing on the grass shoots sticking out of the snow, I composed and clicked knowing that there would be some blown-out highlights in the bright snow. I chose to let them blow out to keep the detail in the elk (Figure 3.23).
Figure 3.23 With an exposure range greater than my sensor could capture, I