Wildlife Photography_ From Snapshots to Great Shots - Laurie Excell [35]
Figure 6.2 A fast super telephoto allowed me to get frame-filling head shots of a bear shaking off water as it emerges from the river.
Teleconverters
If you already have a super telephoto lens, think about adding a teleconverter to increase your focal length even more, giving you tighter cropping (Figure 6.3). Nikon and Canon offer teleconverters that are designed to match specific lenses for the best performance. The 1.4X teleconverter works well with lenses that have an f4 maximum aperture, and the 1.7X (Nikon) or 2X teleconverters are fully compatible with telephoto lenses of 2.8 or wider apertures.
Figure 6.3 Adding a 1.7X teleconverter to a 600mm f4 lens resulted in the equivalent of a 1000mm f6.7 lens.
Third-party lens companies also offer teleconverters that fit most lenses but are not as sharp as those designed by the camera manufacturer. Plus, when they are mounted to a lens with a maximum aperture of 5.6 or less, autofocus is lost, not to mention the loss of light that may cause your shutter speed to drop into the blurring range when you don’t want that effect. I tend to shy away from third-party teleconverters for these reasons.
Getting Closer Physically—Blinds
Whether a super telephoto lens is in your future or not, shooting from blinds is another way to get closer to your subject. Some subjects are more nervous than others; small birds, for example, take flight at the slightest sound or movement. Shooting from an established blind that is placed near an active wildlife crossing to using your car, a buggy, a boat, or even a canoe as a blind are all good techniques for close-ups. By camouflaging your human shape, you can often get closer to wildlife than if you approach it on foot.
Photographing from Established Blinds
The ranches I visit in South Texas provide established blinds near water holes that are frequented by many different species of birds during the hot spring months. Wildlife is attracted to water to drink and to bathe. By strategically placing a blind near a water hole (Figure 6.4), you can photograph from a much closer range than normal. The blind camouflages your shape and minimizes movement, preventing birds from flying away. Permanent blinds can be quite comfortable for the photographer (Figure 6.5) as well as have room to set up chairs, a table for your binoculars, a bird book and notebook, and so on.
Figure 6.4 Shooting from a blind minimizes human impact on wildlife.
Figure 6.5 Permanent blinds have room to set up a chair and some comforts for the long haul.
Once you have settled into the blind and the birds don’t sense movement or hear noise for a while, they will resume their activities and provide you with many photo opportunities (Figure 6.6).
Figure 6.6 A Hooded Oriole lands on a perch to scan the area for danger before dropping down to the water.
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Note
Drink plenty of water when photographing in hot conditions. It’s easy to become dehydrated, which will shut down a photo shoot in a big hurry.
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Your Car as a Blind
Your car can serve as a mobile blind at many refuges and parks. Wildlife becomes accustomed to vehicles, yet will flee at the first site of a person out of the car. Several window-type mounts (Figures 6.7 and 6.8) can aid you in shooting from the car window or rooftop. They include beanbags, an L.L. Rue window mount, and a Puffin Pad, to name a few.
Figure 6.7 The Puffin Pad is a high-density, rigid foam construction that is designed to hug the window. A Walt Anderson panning plate is attached to the lens foot.
Figure 6.8 Many window supports are available to choose from depending on whether you are shooting from a window or the roof of a safari vehicle.
A normally shy American Kestral (Figure 6.9) posed for me as I photographed it from my car window using an L.L. Rue window mount at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.