Wildlife Photography_ From Snapshots to Great Shots - Laurie Excell [43]
Figure 8.9 When the graph bunches up against the left side, the histogram indicates that there is information that is black with no detail, as in the image of the Reddish Egret in Figure 8.1.
Figure 8.10 A histogram that bunches up against both sides of the graph indicates the exposure range is greater than the sensor can capture in one click.
* * *
Note
How high the bars go (in a vertical line) in a histogram doesn’t affect an image in the same way as the left-to-right orientation. The height of the bars simply indicates how much of that particular tonality is in an image.
* * *
Panning for Stop Action or Blur Motion
Having a good panning technique is essential for capturing action. Whether you want to stop action with a fast shutter speed or blur motion with a slow shutter speed, using proper handholding or long-lens techniques, as discussed in Chapter 2, will aid you in capturing the effect you desire. Although I mentioned continuous focus and advance in a previous chapter, I thought the following example would really drive home the reason for using these settings.
Stop Action
On a visit to Florida to photograph birds, an early morning visit to Fort DeSoto yielded a Yellow-crowned Night Heron hunting. How did I know that it was hunting? (See the discussions about knowing your subject’s behavior in Chapter 4.) It was stalk-still, staring intently at something only it could see. Understanding its basic behavior, I knew that the bird was hunting and I should: a) be ready for some action, and b) be able to move in a bit closer because it was totally focused on its prey and wasn’t paying any attention to me. I quickly and carefully moved in closer, lowering my tripod to its nearly ground level to be eye to eye with the night heron. I composed, focused, checked exposure, and waited. People walked by; other photographers stopped to shoot a few quick frames and then moved on; I continued to wait, eye to the viewfinder, left hand on my lens, and right hand on the shutter release. It took several minutes of waiting (not long in the world of wildlife photography) when suddenly the night heron took off running, lunging at a crab, grabbing it, and devouring it right before my eyes (Figure 8.11). When it was over, I let out my breath, realizing I had been holding it for a while because I was just as intent on capturing the photo as the night heron was at capturing its breakfast.
Figure 8.11 Continuous advance and focus along with excellent reflexes and patience yielded a sequence of images of a Yellow-crowned Night Heron capturing a crab for breakfast. Having a camera with a high frames-per-second advance allowed me to make several frames in a split second, with several that would be considered peak of action. The hardest part is deciding which images I like the best. Being on the same plane as the bird and crab enabled me to keep my ISO low and open the aperture to 5.6, yielding a shutter speed of 1/2000, which stopped the action dead in its tracks.
Later, when I viewed the images, I was very pleased to see the sequence from the lunge to the crumbs. All images were sharp, well composed, and told a great story. It was later when I was looking at the images again and reading the EXIF data that I realized just how fast these things can happen. I was shooting with my Nikon D3S at 9 frames per second. I held down on the shutter through the entire event. In all, I captured 11 images. So, without even pulling out a calculator, it was plain to see that having the right equipment (Chapter 1) and skills for the job, and exercising patience yielded yet another “lucky” shot.
Blur Motion
Although a fast shutter speed stops the action, creating a powerful image as you share a split second of time with your viewers, a slow shutter speed provides an image with a feeling of motion and a dreamy, soft look. Creating beautiful blurs is definitely a challenge. You don’t just go out flinging your lens in any direction