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» Photography tips by Adam Jones and Lewis Kemper
» Adam Jones photography / technical information
» Lewis Kemper photography / technical information
How do you come about finding the perfect places to shoot such great images?
Adam Jones – The old adage, F8 and be there really seems true now and then. Sometimes it is just dumb luck when we’re in the right place at the right time, but usually success is the result of a skillfully crafted plan. Photographers that scout regularly, and are good at it, will be rewarded with more great opportunities than photographers depending on chance. The best time to do your scouting is during the middle of the day when the light is not usually good for shooting.
The general public has this huge misconception that professional photographers simply walk around taking great photos. To consistently get great photos, you need a plan. Most pros scout an area before taking any shots, pre-visualizing what the scene will look like when conditions are perfect, perhaps at sunrise when the fog is lifting or at sunset when the light is warm and gold. What and where you scout depends upon your interest, but basically, you are looking for three things: a good subject, good lighting, and a good background.
You are essentially looking for locations where the subject matter and the lighting come together in a pleasing composition. You choose the subject by framing it with the rectangle inside your viewfinder, you choose the best point of view when the lighting is great, and you have all the ingredients for success. Keep your mind open, and don’t get stuck in the mindset of a “must have’ photo. Things like the weather are beyond our control, so don’t try to force your will upon mother-nature. Do your scouting with an open mind and the opportunities will come! Stack the odds in your favor, do your scouting and reap the rewards.
You mentioned there are three elements in photography - subject, lighting and background. How do you utilize these in composing your images? Do you have a general rule of thumb for these?
Composition
Adam Jones – When I’m searching an area for good landscape compositions, I’m perusing the surrounding landscape with three different mindsets. First, I look at the overall scene, with wide-angle vision. I want the whole scene! I’m looking for a point of view where the foreground, middleground, and background come together to create a pleasing composition. The layering of these three elements adds depth and interest while leading the viewer’s eye through the photograph. Avoid lines that lead the viewer out of the composition. There are many ways to use a wide-angle, but one of the most effective is to frame a large scene with a very eye catching subject close to the camera with a beautiful background subject.
Next, I’m looking for compositional elements that work well with normal to short telephoto lenses. Now, I’m beginning to narrow my focus a bit, looking for mid-range shots. Usually these are not all encompassing, they are intimate compositions found within the larger overall scene, “the scene within the scene”.
Finally, I look at the overall scene with telephoto vision. I’m looking for small scenes to optically extract from the overall view, which means using a fairly long telephoto lens to pull out interesting details.
My general process for creating great landscape pictures is based on elimination. In nature, chaos is everywhere, so we have to carefully define what is important in a cluttered world. We define importance by what we frame inside the little rectangle called the viewfinder. Ruthlessly eliminate every element that does not complement the composition. Unlike the studio photographer who controls the placement of every object within the photo, nature photographers must find the pleasing arrangement of elements. An overlooked consideration is “Point of View” the spot where you decide to shoot. Many amateurs give very little or no thought about the impact their chosen point of view has on the final photo. Moving around a subject changes the relationship of every object in the photo and drastically alters the background. In a nutshell we are seeking out the graphic elements of design: Line, Pattern, Form, Color, and Shape. In addition, find a point of view and lens combination that yields a pleasing arrangement of these basic elements.
Lewis Kemper – Mountains and other scenic landscapes can be photographed under a wide variety of light. From the early morning throughout the day, the majesty of a mountain peak can overcome all but the flattest of light. With the sun shining bright and sky filled with clouds, mountains make great subjects. Be aware of your foregrounds when photographing mountains. You can add depth to an image by including some strong foreground element such as a field of flowers or a person. Remember, when you do this, you want the foreground element and the background element to be in focus.
To do this requires a lot of Depth-of-Field (a photographic term for the amount of the image that is in focus). To obtain maximum Depth-of-Field, use the smallest opening on your lens. These openings, known as f-stops, are numbered. The smallest openings have the largest numbers. An f-stop of f22 will have more Depth-of-Field than an f-stop of 5.6. Since the light that enters your camera is governed by two factors, f-stops (lens opening size) and shutter speeds (duration the shutter remains open), the smaller the f-stop the longer the shutter will need to remain open to allow the same amount of light into your picture. If your shutter remains open for a long time you may end up with a blurry and/or over-exposed image. To get the most Depth-of-Field possible, it is desirable to have a tripod or an image stabilized lens.
Subjects
Lewis Kemper – First and foremost is to fill your frame with your subject. A tiny bison in a wide angle shot with an uninteresting background will not be near as interesting as a frame filling shot of the same animal. Another rule to keep in mind is to have something strong and interesting in your foreground for your wider and more scenic images. If the eye has a place to start and finish, the image will have a greater impact than an image with just one element in it. Also, remember your eyes are attracted to the brightest areas of a photograph, so you do not want the brightest part to be on or very near the edges because your eye will go to the edge and then right out of the frame. The placement of that frame around the subject is very important. If you have a horizon, make sure the frame is parallel and align with the horizon. If your subject is looking right, make sure there is room in the frame to the right. Don’t cut off feet, tails, and tops of mountains or bottoms of waterfalls if you can help it. Having leading lines like a river running back to a waterfall add dimension and depth to an image. Think before you press the shutter. After you take your image, check the picture and see if the composition is pleasing. Check around the edges to make sure there are no distractions like a part of a tree branch, a person, or a car in the frame that you might have not noticed when you took the image.
Adam Jones – Small apertures like f22 are required to get the depth-of-field needed to render both near and far subjects in sharp focus. The resulting slower shutter speed means a tripod is essential, especially in low morning and late afternoon light. The trick is to get very close to the foreground subject and then tilt the camera downward to include only the desired amount of sky in the picture. If you get confused about which F-numbers give you the most depth, try this: Pretend you are focused down the length of a picket fence: At f22 you could have 22 pickets in focus; at f4 you may only have 4 pickets in focus. This is an easy reminder about what F-stops do.
Lighting
Adam Jones – Become a student of light, as photographers we are painting with light. Match your subject matter to the lighting. Soft overcast light is great for flowers, people, and shooting in the forest. Bright sunny days are great for stopping action, and for scenic landscapes that include the sky. Even common everyday subjects can be spectacular when photographed in beautiful light. Don’t be afraid to experiment; try new approaches, viewpoints, and techniques. At worst you’ll learn from your mistakes, and you’ll be growing as a photographer.
I tend to shoot early in the morning or late in the afternoon when sunlight is low and directional. When the light is directional we have many options when selecting a great point of view. The sun can be behind us with light coming over our shoulder “frontlighting”, or lighting the subject from the left or right “sidelighting” or lighting from behind the subject “backlighting”.
Lewis Kemper – When you look for picture opportunities in the park, try and figure out by the sun’s position, when the best time would be to photograph that subject. Check maps to see which direction a feature faces. Does it have a southern or eastern exposure? Where will the sun be at different times of the day in relation to this feature? Answering these questions will make your images better. If you come to a spot that you like and the light is not right, try to figure out what time of day will have better light and return to that spot. Remember, no picture is worth harming the environment or wildlife within. Please follow all park rules and have a memorable and safe visit.
When taking wildlife images it is helpful to change your vantage points. Instead of taking all your images from your eye level, get on the eye level of your subject. Sometime this requires lying on the ground or kneeling. Pay attention to the light! Good light will help with any subject. When the light is flat and even, try to fill your frame with your subject. If you have good backlighting, take advantage of it and show some of the environment. With wildlife, you must always be prepared and ready to take advantage of what comes your way.
Background
Adam Jones – Approach your nature shooting with an open mind and adapt your shooting to the conditions you are presented with. For example: When cloudy conditions prevail, don’t shoot a scenic landscape with a white ugly sky, select interesting elements but don’t include the sky. Choose a background that will not clutter and compete with your subject.
Are there any other factors to consider when photographing?
Lewis Kemper – As a nature photographer, you plan your subjects and your days based on the light, but there are some other factors to consider when taking pictures besides just the light. For example, the shutter speed you choose will make the biggest difference in how a waterfall will appear in your image. A fast shutter speed will freeze the action of the water, while a slow shutter speed will give movement and a soft milky effect to the water. The correct shutter speed needed to freeze the action will depend on how big a waterfall is and how large it appears in your image. If you are shooting a huge waterfall such as Yosemite Falls with a wide angle lens, a shutter speed of 1/60 sec to 1/125 sec will freeze the water, but if you zoomed in with a longer focal length lens than a shutter speed of 1/250 sec to 1/1000 sec will be necessary. If you are trying to blur this same waterfall with the wide angle lens, you will need a shutter speed of 1/8 sec or slower to give you a nice flowing motion. With the telephoto lens a shutter speed as fast as 1/60 will still give a feeling of motion. It’s always important to use a tripod, but when photographing with slow shutter speed it’s imperative. If the camera is not kept still with a tripod during the exposure, your image will show camera movement. To make sure you get the effect you want, you should take many exposures at different shutter speeds and check the cameras LCD screen (if using a digital SLR camera) to see if you have achieved your desired results. Using the Shutter-Priority (you select the shutter speed and the camera picks the aperture – lens opening) mode on your camera will make this even easier!
Wildlife, especially those found in our national parks, should be treated with respect. These animals are wild and despite their sometimes casual, tame appearance; they should be photographed from a distance using a telephoto lens. A lens of 200mm or longer is highly recommended for photographing elk, deer, bison and other large herbivorous mammals. If you were photographing carnivores such as bear, and wolf or some of the smaller mammals such as coyotes, raccoon, and ground squirrels, a lens of 300 – 600mm would be preferred. Again, when using a large lens, you would either want the support of a tripod or the benefit of an image stabilized lens to insure sharper images. Most important, do not threaten the animal or encroach on its territory. Take good safe pictures!
What lenses do you prefer when photographing outdoors?
Adam Jones – For general shooting I usually take two or three zoom lenses. Yes, zoom lenses! Modern zooms have reached the point where image quality is indistinguishable from non zoom lenses.
Wide Angle
To cover more shooting situations consider an extra wide zoom in the range of 16-35 or 17-40. Either of these wide-angle zooms easily captures the widest scenes and allows one to frame near far subjects into pleasing compositions. Wide-angles lenses are often used to stretch the apparent distance between objects in the photo. Keep in mind that wide-angle lenses encompass a lot of territory, so keeping the composition clean and simple becomes more difficult.
Telephoto
Beginners often make the fatal mistake of including too many elements in their photos. This creates cluttered and busy images without a clearly defined subject. Often the best solution is to switch to a longer “telephoto” lens and back up from the subject. The narrower angle of view of a telephoto helps reduce the visual clutter behind subjects, thus emphasizing the intended subject. A telephoto lens does exactly the opposite of a wide-angle, telephotos compress perspective making objects in the photo appear closer together.
So the next suggestion is for a moderate telephoto lens. My favorite moderate telephoto is the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens, which is great for isolating or extracting subjects from their surroundings. This focal length works well for zooming in on small rushing water details and for sunrise and sunset situations. Remember, less really is more! More affordable options can be found with image-stabilized zooms in the 75-300mm range. With just three zooms, I can handle just about any travel assignment.
Macro
A macro lens is useful for frame filling photos of small subjects in the field. Any focal length macro lens will work, but I much prefer the EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM to the 50mm and 100mm varieties. The longer focal length provides additional working distance between the subject and camera, which is crucial with skittish subjects. And once again telephoto designs help eliminate distracting background details. Macro lenses are highly corrected specialized lenses for close-up work; however they are also excellent for regular shooting as well.
If you could only take one lens on a trip, which one would you choose?
Adam Jones – If I could only take one lens with me, it would be Canon’s new EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens which is ideal for so many general shooting situations.
What is the ideal equipment for wildlife photography?
Lewis Kemper – Wildlife photography has its own set of rules and equipment. As I stated earlier, the most important rule is to respect the animals and not to infringe on their behavior or threaten them. That aside, a good telephoto lens, or two, a tripod and a flash are the mainstays of wildlife photographers.
Personally my favorite wildlife lens is my EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM, an image stabilized telephoto lens. The 400mm gives me a pretty good reach and if I attach the Extender 1.4x II to the lens it becomes a 560mm lens. When I am going to photograph predators or smaller wildlife and don’t have too far to walk with my gear, I like to have a 500mm lens; and with the Extender 1.4x II, it becomes a 700mm lens.
If I were specializing in birds, I would substitute the EF 500mm f/4L IS USM with the EF 600mm f/4L IS USM lens. When using these longer lenses, a tripod really helps to steady the camera. Even though these are all image- stabilized lenses, the tripod is still essential for tack sharp images. The EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM is not too heavy and can be hand held effectively when needed.
A flash can come in handy for adding light to the shadow side of an animal’s face and for adding a catch of light in the animal’s eye. With a telephoto lens, you may needs to add an attachment to your flash so that it will project the beam farther than normal.
How important is a tripod?
Adam Jones – Aside from the vast improvement in sharpness, a tripod forces you to slow down and study your composition. This is the only piece of equipment you can purchase and use that immediately improves your photography. Why pay for high quality optics if you’re willing to settle for less than critically sharp handheld images?
There are many types of tripods. How do you select the right one?
Adam Jones – All tripods are not created equal, so purchase one that performs well in various situations and one that will last for many years. A tripod should be tall enough for you to work comfortably from your eye level, without raising the center column. Bending over behind a tripod soon takes the fun out of shooting. The best tripods also have a way to spread the legs to accommodate shooting at ground level. A long center column should be avoided because it interferes with getting down to ground level. Next you’ll want to equip your tripod with some kind of head. There are generally two styles: three way pan tilt heads, and ball heads. The selection of a good head is often the difference between loving and hating your tripod. In addition, you’ll need a way to attach the camera or lens to the head on the tripod. A quick release system allows you to quickly attach and remove you camera from the head, but once again all quick release systems are not created equal. Stay away from any quick release system that attaches camera plates and lens plates with a thumbscrew. To really be solid, quick release plates must be attached with small wrenches. Plates attached finger tight are always loose and wobbly which defeats the whole concept of holding your camera perfectly still. Lastly, you should use a cable release or electronic release to trip your cameras shutter without touching the camera, which induces camera shake.
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