Archive for 'Wildlife'
Guest blogger on the Telegraph
Posted on 27. Mar, 2009 by Paul Burwell.
I’ve been a little under the weather the last while and haven’t been blogging as regular as I should. But, if you get a chance, check out my guest article on Kate Day’s blog on the UK’s Telegraph. I discuss what it takes to get prepared…
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February Update – Foxes, we got foxes!
Posted on 18. Feb, 2009 by Paul Burwell.
My last update featured some foxes I’d managed to find and this update continues that focus with some images from another fox den. The images in today’s update were made alongside a sparsely travelled secondary highway around Mayerthorpe in Alberta. On my first journey to find the fox den, I was treated to a spectacular thunderstorm that literally shook and rattled my vehicle while it…
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Photoshop Tutorial – Creating PhotoStrips
Posted on 11. Feb, 2009 by Paul Burwell.
Photo Strips WildShots Photoshop Tutorial – In today’s Photoshop tutorial, I take a look at Photoshop’s Photomerge capabilities. I show you how to use those capabilities to combine a number of images or consecutive frames into…
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Winter Photography – Video from my winter wildlife workshop
Posted on 27. Jan, 2009 by Paul Burwell.
My Winter Wildlife Photography Workshop had a total of six participants plus myself. It was a really great group of people from a wide range of backgrounds from all over North America. During the workshop the participants photographed a…
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January Update
Posted on 12. Jan, 2009 by Paul Burwell.
If you, like a lot of North Americans, are suffering through a long cold winter, you’ll hopefully get some warmth from this month’s update that focuses on some spring wildlife of Alberta, and specifically Red Fox and their Kits.
With the help of the…
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Learning wildlife photography – Getting eye-to-eye
Posted on 09. Jan, 2009 by Paul Burwell.
Learning wildlife photography – Getting eye-to-eye – Many captivating wildlife images are made at the animal’s eye level. When you can and it is safe to do so, move to a lower shooting position that puts your camera’s lens at or near the animal’s eye level. It makes the animal look more majestic and compelling when…
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Learning wildlife photography – Getting close
Posted on 30. Dec, 2008 by Paul Burwell.
Getting close – There can be few things more frustrating than figuring out how to get close to wildlife. One option is to photograph captive animals at a game farm, animal park or zoo. Another is to go to places where the animals are known to congregate fairly reliably like a wildlife refuge’s blind or attend a wildlife photography tour. And the third method, and the one that takes the most effort by the photographer, is to learn about the animals, learn where they are likely…
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Learning wildlife photography – The three P’s
Posted on 24. Dec, 2008 by Paul Burwell.
The three P’s are (in no particular order), patience, patience and finally patience.
In my experience, there is no other commodity of more value to the wildlife photographer than patience; the patience to get up early to meet the sunrise and find some wildlife, only to discover that the animals have missed the appointment; the patience to find a cooperative subject who doesn’t flee on site; the patience to watch and learn an animal’s behaviour. And, the patience to keep persevering when, after all other conditions were perfect, it just wasn’t the day for any compelling images to be made.
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Learning wildlife photograhy – Natural history
Posted on 23. Dec, 2008 by Paul Burwell.
Natural History – Members of the public are often amazed at the great wildlife photographs they see. When a casual photographer gets close enough to take wildlife shots they are often frustrated at the images they produce. A professional wildlife photographer has learned where to go to find the photographic opportunities and developed a knack for anticipating behaviours. It is through this anticipation and experience that truly memorable behavioural shots are created.
One approach to wildlife photography is to drive randomly around a location hoping to come across something worth photograhing. Another approach, and the one I prefer, is to do some research. I’ll target a species or two that I’m interested in photographing. Then I’ll spend some time Googling for information about the species to learn their habits and the sort of locales they tend to hand out. With that information in hand I’ll build myself a route to follow that is most likely to give me an opportunity to photograph the species I’m looking for.
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Learning wildlife photography – Equipment considerations
Posted on 22. Dec, 2008 by Paul Burwell.
Equipment – Photographing wildlife is often characterized by long periods of inaction, followed by a short period of action and then a return to inaction. If you need to fumble with your equipment to get your subject in focus, or to dial in the correct exposure, you’re going to miss opportunities and those unique shots. Practice and more practice is the prescription for improving and maintaining your skills.
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