field, but you can also create stunning
images with a simple set up of a folding
cloth softbox with one or two flashes.
Most softboxes come with a reflective
piece of white plastic. If you only have
one flash, set up the flash on one side of
the softbox and the plastic on the other.
This will bounce the light from the flash
and fill the box to evenly light your sub-
ject. Softboxes also come with black or
white fabric to vary your background.
I used the softbox at night after field
work was done. But beware: Light at
night attracts a torrent of bugs. This can
provide you with plentiful macro sub-
jects, but you don’t want them invading
and making a mess of the softbox. We
set up our softbox inside a large mos-
quito net to hold back the bug flood. As
this set up requires handling subjects,
work with scientists who can help you
handle creatures appropriately without
causing harm.
Shooting On The Move
A photographer’s main activity is often
sitting, watching and waiting. That’s
not realistic on most expeditions. With
few exceptions, we were always on the
move. There was rarely time to sit in the
forest and wait for an animal to appear.
I had to be ready for what showed up
in the branches and shoot as we and the
animals were moving.
Cameras with fast continuous shooting
rates and precise autofocus are essential
when trying to document wildlife in these
conditions. Also make sure you have
several pro-grade memory cards with
read/write speeds that can keep up with
burst shooting. There’s nothing more
frustrating than pushing the shutter to
photograph a rare animal and nothing
happens because your card buffer is full.
I learned to keep my camera at the
ready day and night to capture unex-
pected moments. I also learned to seize
every extra opportunity to work inde-
pendently: an afternoon when a field
team was back early and a boat and
driver were freed up; night photog-
raphy when the boat was docked; a
canceled field day spent photographing
river dolphins. Get up before dawn,
stay awake to photograph the stars,
use dark hours to shoot subjects in thesoftbox and sleep when you get home.
Slight changes in perspective added
some variety to my images. When it
wouldn’t disturb the surveys, I ran ahead
of or to the side of scientists when hik-
ing. I’d set up a shot with a good back-
ground and wait for them to enter the
frame. I also asked to change my seat in
the canoes each day so I wasn’t always
photographing from the same angle.Protection For Your
Camera Gear
Not many environments have the poten-
tial to destroy your equipment like the
constant moisture and humidity of theOne of the few sightings of the rare
Vanzolini’s saki monkey. This male is
from a family of three; the other two
had already bolted away from our
boat. Sakis are found only in South
America. The golden hair on their
forearms, legs and chest distinguish
Vanzolini’s from other species of sakis.
Sakis’ long fluffy tails help them steer
in the air as they leap from tree to tree,
giving them the nickname “macacos-
que-voo,” or flying monkey.70 Outdoor Photographer outdoorphotographer.com