TechniqueWhyitworks
Overtheyears,I’vespenta lot
of timephotographingwildlife
alongtheSuffolkcoast.I loveit
there– it’ssucha contrastto
LondonwhereI’mbased,and
thewildlifeis fantastic.One
speciesI’vealwaysbeenkeen
tophotographtherehasbeen
barnowls,anda fewsummers
agoI spentmanyeveningsover
a three-weekperiodwatching
andphotographingthemasa
pairof birdshuntedoverthe
grasslandandmarshlandon
eithersideof a countryroad.
AsI wantedtophotograph
themintothesettingsun,I was
restrictedtophotographing
themonthesideof theroad
wherethesunwentdown.
I wouldsetupa coupleof hours
beforesunset,andtheowls
wereoutmostevenings,
presumablywithsomehungry
mouthstofeedbackat thenest!
Asthesunwasapproaching
thehorizon,I wasdesperately
hopingforoneof thebirdstofly
in linewiththesun.Fortunately,
thisonedid,andjustasit wasin
theperfectspot,it suddenly
turnedandplungedstraight
intothegrass.It wasa magical
moment.I reallylikethelight
comingthroughthewings,as
wellasallthetinyfliesin the
airthathavebeenilluminated
by the low sun.andrimlighting,whereas
if youprefertokeepsome
detailinyoursubject,expose
forthedarkerareas.If you
wanttoexposeforthesedarker
areas,spotmeteringcanbe
veryhelpful,sothecamera
exposesforwhateveryour
focuspointis on.Thisis a
goodoptionif youaretryingto
exposeforthemainbodyofthe
subject.I tendtousemanual
exposure,however,asthetone
ofthesubjectcansometimes
affectthemeterreading.
CheckingtheLCD
IstillmakesurethatI regularly
checktheimagesonmy
camera’sLCDscreentoensure
I’mhappywiththeresults.
If youpreferthehistogram,
remember that it will look very
differentfromfront-litimages,
asit willprobablyhavepeaks
onboththeleftandrightsides
owingtotheshadowsand
highlightspresent,soI prefer
tousetheLCDscreentoseeif
I’mpleasedwiththeeffect.Bracketingexposures
Oneusefultrickwhenshooting
intothelightis tobracket
exposures;thismeansyou
couldtakethreeimages,and
adjusttheexposureslightly
eachtime,thereforegiving
youthreedifferentexposures
(andthreecompletelydifferent
appearances)tochoosefrom
whenyoureviewyourimages
laterona computerscreen.
Whenphotographingbacklit
subjects,thinkaboutyour
background. Any bright areaswilldistractviewersfromthe
resultingimages,soit reallyis
worthadjustingyourposition
toavoidthemif youcan.Also,
trytofinda backgroundthat
is a darkcolour,sothatthe
well-litedgesstandoutmore
againstthebackground.Experiment
Hopefullythisarticlewillgive
yousomeideasforwhatyou
couldtrywhenyou’renextout
photographingwildlife.The
bestadviceI cangiveis to
experiment;tryoutdifferent
lightanglesona varietyof
subjects;thiswayyoucanfind
outwhatyouprefer.Aswithall
wildlifephotography,please
rememberthatthewelfareof
yoursubjectmust always
come fi rst.Thelightcomingthrough
thewingsoftheowl,and
thefliessurroundingthe
bird,reallymakethisshot
NikonD800,400mmwith2x
teleconverter, 1/3200sec at f/5.6, ISO 1600Withthesunlargely
behindhimOscarwas
abletomakethe
mostoftherichcolours
NikonD300s,200-400mm,
1/400sec at f/4, ISO 500