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Tag Archives: Nature
2012 Genre a Month Photography Challenge: Wildlife & Nature Photography Take 2
The aim of the 2012 Genre a Month Photography challenge was for me to learn and explore different styles of photography. It’s working. I’m learning already.
I’m learning that with Wildlife Photography, the subject is often just out of sight:
Uncooperative Cows
Or the sun is in the wrong place:
Black Cockatoo plays hard to get in Belanglo State Forest
or it is fleeting and inconsiderately against a poor background:
When it does stay still you're in the wrong spot!
or worst of all, your subject runs away and hides in a big black hole!
Echidna last seen headed this way
On the positive side, I’m delighted that I can go out and spot a black Cockatoo – thank you Andrew. Better yet, I saw my first ever wild echidna!
Given Wildlife was proving difficult, I switched to the ‘Nature’ part of the challenge.
Here too, I am learning.
Learning that flowers are too small:
look too much like cauliflowers:
or cause Andrew to think he’s stumbled on an opium poppy growing in the middle of nowhere (a poppy maybe but an opium one… in a gravel ‘turn-a-round’ near paddocks of cows?)
Above all I learnt that if you take a 100 photos, if you’re lucky, you may find 3 you like. Here they are:
Belanglo State Forest: base of tree in dappled light
The tree above is a favourite because it is simple. I like the colour on the trunk. I like the shadows from the spindly branches above. I like the ‘cross hatching’ of the pine needle carpet.
Bertha the world is slipping!
The ‘tipsy’ cows just makes me laugh. I’m not sure why but in my head they have names like Bertha, Marge and Mildred.
Finally, my favourite shot of the day. A really simple photograph really. I guess I like the juxtaposition of man and nature in the one picture.
If you are participating in the Genre a Month Photography Challenge, please post a comment including a link to your efforts on this page.
2012 Genre a Month Photography Challenge: Wildlife & Nature Photography
Doing a little Sunday afternoon research re: wildlife & nature photography; except it’s Wednesday. (It feels like a Sunday!) For anyone planning on joining me on the 2012 Genre a Month Photography Challenge, January’s genre is Wildlife & Nature Photography. Given January starts next Monday, Andrew and I got a headstart yesterday by visiting Kuringai Chase National Park in Sydney’s north. Is this allowed? It’s my challenge, so absolutely! (As an aside on ‘rules’ there really aren’t any as this is a personal challenge. Even so, in the spirit of the challenge, which is about learning more about different styles of photography, selecting an image which you took last year, doesn’t fit the bill. This is about learning in 2012. About thinking about a style for a month and seeing what I learn at the end of it. So in that vein, I would prefer if fellow-participants – all 2 of you at this point – didn’t select old images. As for starting before the month has started… phhh… quite acceptable!)
Now, where was I? Oh yes, background research. Whatever you do, DON’T go reading the chapter in Tom Ang’s The Complete Photographer on wildlife and nature photography. The images from Stefano Unterthiner and Thomas Marent are so spectacular, you’ll be quitting the challenge before even starting. After seeing these images I realise even my BEST shots of yesterday are worse than ‘pedestrian’ which is how I described them to Andrew last night. Now, I’m not sure what qualifies as worse than ‘pedestrian’ yet my confidence that is where my pictures belong, is unshakeable. I mean really, how unremarkable is this shot?
18-55mm lens at 55mm, f/5.6 at 1/800 sec, ISO 2500, ND2, Close-up +4 filter
The only thing vaguely remarkable about it, is that in the context of my shots, it wasn’t blurry! Can someone make wildlife that doesn’t move?
I’m sure that leaving my neutral density filter on the camera did not help. I forgot that it was underneath the close-up filter.
I had another go with a winged insect (yes, another challenge of Wildlife & Nature photography – I don’t know my insect names!).
Who’s stupid idea was it to put Wildlife & Nature Photography as the first subject in this challenge? January is going to be a long month. Oh well, lots to learn I suppose.
18-55mm lens at 53mm, f/5.6 for 1/80 sec, ISO 250, ND2, +4 close-up filter
Before you think I’ve completely lost my sense of humour, I’ll include 2 more photos from yesterday’s excursion. Both were taken en route to the National Park (for those of you who live in Sydney, you’ll laugh knowing that we went from Redfern to Kuringai Chase National Park via Palm Beach!)
The first, tells me crows can read:
The second is a strange kind of wildlife. Very rare indeed. Only found in a pie shop in Whale Beach.
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