Mother & Child

A mother seal gently nudges her pup in the waters of Departure Bay. Canon EOS 7D EF 70-300 at 300mm f/13 1/200 ISO 100

I went out into Departure Bay to get some good images of seals. From my kayak I saw them sunning themselves on the shore. We stayed back quite a ways but many of them were quite curious animals and a seal pup popped up quite close to my kayak. I noticed this and as I pulled up my camera to get a photo the mother popped up right beside and gave the pup a little nudge. It was a great moment that dramatically improved the image I got. The long telephoto, 300mm on a crop sensor camera really brings the image in, gave me a lot of detail and I cropped it in a little tighter when I got home. Photos of wild animals are always interesting but finding a way to tell a story with the image or reveal a behaviour makes them more dynamic and compelling.

-Russell Berg

Iguana In The Sun

An Iguana suns itself on the rocks in Tulum, Mexico. Canon EOS XSi EF-S 70-300mm at 300mm f/7.1 1/400 ISO 250

The animal twitches in the sun.  Flies have settled on it’s tail and it lazily flicks it against the rock to dislodge them.  The heat from the rocks radiates up into it’s body and the lizard settles into the warmth.  

I wanted this picture to be a study in composition.  I saw the opportunity to divide the picture in two with the brightly lit rocks on the left and the dark background on the left.  The line that separates the two areas is very sharp and clearly defined not just by differences in tone but also by the shift in focus.  The background has been thrown out of focus and this makes the sharp edge of the light rocks even more distinct.  However, the element that really makes the picture effective is the fact that the focal point, the Iguana, bridges these two areas.  The viewers eye is drawn either up or down the the dividing line between the two areas and towards the lizard.  It’s head points out into the negative space of the shadow and is clearly defined there.

-Russell

Heron

A great blue heron grabs some lunch. Canon EOS 7D EF 70-300 at 300mm at f/5.6 1/2000 ISO 640

Turtle

A sea turtle floats above me in the Caribbean Sea. Canon G11 at f/4 1/320 ISO 80

I hit the water and the warm inviting depths of the Caribbean sea envelope me.  I take a moment to orient myself and dive down into the water.  There isn’t much coral here, the water is deep and the bottom is sandy so I quickly pick up the movement.  Coming up from the bottom is a sea turtle.  It moves with incredible grace.  The gentle slow sweep of its fins is mesmerizing and its pace and direction is so different from the darting fish that I have been seeing. Wonderful.

I went on a cruise a few years back and this was my first attempt at underwater photography. I got a underwater housing for my Canon G11 and it worked really well but there are some things to watch out for. I was only snorkeling so being able to sit in one place and line up a shot was difficult so I kept the zoomed out wide to try and make sure I would capture what I was aiming at. I also tried to get nice and close as the more water that there is between you and your subject the bluer the picture gets and the harder it is get a proper white balance. It's also nice to use the flash but if there is particulate in the water every single piece will reflect the flash back.

-Russell Berg



Wild Eyes

A white wolf's piercing stare. Canon EOS 7D EF 70-300mm at 300mm f/7.1 1/400 ISO 200

The gaze of a wild thing is something compelling and driven.  It pulls us back to a time only remembered deep in our hindbrain, to a world where our survival depended on understanding these eyes.  And now… now we live in a world that isolates us from the wild and to experience something so vital and primal can be a wonderful experience.

We sometimes forget to consider textures when we are working in a visual medium but textures, even though they are presented visually can have a significant impact on the ways in which the image is perceived.  As I was taking this photo I started with the contrast of the rough old log to the soft almost luxurious fur.  The textural contrast was enhanced by the contrast in colour.  I had never seen a white wolf before but it was very beautiful.  There was also the smooth texture of the tree trunk behind the wolf and the soft out of focus area to the right of the wolf.  There are a lot of textures going on and it helps to build interest in the photograph.

-Russell Berg