Into The Sun

A Great Blue Heron at Neck Point, Nanaimo flies off into the sun. Canon EOS 7D EF 70-300mm at 244mm f/11 1/200 ISO 100The great rush of air on the first downbeat of the wings pushes out past me as the heron lifts off.  It is a large gangly thing that it seems should not fly... until you see it in the air.  Then it is all grace and power full of life that not just lives in the air but belongs there.  Everything about it from the curve of its wing to the arc in its neck speaks of a supple elegance that belongs in the skies. 

This morning I went off to Neck Point with my notebook and my camera.  I could feel the day’s heat beginning to rise as I walked along the shore.    A lady who was walking by pointed out a heron standing  just off shore.  The sun was was already getting high and the light wasn’t great so I decided to expose for a silhouette instead of trying to get a standard exposure.  I needed a small aperture to put the bird into silhouette but I also wanted the sun sparkling on the water to go out of focus.  Fortunately the depth of field on a long telephoto lens is far more limited than on a wide angle so even at f/11 I got a sparkly out of focus glow from the water.  The tendency of a long lens to compress distances in the image also makes it look as though the water is rising up in the background. I was inspired to produce this image by an ebook which I am currently reading.  It is called "Finding Focus" and it is an excellent discussion of focus, depth of field, and the impact of focal length on your images.  Nicole Young writes it and she does excellent work; it is only $5.00 and there is huge value there. 

-Russell Berg 

Mama, No!

A mother seal rejects her pup’s attempts to feed. Canon EOS 7D EF 70-300mm at 300mm f/5.6 1/800 ISO 100

My daughter and I went kayaking out in Departure Bay this morning and we visited the Harbour Seals that live on an island out in the bay.  We drifted in nice and slow and didn’t get too close so that they wouldn’t all go in the water.  My 70-300 showed it’s worth as it pulled the seals in nice and close and I was still able crop the image down to get even closer and still have lots of resolution to have a crisp image.  This little pup was moving in to try and feed from it’s mother but she was having none of that and whacked him on the nose with her flipper.  It was a beautiful moment and it was a privilege to be able to see it.  I love the texture of the fur and rolls on the pup’s neck as he tries to dodge his mom’s flipper.

-Russell Berg

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