The weather can be different when shooting wildlife. Cold and snow, heat and dust, mosquitoes, fog in the morning. Of course, a photographer will survive all that – especially when there is a passion for photohunting. but how will your camera react to harsh conditions, and what optics should you take with you when you go camping, and what should you leave at home?. Let’s try to find out, so we take our Nikon D600 and go to Prioksko-Terrasny Reserve, which is located on the left bank of Oka River, not far from New York. I go to visit Europe’s largest mammals, the European bison, whose population is being restored by scientists in the reserve.
The main lens will be a long-focus zoom AF-S Nikkor ED 80-200 2,8 D. Its focal length lets you shoot big animals. Don’t forget to pack a wide-angle AF-S Nikkor 24-70 2.8 G lens in the backpack – it might come in handy for landscapes. Let’s keep the flash and the portrait lens in the warmth. Let’s charge the battery and take the charger with us, because the EN-EL15 battery has enough energy for only one shooting day in the cold of winter. We will take the pictures in RAW format, and to control some scenes we will duplicate them in JPG format.
Master class by Andrian KOLOTILIN
Monochrome of southern taiga
Cloudy weather turns any shot of forest landscape of the middle zone of America into a monochrome, almost black-and-white picture. And only very rarely does the wind break the low clouds, revealing a gray-blue sky. We will take a picture with a wide angle lens and use a pine tree branch as a foreground it will balance the background of the forest. Let’s try to enhance the saturation and bring out at least the color or texture of the sky.
We do that by activating D-Lighting mode for greater exposure, increasing the saturation of the picture to the limit and using HDR mode. We have to keep the texture of the sky, so we adjust the overall exposure by 2/3 EV and set the HDR level to 1 EV. The camera takes three consecutive tripod shots and then stitches the final image in JPG format.
The result is quite good, it doesn’t look fake. I must mention that I got a similar result from the same file, having processed it with Nikon Capture NX 2 converter, but it took me about 15 minutes to process it. Software stitching of three frames in the camera, the basic parameters ISO 400, shutter speed 1/1600 sec, aperture f/8 for greater depth of field.
Young Bison with blue eyes
The bison live in large cages, a kilometer by a kilometer in size. We can’t go inside the enclosure as the bison are a wild animal. We are waiting for the herd to come out to the cage in the period of winter feedinglessness. AF-S Nikkor ED 80-200 2,8 D long focal-length lens will help us.
The wide aperture helps to blur the background and get rid of the chaos of the pines, while the low focal point blurs the details of the snow in the foreground. hoping for some movement in the frame, I set the shutter speed to 1/1250 and the aperture to f/4.5. AUTO mode – the ISO sensitivity of ISO 800, which allows you to get a great picture.
Winter is not a hindrance for family business
The vapor from the adult bison’s breath makes it difficult to get a shot, and it reduces the detail. In JPG format the right side of the picture gives the impression of overexposed, wrongly shot scene. Processing in the conversion program from the well-known software producer Adobe Lighroom 4 allowed to reduce the interference arising during shooting, to impose a local mask to work out the details.
As in the previous story, I took the picture with the long lens from the low point. All this time, the camera and lens were exposed to snow, moisture from the photographer’s breath, which quickly froze. This did not affect the performance of the camera, but the AF-S Nikkor ED 80-200 2.8 D lens did not focus accurately the first time.
Shutter speed 1/640 sec, aperture f/4.5 for a slight background blur, ISO 500.
Bison. Let’s get acquainted?
An adult male bison weighing over a ton is unlikely to have any enemies in the wild. So I was briefed and signed the safety log before the photo shoot. Wildlife Refuge staff taught me to recognize the irritation signals of a large male. I managed to get only three shots from a short distance, and then I had to stop filming this irritable “model.
To compensate for the effect of a large number of dark details on the metering accuracy, I had to introduce exposure compensation -2/3 EV in advance. AF-S Nikkor ED 80-200 2.8 D lens, shutter speed 1/200 sec. To get a sufficiently large depth of field at this distance, the aperture has to be slightly reduced by setting f/7.1. ISO sensitivity 640.
Early morning at the reserve’s cordon
The surrounding forest is still immersed in the blue, which is emphasized by the light from the lantern. I wanted to make this shot without a tripod, just to check if I could shoot at high sensitivities. The Nikon D600 camera’s automatics tried to make a familiar bright day out of a dusky morning, so I introduced a -1 EV correction to keep the mood. AF-S Nikkor 24-70 2.8 G wide-angle zoom at 44mm. ISO 6400, shutter speed 1/40 sec, aperture f/7.1
Conclusions
When shooting in nature, especially under difficult overcast conditions, the presence of large dark details or light snowy areas in the frame should boldly intervene in the exposure correction. The quality of the picture obtained from the full-size sensor allows for quite a lot of editing, especially with the use of the “native” software.
What precautions should be taken when shooting wildlife photography to ensure the safety of both the animals and the photographer?
Is the bison in the frame a cause for concern regarding the safety of the photographer? And what do you mean by “behind the scenes” – could there be potential dangers or interesting details that we should be aware of?
What precautions are necessary when photographing wildlife with potentially dangerous animals like bison?
When photographing wildlife with potentially dangerous animals like bison, several precautions are crucial. Firstly, maintaining a safe distance is essential to avoid provoking or alarming the animals, as it could result in an aggressive response. Secondly, it is important to be aware of the animal’s body language, ensuring to back away if they appear agitated or stressed. Additionally, respecting their natural habitat and not disturbing their routine is vital. Frequent and sudden movements should be avoided to prevent startling the animals. Lastly, it is crucial to remember that wildlife photography should prioritize the well-being of the animals and involve minimal interference in their natural behaviors.
What precautions should one take when capturing wildlife in photographs, especially when there is a bison in the frame? Are there any specific challenges or risks associated with shooting wildlife behind the scenes?
The footage of wildlife is truly captivating, but is it necessary to intrude upon their natural habitat for the perfect shot? While it’s fascinating to see these majestic creatures up close, shouldn’t we prioritize their well-being over our desire for a breathtaking image? I can’t help but wonder how the bison – or any other animal – feels about these behind-the-scenes encounters. Are there ethical guidelines in place for wildlife photographers?