By Darwin Wiggett

©Darwin Wiggett

When it is a gray colourless day and the light is blah how do you make a more interesting shot? Two ways; one, turn the photo into a B+W and work with the natural monochrome look. Or two, slap on the Singh-Ray Gold-n-Blue polarizer and colour the reflective highlights in the scene with a sheen of blue or gold. Here the polarizer not only blued-up the water, it added lots of warmth to the sky and to the foreground rock which in the end gave me a ‘keeper’. This is Kathleen Lake in Kluane National Park in the Yukon Territory.

When I became serious about nature photography subject matter was an issue.  A close friend introduced me to bird photography.  Photographing birds is an awesome challenge.  Just getting close enough to capture details is difficult.  As well, stopping actions of birds requires that one develop good eye hand coordination.

Good equipment is essential to photographing birds.  Two fundamentals are important.  First, a camera that can capture five to 10 frames per second.  Second, a telephoto lens that gets one close enough to the subject and can focus quickly.

Stanley Goes Fishing

My first year or so was frustrating.  I began with a point and shoot camera digital camera.  I could not afford shooting film, it was too expensive to process.  So, I waited until the technology evolved.

Oyster Catcher Morning

Click on Photograph for a larger version.

So, let me focus, if you will, on some fundamental aspects of doing bird photography.

1.  Getting close.

Birds have wondrous details but to capture the details one must get close enough to capture the most fine ones.  How?  Observe behavior.  It is fundamental.  One must know what an animal’s territorial imperative is.  That is, at what distance can one get to an animal before it flees?  I learned from an early age, having grown up in a Florida swamp, that all animals have a defined distance that determines whether it will stay put or run away.  I also learned that each animal has certain behaviors that may allow one to get closer.  For example, if a bird is feeding as opposed to hunting, one can get closer.  The bottom line is to never approach a bird directly, let the bird come to you, or move parallel with the bird until its behavior means that it is focused on something other than you.

Gannet Love

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In the photograph above, the two birds were occupied in courting behavior.  As such, my presence was unnoticed by the birds and I was able to get very close to them without disturbing the action.

Some of the world’s best photographers use blinds.  And, they often use heavy tripods and specially designed equipment for mounting heavy and very long telephoto lenses.  Others, myself included, often shoot from vehicle windows.  Vehicles are good blinds.  But, all in all, the real challenge of bird photography is to shoot hand held.

2.  Work on eye/hand coordination.

This came natural to me, having extensive experience shooting rifles from an early age that grew through the years of my military service.  Yes, rifle marksmanship can aid in good photography skills.  When asked how one might develop such skills, I have always responded by suggesting that one practice photographing a basketball thrown by a friend.  I know it sounds crazy, but it works.  Back yard practice following the basketball with your camera and lens will help develop your eye/hand coordination.  Such is fundamental to stopping a bird in flight.

Headed Home

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In the photograph above I was able to stop the action of a Puffin in flight because I both observed the behavior of thousands of these wonderful creatures and learned to anticipate what they might do next.  As well, I was panning with the bird.  Course, I must admit, that for every shot of a Puffin in flight that I caught in focus and sharp I have 100 shots that were out of focus.  Puffins are swift fliers and they are erratic in movement.  It ain’t easy.

3. Be prepared for the unexpected.

Birds are active creatures.  As is all wildlife.  Action will occur, it is simply a matter of time.  If one is prepared with the proper exposure and correct camera settings, who knows what you might capture?

The Toss

In the example above, I was fortunate to observe the Anhinga swimming in a lake so I kept my camera pointed in the area where the bird was feeding.  Anhinga’s spear fish with their beaks then surface and often shake the fish loose by moving their heads upwards, thus tossing the fish in the air.  It is a behavior that I have observed hundreds of times.  I was fortunate to have been prepared for this shot.

Anticipate what might occur around you.  As in this example of a Swallow on a railing that I photographed in Alaska.  I was looking for a Moose, I found a Tree Swallow.

Tree Swallow on Railing

4.  Think about composition.

Composition is fundamental to photography.  An ordinary shot can become something quite unique through creative composition.

Ibis World

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Likewise, depth of field can produce interesting results.  This shot would not have been successful if I had used a different aperture.

5.  Capture the Critical Moment.

Photographs of birds are much more interesting if one is able to capture the critical moment, as in this example of an Oyster Catcher with water droplets.

Droplets in Time

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Here, observation of the bird’s behavior paid off.  I knew that the bird would raise its head and that water droplets would fall.  All it took was repeated shots each time the bird raised its head to get this one shot with the droplets falling.

6. Go where the birds are.

I love to travel and I often go to specific places to photograph specific things.  If one wants to photograph Bald Eagles, Alaska is the place to go.

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If one wants to photograph exotic birds, a trip to the Galapagos Islands is a great place to visit.

Red-billed Tropic Bird

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Or, if you want something really special, try your backyard.  You never know what bird might stop by to say hello.

Backyard Hawk

In my view, bird photography is a great way to improve your overall photographic skills.  Like any endeavor, thinking about what you are doing is critical.

And too, sometimes we just get lucky.

Happy shooting.

Christmas Hawk

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By Melanie

Though from the name they appear two separate islands Lewis and Harris are in fact one landmass with an artificial separation created in the past by a division in the Clan MacLeod. Lewis makes up the northern two-thirds of the island with Harris to the south.

Why Go?

A trip to the Western Isles is a little like stepping back in time, in some spots you feel you have stepped back ten years, in others twenty, and in others many, many more.

It is a land that is wild and rugged, dramatic in places from the cliffs of the north east of Lewis and the mountains of Harris to the calm serenity of the machair in spring and the peace of the long silver sands on a windless day. You will find ancient relics that are worth visiting simply for the experience of being there, though in the ever-changing light produced by the weather from the Atlantic you will want to get your camera out of its bag to capture some of the wild beauty of times past.

How To Get There

You can fly to Stornoway and pick up a hire car, or you can travel by car crossing by CalMac ferry from either Uig on Skye to Tarbert or from Ullapool to Stornoway.

My Trip

My trip here was in March 2007, staying a week on Lewis and a week on Harris. I travelled by car via the CalMac ferry from Uig to Tarbert. Driving conditions between Broadford and Uig were not the best and it was with a measure of apprehension that I arrived at a ferry terminal empty apart from two vans. We did sail, the crossing was rough but otherwise uneventful. It transpired this was the last crossing to the island for several days and by the following weekend the supply of petrol and diesel was almost non-existent. That the weather was this wild I took as being normal, even when I had some difficulty opening the door of the car because of the strength of the wind. It was not a pleasant drive from Tarbert to my first destination, Aird Uig, a rocky headland on the west coast of Lewis, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. All the way I could see images to capture if the conditions had been just a little kinder.

My self-catering accommodation, The Guard House, was cavernous with a choice of rooms to sleep in. I was a little concerned about the heating, which was powered by a coal-fired Rayburn, but was assured by the caretaker that it kept the place ‘as warm as toast.’ My concerns were not unfounded: there were the ‘epic’ trips out to get in the coal, which meant donning the warmest clothes I had with waterproofs and wellies; having to light the thing to warm up and dry out after a day out and waking up each morning in the cold even if I’d stoked it to the top before going to bed each night. There was a good selection of reading material, local information, a well equipped kitchen, a choice of bathrooms and a restaurant next door (closed as I was there out of season).

My first photographic foray was about an hour after I arrived: a short break in the cloud found me heading by foot down a track to a small bay below the house. Near disaster followed:

I was engulfed by a wave that sent the camera and myself reeling. I beat a rapid retreat, stopping briefly to dry off the camera with my microfibre towel. My heart was pounding and my hands shaking, but importantly we both survived.

After a night’s sleep interrupted by the howling wind, the next morning tried to dawn but didn’t, I was only too happy to stay in bed! My start to the week had been dramatic and in the week to follow there were some very trying conditions, but they did lead to some stunning breaks in the light. I saw some truly remarkable places and was struck by how even the most visited of spots retained  a mood of isolation.

True to form the weather broke on my last day, I took a trip up to the far north east of the island in an attempt to photograph the Butt of Lewis at the first light of day and a trip to Stornoway to stock up on supplies and fill up the tank with diesel that was just starting to be delivered after the cancelled ferry crossings in the previous days.

How different was to be my experience with Harris: calm winds, sunny skies and mountains. My accommodation here was in Stable Cottage, one of four rental properties at Borvemor Cottages a different kettle of fish to The Guard House. Now I had instant, at the touch of a button, electrical central heating but was lacking in home comforts. So not luxurious but entirely practical and functional with its own highland cow

and a delightful, dune backed beach just a two-minute stroll away across a field. Famed for its beaches Harris has more than just these to offer. Visit Undiscovered Scotland to give you a flavour of what else there is to see. I spent several pleasant days exploring and trying to capture some of its allure and charm and had to fight with a brief return of the elements for just one of my days there. Of course it was the battling with the elements that again resulted in the best light.

Personal Highlights

The light at Callainish in the break between hail showers
The light at Callainish IV (Ceann Hulavig)
Sunsets from the beach at Borvemoor
Rainbows at Huisinis
The lighthouse at Eilean Glas

Personal Lowlights

Bright blue sky, with no clouds at Eilean Glas
Keeping warm at Aird Uig
Not appreciating the distances to travel and arriving for sunrise and missing it
Not having the long lens when I spotted an eagle
Fatigue at the end of two weeks of exploring new locations.

Photography tips - based on personal experience

Read as much about your location as you can before you go, trawl the websites and look at the work of others, to give you ideas.

Check out the tide times.

Study some OS maps of the region, I would not have visited Calanais IV, if I’d not seen it on a map.

Be prepared for all the weather the Atlantic can throw at you, make sure you have some sort of protection for your camera, try Claire’s solution or if you want something more expensive try the Kata Elements Cover, don’t rely on an umbrella unless you want to emulate Mary Poppins.

For this trip I had my 5D, the 1DN MKII,  with 17-40L, 28-70L and 100-400 IS L lenses. Velbon CF tripod with grip head,  and a selection of ND grads and a polariser.I could have managed without the 1DN MKII, but I always like to have a spare body.

When the light is good

Get out, stay out and keep looking. Revisit the spots you saw in bad light and make the most of them.

When the light is bad

Get out and take some reminder shots, so you can revisit when things look better. Practice composition.
Go look for wildlife.
Have a nap you may need it.

Travel Tips - based on personal experience

Don’t underestimate travelling times on the single-track roads

When you pass a shop, ask yourself: ‘is there anything I need?’

Be prepared to make yourself conspicuous on Sunday’s, the Sabbath is strictly observed, don’t expect to find a pub/restaurant open, don’t expect to be able to buy petrol and don’t hang out your laundry!

The main supermarket is in Stornoway, though you may be surprised what some of the community stores have to offer.

Be prepared for some long daylight hours, remember how far north you are.

Sign posts are more often that not in Gaelic, you have been warned.

Will I go again?

Definitely, next time not alone. Keeping up the enthusiasm in the conditions I experienced was difficult towards the end of the two weeks. A like-minded companion is invaluable.

Recommended Reading

The Soap Man by Roger Hutchinson.   The story of Lord Leverhulme and the Islanders.

Children of the Blackhouse by Calum Ferguson

Walks in the Western Isles by Mary Welsh, another delightful walking guide from this author with illustrations by Christine Isherwood.

The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands armchair reading and practical information for those who do not want to trawl the net.

UK travellers. PTR recommendations for insurance:

Travel insurance and camera insurance.

By Bill

Recently I read a forum thread at Naturescapes about lens diffraction. The thread proved to be the stimulus for an investigation of something that has trouble me for years. Simply stated, “Why do some of my photographs appear better than others?”

Same camera, same lens, but one image is distinctly better than another. There are numerous, probably an infinite number of reasons why this is. For years I thought it is because I was using a tripod in one shot and not another. But, when I am using a good solid tripod for both shots, I still see a difference. Exposure, depth of field, using a remote shutter release, etc. etc. etc. – are all factors that can affect the quality of a photograph. The list goes on and on. It is limitless.

The forum thread discussion at Naturescapes prompted another thought and that thought lead to five intensive days of investigation. I won’t bore you with all the reading I did, but I will reference several websites at the end of this post that you may examine if you are interested.

In sum, after all my reading, and after several discussions with my friend Richard Nowak, a retired engineer with an incredible list of experiences and credentials in photography, embedded microprocessor circuit designs and microchip test solutions in the electronics industry, I discovered that there are two significant factors which make one image better than another. The first is resolution, and the second is the aperture setting for high quality lenses, which Richard points out may include stopping a lens down beyond its diffraction limiting point to correct other more objectionable defects in the lens.

BTW, I still don’t exactly understand what Richard did in his career, but his resume says he did stuff like this: “Circuit designer involved with the acquisition, conditioning, and digitization of analog signals from remote sensors for data logging and computer controlled processes.”

Which takes me back to the subject of lens diffraction, being an optical effect, which limits the resolution of your photograph. An excellent resource about this topic can be found here.

My friend Richard did the math for my camera, the Canon 1Ds Mark II, and advised me that the diffraction limiting of the camera/lens combination is somewhere between f/8 and f/11. In other words, if I shoot with a perfect lens using the camera, an f-stop higher than f/11 will result in a photograph of lesser quality than one taken at say f/5.6 or f/8. A different camera using the same lens could become diffraction limited at a smaller (or larger) aperture than f/11.

As Richard said to me:

“The amount of diffraction increases with decreasing apertures. As sensor resolutions increase beyond a certain point, one is forced to use larger apertures to stay below the diffraction limit of the lens/camera combination. This may be a blow to those who believe more pixels is better as an absolute.

“What you will see is a softer image (loss of detail) due to the diffraction of light through the aperture.

“Since no camera/lens combination will produce a perfectly sharp image, the question is, “How much image softening can we tolerate from diffraction?”

“If you set the aperture larger than where the lens/camera combination becomes diffraction limited, you won’t see it. Why? Because the softness produced by the defects (or the lack of resolution of the sensor) of the image making apparatus is far greater than the softness produced by diffraction alone.”

I am grateful to Richard for interpreting the math for me, frankly I would have never fully understood this whole topic if he had not taken the time to explain it to me in plain English.

The problem with all this is that one normally needs a higher f-stop when doing landscape photography. For example, I have found that I need to shoot at f/16, f/18, or even f/22 to get everything from foreground, to mountain range in the background, in focus. And now Richard tells me that if I shoot at f/18, my images will not be as good as they could be if I shot at f/8. But, I can’t shoot at f/8!

Or can I?

There are two answers. The first is to purchase a tilt lens. Sometimes referred to as a tilt shift lens. Such lenses allow one to tilt the lens downward from the film plane, or upward depending upon the effect one wants to achieve. By tilting a lens downward while the film plane remains level, one is able to use a larger aperture and still keep everything from foreground to distant background in focus. In other words, I can use f/8, a larger lens opening or aperture, instead of f/18 a smaller lens opening or aperture. Of course, this solution can be expensive. A good tilt shift lens costs about $1,500 or so.

The second answer is to take multiple photographs of the same scene and focus each shot on a different spot within the frame and then combine the images using computer software. Some photographers make such composite photographs using Adobe Photoshop and layers. This can be, and is, a tedious process. An excellent article Christina Evans about this process can be found here.

Other software does this without all the fuss. And perhaps the best I have found is Helicon Focus the software varies in cost, depending upon the package one buys, from $30 to $300. A trial version is available and works for 30 days.

I downloaded the trial version and tried it out. WOW. It works!

Here is an example. I took five shots with my Canon Powershot G9 at f/2.8, ISO 80, of my buddy Ralph, who sits on my computer table, and then combined the shots using the HeliconFocus trial version. I won’t show you all five shots, but here are the first and last of the series so you can see the difference in the depth of field between the first and last shot. The first shot was focused on the foot of Ralph, the last on the background, an old brown fleece jacket I own. Notice the dramatic differences in what is in focus and what is not between the two shots. Three other shots were taken at different spots, giving me a good range of images to work with. The result is shown after the two examples.

(First Shot, Focused on Ralph’s Foot)

(Last Shot of Five, Focused on the Upper Right of the Frame)

(Five Shots Combined Using Helicon Focus Software)

In the meantime, my friend Rich went through the same process. His composite of a Nikon N90s back was made of seven images using the Helicon Focus software.

(Photograph by Richard Nowak Combining Seven Shots)

Well, Richard did a much better job than I did using the software. He is much more patient and methodical than I am.

The next step is to try out this new technique on a landscape scene, something I hope to do in Scotland in late March. I can’t wait. And, in the meantime, I will think about buying a good tilt shift lens, but frankly, why not just buy the Helicon Focus software and save myself about $1,200?

I am very grateful to Richard Nowak for taking the time to explain all this in terms I could understand.

Some resources about this topic can be found at:

Helicon Soft Website.

Article at Fred Miranda about using a tilt shift lens.

Article at Outback Photo on the same topic.

Article by Christina Evans at Naturescapes about using Adobe Photoshop for combining photographs.

Article at Cambridge In Colour about Lens Diffraction.

M Plonsky’s Website with examples of using this technique.

Charles Krebs’ Website, an outstanding master photographer who uses Helicon Focus for incredible results.

Zork Film and Phototechnique, if you want the best that money can buy when considering a tilt shift lens, this is it.

By Claire

We’ve all done it under pressure, carefully composed a shot and then had to use the leveling tool to

straighten the horizon and the crop clips off an element you really wanted to keep.

I’ve discovered a little gadget that really helps keep you level.

The Hama Camera Spirit Level slots into the accessory hot shoe on your digital camera.

Featuring two spirit levels, one for landscape and one for portrait shots.

The Hama Camera Spirit Level is a great aid to accurate image composition.

Dimensions: 33 x 19 x 23 mm.

The only downside is that you will at some point lose it. Buy a spare as you’ll miss it once its gone. UK visitors click the picture above to purchase.

PTR Award for Hama Spirit Level