🧠

photography Jess Findlay Connor Stefanison wildlife

Manning Park Photo Workshop

Locations:

  • Boundary Bay

The Mechanics of a Great Image

  • 99% of wildlife phots fail, it's important to know where the 1% is
  • Two of the biggest mistakes in wildlife:
    • Getting to a place too late
    • Leaving a place too early

Lighting

  • Dictates...
    • your subject
    • how you approach your subject
    • your gear
    • your settings
    • your composition
  • Be very observant in the field
    • Catchlights
    • Iridescence
    • Light interacting with the subjects form
    • How changing light will change your opportunities

Sun

  • Warm, dramatic
  • Front lit photos can look flat because everything is lit evenly
    • Lack of shadows, lack of depth
  • Always consider your position relative to the sun

Overcast

  • Decreases contrasts and smooths gradations
  • Can lack some punch/depth

Twilight/Indirect

  • Moody
  • Results in images when most others may have packed up or haven't arrived yet
  • For wildlife, best reserved for still subjects

Prioritizing Settings

  • There is no "perfect" exposure
    • ie: perfect combo of ISO/shutter speed/aperture
    • Can use a variety of settings
  • All lenses have a sweet spot for aperture lookup image
    • Diffraction
      • Less at large apertures
      • More at small apertures
    • Aberration
      • More at large apertures
      • Less at small apertures
  • Wider lenses show less motion blur
  • Increasing light sensitivity (ISO) has negative impacts to file quality
    • Higher levels of noise
    • Lower levels of fine detail
    • Decreased dynamic range
    • Worse colour representation

Ingredients of a Captivating Portfolio

  • Qualities
    • Nice light
    • Engaging subject
    • Interesting subject
    • Strong compositions
    • Pleasing backgrounds
    • Clean post-processing
  • A single photo can getaway with missing some of these things but as a whole, it makes a portfolio less impactful

Resources