Archive for April, 2009

Being Bird-Brained

Sat, Apr 4th, 2009  |   Musings 16 Comments

One thing about photography is that you have to practice. This may sound obvious, but it’s amazing the number of people I meet who only pick up their cameras just before dive trips.

Practice means having your camera with you and taking pictures of whatever you come across. It doesn’t mean having to dive all the time if your primary interest is underwater photography.

Take this bird for example. I took my camera out yesterday when I went for a walk to take in some fresh spring air.

bird

I came across this bird hunting for fish in a tiny pond in the middle of the city, surrounded by urban sprawl.

I watched as it missed several times. With practice, of course, it no doubt caught a meal at some point, just like it took me a few flubbed shots to get a decent photo of this bird. (My knowledge of birds is woefully inadequate. Can someone tell me what this is?)

This isn’t the world’s greatest bird image by a long shot, but taking the photo gave me an opportunity to forget the rest of the world for a moment, watch a beautiful bird go about its business, and practice framing a simple shot in an incredibly cluttered environment.

Heels Over Head

Thu, Apr 2nd, 2009  |   Equipment, Technique No Comments

In the water or on land, it’s the same. Have your camera ready whenever there’s even a remote possibility of something interesting happen.

As the DEEP Indonesia show wound down, I stood outside the exit, just watching people. The light levels were low and the scenery generally chaotic, but I still managed to get a couple of nice photos.

upside down

I saw this situation developing, so I rushed over to snag this photo, much to the amusement of the guy’s friends.

Besides anticipating the situation, I had everything preset on my camera for the ambient light conditions, so all I had to do was compose and shoot.

Basically, it’s the same underwater. Anticipate the conditions, adjust your camera settings in advance, so you can (primarily) just worry about composing and capturing the moment.