Achieving Great Nature Wildlife Photography
In the image above, mountain laurel provides a frame for the ancient and heavily forested Blue Ridge Mountains. It was photographed in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. Nikon 8008s camera with 24-50 mm Nikkor zoom lens set at 24 mm, f/22 at 1/2 second, Fuji Velvia slide film (50 ISO), tripod & cable release used. (#AT0032)
I made this the first topic of discussion, for it may be the key to transforming a photographic career of mediocrity into one where the potential truly exists for the achievement of awe-inspiring landscape images. Almost always (some exceptions are discussed below), you should go for maximum depth of field when photographing landscapes. There is nothing more striking than an image with wildflowers splashed across a foreground providing the frame for a majestic mountain backdrop – and all of it in sharp focus! These are the kinds of images mastered by photographers like Linde Waidhofer and the late Galen Rowell that have stopped me dead in my tracks, as I made my way through bookstores. The techniques employed are not difficult to master, but learn them you must and heed them well!
[Tip # 1] Hey, Don’t Kid Around, Go for Maximum Depth of Field!
The transformation from taking snapshots to achieving inspiring, professional landscape images will begin to occur one day when you thoroughly surprise yourself – i.e. when you get a roll of film back from the developer [or first project your digital images onto a compuer screen or Power Point screen] and can’t believe that you were the one who took these shots! The sooner you comprehend the importance of the concept of depth of field (and the importance of achieving maximum depth of field), the sooner this will happen. A lot of people theoretically understand the concept, but don’t truly appreciate its power – at least not enough to consistently take the time to follow the steps that are necessary to achieve it. Another way of saying this is – if you are standing in a field of wildflowers looking at a distant mountain, why waste your time or film on mediocrity. Anybody can point and shoot! Why not go for the gusto – achieve an image that will stir your emotions, make you feel elated! With a 24 mm wide-angle lens [18 mm for digital photography] attached to your camera (see Tip # 3) and with an effort at composing a pleasing image where both near (wildflowers, rock outcrop, split-rail fence) and distant subjects (mountains, sunset) are in sharp focus, you will come to understand the power of going for maximum depth of field – and you will no longer have any desire to simply take “snapshots.”
The section of the Pacific Crest Trail that traverses Washington’s Goat Rocks Wilderness is indescribably beautiful. In the image above, Indian paintbrush and lupines create the splash of red and blue in the foreground while snow-clad Mt. Rainier can be seen in the distance with the volcanic crater of Goat Lake to its left. Shot with a Nikon 8008s camera with 24-50 mm Nikkor zoom lens set at 24 mm, f/22 at 1/4th second shutter speed, polarizer, tripod & cable release used.
Stop it Down, Dude!
The number one way to achieve maximum depth of field – where subjects ranging from the wildflowers at your feet to the distant ridgelines are all in focus – is to decrease the size of your lens aperture opening. You do this by increasing the f-stop value on your camera. If you remember nothing else, remember this: the higher you set the f-stop, the smaller will be your lens aperture opening, and the greater will be the depth if field. On your 24 mm wide-angle lens, the highest f-stop will most likely be f/22. Turn your f-stop ring to f/22 and your lens aperture opening becomes, in technical terminology, itsy-bitsy, teeny-weenie. Such a small opening means that a much slower shutter speed is necessary to allow enough light to enter and expose the film – and this means that it is time for you to forget about handholding your camera. Yes, it’s time to invest in a tripod (see Tip #6, “The Dogma of the Holy Tripod”). [If you are just starting out, click here for the basics on aperture and shutter speed].
Unless you have the steady hands of a surgeon, most of your hand held shots will be taken at a shutter speed of 1/60th of a second or faster (with 50 ISO film – see Tip # 20 on using slow-speed slide film). Otherwise, expect some blur. Even with surgeon’s hands you will not be able to shoot below 1/30th of a second while handholding your camera. This means that on a sunny day, you will be shooting at f-11, give or take one f-stop. The problem is that you are no longer interested in taking the same shots that everyone else does. You want a masterpiece, and greater depth is needed! With a tripod you can stop it down to f/22 or the smallest aperture opening that your lens allows. At f/22, your through-the-lens (“TTL”) light meter will tell you to shoot at a shutter speed of 1/4th second, give or take one or two f-stops. Using the self-timer on your camera (or a cable release) allows you to release the shutter while not touching any part of your camera or tripod. The result, hopefully, will be an image with subjects near and far being crisp and sharp. So use a tripod and stop it down! Remember that you want inspiring images that will move you to such a degree as to turn you into a photographing fanatic!
In the images above of Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and of a mat of alpine buckwheat growing beside the Pacific Crest Trail in Washington, a 24-50 mm Nikkor zoom lens was used, set at 24 mm. In both of these images, the f-stop was set at f/22 so as to allow for the smallest aperture opening and thus, the greatest depth of field. This tiny aperture opening required a longer exposure time (1/8th to ½ second, with 50 ISO film) that, in turn, required the use of a tripod.
[Tip # 2] OK, Don’t Stop it Down!
Maximum depth of field should be the goal for most efforts at landscape photography, particularly when you wish to convey a sense of presence within a multi-dimensional landscape. There are, however, times when you might wish to have a single subject be the central theme of the composition – allowing that subject to clearly stand out against the background landscape. In such a composition, the background should be left a little out-of focus, while the primary subject should be as sharply delineated as possible. At such times, rather than stopping down to the smallest aperture opening possible, set your aperture at the mid f-stop range. When a single subject deserves to be the central focus of your image, shoot it at f/5.6 or f/8. It is in this aperture mid-range where the sharpest delineation of an individual subject can be achieved. I don’t fully understand the reason for this and don’t wish to bore you with such technical details. But it is important to understand that the sharpest delineation of an individual object within a landscape occurs at the middle f-stop range – at f/5.6 or f/8.
In the images above, a whitetail buck was photographed on the floor of Cades Cove in Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains National Park, while at right, three Indian paintbrush grow beneath the snow-clad summit of Mt. Jefferson in Oregon’s Willamette National Forest. Both images were shot at f /5.6 in an attempt to capture the sharpest delineation of the primary subject. Both images shot with Fuji Velvia (ISO 50) slide film.
[Tip # 3] The World’s Greatest Landscape Lens!
Pacific Crest Trail hikers are dwarfed in this image by the sweeping grandeur of the High Sierra in the backcountry of Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park. Most often images that capture the sweep of “big country” involve the use of a 24 mm wide-angle lens [18 MM LENS FOR DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY].* This happens to be my favorite lens for shooting landscapes. There is some distortion that comes with the use of wide-angle lenses, but somehow this distortion tends not to be very noticeable with a 24 mm wide-angle lens. Use a wider lens, such as a 20 mm, and the distortion becomes truly noticeable, while a narrower lens, such as a 35 mm, tends not to capture big country in quite so dramatic a fashion. Greater depth of field (where both close and distant objects are in focus) will be better achieved with the use of a wide-angle lens than with a normal (50 mm lens) or telephoto lens (greater than 50 mm). [Click here for the Basics on interchangeable lenses. However, the shrink factor is something to be aware of. While a wide-angle lens allows you to capture more of the landscape, features within the landscape will appear smaller. This "shrinkage" of objects within the landscape is not a problem when the goal is to capture the sweep of the land - a worthy goal when the subject is the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the backcountry of California's Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park. If you are not presently shooting with a 24 mm lens, get one! I mean it! Over time it will become your favorite landscape lens (see Tip # 18 regarding zoom lenses).
*[Popular digital cameras such as the Cannon EOS and the Nikon D100 series have digital sensors that are less than half the area of 35 mm film cameras. They have a focal length multiplier of 1.6. Therefore, an 18 mm lens on a digital camera has the field of view of a 28 mm lens on a 35 mm film camera and a 50 mm lens has the field of view of an 80 mm lens.]
The image above was shot on a month-long hike that began among the giant sequoia trees of Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park and included a 260-mile segment of the Pacific Crest Trail that passes through the spectacular John Muir and Ansel Adams Wilderness Areas, before entering the backcountry of Yosemite National Park. My hike came to an end on the floor of Yosemite Valley.
[Tip # 4] Get Hyperfocal, Man!
All right! Your camera, with a 24 mm wide-angle lens [18 mm if digital] attached (this now quickly becoming your favorite lens), is mounted on your tripod. You want to achieve maximum depth of field so your f-stop control is set at it’s highest value (probably f/22) which causes your TTL (“through-the-lens”) light meter to instruct you to shoot at a slow shutter speed (maybe 1/4th second). You are using a slow slide film to avoid graininess (see Tip # 19). It’s a beautiful sunny day so your circular polarizing filter is attached and adjusted to further bring out the green of the vegetation and those puffy white clouds against a rich blue sky. Your viewfinder reveals an absolutely glorious view of a mountain vista framed by brilliant wildflowers in the foreground. So now the question is what exactly do you focus on – the nearby wildflowers, the distant mountains or something in between? The answer is “something in between.”
The hyperfocal distance is that point between the foreground wildflowers and the distant ridges that when focused upon allows for the greatest area to be sharp and clear. Another way of saying this is that it is the point that allows for the greatest area of sharp focus that includes the distant horizon.
To achieve this, I typically focus on an object that is 1/3rd the way between the nearest subject that I want in focus – such as a foreground wildflower – and the distant ridgeline. But then I bracket – shoot a number of shots experimenting by focusing on objects that are ½ of the distance between the near and distant subjects. This experimentation includes some shots where I focus directly on the nearby wildflowers. Until you get your film back from the developer you will not know which image truly suits your fancy. If you have a depth of field review button on your camera then you are lucky and can quickly determine if all the features that you want in focus, are in focus.
Some lenses have markings that allow you to make specific determinations of the hyperfocal distance. By turning the infinity mark (∞) on your focus ring to that point where it lies directly over the number that represents your smallest aperture, a second line of numbers are aligned to show the hyperfocal distance. For example, on my 24 mm fixed Nikon wide-angle lens, the number “15” roughly lines up with the infinity mark when the infinity mark is set over f/22. The hyperfocal distance is approximately 15 feet away. Once you determine the hyperfocal distance, divide this number in half to determine the “near limit,” or the point closest to you that will be in focus, when you are focused on the hyperfocal distance. In this example the near limit is approximately 7.5 feet. Confusing, isn’t it? While my prime lenses have this feature, my zoom lenses do not, and except for occasional experimentation I don’t often use this method preferring the easier to follow “one-third” method mentioned above.
Gradually, over the years, I have been hiking the Appalachian Trail. Thus far, I have over half of it or 1100 miles completed. It is a piecemeal project involving hikes that range in duration from a half-day to four weeks. It is, in my opinion, as good a hobby as a guy can have – especially when a 35 mm camera is factored in. The trail is endlessly magical, mystifying and surprising – an endless procession of large and small photographic subjects are revealed as it makes its way from Springer Mountain in northern Georgia to Mt. Katahdin in northwestern Maine. The shot was taken with a Nikon 8008s camera with 24-50 mm zoom Nikkor lens set at 24 mm; Fujichrome 50 film; f/22 at ½ second.
[Tip # 5] The Dogma of the Holy Tripod
Hear me brothers and sisters, thou shalt not go hither without thy tripod! If there is one way to distinguish the professional from the novice in the field of outdoor photography, it is that the professional will never be seen without his tripod. The professional would rather forget his or her toothbrush on an extended trip, than be without a tripod. The tripod, combined with the use of a cable release or the self-timer on your camera, is the number one weapon in the effort to combat vibration and achieve sharp photographic images.
In Tip #1, we discuss the importance of stopping down to a very small aperture opening in order to achieve the greatest depth of field possible, and how a very small aperture requires shooting at a slow shutter speed and therefore, the need for a tripod. Remember, it is not enough to understand the concept of maximizing depth of field, it is more important that you come to truly appreciate the power of it. The images that are most likely to have an impact on others are those that possess a sense of being present within a place of beauty. You will not likely achieve such images without achieving maximum depth of field, and you will not achieve maximum depth of field without a tripod.
In addition to achieving maximum depth of field, there are other important reasons to own and carry a tripod. Later, we will discuss how a slow shutter speed can create a milky appearance that can dramatize waterfalls and fast flowing streams. We will also discuss the benefits of using slow-speed slide film and therefore, the heightened need for a tripod in low light situations, such as early evening. Hopefully, the message is coming through. There are too many situations where, if you are truly serious about photography, handholding your camera will just not hack it!
Professionals argue the merits of large versus small, lightweight tripods. Most would recommend a large, sturdy tripod for greater stability. I once attended a lecture where the speaker suggested leaning into the tripod and using the pressure of your body to further stabilize it before shooting. If you are low on liquidity (poor) and can’t afford one of each, I would opt for a small tripod that when collapsed can easily be strapped to a backpack for travel away from roads, where carrying extra weight conflicts with the “enjoyment factor” of the extended hike. But I admit that for front country shooting, nothing beats a large, sturdy tripod. If you have the dollars, Gitzo and Bogan are tripod manufacturers with good reputations. It’s time to get serious – purchase a quality tripod and don’t leave home without it!
A few years ago I spent a few days with friends on a photo shoot in Death Valley National Park. El Niño had caused the wettest winter in memory and the spring wildflowers were truly incredible, covering nearly every slope, as well as much of the valley floor. We felt truly lucky, for the weather continuously changed and, in a place that typically receives only two inches of rainfall per year, we saw storms break on distant ridges, a rainbow, wildflowers in abundance and, at one point even experienced a brief snow squall – in Death Valley an almost unheard of event! The kaleidoscope of changing conditions and the steady flow of photographic opportunities made for a truly magical few days! In the image above of a photographer on the salt flats of the valley floor, a 24-50 mm Nikkor zoom lens set at 24 mm was used, as was a polarizing filter and Fuji Velvia (50 ISO) slide film.
[Tip # 6] The Split-Focus Filter
Having righteously set forth the “dogma of the holy tripod” above, as if “thou shalt always carry thy tripod” were the Eleventh Commandment, it is now time for a little revisionism. There is a small accessory that allows you to focus on close and distance objects simultaneously while handholding your camera. It is called a split-focus filter. Tip # 36 describes close-up filters that usually come in sets of three, each with a different power of magnification or diopter value. A split-focus filter is simply half of a close-up filter. It is a piece of glass shaped like a half-moon attached to a square plastic frame that can slide into a Cokin filter holder. This, in turn, can be screwed into the front of your camera lens.
With a split-focus filter attached and with your lens focused on infinity, you can bring your camera close to a wildflower in the foreground while simultaneously focusing on the background mountains. The problem with the split-focus filter is the dreaded band of blur that will form a swath across the lower middle area of the image (i.e. the upper part of the close-up half of the split-focus filter). Remember, close-up filters have almost no depth of field. I have found that carefully composing the image can minimize this out of focus area to the point that it does not detract from the photograph. But it takes time to carefully compose the image, combined with a bit of luck.
While I carry split-focus filters, I find that I don’t often use them, relying more on the standard method of achieving maximum depth of field – stopping down to a small aperture opening and shooting at a slow shutter speed (see Tip # 1). But split-focus filters can be fun to play with and if you are dealing with a “belly shot,” when you need to get closer to the ground than your tripod allows, they can be useful. Does all this mean that I should lighten up on the “always take your tripod” dogma? Absolutely not!
The two images above were shot on opposite sides of the continent. In both, a split-focus filter was used. At right, desert dandelions bloom beneath the dry mountains of California’s 600,000-acre Anza Borrego Desert State Park. At left, the yellow blossoms of Senecio add color to the meadows of Beauty Spot. The shot was taken from the Appalachian Trail in Tennessee’s Cherokee National Forest. Both images involved the use of a 24 mm lens with a split-focus filter attached.
[Tip # 7] Don’t be a Purist – Use a Polarizer!
Years ago I too was a purist, believing that accessories that changed, in any way, the reality of the image should be avoided. Among these I included polarizing filters. Thank God I’m past that stage! Today I am of the opinion that every photograph is at least a bit of an abstraction – a veering away from the exact replication of a natural scene. And I am not bothered by this, if what can be created is at least a believable reincarnation of the piece of wild turf that is being photographed. Most professional outdoor photographers adopt a middle ground on this issue – using some accessories such as polarizing and warming filters, while avoiding others, such as star filters or color enhancing filters that veer too far away from accurately reflecting nature.
A circular polarizing filter enhances the green of vegetation and the blue of the sky. It can eliminate or reduce glare from the surface of a body of water and can draw forth the rich colors of a rainbow. It’s best performance occurs when your camera is aimed at a 90-degree angle to the sun. I presently keep polarizers attached to my most often used lenses knowing that on sunny days, I will not want to be without them. They also serve as a protective cover to these lenses. On an overcast day the polarizer is removed (see Tip # 40, “Learning to Love the Gloom”). If you don’t presently own one because you wish to be truly pure – get over it! Purchase a circular polarizer for at least your favorite landscape lens. Once you become accustomed to using it, you will not understand how you once got along without it!
A polarizer can greatly enhance a reflection on still water. In the image above, snow-covered Telescope Peak rises above the brackish water of Badwater which lies on the floor of Death Valley. While the distant peak rises to an elevation of over 11,000 feet, Badwater stands at 282 feet below sea level, making it the lowest point in North America. Nikon 8008s camera with 24-50 mm Nikkor zoom lens set at 24 mm; f/22 at 1/4th second; Fuji Velvia film (ISO 50); tripod and polarizing filter used.
[Tip # 8] Hey, Don’t Let Your Camera Do All the Thinking!
Believe it or not, your brain is a far better mechanism for creative artistic expression than is your camera – even that new hi-tech camera that you purchased with its built-in computer chip and wondrous maze of micro-circuitry. With this in mind, never-ever purchase a camera that does not allow you to override its automatic features. You should be able to operate completely in manual mode.
This is not to say that I don’t love my new hi-tech Nikon cameras – I do! But I’m not sure why this is when I so seldom use the array of built-in hi-tech features. Perhaps it’s the beguiling sound of the built-in film advance heard when you fire the shutter, or the scanner that automatically scans the film’s bar code thus preventing me from shooting at the wrong ISO when I change from a slow to a fast-speed film – a particularly helpful feature as I grow older and more feeble. While cameras have become marvels of the new technology, I still want the control over such things as shutter speed and f-stop and I will not surrender that control!
If you are at that stage where you hope to make the leap from “snapshots” to fine art photography, I strongly suggest that you spend all your time in manual mode. It cannot be over emphasized how important it is that you become completely familiar with the interplay between f-stop and shutter speed. Shooting in aperture priority, shutter priority or automatic mode will not allow you to develop the intuitive, almost unconscious sense of how the interplay of these features controls the amount of light that strikes your film. And without this intuitive understanding, you will miss fleeting photographic opportunities when the light is at its best – it’s most magical! Become completely adept at the use of the f-stop and shutter speed controls on your camera before even thinking about going “automatic.”
In the image above, the village of Tyringham is nestled in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. A densely forested mountainside provides a dramatic backdrop for the village’s Congregational church. Nikon 6006 with 75-300 mm Sigma telephoto zoom telephoto lens set at 300 mm; Fuji Velvia film (50 ISO).
[Tip # 9] What You See Is Not Necessarily What You Get, So Bracket!
During my early years as a photographer I often observed patterns in nature that were aesthetically interesting. I would stop and set up my tripod and camera and would compose the image and focus on the pleasing subject, but then be disappointed when I looked through the viewfinder and saw that, for whatever reason, the view fell far short of that initial vision. Nonetheless, I would shoot the image thinking that maybe the process of shooting combined with film development would somehow magically transform the mediocre into something good. Of course, this never happened. If what you see in the viewfinder is mediocre, then what you will get back from the developer will be, at best, mediocre. Don’t waste your film!
Sadly, the reverse is not also true. If what you see through the viewfinder truly excites you, you may very well still be highly disappointed when your roll of film comes back from the developer. Despite shooting the image at the f-stop and shutter speed suggested by your built in TTL metering system, the exposure is one of the variables that may be off. Professionals, when treated to an exceptional photographic opportunity, will bracket – shoot at least one f-stop of light above and an f-stop of light below that which the camera’s metering system is telling them to shoot at (as well as shooting at least once at the suggested exposure). In fact, they often will run through an entire roll of 36 exposures, experimenting at different f-stops and shutter speeds and experimenting with the composition and other variables. No matter how sophisticated modern cameras become, natural light is too subtle and too variable and even with matrix metering and the other options now available, the potential for “screwing up” remains great. Therefore, if what you see through your viewfinder does not truly excite you, don’t waste your film! If it does excite you, don’t be afraid to use some film – bracket!
[With a digital camera, the expense of taking a number of images to get one that you are happy with is, of course, a thing of the past. The late Galen Rowell spoke of "pre-visualizing" the photo you want to capture - or thinking deeply about how the subject or landscape will fit into the rectangular composition of 35 mm film - before shooting. He suggested experimenting by viewing the subject through the view-finder from different angles. Modern digital cameras make it possible to view the image in the monitor right after shooting it - and allow you to immediately delete those that don't make the grade. The processes of pre-visualization becomes almost second nature and concerns about the cost of shooting lots of film to make sure you get one image with the right exposure and composition (bracketing) no longer apply. Even old film diehards like myself have to admit that in many ways, digital photography is incredibly convenient.]
The image above of Woods Pond was taken not far from my home in western Massachusetts. The ridges that rise above the pond are within the 16,000-acre October Mountain State Forest. Early morning is the best time to capture reflections in ponds and lakes. As the day warms, air currents are set in motion and the slightest breeze will destroy the mirror-like quality of the still water. Nikon 6006 camera with 75-300 mm Sigma zoom lens set at 100 mm; f/8 at 1/125 shutter speed; polarizing filter and Fuji Velvia (50 ISO) slide film used.
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