| NOVEMBER 2009 NEWSLETTER |
This month's newsletter feature information on photographing from your car. Getting close enough to birds and
wildlife to get successful images is often one of the bigger challenges involved in wildlife photography. Using
your car as a mobile blind is one of the best ways I know of to get closer to birds and wildlife. The first rule when
doing this type of photography is safety first. Always obey the rules of the road. Luckily, in the Pacific Northwest
we have a couple of auto tour routes at National Wildlife Refuges which enable us to engage in safe and
successful wildlife photography from our car windows. My 2 favorites are the River S Unit at Ridgefield National
Wildlife Refuge in Southwest Washington and Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Eastern Oregon.
wildlife to get successful images is often one of the bigger challenges involved in wildlife photography. Using
your car as a mobile blind is one of the best ways I know of to get closer to birds and wildlife. The first rule when
doing this type of photography is safety first. Always obey the rules of the road. Luckily, in the Pacific Northwest
we have a couple of auto tour routes at National Wildlife Refuges which enable us to engage in safe and
successful wildlife photography from our car windows. My 2 favorites are the River S Unit at Ridgefield National
Wildlife Refuge in Southwest Washington and Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Eastern Oregon.
GREAT BLUE HERON feeding on a snake, taken October 2006 at River S Unit, Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge,
WA. Canon 20D, 500mm F4 lens, 1/800 F13 iso 400, evaluative metering -0.7. This was taken with probably a little
bit more depth of field than I needed but I wanted to make sure to get both the bird and snake in sharp focus.
Note the conservative exposure of -0.7 to hold the white highlights of this species which is fairly difficult to
expose properly because of the blacks and whites on the head. I was photographing another heron when I saw
this heron start to struggle with something just up the road. I headed that direction and pulled alongside the
heron which proceeded to yank this snake out of the water.
WA. Canon 20D, 500mm F4 lens, 1/800 F13 iso 400, evaluative metering -0.7. This was taken with probably a little
bit more depth of field than I needed but I wanted to make sure to get both the bird and snake in sharp focus.
Note the conservative exposure of -0.7 to hold the white highlights of this species which is fairly difficult to
expose properly because of the blacks and whites on the head. I was photographing another heron when I saw
this heron start to struggle with something just up the road. I headed that direction and pulled alongside the
heron which proceeded to yank this snake out of the water.
This is the same photo from above but cropped a little bit. The first version is full frame with no cropping. I felt
that the bottom of that image was a little distracting with the partial reflection of the heron's body and beak. I also
wanted to emphasize the capture and the snake so this is the image after being cropped to my taste. With wading
birds you do want to leave enough room for the virtual feet so where to crop on the bottom was a tough call here.
The River S Unit at Ridgefield NWR is at its best from late November to the end of February when waterfowl and
raptors are at their largest numbers. Patiently driving the 5 mile loop at this time of year you are bound to have
some excellent photo opportunities. No time of year is poor however with resident herons, Red-tailed Hawks,
River Otters and Nutrias around all year.
One of the most important rules of photographing from your car and one that would seem quite obvious is to turn
off the engine whenever you stop to take photos. The reason is that the engine causes a lot of vibration which
almost invariably ends up causing your photos to be not very sharp. While I say this would seem obvious it bears
mentioning because I have been with many drivers that didn't understand this. So, if you are not the driver on a
trip make sure the driver understands to turn off the engine when there is a good photo opportunity. Having a
nonverbal signal, like the turning of a key is a good practice so as not to have to speak which might spook the
bird or animal.
that the bottom of that image was a little distracting with the partial reflection of the heron's body and beak. I also
wanted to emphasize the capture and the snake so this is the image after being cropped to my taste. With wading
birds you do want to leave enough room for the virtual feet so where to crop on the bottom was a tough call here.
The River S Unit at Ridgefield NWR is at its best from late November to the end of February when waterfowl and
raptors are at their largest numbers. Patiently driving the 5 mile loop at this time of year you are bound to have
some excellent photo opportunities. No time of year is poor however with resident herons, Red-tailed Hawks,
River Otters and Nutrias around all year.
One of the most important rules of photographing from your car and one that would seem quite obvious is to turn
off the engine whenever you stop to take photos. The reason is that the engine causes a lot of vibration which
almost invariably ends up causing your photos to be not very sharp. While I say this would seem obvious it bears
mentioning because I have been with many drivers that didn't understand this. So, if you are not the driver on a
trip make sure the driver understands to turn off the engine when there is a good photo opportunity. Having a
nonverbal signal, like the turning of a key is a good practice so as not to have to speak which might spook the
bird or animal.
MALE PRONGHORN photographed June 2007, Malheur National Wildlife Refuge from my car window. Canon 20D
500mm F4 lens, 1.4X teleconverter, 1/320 F6.3, iso 400, evaluative metering -0.3. We found this male Pronghorn
right as the last rays of the sun were setting and I only had a few frames before he moved into an area that
wasn't lit any longer. For those of you who are Canon users, when I'm shooting in horizontal format like this
and I have a bird or animal that is moving or I think may start moving, I will have my image stabilization set to
mode 2 which is the panning mode.
Driving slowly at dawn or dusk will at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Eastern Oregon will often reward you
with wonderful photo opps such as this one. If possible it's best to drive with your window open, slow down as
you spot your subject and if you are not the one driving have your lens out the window a little bit before you
pull right up alongside your subject. The reason for this is the movement of putting your lens out the window
will often spook your subject.
500mm F4 lens, 1.4X teleconverter, 1/320 F6.3, iso 400, evaluative metering -0.3. We found this male Pronghorn
right as the last rays of the sun were setting and I only had a few frames before he moved into an area that
wasn't lit any longer. For those of you who are Canon users, when I'm shooting in horizontal format like this
and I have a bird or animal that is moving or I think may start moving, I will have my image stabilization set to
mode 2 which is the panning mode.
Driving slowly at dawn or dusk will at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Eastern Oregon will often reward you
with wonderful photo opps such as this one. If possible it's best to drive with your window open, slow down as
you spot your subject and if you are not the one driving have your lens out the window a little bit before you
pull right up alongside your subject. The reason for this is the movement of putting your lens out the window
will often spook your subject.
WILSON'S SNIPE photographed at Malheur NWR, Oregon, June 2009. Canon 1dMkIII 500F4 1.4X 1/500 F7.1,
iso 800, evaluative metering +0.3, image cropped from horizontal to vertical composition. We found this
calling snipe by the side of the road on our last trip to Malheur. After taking a few images from the car
window I decided to get out of the car and get a better angle. From the car the bird was facing away from me
just slightly. This image was taken handheld from the road side.
Malheur has to be one of the top locations for photographing breeding birds in the lower 48 states. Willet,
avocet, snipe, phalarope and stilt are all quite common and easily photographed. Every time that I've visited
Malheur I've gotten some spectacular images. Every season is good but the very best shooting is from mid
April to mid May when the birds have first arrived on their breeding grounds and there are still migrants
moving through. At this time of year the birds are more out in the open, as the summer goes on the
vegetation grows and makes some of the shots more difficult to get and the mosquitoes can become quite
onerous, so bring some repellent, particularly if going after June 1st. That said, many of the images taken in
the Malheur gallery were taken in June as it has been easier for me to get there that time of year.
iso 800, evaluative metering +0.3, image cropped from horizontal to vertical composition. We found this
calling snipe by the side of the road on our last trip to Malheur. After taking a few images from the car
window I decided to get out of the car and get a better angle. From the car the bird was facing away from me
just slightly. This image was taken handheld from the road side.
Malheur has to be one of the top locations for photographing breeding birds in the lower 48 states. Willet,
avocet, snipe, phalarope and stilt are all quite common and easily photographed. Every time that I've visited
Malheur I've gotten some spectacular images. Every season is good but the very best shooting is from mid
April to mid May when the birds have first arrived on their breeding grounds and there are still migrants
moving through. At this time of year the birds are more out in the open, as the summer goes on the
vegetation grows and makes some of the shots more difficult to get and the mosquitoes can become quite
onerous, so bring some repellent, particularly if going after June 1st. That said, many of the images taken in
the Malheur gallery were taken in June as it has been easier for me to get there that time of year.
PORCUPINE photographed June 2006 at Malheur NWR, Oregon. Canon 20D 500mmF4 lens, 1/100 F5.6, iso
400. We were very surprised to find this Porcupine along one of the Malheur roads late in the afternoon
one day. There wasn't much light left and I was worried about whether I would be able to make a sharp
image. I balanced the lens plate on the car door jam and fired away and to my surprise with the help of the
IS most of them turned out sharp. I usually don't use a beanbag when I'm photographing from the car, I'm
so used to handholding the large lens that on most occasions I will do so from the car. For most
photographers however I'd recommend purchasing a large photography beanbag for this type of
photography. The bean bag will add stabilization and make it easier to produce more sharp images.
Naturescapes currently has their Wildlife Imaging Beanbag on sale for $63.95. You can purchase one at
Naturescapes.net
400. We were very surprised to find this Porcupine along one of the Malheur roads late in the afternoon
one day. There wasn't much light left and I was worried about whether I would be able to make a sharp
image. I balanced the lens plate on the car door jam and fired away and to my surprise with the help of the
IS most of them turned out sharp. I usually don't use a beanbag when I'm photographing from the car, I'm
so used to handholding the large lens that on most occasions I will do so from the car. For most
photographers however I'd recommend purchasing a large photography beanbag for this type of
photography. The bean bag will add stabilization and make it easier to produce more sharp images.
Naturescapes currently has their Wildlife Imaging Beanbag on sale for $63.95. You can purchase one at
Naturescapes.net
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For anyone interested in photographing Malheur with a couple of pros who go there on a regular basis,
see our
see our