Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Nature photographers' clothing and gear color really matter!

Great Blue Heron, Copyright © 2012 NSL Photography, All Rights ReservedBirds typically have sharper vision, and significantly superior color vision than humans. Birds can see certain light frequencies, including ultraviolet, which are invisible to most humans.

Their superior eyesight can diminish the nature photographers’ ability to get closet to birds, desirable to help photographers make sharp, detailed images of these beautiful feathered animals.

Nature photography has five keys for success I call “Wildlife Photography's Five P's”: Preparation, Practice, Patience, Persistence, Propaedeutics.”™ This article concentrates on “propaedeutics,” learning connected with any art or science. The more we learn about wildlife as photographers the more successful we can be making wildlife images.

Learning about avian eye physiology helps bird photographers understand how bird’s superior vision affects the photographers’ ability to make great images of birds, thus aiding them in maximizing their bird photo opportunities.

Friday, July 4, 2014

It's US Independence Day: Time to celebrate and photograph spectacular fireworks

Fireworks at the Philadelphia Museum of ArtToday, in the United States we'll celebrate our nation's birth. In Philadelphia, America’s birthplace and it's first capital, that means the annual “Philly 4th of July Jam and Grand Finale Fireworks” held at the foot of the Philadelphia Museum of Art tonight, where more than a half million Philadelphians and visitors will enjoy one of the country's best Independence Day concerts. This year it will star The Roots, Ed Sheeran, Nicki Minaj, Jennifer Hudson, Aloe Blacc, Ariana Grande and Vicci Martinez performing live, with actor and comedian Marlon Wayans serving as host, followed by one of the largest, most spectacular fireworks displays in the nation.

I'll be there. If you're there too, look for me south of the Art Museum.

This year I'm going to continue experimenting while photographing the fireworks. I'm going to use a variety of neutral density filters to enable me to use longer exposures, and capture more fireworks' bursts in my images. I'll be experimenting with neutral density filters which add 1, 2, or 3 f/stops to my exposure. I'll explain below what that means in terms of shutter times.