by successfulbob | bird photography, fine art photography, Lumix G9, LumixGH5, photography, photography gear, wildlife photography
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge – Part Three
If you have followed my work for any length of time, you know that I enjoy moving my work into a more painting-based look. I have taken a term I heard from Julianne Kost and adopted it for my new business. “Lens Based Artist.” I have decided to start promoting my more art based images and have begun gallery representation and selling my work as art.
More on that in future posts. (things are starting to take off. YAY!)
Back to Blackwater images and the post-processing. Here are a few photos of which I have played using the PhotoSynthesis process I have been working on over the years.
Geese in Flight. Love the wing positions and pattern of the birds in the sky.
I worked on this image on the plane while en route back to Arizona from my speaking engagement in Maryland where the images were captured. My seatmate was fascinated by the process, and I talked him through my thinking as I worked on the photo. There are several layers of multiple images blended using Adobe Photoshop’s blend Modes and masks. The geese in flight created their art with all the different wing positions. I was able to capture their flight using the **Lumix GH5 and the Leica 100-400mm lens. The reach of this lens with the stabilization in the camera are making captures such as this easier than ever.
Great Blue Heron on the shoreline.
After working on the piece and adding layers of textures, I pulled the image into Skylum’s Focus CK (part of the Creative Kit or available as a stand-alone) to add a bit of selective sharpness to the subject and vignette and slight blurring to the rest of the image. I use this tool in the Macro setting quite often. I could do the same thing directly in Photoshop, but it would take much more time and many more steps to accomplish the same thing. Plugins are very handy. I decide whether to purchase plugins based on how often I perform specific techniques. When I find the plugin saves me the time or makes it possible for me to do something I would not be able to accomplish otherwise, I buy.
Heron in Flight – All images are © Bob Coates Photography – All Rights Reserved
I don’t think any of these images are ‘ready for prime time’ as yet. I think of them as sketches testing ideas and pointing to the direction I wish to go.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
** I’ll be using the Lumix G9 in the future for most of my wildlife shooting. Designed with the stills photographer in mind, it adds 6 1/2 stops of handholdabilty (GH5 has 5) along with a better grip and button design for still photographers.
by successfulbob | bird photography, LumixGH5, photography, wildlife photography
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge – Part Two
While in Maryland presenting some photography programs to MDPPA I found some extra time to go in search of wildlife. I had the pleasure of spending a couple of days with Chris Paulis as he took us to the wildlife refuge from Columbia a couple of hours away in Cambridge, Maryland.
You can check the first post where I shared some large avian creatures AKA the Great Blue Herons. Today I am going to show the world of ducks that we were able to find. There were lots of Northern Shovelers which show quite beautiful plumage. If you don’t know better, it’s relatively easy to mistake their feather patterns for Mallards. Since both were hanging around you can check out the similarities and the differences.
Onward to the duck photos!
These guys tended to stay right on the edge of being able to get beautiful photos. Male Northern Shoveler.
Both Chris and I were using Panasonic Lumix cameras, He had the Lumix G9, and I had the Lumix GH5. We both used the Lumix G Leica 100-400mm f4.5-6.3 lens. Having that reach at full extension (800mm 35mm FF equivalent) made it possible for us to capture many of the shots that would otherwise have been more humdrum. The five-axis image stabilization enabled hand holding even fully extended. It makes a huge difference in the tracking the ever-changing movement of our subjects.
The reflection of the sunset light on the water warms this photo of a male Mallard.
Male Mallard duck in flight.
If at all possible I try to capture images that include behavior. Taken just after leaving the water droplets fall helping to add more detail to the story.
This photo is one of my favorite images from the day. A couple of Northern Shoveler ducks take to the air.
It was a great day, so I probably have one or two more posts to share from our refuge adventure.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | bird photography, LumixGH5, photography, photography education, wildlife photography
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge
Last week I was speaking at the Maryland Professional Photographers Association. It was a great group, and we made a solid connection in what became an all-day program due to weather conditions that were a wee bit unusual for this time of year.
For this trip, I scheduled some extra time to get out and photograph wildlife. I had an excellent guide and companion for the shooting days in Chris Paulis! (check out Chris’ work here) Chris and I had a blast looking for photo opportunities in the area. On Friday we drove two hours each way to spend time at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Chris had mentioned he hadn’t had a lot of luck there in the past, but I think we did pretty well. We made the loop through the refuge eight or nine times discovering different wildlife situations on each cycle.
The majority of my images were captured with the Lumix GH5 (currently $200 off for a limited time) and the Lumix G Leica 100-400mm lens. Chris had the same lens and was shooting with the new stills flagship camera the Lumix G9. (mine came in right after I returned from the trip. More to come about that new camera)
I enjoy wildlife photography, and my goal is to have images that show either beautiful lighting or behavior images. I’ll share some below and in another post or two over the next week.
Sometimes a simple capture featuring the environment works well and helps tell the story.
Still environmental, this image has a bit more behavior. I laughingly title this Heron Airport.
It’s all about the light and shadow. Add in some lovely water reflections, and now we’re cooking. Getting photographs like this take time and patience. There are only a few minutes in the morning and afternoon when the light starts to work like this. And then there’s having the performer in place at the same time as the light.
Next time some intimate portraits of my heron budies. Til then go get ya some great photo ops!
Yours in creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | bird photography, landscape photography, LumixGH5, photography, photography gear, photography software, wildlife photography
Salt River Wildlife – Part Two
As I mentioned in the previous post using the new gear from Panasonic with five-axis image stabilization such as in the Lumix GH5 and the long reach of the Leica 100-400mm lens makes photographing wildlife a new joy. Here are a few more examples from a photo shoot in the Salt River Wildlife basin near Fort McDowell, AZ.
The avian population on the Salt River is diverse. This is a Yellowlegs Sandpiper.
The 800mm equivalent reach of the Leica lens makes acquiring action photos such as this possible. The stabilization allows for handholding even though the lens is extended to its fullest range. I enjoy making images that include behavior such as birds in flight. Got just the right shutter speed in this case as the body of the bird is tack sharp while the wing tips are slightly blurred showing motion.
Isolated tree along the banks of the Salt River.
I like how the tree is highlighted against the darker background of the hillside behind. Processed with Adobe Camera RAW, Photoshop and finished with Luminar as a plug-in.
Capturing the image is only the beginning of photography in my opinion. Images are massaged, and the vision is completed in post-production. The tools are quite varied, but I try to settle on specific software so I can use it to its fullest. Below are my current most used software options.
Adobe Bridge, Adobe Camera RAW, and Photoshop – Learn more here
Skylum software including Luminar, Aurora HDR 2018 and the Creative Kit – Learn more here Use the code COATES to receive $10 off your purchase. You can try the software for free for 30 days.
NIK filters – Formerly free from Google DXO has purchased NIK and still makes the plug-ins available for free. They are working on a new release scheduled around the middle of 2018. In the meantime, with a few workarounds, the software still works (mostly) with the current MAC OS system. Learn more here and download for free.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | bird photography, LumixGH5, wildlife photography
Salt River Wildlife
Just gotta say, “Arizona kicks ass in the variety of subject matter to photograph!”
Had an opportunity to go photograph with my friend Sara Goodnick. She was helping me find the wild horses in the Salt River Area of Fort Mcdowell, AZ. This area is ripe with wildlife. In addition to a couple of horse groups, we came across there was a pretty substantial avian population scattered along the banks of the river. I’ll be looking forward to exploring this area more often in the future. Arizona has so many different ecosystems within a relatively short distance it makes for a great place to play. An hour in almost any direction gives you a significant change in flora and fauna. I believe I have been remiss in photographically exploring my state.
Let’s take a look at a few of the captures. We had just a slight soft layer of clouds for the day which softened shadows ever-so-much which made photographing at the time of day acceptable.
Such gentle creatures. Salt river horse up on the hillside. Rim light made this image work for me.
The framing of the horses with the scrub brush helps tell the story of the wild animals in their environment.
Dig the beard on the horse in the back!
Down by the water I enjoyed the log, cormorant and its reflection. A long lens helps make it possible to get close-up images of the wildlife with disturbing them.
All images captured with the Lumix GH5 and the Leica 100-400mm lens.
I think part of my renewed excitement about my pursuing wildlife photography is the use of the Leica 100-400mm lens on the Lumix bodies with five extra stops of hanholdability. Having that reach has made a HUGE difference in the number of ‘keepers’ from my wildlife excursions.
More from this adventure soon.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
