Fawn with feather

Two Fawns

I did manage to get alot more shots, some were even good enough to publish.

In our trip later that Fall, the fawns were much older and, we noticed, not as curious and more wary of us. One of them even began to challenge me as seen in the Fall picture. That’s good that they were getting more cautious! Hunting season was approaching and we wanted them to be safe and healthy! We’ll be back to Block Island in early Spring looking for the deer again!

Mom & Baby Spring 2010

Fall 2010

The Honeymooners is one of my favorite shows. Yes, I’m dating myself, what’s it to ya? As much as I’d like to talk about the Honeymooners, this post is not about the show.

Last month one of my friends came to dinner and brought his new Canon SX30 with him. He had been disappointed with the results when he attempted to take a picture of the full moon the night before and was wondering if it was him or the limitation of the camera.

I asked to see the pictures he took and what was disappointing about them. When he showed me the first one, I immediately blurted out "Metering Mode."

Over Exposed Full Moon

The pictures I was looking at were of a bright white disk. I might as well have been looking directly into a spotlight. What is the issue here?

Point & Shoot cameras have come a long way in the past decade or so. They have all kinds of features and programs that make taking a picture almost a breeze for anyone. They are very smart about evaluating a scene and adjusting the settings to give you the best possible picture (within the limits of the camera), but they do not replace the photographer and that is why manufacturers have added different modes to allow the photographer to override the automated features of the camera.

What modes the camera has depends on which camera you buy.  For instance my friend’s Canon SX30 gives you the ability to use it in fully automated mode to a fully manual mode where you set the aperture value, exposure speed, and ISO setting and anything in between.  Choose a camera based on how much control you need.

Many Point & Shoots today have the ability to change a metering mode. Metering refers to light metering which is a measurement of the light intensity in a scene. How the measurement is taken dictates the setting of the camera at the time of exposure when using any form of automated settings. After all, the camera is all about allowing light coming through the lens for a certain period of time to allow for the capture of detail in the scene. Too much light coming into the camera will overexpose the scene and will blow out the highlights. Similar to this picture of the moon that looks like a white disk. Too little light effectively reduces the detail in the shadow areas of a scene and might give you complete blackness in those areas. In you have a camera with different metering modes the likelihood is that you have three settings or more. The most common ones are:

• Evaluated metering
• Center-weighted metering
• Spot metering

When using your camera in fully automated mode, without overriding the metering mode, your camera is most likely using evaluated metering. Evaluated is a term used by Canon, different manufacturers use different terms for that mode; but all manufacturers use similar concepts of measuring light intensity for the scenes. For instance, in evaluated metering mode, the camera will divide the scene into multiple segments as defined by the manufacturer and the light intensity is measured in each of those segments, and each manufacturer has their own algorithm for coming up with the appropriate exposure based on those measurements. We would like to think that it is really an average of all, but it is not that simple and each manufacturer protects their algorithms and methods of evaluating the light – but basically it comes up to some compromise in order to allow the best exposure for the scene that the camera sees.

Centered-weighted metering is somewhat different in that only a portion of the scene – focused mostly on the center area – is evaluated for light intensity. That portion depends on the manufacturer again, but it may be somewhere around 50% – 60% depending on the manufacturer of that scene evaluation.

The final, the spot metering, constricts the measurement of light intensity to an even much smaller area of the scene, normally between 1% – 5% of the area. In Point and Shoots that will be right in the middle of your viewfinder.

What does this all mean to you as a photographer? As you can see from the white disk picture, using the camera default evaluated metering mode you are not left with a satisfactory image. Since taking a photo of the moon in a very dark sky, and since, in reality, you will not have detail in that black sky, you need to ensure that the camera reads the light intensity of the moon and not the background as not to over expose the scene. In this case, since the moon takes only a small portion of the sky (unless of course you have an ultra-telephoto lens), spot metering is the appropriate mode to allow the camera to appropriately set the exposure.

Properly Exposed Full Moon

Take a look at this picture and you can see how much detail you can see in the moon. Other areas you use spot metering for will be a backlit scene. For instance, where you have a sunset and you are attempting to get the picture of a person that is in front of that sunset. If you use the default setting, you’ll end up with an underexposure of the person, effectively making them a silhouette in the foreground of the photo. In this instance, you will want to use the spot metering mode and take the measurement of that person’s face or silhouette in order to get the necessary detail in the image.

Hope this helps!  Happy shooting! Let me know if you have any questions or need advice.

Jed was a very sweet and gentle boy who was well loved and loved those around him. Whenever we saw him, Jed would smile at us – you could see it in his eyes and those very expressive ears! All of us pet lovers have had to let a dear friend go when we weren’t ready…but we knew our pet was.

What a hard decision to make to let go of a dog you love so much. These pets seem to entwine themselves into our lives and our hearts right from the start -they bring us joy and happiness every day just by being there for us. Running to see us when we arrive home – wagging their tails in joy. They ask us for nothing other than love in return. Yet – with just one look, they bring joy to our hearts that is so difficult to express in words.

Jed will be waiting at the Rainbow Bridge where all our beloved animals wait for us.

Jed – you will be greatly missed!

Our hearts go out to you Carolyn and Celia – we know how tough it is to lose a dear friend. Jed will never be forgotten and will be in your memories forever.

Now down to the story.  I’ve mentioned before about the birds flying into the glass door. Every now and then while working in the office we hear a little thud and we rush down to see if it was a bird that flew into the door that might need nursing back to health or maybe one of our many well fed squirrels tapping on the glass for more food (will explain in another post.)

On this day, we heard a really loud thud. It almost sounded like someone had thrown a baseball against the glass. This time we ran downstairs to see what happened. To our surprise there was this Cooper’s hawk sitting on the deck looking dazed. He looks like a juvenile!

Of course my instinct was to rush back upstairs and get my camera and it just happened to be fitted with the telephoto lens. As soon as I go down to take some shot through the glass the hawk lunges at the glass again and hit it hard. Again, he is on the deck dazed and confused.  I get several shots before he does it again as if he is attacking me.

This time he relents and flies off to a tree after pausing on the deck for a few seconds. I go outside to see if he ok and if he regained his composure. When I came back, I noticed that the glass doors were more like a mirror and it dawned on me that he was attacking himself in the glass thinking that it was a rival.

The sky was cloudy and it was getting close to dusk thereby causing that effect on the glass. Of course we added more decals to make sure we reduce such incidents and possibly having a hawk break into the house!

This year we had 9 turkeys in the front yard – and they were big! One year we tried getting the dog to run out and get us a one of them…but he looked at us and said, “What are you nuts! These guys are bigger than me and I’m over 100 lbs.!”

So…the turkeys come and taunt us. Enjoying our bird seed and just overall having a good time walking around the yard. At least they let us take their pictures!

The card in a photography business does make a difference. If you do not have a sample of your work readily available, you may never hear from people again.  If you have a plain card that lists your site and contact information and a logo, you are relying on the client being proactive in contacting you and checking out your site. But, if you have part of your portfolio on your card, it becomes a conversation starter and prompts people to go view more work on your site.

For my IT consulting business, I create my own business cards in the office with an inkjet printer and good quality paper purchased at any office supply store. It is easy to do and it is of good and professional quality; however when it comes to photography, it was hard to create something that would communicate my work in the manner that I desired. So, I looked for an outside service to get the best impact out of my cards. That is where MOO came into play.

I did my research and looked for different options. I found several companies that provided some nifty solutions at different price ranges. I decided to get sample cards prior to ordering a big quantity of the cards. When I received my MOO cards, I knew that my decision would be easy!

See why it's hard to let go

MOO allows for uploading up to 50 images to be on the cards and the quality of the cards is remarkable. They are sturdy and vibrant, and they do communicate my capabilities and the quality of my work to potential clients. So much so, that I have a hard time giving the cards away – obviously defeating the purpose of the cards! These cards allowed me to have a portable portfolio of my work that anyone can take back with them.

I end up going through the cards to see which photo I like the least from my stack to give up! What I found with these cards is that people ask to select a particular one from the stack. I have had a few people lay them out on a table and take their time trying to make a selection. It is like a kid being given permission to select one toy in a toy store. Too often they end up with taking multiple ones, and I don’t think they ever share them with others. Maybe they frame them the put them on display. Wouldn’t that be nice!

So much for the first impression thing! I think this is a final impression!

By the way, I still can’t let go of the cards. My wife has to accompany me whenever I need to hand over a card. I have to step away and let her give away my work. It real is hard for me to let go of the MOO!

If anyone from MOO reads this, maybe you should send me a stack for free ones since it is getting very expensive when people take five or more at a time. I blame you for this dilemma! Actually…wait a minute…maybe it’s the photos after all!

This also provided a lot of opportunity to shoot birds in action and we get a lot of them!  Unfortunately, a byproduct of the glass doors were bird collisions. We have invested in a lot of decals to prevent this from happening, but on occasions one will fly into the doors. And of course we buy more decals and strategically place them on the doors.

Now when we hear an impact, it is usually a bird that has made a last minute adjustment to avoid the door. Unfortunately, every now and then, a bird will hit hard enough to get dazed or knocked out and we have a routine for dealing with this to get them back up and running (or should I say flying) again.

Dark-eyed Junco on the way to recovery

This is a dark-eyed junco that was being cared for by Gina on its way to recovery.  After that incident, which was last winter, we added more decals and have not had any impacts since until the Hawk. That discussion will be reserved for another post.

Stay tuned!

As with every step in the evolution of photography, there are always new techniques and methods for creating images that will satisfy the photographer or the viewer, and there has always been controversy on new methods (similar to my parents complaining when I listened to rock-n-roll music!) – But ultimately photographers will come to accept it and embrace it.

Subtle or Surreal

So why not use HDR? What is the harm? If you are using it to accentuate the details of both highlights and shadows and use it subtlely, no one will even know you are using HDR technique. Or, if you are playing around and trying to make it look “cartoonish” (surreal) – what’s the difference between using HDR and creating a surreal composition in Photoshop with multiple images. At the end of the day, you are the photographer, you are the artist, and it is what you think of your own work and what you are trying to create that is of importance. I liken this controversy to when digital came into play and traditionalists said film is the only way to go. How many film photographers do you see out there today? (I admit I was one of those traditionalists at the time!). Bottom line, HDR is yet another tool and technique available to you as a photographer/artist to enhance your portfolio. No doubt, within a year, given the speed at which technology is advancing, we’ll have yet another new tool or method that will be in controversy to discuss!  Until then…good shooting! 

Stay tuned for upcoming posts about HDR techniques!

Loon at Deering Reservoir

One of the reasons we invested in a kayak was to get close to the Loons at the Deering Reservoir in New Hampshire. We have been

going there for a number of years to enjoy those wonderful prehistoric creatures. The songs of the Loon is very mesmerizing, you can sit there for hours just listening. Click here to hear the Loon wail.

Once we got the kayak we started going out on the water early in the morning before the boaters got on to get some quiet time and no wakes. That is especially important when you’re carrying all this camera equipment in the boat. One big wave and say goodbye to your cameras and lenses. But hey, where is the sense of adventure!  In this case the benefits outweighed the risks.  (OK….and insurance on the equipment helped!)

Someone needs to do all the work

The kayak allowed us to get close without intruding on the nesting loons. We kept our distance as not to disturb them,
but this one decided to put on a show for us and started coming closer to the kayak and diving under it and coming up on the other side.

He got so close that I couldn’t fit the whole bird in the frame. That’s when it became a portrait. Sometimes you can spend days trying to get this kind of shot. This time we had the good fortune of the bird wanting his picture taken.

We had been out there once a week for four weeks before this photo was able to be taken.  Good thing my wife (Gina) is patient with me and she did all the paddling as you can see! 

BTW, this picture is up for auction at the Massabesic Audubon Center, NH. The picture size is 10×15 framed in a 16×21 frame using all archival material and non-glare & UV protective acrylic. So please start the bidding. It is going to a good cause.

The next morning, bright and early (just before sunrise), we heard a noise from our bedroom window.  Looked out and there was the black bear pulling the feeder pole down and reaching for the feeder! I snuck downstairs with my camera to take a few shots (hard to get in the early morning light while trying to be very quiet so as not to disturb him!).   Just as I decided to try to sneak onto the deck in the back – he caught me!  Went back off into the woods.  Nice looking bear though….probably about 300 pounds or so!  Comes back on occasion – but not every night.  Yes…we do pull in the feeders when he visits so he doesn’t get used to food being available.  However, if my wife had her way – she’d invite him in and take care of him in the winter!

This blog will showcase a few photos with short stories behind them. Every now and then there is an interesting story behind a photo I have taken and want to share those with you.  Sometimes I can sit for hours waiting for the perfect shot (and sometimes it never comes!) – There always will be stories behind those shots too.

Please do comment on the photos and the posts. I can take some constructive criticism (not much.)

Enjoy!

Yusuf Abudi