I’m in Utah for the Outdoor Photo Expo and had a chance to photography at Antelope Island before the expo.  While the opportunities were limited (three bison, two jackrabbits, and an interesting looking partridge in a pear tree……wait, wrong story) I did get a chance to photograph seagulls.  Sitting in my car on the causeway to Antelope Island, I watched of seagulls fly overhead, so I grabbed my 500mm IS lens and started creating images.

The above image is one of my favorites from the shoot.  The image was created using a Canon 1D mark 4, 500mm IS lens, at 200 ISO.

Later this week I will be attending the Outdoor Photo Expo in Salt Lake City.  I try to attend one or two photography events each year and I always find it interest when other photographers ask me that age old question: Why?  Isn’t it expensive?  That’s too far to travel for a two day expo.  Do you learn anything?  It’s true, attending the expo is expensive.  The ticket is only a small part of the fee.  I also have to purchase plane tickets and the hotel costs are crazy.  Yet I am going.  Lets take a closer look at why I think attending photo events is worthwhile.

1. The biggest reason to attend a photo event is to learn.  For two days, I will listen to presentations on different aspects of photography, ranging from creativity to expedition videography.  I will also have the opportunity to hear two nature photography masters: Art Wolfe and Frans Lanting.  There is something for everyone at these events from the beginner to the seasoned pro and I am always amazed by the new ideas that I walk away with.

2. If education is the first reason to attend, inspiration comes in as a close second.  We all approach photography in our own way and it is a good idea to occasionally step back and see what others are doing.  Sure, I’m going to roll your eyes at some of it, but  I will also see something that I really want to try.  Also, don’t be afraid to see what non-wildlife photographers are doing.  Each branch of photography has its own conventions and looking outside of your own speciality can often get the ideas flowing.  We never know where inspiration will come from and one of the best ways to find something different is to look at areas outside your normal comfort zone.

3. Nature photography is socially isolating.  We spend a lot of time chasing critters in the field, only to return home and spend additional time in front of the computer.  My wife loves me very much, but when I start taking about my latest photographic adventures, her eyes start to glaze over.  Photo events provide an opportunity to interact with other photographers who appreciate the time and effort I put into my images.

4. I believe in supporting the photography community.  While photographers love to claim that they are self taught, it is almost never true.  Through the generosity of their time and knowledge, many photographers have contributed to make me the photographer I am today.  I strongly believe in providing that same support to the community by attending events and sharing my time and knowledge with others.

5. Finally, these events are fun.  I lived in Salt Lake City for three years and I look forward to revisiting the area, discussing photography, and even capturing a few pictures.

The pronghorn image above was captured in Custer State Park, South Dakota using a Canon 1D mark 2, 500mm IS lens, at 125 ISO.

In a few days I will be heading to Salt Lake City to attend the Outdoor Photo Expo.  In anticipation, I started looking through some of my old photos from when I lived in the area.  This image of a bull moose was taken almost exactly 7 years ago (August 9th, 2004) and is historically important because it is the image that convinced me that my switch to digital was a good move.

The image was captured about 20 minutes after sunset with the light levels were falling fast.  I was shooting with another photographer who was using film.  Film locked her into a single ISO setting while my digital setup provided much needed flexibility as the light left the sky.  By the time we packed up, my ISO cranked up to 1000.  The end result was I went home with several pleasing images (it was the first time I had ever photographed a moose) while every one of my friend’s images were blurred.  It was a great way to drive home the digital advantage of adjustable ISO.

Ironically, at the time I was didn’t like the noise in the image, but I was willing to accept it.  Today, with the advances in image processing, I can remove almost all of the noise.  This is one case where the image has actually gotten better with time.  Who knows, maybe this next week I will have a chance to see this moose again.  I wonder how 12500 ISo will look.

The image was captured using a Canon 1Ds, 70-200mm lens with a 1.4 teleconverter, at 1000 ISO.

My goals are actually pretty simple.  I want to finish and enjoy the experience (AKA be alive at the end), so I am taking steps to improve my chances of meeting these goals.

First off, I have gotten more organized in my training.  In May I started working with Jen Rulon, a triathlon coach at Tribalance.  Jen has been a great help in organizing my workouts and keeping me honest about the effort I am putting into training (it is harder to cheat when you have to account to someone at the end of the week).  Her first act as my coach was to dramatically increase the the number of weekly workouts I was doing (it went from 6 to 9 workouts every week).  I vaguely remember her mentioning something about recovery weeks, but I find that her “recovery weeks” are more than the heavy weeks I was doing before.  I am currently training around 8 hours a week.  Take my word for it, that is a lot.  In June, for example, my workouts included:

• 182.6 miles of biking.
• 47.5 miles of running.
• 13.2 miles of swimming.

Second, I have tried to keep it fun.  The truth is that endurance training is long, tedious work.  If you don’t want to burn out, you have to find ways to mix things up on occasion.  Towards this end, I have tried a few different things.  When we travel, I have gotten in my workouts, even if things were a little different.  When we went to South Padre Island, Noemi and I did a long run along the beach.  At Lake Placid (the one in Texas), I did my 40 minute swim in a canal off the Guadalupe River.  Everyone seemed convinced that I was going to get eaten by snakes, but the reality is that open water swims can be a lot of fun.  My upcoming visit to Salt Lake City will probably find me on a mountain bike trail somewhere.

Noemi has also helped to keep me motivated by signing me up for local races.  Thinking that a 5k fun run might be a little too easy, she decided that we needed to run in the Chupacabra nighttime trail race.  There is nothing quite like running in the dark along a dirt trail trail with 1,200 strangers to give yourself a challenge.  Actually, the race was a lot of fun.  I finished in 1:06:42, beating Noemi by a good 6 minutes.  This is a good thing because in a normal road race, she leaves me in the dust.  I have to take my victories where I can find them.

What does all this have to do with photography?  On the surface, nothing.  Yet setting long goals is a necessary step in becoming a better photographer.  Personal fitness also directly impacts our ability to get out there and photograph.  The big kick in the butt that got me on the road to fitness was how difficult I found climbing the hillside stairs at Kigongoni lodge.  I admit those stairs are long and steep, but climbing them shouldn’t have required a 10 minute recovery.

We don’t get good at something overnight, at least not anything worth becoming good at.  Skills are developed through time and effort.  So, no matter what you chose to do, set your goals, work hard, and do everything you can to achieve your results.

What do you do when a 1,100 pound Great White Shark jumps into your boat?  That was the situation shark researchers found themselves in while working near Seal Island in South Africa.  It s a story of drama, heroics, and a very big fish.  For a full account, visit the Shark Chronicles blog.

Sometimes they are as curious about us as we are about them.

This spotted hyaena was photographed smelling the bumper of our Landrover as it walked past.  The image was captured using a Canon 1D mark 2, 500mm IS lens with a 1.4 teleconverter, at 200 ISO.

This is the first summer in five years that I will not spend some of my time in Africa.  It is an amazing place and images like the one above remind me how much I miss it.

The image was captured using a Canon 1D mark 4, 120-300mm lens with a 1.4 teleconverter, at 400 ISO.

Step #1 – Know your equipment

Step #2 – It is about the light

Step #3 – Use a tripod

Step #4 – Lens do more then get you closer

Step #5 – Get closer

Step #6 – Composition is not a four letter word

Step #7 – Go where the wildlife is

Step #8 – Move beyond the pretty picture

Step #9 – Learn biology

Step #10 – Be ready for the action

Step #11 – Learn to use the digital darkroom

Step #12 – Edit, share, and compare

Know a tip that is missing from the list, share it with the community by posting a comment.

Step #12 – Edit, Share, and Compare.

For most of us, photography is a social activity.  I might be alone when I take an animal’s picture, but I’m not taking that picture just for me.  I photograph wildlife because I want to share the beauty and wonder of the natural world.  There are few things more exciting than coming face to face with a wild animal and interacting with it on a personal level.  I take photographs because I want to share those experiences.  It doesn’t matter how good of a photographer I am or how many great images I have captured.  If my images never move beyond my computer it is as if they don’t exist.

Editing:

Before you show a single image to anyone, edit your work.  After two weeks of photographing in Africa, I usually come home with between 5,000 and 10,000 images.  From these I narrow the number down to the best 100 images.  Sounds hard, but it isn’t.  The key is to accept that everyone takes bad pictures.  The difference between bad and good photographers is the ability to let go of the bad images and only show the good ones.  There is a running joke that the difference between a professional and amateur photographer is the size of their trash can.  The professional’s trash can is bigger and it gets used a lot.

When I edit my work, I do a first run through and throw away any images that don’t make a basic quality cut.  Anything that is out of focus, poorly exposed, or shows bad composition gets tossed.  After 19 years I still get shots of tail feathers as the bird flies out of the frame.  It doesn’t matter how good you are.  If you never take a bad picture, you’re not pushing yourself and you will never get better.

Once the obviously bad images are removed, I start the second round edit.  This is where I separate the wheat from the chaff.  Factors like composition, critical focus, and light all come into play in deciding which images stand out.  I also look at each image at 100% magnification to assess critical focus.  If the eyes aren’t sharp – delete.  It is painful, but I only want the best images in my files.

In the end, I end up with two different groups of “keeper” files.  The first is my top image category.  These are my babies.  These are my go to images when someone wants to see what I can do.  From a big trip, I might have 80 – 100 images in this category, but they are my best.  The second group is my good but not awesome category.  These are still high quality images (mediocre and bad images got thrown out during editing), but they are a notch below the top shots.  They also might number between 2,000 and 3,000.  Why do I keep these?  As a stock and editorial photographer, I often have a need for images that help to tell or complete a story.  These images help to fill out the story.  They might not be show stoppers, but they are solid images that show subjects that are often in demand.

Sharing:

Before you start sharing, you need to determin which images are worth sharing.  Not just which images, but how many.  We all dread the words, “Want to see a slideshow of my vacation?”  What usually follows is hundreds of boring images that make you want to move to a distant land where they have never heard of slideshows.  Don’t be that person.  If you give a slideshow, blow the audience away.  Make them beg for more.  Remember, 20 pictures of you sitting on a beach might bring back great memories, but they will end your future chances of a social life.  Do your audience a favor, keep it short.  If you can’t say it with 30 to 40 images, you need to refine your message.

It goes back to editing.  Not only do you need to select quality images, but the image you pick need to be assembled so they tell a story.  Not just any story.  It needs to be a story that your audience actually wants to hear.

In today’s digital world, image sharing has come a long way from the slideshow.  Online photographic sites like NatureScapes, BirdPhotographers.net, and Flickr offer opportunities to post images for review and critique.  Short of a photographic workshop, online communities are probably the fastest way to become a better photographer.  Pick your specialty, find a group, sign up, start posting, and listen to what people have to say.  For those looking for a more personal touch, there are many local area camera clubs that run monthly competitions and workshops.  These can also be outstanding venues for photographers looking to share their work and improve on what they are doing.

Beyond showing off, sharing my photography gets me excited about what I do.  As a wildlife photographer it is easy to be isolated.  Sharing my work gets what I am doing out in front of others and reaffirms the value of what I am doing.  In the case of my students, it has the added benefit of getting them excited about something I am passionate about.

Compare:

One of the best ways to develop as a photographer is to expose yourself to the work of other photographers.  Check out what others are doing and compare it to your own work.  How do your images measure up?  Are your images better?  If so, fantastic.  Now go out and find a photographer who is better then you.  Trust me, they are out there.  If not, don’t get depressed.  Every industry has its stars and there is nothing wrong with looking at their work with envy.  The problem comes when that is all you do.

When you find a photographer whose work you truly admire, ask yourself what it is about the work that draws you.  Is it their use of light?  Their unique camera angles?  Their post processing technique?  Once you identify the key factor (or factors), ask yourself what it will take for you to start producing images of that quality.  Then get to work.

Too often photographers obtain a basic level of competence in their craft and then stop developing.  Comparing your work to that of other photographers and pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone will assist you in evolving yours photography.