Nature Photography Adventures Blog

by Diane | August 14, 2019 · 10:43 am

Stars

Stars are everywhere, but better to view and photograph some places than others. Where are you on the Bortle Scale? And timing with the moon is essential, as is noting the Milky Way season and direction from where you are located. Then there is weather and dust in the air. Lots of things to consider.

Milky Way, Jupiter, and a meteor. 2000 ISO, f2.8, 20 seconds.
© 2019 Diane Kelsay

We know this lake well, it’s where we kayak most frequently. We knew the directions to look and moved around the lake until we found just the right place that the light pollution from a city 40 miles away lit up the lake enough to show the reflection. It’s not a merged image. We prefer to add light if needed with flash or ambient light. Sometimes a silhouette is more dramatic. Play with it all and see what you like. And use a compass if you don’t know the area.

Namibia. Subtle flash on rock.
© 2018 Bob Harvey

Inca Trail. Headlights inside tents – adjusted in brightness and direction for this shot.
© 2016 Bob Harvey

Morocco, Sahara Desert. 2 candles lighting the tent.
© 2018 Diane Kelsay

City lights 40 miles away providing color on the horizon. A yard light at a farm lighting the trees. And a frenzy of meteors during the exposure!
© 2019 Diane Kelsay

Peruvian Amazon – no light pollution!
© 2015 Bob Harvey & Diane Kelsay

Our house. A long enough exposure to get a nice tail on a meteor, and a natural starburst with Jupiter.
© 2019 Diane Kelsay

Know your twilight zones (ha, not the show) – Civil, Nautical, Astronomical. Experiment shooting in all and see how the Milky Way shows up in each compared to total darkness. Conditions where you are come into play. Most of the time it doesn’t work, sometimes it does.

Morocco, Sahara Desert. Nautical Twilight. Note the layer of dust above the dunes.
© 2018 Diane Kelsay

Iceland
© 2018 Diane Kelsay

Learn more and enjoy photographing the night sky with us. Places on our menu of adventures that are good for stars: Tanzania, Kenya, Patagonia, Turkey, Iceland Aurora.

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by Diane | July 28, 2019 · 1:41 pm

Animals in Motion

It’s fun and pretty easy to capture an animal by freezing the action with a fast shutter speed.

But what if you want to blur the image and feel the motion?

I find that using a medium long lens works the best for me. Long primes like a 500 are a little more difficult to manage. Wide angle doesn’t do much. The above photo was taken with an 80-400 mm lens (at 240mm) at a shutter speed of 1/30, ISO 64, F22.

shutter speed 1/25
© 2017 Bob Harvey

Shutter speeds to accomplish this motion usually range from 1/15 to 1/30.

shutter speed 1/25
© 2015 Diane Kelsay

How fast the animal is running, how long a lens you have, all play into what shutter speed to use. I’ve taken photos at the same speed as above, but the legs were totally blurred into the background – animal was running faster.

shutter speed 1/15
© 2015 Diane Kelsay

Get into position when you see the opportunity coming toward you. Focus on the running animal and pan with it – release when the moment is right and follow through. Think of hitting a tennis ball. You will get nice background blur by doing this.

Wildebeest running hard, panning at 1/30 second.
© 2015 Diane Kelsay

Chose a path where the animal will always be in similar light – not in and out of the shade/sun which requires different exposures. If the background changes from light to dark, auto exposure could be tricked. Manual focus or single point auto focus and manual exposure are needed to avoid picking up information from the background.

We will be working on this technique on our upcoming trips to Africa.

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Tagged as Africa wildlife, Botswana Photography Safari, Botswana wildlife photography, Kenya wildlife photography, Nature Photography Adventures, Tanzania photography safari, Tanzania wildlife photography, wildlife in motion, wildlife photo techniques

by Diane | July 16, 2019 · 9:26 am

Photographing The Forest Canopy

What do you expect to find from this unique perspective? What do you hope to find?

Monkeys and birds of course! So it is nice to be prepared with a long lens while you are walking along the trails and out on the bridges and platforms. You get that face to face view instead of looking up.

But what about art! The forest has trees and plants with gorgeous designs that you can’t appreciate from the ground looking up.

The scenery takes on a new look. Having a wide angle lens handy is absolutely essential.

And don’t forget to look at the plants right next to you, normally high above.

It takes some practice to photograph on a hanging bridge that is dynamic (meaning when someone moves, it moves).

So when we say long lens, we mean 70-200 or 80-400 range, not your 600 mounted on a tripod. You need to know how your camera performs at higher ISO’s so you can take advantage of higher shutter speeds. With wide-angle, you can use a much slower shutter speed, open the aperture and still get good depth of field and less movement. We help you learn and choose the best choices on our Costa Rica Adventure.

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Tagged as canopy bridges, canopy trails, Costa Rica, Costa Rica monkeys, Costa Rica Nature Photography Adventure, Costa Rica Photography Tours, photography tours, photography workshop, rainforest canopy, rainforest canopy photography, rainforest photo workshops

by Diane | July 6, 2019 · 1:21 pm

Continuous Shooting

As I, Diane, explained in the previous post, I like to watch animal behavior and pick the moment. That said, there are times when continuous is the best option. Like the antics of a zebra taking a dust bath. Sometimes events happen so quickly (like seeing a cloud of dust that might have action) it’s hard to follow with your eye, let alone pick the moment. And there were many to choose from, a real bonus.

Zebra taking a dust bath.
© 2017 Diane Kelsay

Bob writing, now… I was crouching on the edge of a cliff where puffins are flying in from the sea with little fish to feed their young in burrows very close to where I am standing, but also spread out along at least a kilometer of cliff edge. Birds were coming in from the sea in a steady stream. They knew where their burrow was, but I didn’t. As they approached the cliff edge, they would suddenly pivot and fly parallel to the cliff, looking for an opportunity to land at their burrows. They fly like little bullets. From the time they make that turn to the time when all you can see is the backside is a matter of 5 to 10 seconds. One has to “lock on” to focus as they approach, follow the turn, and then make a batch of continuous releases. Assuming your follow focus holds (and it does more often than not with current technology) you’ll get to pick from several images. If you get really lucky, like I did in this image, the puffin will make one more turn toward you to land at a nearby burrow. Then instead of a sideways image, you get more of a head-on shot!

It’s important to build your skills at recognizing and capturing unique moments. There are times when your eye can’t follow the speed of the action and continuous exposure is a great too.

Botswana, Fish Eagle coming in for the catch.
© 2018 Diane Kelsay

The next frame on continuous!
© 2018 Diane Kelsay

Alaska Bears – who gets the next salmon?
© 2018 Bob Harvey

Zebra wars
© Bob Harvey

Understand that there are times when you are in a quiet place and rapid fire could disturb the wildlife and/or your fellow travelers, causing you all to miss the shot.

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Tagged as Alaska bear photography, Alaska bears, Botswana, Botswana photography tour, Iceland photography tour, Nature Photography Adventures, puffins, tanzania, Tanzania photography safari, zebras

by Diane | July 1, 2019 · 8:41 am

Ecuador Bird Photography

Last post I talked about birds eating. Late morning my senses started kicking in, and I was ready for lunch. Our guide told me to watch the Velvet-purple Coronet that just came into the adjacent trees. He said that after he lands, his wings go out for a second. Ok, I’ve got this! He lands on a branch right in front of me. I missed. I changed to manual focus, focusing on his favorite spot on the branch. That works – nice wings, no head. Then nice head, no wing action. Then nice branch, no bird. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the picnic table behind me – wow, what a spread! Is that a platter of avocado slices? My tummy rumbles. Guide says “incoming”. “And why don’t you just put it on continuous?” This is a game between us.

Velvet-purple Coronet sitting on the branch.
© 2019 Diane Kelsay

Finally the next shot is a winner and not on continuous. But then I get another one as he takes off, motion in the wings. This one is my favorite. Bob and I both got several good “on the branch shots”. Lunch was incredible.

Velvet-purple Coronet taking off.
© 2019 Diane Kelsay

When is it a good idea to pick your shot or use continuous? I do occasionally use continuous when I think it’s beneficial, but I mostly use single shot because I like to study my subject and try to capture the moment. I enjoy watching as much as shooting. I really liked “the look” in the second toucan photo.

Plate-billed Mountain Toucan
© 2019 Diane Kelsay

We will help you learn when to use continuous and one-shot bird photography on our next Ecuador Birds Adventure.

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Tagged as Ecuador bird photography, Ecuador hummingbird photography, Nature Photography Adventures, photographing birds, toucan

by Diane | June 27, 2019 · 8:26 am

Ecuador Bird Photography

Some birds seem to play with their food.

Pale mandibled Aracari – playing with food? This catch was tossed about for a few minutes.
© 2019 Diane Kelsay

Some birds eat early – meaning we have to eat breakfast VERY early to get out and catch this one.

And some will enjoy their favorite treats anytime – and need to, so they can keep that energy up.

Join us in Ecuador for exciting bird photography.

See details here

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by Diane | June 22, 2019 · 11:12 am

Ecuador Bird Photography

Gorgeous morning, just ate a delicious moth, what better time to take a bath!

Masked Flowerpiercer
© 2019 Diane Kelsay

Keep watching for more bird photo posts.

Also, consider joining our next group for fun bird photography.

See the details here

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by Diane | May 4, 2019 · 6:36 pm

Belize Scout Trip

In April we (Bob and Diane) went to Belize to scout new and exciting experiences. We explored and photographed new trails, caves, butterfly gardens, Mayan sites, new lodges and more to add new experiences to our Belize and Guatemala Adventures. We found great new opportunities and can’t wait to share them. Some areas had no other people – we had trails and caves to ourselves. Thanks to our guides who helped with lighting.

Trail to the cave
© 2019 Diane Kelsay

New trail in a favorite old place.
© 2019 Diane Kelsay

Collared Aracari
© 2019 Diane Kelsay

Black orchid, national flower of Belize.
© 2019 Diane Kelsay

Russet-naped Wood-Rail
© 2019 Bob Harvey

Russet-naped Wood-Rail
© 2019 Diane Kelsay

Pale-billed woodpecker
© 2019 Bob Harvey

Fox
© 2019 Bob Harvey and Diane Kelsay

Dancing Lady orchid
© 2019 Diane Kelsay

Wren
© 2019 Bob Harvey

Red-throated Ant-Tanager
© 2019 Bob Harvey

We explored a new area of caves, limestone grotto, forest and artifacts. I asked our guide what the Spanish word was for grotto (which best explained the area) and apparently there wasn’t one. His description included the word bosque and something about the limestone, so I named it The Stone Forest.

White-collard Manakin
© 2019 Bob Harvey

Link to our Belize and Guatemala Photography Adventure

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by Diane | April 6, 2019 · 9:21 am

Cloudforest Birds of Ecuador

Ecuador 2018 – After much encouragement from our trusty mainland guide in Quito, we explored the cloud forests seeking new wildlife and scenery photo options. His relative, the most noted birding guide in Ecuador, was our guide. We were amazed at the wealth of experiences we had and filled cards like crazy with colorful birds and cloud forest scenes and critters.

From the cloud forest, we explored the Paramo for mountain vistas and the world’s largest hummingbird.

Link to our Ecuador Birds web page. 2019 is full, but we still have space in 2020!

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Tagged as barbet, bird photography, birds, cock of the rock, Ecuador cloud forest, giant hummingbird, hummingbirds, motmot, Nature Photography Adventures, nightjar, quetzal, shinning sunbeam, sword-billed hummingbird, tananger, toucanet, violet-tailed sylph

by Diane | February 23, 2019 · 2:21 pm

Botswana Adventure 2018

Botswana 2018 – First visitors in March – We arrived just as the lodges opened up for the season. Everything was green and full of life. And the photography from the river was outstanding. We had great angles and access to the action.

A short plane ride later, the interior – also green and full of life.

Wild Dog – Looking cute? You should have seen the pack chasing an impala! I couldn’t believe how fast the impala ran and how high he jumped. (he won)
© 2018 Diane Kelsay