Category: Articles

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With A Little Patience

A killdeer stands in the sun on the broken shells that give name to Shell Beach in Foster City, CA

I have always thought of myself as a patient person. Even before I earned the “Patience” award in kindergarten, I knew that I was good at waiting quietly, while others around me clamored for something to grab their attention. It was not until years later, after photography fully took its hold on me, that I realized how important this natural trait would become.

Whether it be sitting for hours overlooking a grand vista waiting for the perfect light or weather event, or hunkered down behind a large lens waiting for that animal to show the perfect expression, patience is a vital part of photographing the natural world. It is even more important for bird photography, where nine times out of ten, that bird that flushes is never to be seen again.

A killdeer stands in the sun on the broken shells that give name to Shell Beach in Foster City, CA
A killdeer stands in the sun on the broken shells that give name to Shell Beach in Foster City, CA

I started thinking about patience recently, as I was carefully stalking a killdeer along the shoreline of San Francisco Bay. Killdeers are very fast runners, occasionally taking to flight when spooked. I was following one while crouched behind my lens, the tripod legs all the way down and splayed out. Our dance went like this: the bird would run 20 – 30 yards, I would pick up my rig from a squatting position, shuffle forward slowly in increments of 5 yards or so, with both of us carefully eying each other the whole time. We repeated the sequence several times, each time the bird running a shorter distance.

A killdeer stands in the sun on the broken shells that give name to Shell Beach in Foster City, CA
A killdeer stands in the sun on the broken shells that give name to Shell Beach in Foster City, CA

Finally, the killdeer seemed to stop paying so much attention to me, and he focused on poking around the shells at its feet for food instead. I used this opportunity to get a little closer, but now only inches at a time. With the killdeer finally used to my presence, and with me working at a comfortable distance, I settled in to watch and photograph. I ended up spending over half an hour with this bird, getting to know it just a little bit. Sometimes I photograph with more of a “run and gun” style, but this was definitely one of those situations that called for a little patience.

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Photo Fix Or Photo Fraud?

I was able to digitally remove the mud, restoring a close approximation of what the chicks' reflections looked like behind the mud.

I took this photo last year of a black-necked stilt and her three young chicks. I had set up in my usual position, with my lens close to the water surface in order to achieve a more intimate eye-level perspective. I was happy with the shoot and this shot in particular, showing all three chicks together with the mother standing protectively over them.

The only thing that bothered me each time to looked at it was the out-of-focus mud bank just peaking up into the frame. It had not been a concern when I was shooting the mother by herself, but once the chicks were introduced to the scene, the mud cut off parts of their reflections and became a distracting element.

The original image included a distracting mud berm obstructing the reflections of the chicks.
The original image included a distracting mud berm obstructing the reflections of the chicks.

This week I took another look at the shot and realized I might be able to pull off digitally removing the mud feature, and finally fulfilling my original vision. The result is below.

I digitally removed the entire mud bank across the bottom of the photo, and restored portions of each chick’s reflections to rebuild what had been hidden behind the mud. While I was at it, I removed a distracting out-of-focus blade of grass from the left hand side of the photo.

I was able to digitally remove the mud, restoring a close approximation of what the chicks' reflections looked like behind the mud.
I was able to digitally remove the mud, restoring a close approximation of what the chicks’ reflections looked like behind the mud.

Was my change acceptable? Ethical perceptions of photography range wildly. Each photographer and photo critic sits somewhere on the spectrum from thinking that photography is merely a form of art so it is up to the artist’s vision, to thinking that any changes to what was captured by the camera is unethical and not acceptable.

In fact, ethics in photography cover topics other than just post-processing manipulation (which probably gets 80% of the attention). Even when a photograph represents accurately what a camera captures, it does not mean that the scene wasn’t artificially created by the photographer.

I think the judgment lies in how the photograph is presented to the audience. Is this presented as a work of art created in the mind of the photographer? Is it a natural history image, meant to accurately depict a natural scene or behavior? Do the digital edits in any way change the fundamental portrayal of that natural scene or behavior?

For example, in the digitally altered image presented in this article, if I had artificially inserted any of the chicks into the scene with the mother in order to create more emotional impact, that would go beyond what I consider an ethical representation of my work. It would be depicting a behavior in a species that never actually took place. However, the edits I have made fall inside what I consider ethical. I have not changed the position or behavior of any of the subjects of the photo. I have only removed an aesthetically distracting element in order to create a more pleasing photo.

What do you think? I’d love to hear your opinions on the matter.

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2011 Round-up – Top 40 photos of the year

Happy New Year! Similar to last year, I have looked back through this past year’s photographs and selected 40 photos that represent my favorite photographic exploits.

Please enjoy the gallery below. To view larger photos, be sure to click the icon in the lower right corner to enter full screen mode. If you are using a device that doesn’t support Flash (iPod, iPad, etc), you can view the photos here.

As always, I appreciate you checking out the blog, and love hearing your like/dislikes, or just random thoughts. This coming year, I’ll continue to explore the ever-amazing natural world in which we live. Thanks for coming along for the ride!

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Isolating nature

A western bluebird perches in front of a red barn

Living in an urban environment, I am often viewing wild things against a backdrop of non-wild habitats. This is especially true of birds, as they perch on anything convenient – fences, lamp posts, roof tops. A constant challenge is to showcase these wild birds without exposing the urban landscape in which they’re found.

A juvenile red-tailed hawk perches on the top of a metal lamp post
A juvenile red-tailed hawk perches on the top of a metal lamp post

I found this juvenile red-tailed hawk perched at the top of a lamp post, surveying the surrounding grasses for potential prey. He seemed fairly bold (as many juveniles tend to be), and allowed me to approach closely. Several poses later, I wasn’t happy with including this man-made element in my “nature” shot. He’d look much better perched on a scraggly branch of a long-dead tree. But, you must work with what you have. So I tried to move in even closer to eliminate this unnatural element, and create a pleasing head shot of this great bird.

An immature red-tailed hawk looks back over its shoulder
An immature red-tailed hawk looks back over its shoulder

Although this hawk showed no indication of leaving based on my original approach, I still was very slow and methodical about getting closer. The reasoning behind this are twofold. First, I reduce my chances of the hawk getting spooked and leaving. And second (and more important), I don’t stress out the bird, even if he was to remain in place. When approaching any wild animal, always make sure they are comfortable with your presence. If they show signs of stress (with birds, usually a wing flap or calling out), back away!

Eventually, I got close enough to fill the frame with a head and shoulders portrait of the hawk. Composed against blue sky, I’ve successfully removed all man-made elements. The following image shows another technique to eliminate obvious hand-of-man elements, while also using the head shot approach.

A western bluebird perches in front of a red barn
A western bluebird perches in front of a red barn

In this instance, a western bluebird was perching on an ugly fence (covered in bird poop) in front of a red barn. The sun angle required I be facing the barn, thus not being able to avoid including it in my background. Once I had framed the bird however, I used an aperture that reduced the barn to a solid red background. Though not exactly natural, I thought it was quite pleasing.

I moved in close to isolate the bird’s head, and removing the fence. This time the target bird was much smaller than the hawk, and I knew that in order to fill the frame with the bird’s head, I needed to be closer than the minimum focusing distance of my lens. I added an extension tube between the lens and my camera, reducing the minimum focusing distance. Luckily this bird was quite used to people (and was probably expecting to be fed!), allowing me to get close enough.

Copyright 2017 Hank Christensen