WildShots

Selling wildlife photography; cute sells

Posted on 24. Aug, 2010 by Paul Burwell.

When I was first getting involved in professional wildlife photography, one of my mentors told me something I’ve made a point of remembering. What he told me should be obvious, but like much of what should be obvious, it isn’t always that obvious until someone points it out to you. And what was this pearl of wisdom and insight that I received? It was simply…

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2009 – My photo year in review plus a new contest

Posted on 11. Jan, 2010 by Paul Burwell.

I was sitting back the other day contemplating what a great year 2009 had been. 2010 is going to have to be pretty spectacular to upseat it, but I’m optimistic. My year, like my life, largely revolves around photography and I thought it might be useful to run through the time line and hit on a few of the highlights…

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Canon 5D Mark II Autofocus Sucks? NOT!!!

Posted on 21. Oct, 2009 by Paul Burwell.

I’ve recently had the opportunity to start going through some of my pictures that I made during my recent Spirit Bear Tour. While I normally prefer to photograph with my Canon 1Ds Mark II, I decided to take a chance and exclusively use my new Canon 5D Mark II for the majority of the trip. My original intention in purchasing the camera was the use it primarily for its high-definition video abailities, but I’ve been extremely…

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Shoot like a pro – Lens collars

Posted on 15. Oct, 2009 by Paul Burwell.

Many pro photographers use tripods and monopods in their daily work. One accessory for a lens (sometimes included and sometimes not) that makes using a “pod” a lot easier is a…

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September Update – Wolves, Lynx and Leopards!

Posted on 08. Sep, 2009 by Paul Burwell.

September has returned all the daytime wanderers (school folks, their parents, folks on holidays, etc.) to their regular routines and my errands today took half the time they did during the summer. It was the beginning of August when I noticed the first leaves starting to turn colour here in Edmonton, and while the full fall colour season is still probably a few weeks away, the trees seem well aware that winter is on its way.

I’m very excited about my upcoming…

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Hey you! Where’d you leave your integrity?

Posted on 08. Sep, 2009 by Paul Burwell.

I have a problem with photographers who pretend that the image they made of a captive animal was actually an image of a wild animal. In my opinion it is dishonest and does a disservice to the wildlife photography community. I also have an issue with what I consider a lie by omission. Some photographers don’t say whether the images they present are of wild or captive animals and I think they do this as they’d prefer the public to assume they are images of wild animals. I think this is dangerous to both…

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Massive Highlight Recovery with the Photoshop/Lightroom Adjustment Brush

Posted on 27. Aug, 2009 by Paul Burwell.

When I first upgraded to Lightroom 2.0, I spent a considerable amount of time playing with the new features. One of the new RAW processing features that really intrigued me was the adjustment brush. The adjustment brush allows the user to adjust…

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What’s riding shotgun while you’re driving?

Posted on 08. Jul, 2009 by Paul Burwell.

It’s summer here in the northern hemisphere and it is a time when a lot of people decide to take a road trip. Summer’s a time when I too spend a lot of time on the road and I recently got home from about a 3,300 kilometre (~2,000 mile) road trip. Usually when I’m on a trip my timelines are fairly tight and I don’t have a lot of time to take a meandering path or wander too much. But, regardless of where I’m travelling, there is one constant about the trip, and that’s…

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Photog goes crazy, starts shooting video!

Posted on 22. Jun, 2009 by Paul Burwell.

I’ve been facinated by the new hybrid DSLRs that can shoot both still and video images. And the video I saw from the 5D Mark II was really, really impressive. It’s ability to produce high definition video at a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels (1080p) is really stunning. I’m a bit of a movie fanatic and I think part of me harbours a fantasy of…

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Learning wildlife photography – How low should you go?

Posted on 04. Jun, 2009 by Paul Burwell.

Whenever I teach wildlife photography, I go on at some length, about the necessity of getting your camera gear on the same level as your subject’s eyes. This concept doesn’t only apply to wildlife photography, it applies equally well to photography of children, pets or hobbits. When I teach this concept to a group of students, their eyes tend to glaze over until…

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