Do you need every grass, leaf and branch in its place?
Posted on 02. Dec, 2008 by Paul Burwell.
One thing I’m continually amazed by is how some people seem obsessed with having the animal trainers prune the shooting location to remove every last element that might possibly creep into their view finder and provide a distraction. This can drive people to distraction and instead of working on their photography, they distract themselves worrying about the environment. I’ve even seen photographers miss great shots because they were worried about a grass or leaf.
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Getting low to make eye contact
Posted on 01. Dec, 2008 by Paul Burwell.
I was fortunate enough to visit the Triple “D” Game Farm this last weekend. In addition to enjoying my first US Thanksgiving, I was able to get some personal photography in.
One of the critters I got to photograph was a Fisher. Fishers are members of the weasel family and known for their ferocious hunting abilities. They are particularly fond of hares, rabbits, squirrels, mice and even porcupines. They are one of the few animals who regularly, and successfully, prey on porcupines. Fishers are between 29 and 45 inches (65cm – 125cm) in length and males can weigh up to 20 pounds (9 kg).
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Meet Piper, the River Otter
Posted on 29. Nov, 2008 by Paul Burwell.
I’m just visiting the Triple D Game Farm to do some photography for myself (I don’t photograph during my workshops) and have finally had the opportunity to photograph their River Otter. Ever since watching a documentary a few years ago about River Otters in Yellowstone National Park that really showed their playful spirit as they [...]
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Wildlife where you least expect it
Posted on 28. Nov, 2008 by Paul Burwell.
One of the common questions I get pertains to locations to finding wildlife. And while it is certainly true that it is much more likely for me to find good photographic opportunities outside the city, every once in a while you get lucky.
This spring I was chatting with my dad and he mentioned that a friend of his had told him about this location with an eagles nest out back of a restaurant. There were supposedly chicks in the nest and the parents were ferrying food to them. I was sceptical that there was an eagle’s nest, but thought there might be a hawk’s nest and decided to check it out.
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Wide angle lens for the wildlife shooter
Posted on 26. Nov, 2008 by Paul Burwell.
It never really occurred to me that I could get close enough to a wild porcupine that I could use my wide angle lens to make a close-up portrait. But, that’s just what happened one December morning.
I was visiting Elk Island National Park just outside of Edmonton. I was working my way down the parkway when I came across a young porcupine, working its way along the road, eating clover that had been exposed by snow clearing equipment. I got out of my vehicle and started a long, slow approach. My first shots were made with my Canon 500mm F4L IS lens from about 30 metres (~98 feet) away. I slowly moved in closer and closer, watching the porcupine to make sure I wasn’t stressing it.
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Paul gets his portrait taken – was anyone hurt?
Posted on 25. Nov, 2008 by Paul Burwell.
Roy Ramsay, the editor-in-chief at Outdoor Photography Canada, contacted me the other day asking for a new head shot for the magazine. It’s been a couple of years since we updated the pictures of the contributing editors, so I guess it is time. I have to tell you though, getting my portrait taken has not my favourite pasttime.
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Simple Photoshop Colour Balance Tutorial
Posted on 24. Nov, 2008 by Paul Burwell.
I put together a short tutorial on a simple method of colour balancing an image in Photoshop. This method should work in most versions of Photoshop from CS to CS4.
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Speaking of workshops
Posted on 23. Nov, 2008 by Paul Burwell.
I vividly remember the very first photography workshop I attended, and it wasn’t a good experience.
It was with a now defunct “school of photography” and featured a self purported “expert” wildlife photographer. The workshop was held at the Triple “D” Game Farm in Kailispell Montana. To maximize my time, I decided to sign up for two back-to-back workshops with a horse roundup photo shoot in between.
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Polarizer for the super telephoto shooter
Posted on 22. Nov, 2008 by Paul Burwell.
To be honest, I had never considered using a drop-in polarizer on my Canon 500mm F4L IS lens until I read a blog entry on Singh-Ray’s blog about Ethan Meleg using one for his wildlife photography. What was exciting about this polarizer was that where the Canon Polarizer loses two stops of light, the Singh-Ray [...]
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Bear poop helps tell a story
Posted on 21. Nov, 2008 by Paul Burwell.
While I spend the vast majority of my time looking for and photographing wildlife, I try not to ignore the rest of the world around me. I will plead guilty to occasionally being so focussed on my wildlife photography that I’ve probably missed something else, equally beautiful and compelling. But, that ability to tune out the rest of the world has also had a positive impact on my wildlife photography as the skill of concentrating reveals itself in sharp, well composed photographs.
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