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clippercarrillo — Mourning Light
Published: 2013-02-07 15:23:04 +0000 UTC; Views: 694; Favourites: 41; Downloads: 10
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Description
At dawn, I focus manually on the only branch catching the rising sun, and wait for a bird. Then she lands, and I pause the exposure for a sweet look. So much for the hunt. Converting from color to black and white, on the other hand, involves a myriad of choices that bring, or interpret, the essence of the dove and how she speaks to me. Of course, she is a remembrance of childhood, for her's was the mournful call I first learned to identify; unseen and touching deeply within. My endeavor here is to invoke that memory within you, or if you are unfamiliar with the mourning dove, to help you imagine the gift of her sad song at dawn.Related content
Comments: 16
The lighting on her is fantastic. I think of her whooing call. Beautiful in black and white.
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Wow, this photo and your description really warm up my heart, I was feeling a bit down, but seeing this really made me feel better, just so beautiful. But, I do want to ask, if you focused on the branch waiting for a bird, how is it that she is in focus as well?? And so very sharp at that.
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I adjusted my focus to her eye after she landed. Manual focus with a telephoto can be more crisp than auto, but it might take more than one exposure to get a good one. Good composition in photography (I think) is more pre-planning than luck. So in your sunsets, for instance, be set up with your camera on your tripod before the light starts to change, and have your for-ground elements already figured out, with your frame & etc. You could also eliminate any power lines or telephone poles by scouting around for places to shoot. I saw some really good sunsets you took, and I thought, "Its time for Erin to start working harder". The shots were good, and they could have been great. Anyway, the shot is just the start. You have to have something to say. Don't you live in the desert? How does your love of the desert express itself in your finished images? Whenever you start to feel down, push yourself into your art. The greatest virtue of being young is a new point of view. Yours.
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I see, I don't own a tripod, I have been wanting to get one, but I am not sure what to buy. I know my sunsets could be great, but I am just learning about exposure, so hopefully soon I can work harder. I do live in the desert, I am not sure how my love of the desert is expressed in my images except how I describe how I feel about each one and how many of them I capture. I find it difficult to push myself into my art when sometimes it's not there, like the birds for example, they haven't been around much, that puts me down, no motivation, the birds are where my true passion is, and that is why I adore your photographs, you give me inspiration to become better. Thank you, Rene.
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OK. Just cruised through some of your bird photos, and I think that your hummingbird shots with the flowering branches were quite wonderful, just as good as, if not better than anything I have done. You have the Rebel camera now, and a lens that extends to 250 mm. That bird will be back when that tree blooms again, so be sure to have a feeder to keep her around, but the shot you want, of course, is her feeding from a blossom. I do hope the tree is in your yard somewhere. You can also buy and plant flowers that she will feed from as well. I planted a hummingbird garden two years ago, and included a butterfly bush (which they love, as do the butterflies). You can shoot hand-held with a 250 mm, if you set your shutter high, which you will want to anyway with hummingbirds, but a tripod always makes the better photograph, and the HEAVIER the tripod the better. When you select it, make sure you get one that allows you to swivel the camera way up as well as down. The whole trick to my bird photos is bird seed and setting up a stage with branches for them to land on, either with trees I have planted, or dead branches that I have propped up. Everything is light, of course, so start planning all aspects of the shot; i.e., what should have been the aperture for your white crowned sparrow shot that needs more depth of field (but not too much)? The most excellent thing is that you understand the vitalness of birds, and you are young enough even to become an ornithologist if you want, and why not????? Intend to do the thing that you love. That is the secret to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, your mind, your strength." I am honored that my bird photos inspire you. It makes me want to do better, and I will.
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Thank you for taking the time to look at those, and thank you for the kind compliment. The thing about the Rebel and the 250 mm, is that my Panasonic only says 72 mm, but it actually equals to 432 mm because of the sensor size (I know this because a friend told me, I am sure you know this too), but my Rebel image quality is better than my Panasonic. The tree she is feeding from is a Nectarine tree, it's in our backyard. I saw her throughout all last year, even in the coldest parts of Fall, but she was always gone by the time I grabbed my camera. I have been wanting to buy feeders not only for the hummingbirds, but for the songbirds as well, I just can't seem to find a right place to put them, none of our trees are very old, so I am not sure if they would be good enough to hold bird feeders. What is the tripod that you use? Could the model be used for my Rebel?? I want to buy the best tripod, but I am not sure which is the best, I want to use it for night shots as well. I want to be a Wildlife Biologist specializing in birds.
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So you want to be a wildlife biologist specializing in birds? Absolutely great. I'm going to hold you to it. Were I your grandfather (which I am old enough and wise enough to be), I would encourage you to get the highest possible degree, which would mean a PhD. You can do it. The photography of birds would mesh right in, of course. Now back to photography details.
I hang my feeders from free-standing tall steel hangers that I bought at a bird store, and plant them near the tree I want the bird to land in. I am always aware of the passage of the sun throughout the day, and how it will impact the composition of the image, i.e. shutter, ISO, and depth of field. By taking many exposures, one gets a feel for different effects. If you you aren't going to build a "hide" from which to shoot, get some camouflage pants and shirt at a hunting store (or online). Hummingbirds, and many other species, will just not see you if you wear camo and don't move. Get a shutter release cord to plug into your rebel. They're cheap, and greatly improve all shots.
As for the tripod, I use an old, HEAVY Manfrotto, made of cast aluminum. It has an attached head with three handles for adjustments. I don't think they make it any more. The last one I bought, also Manfrotto, is made from carbon fiber, and it has a swivel, ball head, which is not good for birds, because it can't be aimed up very far. Both tripods were expensive, and that's a massive drag. Bear in mind that with tripods, heavier is better, because anchoring a heavy lens is what its all about. Heavier is harder to drag around, but so what? The pristine focus is what you're after. If I could find a used wooden tripod, heavy, heavy, heavy (were I you), I might buy it, were it cheap enough.
I buy most of my camera gear online from B&H photovideo (try to Google it, and see if I have the name right). You can learn a lot just by navigating the site, like user reviews on lenses. They also sell used stuff, and they are very good at taking back stuff that you decide you don't like once you receive it. Otherwise, there's nothing like trying out the tripod in a camera store.
But you can call up B&H and tell the salesman what you're looking for i.e. heavy, cheap, and swivels up, tell him its for doing birds and you don't care if its out of date, because you want
heavy anyway. See what they've got.
Lens. Camera. Tripod. Shutter release. Camouflage. Bait. Flowering tangerine tree. Hummingbird.
For my part, I'm thinking of experimenting with a mono pod. This would trade stability for portability; a very big risk, but it might help me range further into the wild on foot with the very heavy 300 mm I have. I'll give you a report if I get one.
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My mother got her PhD last year, she is encouraging me as well to get a PhD.
All of this is very useful information, I'll keep all of it in mind, thank you, Rene.
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The softness of this photos is wonderful.... The light on her crest (I think that is what it is called is beautifully done....
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Thanks, Dennis. Lucky light.
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