"My Pictures Don't Look Like That." On learning to be a better nature photographer.

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Arthur Morris

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"My Pictures Don't Look Like That."

The first time that I heard those words was in the Galapagos this year. Betty Wisse was looking some of my trip images on my laptop when she said, “My pictures don’t look like that. I have great equipment and I am standing right next to you, but my pictures don’t look like that.” Since then I have been thinking long and hard about what she said, and when I heard the same thing come out of the mouth of Sam Hogue on a recent Photo-Safari I gave it some more thought and decided to write a short piece addressing the possible solutions to the problem…

#1: And I say this often on IPTs, there is one big secret to becoming a successful nature photographer. The secret is that there is no big secret, just lots of little secrets, lots of paying attention to small details. Each small secret/technique/trick that you learn and assimilate into the way you do things will make your images a little bit better, and the more little things that you learn to do better the better your overall body of work will become over time.

#2: Though digital has made things 1,000 times easier, getting better does require some effort. Countless times on IPTs I suggest that someone do something a bit different and have had the participant respond, “I know that.” I hold my tongue and resist saying what is on my mind,” OK, you know that but are choosing not to do it because you do not care to improve the quality of your images; is that correct?”

#3: In the same vein, it seems that many folks are too lazy to do the work, to study, to learn to become better nature photographers. They spend thousands, often times tens of thousands of dollars on equipment and travel, but do not put in the time to look at great images, to study, to practice. Sometimes it baffles me. Some of the folks who join us regularly on IPTs attend for social reasons, to hang out, to meet other photographers, and to be part of the scene. I can understand their not working hard to improve. But many of the folks who profess to want to get better simply do not put in the time, the effort, and the work that is required to become a more proficient photographer.

#4: OK, what are the specific areas where folks need to improve? The quick answer is all areas. You have to do many things correctly to create a good image. As with flying an airplane if you do 19 of 20 things right and one thing wrong you crash… If you find a great subject, put yourself in the right place, choose the right focal length, design a gorgeous image, and get the exposure right but do not create the sharp image that you wanted, you get to hit the delete key. If you do everything right but do not recognize that you are trying to create a good image in an impossible situation, then you will fail. If you recognize a great situation and do nearly everything perfectly but blow the highlights, the image will not be successful. Nature photography pretty much demands perfection; that is why folks need to do the work, put in the effort, and practice.

#5: Here, in no particular order, are some of the things that you need to (learn to) do:

a-Study the natural history of your subjects. Learn their habits and preferences. Become a good field naturalist, a better birder, and a decent biologist.
b-Find a pleasing subject and learn to recognize a good situation. One way to do that is to look at as many good and great images as you possibly can.
c- Figure out exactly where to be before you press the shutter button. This involves developing your creative vision while understanding perspective, light angle, head angle, and subject-to-film plane or imaging sensor orientation.
d-Be able to design a pleasing composition quickly and know how to use your AF system to create the composition that you want.
e-Get the exposure right or very nearly so on your first attempt.
f-Make your images sharp when you want them to be sharp and learn to create pleasingly blurs that imply motion or create exciting patterns when that is your intent.
g-Understand the qualities of natural light.
h-Use your camera’s AF system to create sharp images of birds and animals in action or in flight.
i-Use your flash effectively as fill and as main light. For the latter, learn to work in both ETTL (automatic) and Manual flash modes.
j-Make your images look better in Photoshop (not worse as most folks do… The big sins here include sharpening your optimized master files before they are sized for a given use, over sharpening JPEGs for web presentation, and over-saturating your images.

As you can see, it will require quite a bit of effort and quite a bit of work on your part to improve. Lots of folks think that if they buy the best equipment they will become better photographers by osmosis. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you put an off-brand 300mm lens and a cheapo digital camera into the hands of John Shaw, Darrell Gulin, or Tim Fitzharris, I can guarantee that they will go out and create some striking images. It ain’t the camera and it ain’t the lens boys and girls…

If you want your images to look as good as those of the top professionals, you’ve got to do the work.

When I started more than 24 years ago, there was not a lot of great information around. There was nothing good on exposure and not much on how to use a long lens. Heck, for the first seven years that I photographed I had no idea that lenses longer than 400mm existed. Today, you can go to various locations and see ten, twenty, even fifty 500 and 600 mm lenses in action (can you say Bosque in November?).

Some folks can learn a ton from on-line forums (BPN being the best by far). Others learn from books. Others benefit greatly from attending an IPT or another photographic tour or workshop. Still others learn best in a seminar or classroom setting. And lots of folks mix and match from all of the above. In any case, folks today who truly wish to get better have tons more resources available than I did nearly two and a half decades ago. And I am proud of my contributions as a photographic educator, probably more proud than I am of my accomplishments as a photographer…

Literally speaking, “The Art of Bird Photography; The Complete Guide to Professional Field Techniques” served as the how-to bible for most of today’s successful bird photographers. Though currently out of print and unavailable, it is currently beiing reprinted in China. We should have 500 copies sometime in late April if not before. Next on tap was Digital Basics which has helped more than 2,000 folks learn to optimize their digital images quickly and efficiently with pleasing results. Digital Basics was followed up by the ground-breaking “The Art of Bird Photography II (ABP II on CD only). At 916 pages with more than 875 color photographs (each with our legendary educational captions) the CD book details everything that I learned about bird photography from 1998 until the time of its publication in late 2006. In a short time, we have sold more than 2,200 copies of the CD book. Lastly we published Robert O’Toole’s APTATS PDF that teaches folks (including me) to use Quick Masks for a variety of Photoshop chores. Learning to use Quick Masks has totally changed the way that I optimize my images and it is rare that I do not use a Quick Mask on an image; it is an amazingly versatile tool.

Add in more than a dozen “The Art of Nature Photography; It Ain’t Just Birds” seminars, more than a dozen BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tours, Photo Safaris, and Photo Cruises each year for the past twelve years, thousands and thousands of e-mails answered, 255 (as of the date of this post) BIRDS AS ART Bulletins, our seven Photographic Site Guides, and lastly, the Mark III User’s Guide, and it is easy to see why I am so proud of my contributions as a photographic educator, instructor, author, and tour leader. If you want to learn to be a better bird or nature photographer, BIRDS AS ART is here to help, but you will still need to do the work.

BAA resources:

The BAA Bulletin Archives: http://www.birdsasart.com/bn.html
The Art of Bird Photography; The Complete Guide to Professional Field Techniques (temporarily out of print)
Digital Basics: http://www.birdsasart.com/digitalbasics.htm
ABPII: http://www.birdsasart.com/ABPII.htm
Robert O’Toole’s APTATS: http://www.birdsasart.com/aptats.htm
BAA Site Guides: http://www.birdsasart.com/siteguides.htm
Mark III User’s Guide: http://www.birdsasart.com/MARK%20III%20USER%20GUIDE.htm

 
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Thanks for sharing your views and for helping others improving their photography Arthur. I really appreciate it and am glad I joined BPN for things like this.

Cheers
 
Thanks Vincent. Sorry that I missed it. It is a wonderful image and a very interesting thread to which I have just added. Folks should check it out not only for it's beauty but for the informative and educational discussion.

later and love, artie
 
Arthur, very very much appreciate the words of insight.....and observations from your many years in the field.
This is only my second day here and I have already learned quite a bit
 
Hi Arthur, I am new here, I've just registered myself here today, I am from Argentina and I have for a long time now, admiring you work as well as Fabs. Thanks for the advice, I always feel like I don't know enought so every detail and info is always welcome! Again, Thanks!
 
Thank you Arthur for taking time to explain and at the same time teach us a lot of what you know. Next time I go to the forest I will try to be a better birder, naturalist and photographer. cheers.
 
Thank you Arthur for taking time to explain and at the same time teach us a lot of what you know. Next time I go to the forest I will try to be a better birder, naturalist and photographer. cheers.

:) That's what we are here for. And if we sell a few books and CDs along the way that help folks improve, so much the better. ;)

later and love and thanks for your kind words, artie
 
You really hit the nail on the head here, Artie. Growing up with a father who was a professional photojournalist gave me some knowledge of how to use a camera but it's taken a real concentrated effort to learn my camera, understand exposure, and try to balance all the other factors you mentioned above. I have been shooting almost every day now for the past year and am finally starting to see some tangible results. It's all about the practice and being unafraid to try new things in new ways.
 
Artie, I missed this thread earlier, so I'm just responding to it now. Thanks for your very thoughtful , helpful comments here and for this entire forum. It has already been extremely helpful to me. I appreciate that the critiques are critiques - comments to help us learn and grow, not just feel good, pats on the back like so many other forums.
 
Artie, since I stumbled upon you and your website and your bulletins, my photo life has changed dramatically. Everything you said above is right on the money, and as in all things, the harder I work the luckier I get.

I will say to anyone who will listen, the O'Toole APTATS information is the single best piece of photo knowledge I have purchased so far. Quick masks will change your life. (I also have your CD and Digital Basics, but I am at a point in my life where I must read in the morning or I fall asleep at the computer, so it is taking a little longer). To me, Photoshop manipulation is no different from all the dodging and burning I used to do in the darkroom, and it is also most rewarding when I can make a good photo look great. Soon I will have something worth uploading for critique.

Thanks for all you do, Artie.

Frank
 
Artie,

This essay should be required reading for all who view and/or join BPN. I'm a member but just stumbled on it today. I printed a copy and will read highlights to the nature photography class that I'll teach today. I too get asked the same question, but not as often as you do ;7)

In my classes, I add the following:

“Photograph something as if you have never seen it before, as if you will never see it again”
-Rachel Carson, paraphrased & modified a bit (she said "Consider", I say "Photograph")

"Truly great photos reveal your love & respect for the subject."

"Visualize the image first"

-BugBob
 
Artie,

This essay should be required reading for all who view and/or join BPN. I'm a member but just stumbled on it today. I printed a copy and will read highlights to the nature photography class that I'll teach today. I too get asked the same question, but not as often as you do ;7)

In my classes, I add the following:

“Photograph something as if you have never seen it before, as if you will never see it again”
-Rachel Carson, paraphrased & modified a bit (she said "Consider", I say "Photograph")

"Truly great photos reveal your love & respect for the subject."

"Visualize the image first"

-BugBob

Hey Bob, Great to see you hear. Have you been posting any bugs in Macro?

I agree about the required reading. And that goes for most of the stuff in Educational Resources. Love the quotes.
 
Hi Artie,

Nice to hear from you too. You're right, I don't post often enough. I'm swamped with the teaching thing, although with California's budget woes, I may not have a job at all this fall - really.

I just posted a recent shot in Macro. Check it out.
 
Hey Bob,

re

Nice to hear from you too. You're right, I don't post often enough.

:)

I'm swamped with the teaching thing, although with California's budget woes, I may not have a job at all this fall - really.

You gotta love it; more time for photography!

I just posted a recent shot in Macro. Check it out.

Am headed there now.
 

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