Reflectors

An inexpensive piece of equipment I keep in my backpack is a 12 inch reflector. Many times, especially when shooting flowers, the light is such that shadows play havoc with the makeup of your image. Shadows can give depth and feeling to a photo, but sometimes even lighting brings out the best of what your subject has to offer. The photo in the top left is without a reflector. The photo in the right was taken with a silver reflector.

Shooting Dark Colored Animals

Dark colored animals like bear, ravens, mink and so on tend to get underexposed when taking images of them. By overcompensating the exposure you can capture the detail in the animal for a better shot. A little post processing work with levels or blending will bring the background to a pleasing exposure level. This fox kit was shot with a +2/3 ec.

BIF - birds in flight

Not an easy skill to master. Having the camera ready, knowing the flight patterns of the species of birds you're photographing and having a little bit of luck all come together to make a great shot. Overcompensating the exposure will bring out detail of the bird against the sky. Shutter speed should be at least 1/800 to stop wings and get a clean shot. Speeds of 1/1250th or more work even better. If you have a prosumer type of camera, make sure you "pan" with the bird to allow for shutter lag.

Welcome

Hello and welcome from Finn Bay Photography. The intent of this blog is to share photos and information about equipment, techniques and technology about photography. This is being started from some pretty humble beginnings, so we'll see what "develops" from here! Please keep photos to no larger than 600 pixels on the long side to allow for easy viewing on the blog. This is intended to be a friendly forum. C&C only when asked for and no flamers! Thanks, and enjoy!