This image was taken 20 minutes after sunset, on an unusually calm evening, on the shores of Lake of Two Mountains in L’Ile Bizard, Quebec – just a few kilometers from where I live.

When shooting sunsets, it’s worthwhile to wait a 15-30 minutes after the sun has dipped below the horizon to see what happens. The wind usually dies down, the sky can take on some beautiful & rich colors, and the lower contrast between land and sky is easier to control.

I really love this type of image - the simplified composition, calm water and pastel colors convey a sense of tranquility and calm. I hope you like it too.

The colors are “real”, and obtained by stacking three separate filters: a Singh-Ray 4-stop Neutral Density filter to slow the exposure to 20 seconds, a 3-stop Graduated Neutral Density filter to darken the bright sky, and a polarizer to eliminate the shine off the wet rocks and to help see through the water’s surface.

Image specs:

• Canon EOS 5D Mark II
• Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM at 21mm
• f/13, 20 seconds, ISO 200
• Singh-Ray 3-stop hard GND, Singh-Ray 4-stop ND and B+W polarizer mounted on a Lee Filter System
• Gitzo GT3541LS tripod with RRS BH-55 ballhead, mirror lockup, cable release
• Processed with Adobe Camera Raw 5.x

Please leave a comment, either positive or negative – it’s always appreciated. If you’re interested in purchasing a print of this image, please let me know.

See you in the field,

Rob

At this time of year, many people imitate bears and head indoors to “hibernate” until the arrival of warmer spring weather.  Nature photographers tend to spend more time in front of their computers, working on articles, preparing image submissions to Editors, while slowly packing on the pounds…

Ice Floe Sunset Over Lake of Two Mountains
Canon EOS 20D
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM lens at 17mm
1/13s (middle exposure), f/16, ISO 100
Hoya Moose Polarizer, Hitech 3-stop GND
3 exposure HDR image processed in Photomatix

Me? My pulse accelerates as I see the promise of snow and ice to come.  Winter is a time of photography opportunity, as there are relatively few winter landscape photographers. Creating winter images is very rewarding, and I just love strapping on my snowshoes early in the morning while the sun is low in the sky, and exploring snow-covered forests and meadows… I really love the solitude and quiet of winter.

Winter Sunrise
Canon EOS 20D
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM lens at 25mm
1/8s, f/22, ISO 100
Hoya Moose Polarizer and Hitech 3-stop GND

There’s nothing like feeling the little hairs in your nostrils freeze up as you’re breathing in the icy air on a cold winter day! With the sun being much lower in the sky during the winter months, it is usually possible to do outdoor photography at any time of the day. With blue skies, white snow, frost-covered branches, iced-up streams, there are so many photographic choices!

But of course, you need to know how to stay comfortable in cold weather in order to enjoy this.

Let’s be honest here, being “comfortable” outdoors in winter is much more a psychological issue than a physical one. Deciding to leave a warm bed early in the morning to head out in the cold of winter is not easy… but it is worth it. Being on location early means that you greatly improve your photographic opportunities. Birds and wildlife are more likely to be visible at dawn than in the middle of the day.

Frosty Great Gray Owl
Canon EOS 20D
Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM lens
1/320s, f/8, ISO 200

This Great Gray Owl was barely starting to wake up when I came upon it. It was still frost-covered from the cold night. Yeah, yeah… I can year you say “Wow, you must have been really lucky to get that shot.” Well yes, and NO. You need to be there to be “lucky”. You need to go out and be outside to get the shots. I would not have been “lucky” if I were still in bed. I would not have seen this beautiful Red Fox had I been sipping a latte in front of my PC! By going out often enough, odds are that you will eventually see something (note to self: buy more lottery tickets in order to get more “lucky” )

Red Fox in Winter
Canon EOS 20D
Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM lens
1/2000s, f/5.6, ISO 200

Ironically, when I go out in winter, I tend to overdress and be too hot rather than cold. It’s so easy to forget how much heat a body can generate while walking or snowshoeing in snow… On this -22C/-8F morning, I can still remember airing out my heavy winter parka and removing my hot gloves a number of times in order to avoid sweating too much:

Snow-Covered Trees in Winter
Canon EOS 5D MkII
Canon EF 24.105mm f/4 L USM lens at 47mm
1/25s, f/14, ISO 100
B+W Polarizer

There’s really no big secret in staying warm on a cold winter day… For your body, dress in layers, avoiding anything that absorbs moisture. Use a base layer of wool, silk or a synthetic fibre, optionally add an insulating layer of fleece or wool of appropriate thickness, and then finish off with either a good quality soft shell or a parka with, both of which should have a hood. Mix and match the layers, adding or removing any one depending on the temperature. If I wear a parka, I’ll not wear a heavy insulating layer, preferring instead a lighter synthetic long-sleeved t-shirt over my underwear.

On my legs, I wear lightly insulated breathable soft shell pants that shed snow and moisture,  along with a set of long-johns when it’s colder.

Black Diamond Guide Gloves, Columbia Titanium Bugaboot  XTM Omni-Tech Boots
MSR Lighting Ascent Snowshoes, Kahtoola MICROspikes

I always wear wool socks inside the best pair of boots I could find, the Columbia Titanium Bugaboot  XTM Omni-Tech, rated to about -60F when active. These are wonderful, warm boots that are relatively light and very comfortable, and are snowshoe friendly.

I searched a long time for a good set of gloves that would keep my hands warm while also allowing me to handle my camera gear. I’ve fallen in love with my Black Diamond Guide Gloves, they’re very warm and give me just enough dexterity to use my camera, but I can only wear them when it’s below -15C / 1F, as I otherwise get too warm in them!

For headwear, I like a synthetic beanie, which is light but warm and sheds snow.  On very cold or windy days, or if I need to stay still for a while, I always have the option of slipping on my shell or parka hood.

My other tools of the trade include a good set of snowshoes (the MSR Lighting Ascent) and the fantastic Kahtoola MICROspikes which work perfectly on the slipperiest and iciest of terrain. A note about the MICROspikes: I wear about size 9 shoes/boots, and I use a medium size over my running shoes (great for winter running on icy streets!) and use the large size on my winter boots and hiking boots.

Ah… winter…  The ice, the snow, the stillness and the beautiful solitude. I just love it.

Magenta Sunset over Lake of Two Mountains
Canon EOS 5D MkII
Canon EF-17-40mm f/4 L USM lens at 22mm
10s, f/16, ISO 100
Singh-Ray 3-stop GND, Singh-Ray 4-stop ND, B+W Polarizer

If you’re interesting in purchasing any of the above images as prints, please contact me!

See you in the field,

Rob

Rob here, again.

NatureScapes.net, the best nature photography resource web site and forum on the internet, has published an updated version of my Hand-Held Flash Macro Photography article, which was originally published on the Sojourns In Nature blog. This is quite an honor, and I wanted to share the good news with you.

See http://www.naturescapes.net/docs/index.php/category-photographic-technique/41-photographic-technique/381-rob-servranckx.


All the best,

Rob

I just wanted to let you know about my new web site, Visions In Nature.   No need to worry, I’m still partnering with Gustav on Sojourns In Nature. Visions In Nature is just the place for me to share my own images and style.

I’d love to hear your feedback on the site. Here’s a screen shot of the home page:

Look for an overhaul of the Sojourns in Nature site in the coming weeks… I’ve spent most of my holiday break working on it.

All the best for 2010,

Rob

The grey, drizzly November weather we’re having is making think back and look at images taken in different seasons. I fell upon this one taken in May 2009, following record-high spring water levels. After many weeks of frustration caused by extremely high water, which robbed me of my usual shoreline compositions, the water finally receded dropping by about 6 feet in 1 month.

Still, the water line was still many feet above normal levels – the “seaweed” see in the foreground is actually grass, and the “aquatic plant” in the middle of the image is a dry-land bush…

In order to tame the very bright sky and properly expose the dark foreground, I used two GND filters, a 2-stop one just below the bush, and a 3-stop one at the horizon line.

Image specs:

• Canon EOS 5D Mark II
• Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM at 31mm
• f/22, 4 seconds, ISO 50
• Singh-Ray 3-stop hard GND, Lee 2-stop hard GND, B+W polarizer
• Gitzo GT3541LS tripod with RRS BH-55 ballhead, cable release

Please leave a comment, either positive or negative – it’s always appreciated. If you’re interested in purchasing a print of this image, please let me know.

See you in the field,

Rob

“The Basin” area of Fraconia Notch State Park in New Hampshire is truly a beautiful place. The Pemigewasset River snakes through the park, creating many small waterfalls, rushing water… and endless compositions. This image was not particularly difficult to capture, the only tricky part was to get the full image (near to far) in good focus at 80mm. Oh, that and also having to wait a while until there was nobody on the bridge…

For me, there something peaceful, quiet and comforting about this image – the vibrant fall colors, the cold water, the little bridge that just invites people to cross it… I can still imagine the smell of pine trees in the air. I’ll need to go back there sometime soon, and this time, I want to spend a full day there, not just a few hours.

Image specs:

• Canon EOS 5D Mark II
• Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L USM lens at 80mm
• f/16, 3.2 seconds, ISO 100
• Hoya Moose Polarizer filter
• Gitzo GT3541LS tripod with RRS BH-55 ballhead, cable release

Please leave a comment, either positive or negative – it’s always a good thing to get feedback on my work and my blog posts. If you’re interested in purchasing a print of this image, please let me know.

See you in the field,

Rob

The Basin at Franconia Notch State Park in New Hampshire is a beautiful place. So many subjects to shoot, so many different compositions for each subject. I could spend days and days in this one small area.

It was drizzly, cloudy and cold when I took this shot. It was worth the effort, but I certainly appreciated wearing my light gloves and hat…

A strong S-curve. An anchor at the top and another at the bottom. A few strong colors. A simple but elegant composition. Motion and stillness.

For those of you who are artists or have studied the art of compostion, you understand why the above image works. For those of you who like the image, but you don’t quite understand why, you’re on your way to understanding. For those of you who don’t get it… well, I can only hope you will understand one day.

There is beauty in simplicity. There is beauty in elegance. There is beauty in nature. I hope you see the beauty in this image.

Image specs:

• Canon EOS 5D Mark II
• Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L USM lens at 35mm
• f/16, 0.6 seconds, ISO 100
• Hoya Moose Polarizer filter
• Gitzo GT3541LS tripod with RRS BH-55 ballhead, cable release

 Rob

There are times when I go out for a shoot with specific expectations, and don’t get the shot I wanted because there’s bad light, wrong weather conditions or something messing up the composition. There are times when I pre-visualize a shot, things line up perfectly and I get exactly the shot I wanted. And then, there are times when I go out, not expecting to get a single good shot, and end up getting a killer image.

This was such a time. And these images are the most surprising and satisfying.

During my fall vacation, I took a morning to do some “scouting” of areas south-west of Montreal, along the water. I was hoping to find new and interesting locations to do some landscape photography, while staying relatively close to my house in Ile Bizard. The Google Maps satellite view promised some interesting spots along the water in Vaudreuil-Dorion, Pointe-des-Cascades, Les Cèdres, and Coteau-du-Lac…

With a bright blue sky and plenty of sun, I had no expectations of doing any photography that morning, particularly since the compositions would all be facing east, south-east, or south – directly into the bright morning sun. When I arrived at the Coteau-du-Lac National Historic Site, a few clouds started to form towards the south… I kept my fingers crossed. There are only a few interesting compositions to be had here – but these compositions are absolultely spectacular. I took a number of shots during 90 minutes, but the persisting bright sun washed out the images, and left me with nothing inspiring.

… except that the clouds kept on coming. After about 2 hours, there was now a solid cloud cover in the south-east sky. My shots were improving. But with colorless water and solid grey skies, there was really no color to be seen. The images left me feeling rather uninspired. Yes, it’s possible that a B&W image would have worked, but I’m really more of a color photography type of guy…

So I decided to pull out my Singh-Ray Gold-N-Blue Polarizer… Rather than removing reflections, this polarizer adds gold and blue reflections on wet surfaces. Combined with a 3-stop GND filter to darken the still-bright cloudy sky, and a 4-stop neutral density filter to slow the exposure to 6 seconds, this is exactly what I needed to punch up the image. Truth be told, my jaw dropped when I looked through the viewfinder. This was the shot I had not dare to hope for.

Always be prepared to get a shot. With just a bit of luck or serendipity, you may just end up with a winner.

This framed image will be available as a limited edition, archival quality print, and can be purchased at the Gemst Gallery in Montreal. If you’re interested in having your own print of this image, please contact me.

Image specs:

• Canon EOS 5D MkII
• Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM lens at 23mm
• f/16, 6 seconds, ISO 100
• Filters (all Singh-Ray): Gold-N-Blue Polarizer, 3-stop hard GND, 4-stop neutral density
• Gitzo GT3541LS tripod with RRS BH-55 ballhead, cable release

For the record, this image has <em>very </em> little Photoshop work done to it. The image was really created in-camera, with proper use of filters and photography techniques.

Hope you enjoy,

Rob

Liquid Gold Sunset Over Lake of Two Mountains
Canon EOS 5D MkII
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM lens at 20mm
f/22, 2s, ISO 100
Filters: Singh-Ray 3-stop hard GND, Lee 2-Stop hard GND, B+W 105mm polarizer
Gitzo GT3541LS tripod with RRS BH-55 ballhead, cable release

Hey all,

Rob here.  I kind of missed the spontaneity of writing small, quick blog posts… You know, something that highlights a mood, a thought, an event, or a specific image.  Gustav and I will keep on writing the longer monthly blog posts, but I also want to write more often to stay in touch. So this is the first post of a new series of  “My Hot Shot”. There may a few per week, or only one per month – it’ll depend on my work schedule.

This shot was taken on Labour Day 2009. The beautiful clouds that were hanging around at 17:00 sadly disappeared by 18:15 as I was preparing to head out for this shot.

The bright, cloudless sky made the exposure rather difficult. I ended up using two graduate neutal density filters to hold back the very bright sky. I placed a 2-stop GND just above the rocks (about 2/3rds of the way up), along with a 3-stop GND at the horizon. I also used a polarizer to remove the harsh reflections from the wet rocks in the foreground.

I absolutely love the golded layer of water – this is really what makes this image special. The composotion also works well because of the placement of the horizon, the sun, the tuft of grass in the foreground, and the way the rocks leads your eyes into the sun.

Hope you enjoy it! All the best,

Rob

Since starting photography in 2004, May to August have always been my most productive months. There are plenty of subjects to choose from: birds, amphibians, flowers, insects, landscapes… On weekends, I’d often head out before dawn to the Ile Bizard marsh to photograph birds, frogs, turtles, otters or other marsh residents. When I don’t feel like getting up before dawn, I’d set up for macro photography a little later in the morning.

This year? Man, oh man… May, June and July were cool, very wet and windy. Montreal had record amounts of rain in July (4.6 inches), with some rainfall on 26 days out of 31 days. You can forget about going to the Ile Bizard marsh for bird photography in these conditions, as it will be very quiet. And windy or very sunny conditions make traditional macro photography extremely difficult.

With changing weather patterns, bird photography has been getting inconsistent at the marsh. I cannot control this. But there are always insects to photograph, and these critters are what I turn to in order satisfy my need for photography. This summer, with either too much wind, rain, too much cloud, or (ironically) too much sun, even insects were hard to photograph.

How bad has it been? Well, excluding the images taken at the Green Mountain Workshop in June, my number of “keeper shots” from start of May to end of July was 19… Only 19!

Mating Japanese Beetles
Canon EOS 5D MkII
Sigma 150mm f/2.8 macro lens with Canon 500D diopter
Canon 550EX flash with Micro-Apollo diffuser
f/16, 1/100s, ISO 400
Hand-held

Photography is my hobby, my passion, my stress release. Not being able to do photography is extremely disappointing and frustrating, particularly since I worked like a dog throughout the summer (averaging over 55 hours a week). I need photography to soothe my soul!

So I needed to find a solution… How can I get more keeper images in windy or extremely sunny conditions?

I’d always had a “purist” approach to macro photography: tripod-mounted camera, focus by hand, small aperture, cable release, hand-held diffuser to soften the harsh light, etc… I’ve had very good results with this technique. But this year’s generally windy summer has made this process very difficult – and frustrating. Trying to position a tripod without scaring off an insect is often an exercise in futility.

I’ve been seeing some rather spectacular hand-held macro images on internet forums… How do these people achieve this? I mean, precise focus and a lot of depth of field are so critical for macro photography…

So hand-held? No way! Impossible! Can’t be done! … or so I thought.

Ruby Meadowhawk Dragonfly
Canon EOS 5D MkII
Sigma 150mm f/2.8 macro lens with Canon 500D diopter
Canon 550EX flash with Micro-Apollo diffuser
f/16, 1/100s, ISO 400
Hand-held

It turns out that it is quite possible and relatively easy to do. And the results are outstanding. The idea is to properly set up your flash, and to let the flash do the main exposure of your subject. You want to avoid the flash acting as a strong “spotlight” that creates harsh shadows. In fact, you don’t want the flash to be noticeable at all. But you need the flash duration to be very short in order to be able to hand-hold your macro gear and get pin-sharp shots.

Here are the basic concepts to follow:

• Place the flash as close as possible to the subject. This keeps the duration of the flash very short.
• Angle the flash appropriately such that your subject is properly lit
• Diffuse the light from the flash as much as possible
• Set your camera in manual exposure mode, and let the camera expose the subject via the flash
• Set the shutter speed at flash synch speed (read your camera manual!) or slower. This lets the flash properly expose the subject
• Set your aperture at f/16 (or so) for sufficient depth of field
• Set your ISO in combination with the shutter speed such that your background does not “turn to black”.
• Preset the focus distance on the lens so that you get the desired subject magnification, and physically move the lens back and forth until you achieve perfect focus.

With the above, since the flash is placed very close to the subject and the flash duration is extremely short, it is possible to hand-hold the camera for macro shots.

Let’s take look at the equipment and technique involved. Here’s my setup:

My Macro Setup

• A large 5″ x 8″ diffuser attached to the flash. The diffuser increases the surface area of the light emitted from the flash. As my macro subject are small, this ends up acting like a huge softbox, completely eliminating harsh shadows. I am using the Westcott Micro-Apollo diffuser, but other brands are available.
• A Wimberley macro flash bracket. This allows placement of the flash at the very front of my lens, and in any angle I want. The flash bracket is attached to a quick release plate that is either on the lens’ tripod collar, or on the camera’s tripod plate. I have an “L-plate” on my camera, and I prefer attaching the macro bracket on the side of the camera.
• An off-camera flash cord to connect the flash to the camera’s hot shoe.
• A macro lens or any other setup that lets you get close to your subject

Transverse-Banded Crab Spider
Canon EOS 5D MkII
Sigma 150mm f/2.8 macro lens with Canon 500D diopter
Canon 550EX flash with Micro-Apollo diffuser
f/16, 1/200s, ISO 200
Hand-held

I’ve been having most success when I use the Canon 500D diopter with my Sigma 150mm macro lens. The 500D is a high quality dual-element diopter, and it allows closer focusing to the subject. With the diopter, my focusing range is between about 4 inches and 36 inches from the front of the lens. Since the 500D does not “absorb” any light, my viewfinder is bright, making focusing much easier than if I used extension tubes or a 1.4x extender (which darken the viewfinder). My setup lets me get as much as 2x life size, meaning that a subject as small as about 3/4″ inch would completely fill the frame.

Now, I don’t want to go into the intricate details of flash and ambient exposure theory, and other nitty-gritty details, But I do want to give you a general idea how to get good macro shots using a flash. Let’s take a quick look at:

• Camera settings
• Setting up the composition
• Flash & camera exposure
• Flash positioning
• Focusing

Camera Settings

I almost always shoot macro images at f/16 – this is a good compromise between sufficient depth of field and avoiding lens diffraction, I’ll sometimes go to f/11 or f/22, but 90% of my images are at f/16.

My shutter speed is between 1/200s (my camera’s synch speed) and 1/100s. I determine the shutter speed, along with the ISO setting (between 100 and 400) depending on whether there is a background that will be lit by the flash or not… More on this below.

Ruby Meadowhawk Dragonfly
Canon EOS 5D MkII
Sigma 150mm f/2.8 macro lens with Canon 500D diopter
Canon 550EX flash with Micro-Apollo diffuser
f/16, 1/200s, ISO 200
Hand-held

Setting up the composition

Since I’m exposing my insect using my flash, I want to either have a background very close to my subject (i.e. have my subject on a leaf, or have plants in the near background), or I want to set up my ISO/shutter/aperture exposure such that my camera will record enough light from my non-flashed background.  If I am not careful with this, then my background can go to pitch black, and this is not pleasing.

Flash and Camera Exposure

When set in Manual exposure mode, if the Flash Exposure Compensation is set at 0 and the shutter speed is at or slower than the flash synch speed, my camera will trigger the flash such that the main subject exposure is achieved entirely by the light coming from the flash. This works regardless of the selected aperture and ISO, assuming that my main subject is within range of the flash. There is still “ambient” exposure happening (determined by the shutter/aperture/ISO settings) for areas of the scene that are not lit by the flash. So you need to make sure that you’re not overexposing the background (i.e. don’t go to ISO 6400, f/2.8 at 1 second in sunlight!). Similarly, it’s better for the ambient exposure to be sufficient such that your background is not too underexposed, assuming that the  background is not lit by the flash.

The closer the ambient exposure is to “correct exposure”, the less obvious and more pleasing the flash exposure will look.

The above is true for all flash photography – try it on indoor portraits! If you can get your ambient exposure close to a reading of -1 on your camera meter, you’ll likely be pleased with the overall results. Oh, and yes, using a diffuser for portrait flash photography will produce better results than using a “naked” flash.

Shamrock Orbweaver Spider
Canon EOS 5D MkII
Sigma 150mm f/2.8 macro lens with Canon 500D diopter
Canon 550EX flash with Micro-Apollo diffuser
f/16, 1/200s, ISO 100
Hand-held

In the above picture, I set my camera exposure to properly expose the sky as a mid-tone. The spider was completely in the shadows and backlit, but the flash perfectly exposed it. Neat, huh?

Flash Positioning

Depending how close my subject is to my lens, my flash may either be pointed downwards (45 degree) or pointed straight ahead… I may place the flash very close to the lens, or raise it a few inches above it. It may be on the side of the lens, or directly over it… There is no magic position here – it entirely depends on the shape, size and distance of my subject. By playing around with the positioning of the flash, I can get flatter or more textured details. This is where trial-and-error is critical.

Focusing

Because I am hand-holding a relatively heavy and bulky setup, it is not possible to focus using the lens focusing ring. Rather, I pre-set the focusing ring based on how much magnification I want. For a small subject such as a spider, I’d set it to the closest focusing distance. For a large butterfly, I may set it a the 1/2 focusing point aiming to be about 2 feet away. Once this is set, I will physically move the lens back and forth until my subject is in perfect focus… This is the tricky part, obviously. A few millimeters may significantly affect the focus. If possible, I will rest my elbow on my thigh or tightly set it into my mid-section, in order to stabilize the whole setup.

As soon as I see perfect focus being achieved, I’ll hit the shutter button.

Cabbage White Butterfly
Canon EOS 5D MkII
Sigma 150mm f/2.8 macro lens with Canon 500D diopter
Canon 550EX flash with Micro-Apollo diffuser
f/16, 1/200s, ISO 400
Hand-held

I’m absolutely thrilled with my macro setup. I’m able to get images I would never be able to get with a tripod. I can go hunting for insects in full sunlight (when they’re more active) as my exposure is mostly set by my beautifully diffused flash rather than the harsh sunlight, there is no problem with ugly shadows. I can get a shot within 5-10 seconds, as opposed to 1-2 minutes if I had to set up my tripod. It’s made all the difference this summer – rather than an abysmal crop of images, I’ve gotten dozens of publishable images in August alone. I’ve managed images of subjects as flighty as the Cabbage White butterfly, and close enough to tiny Meadowhawk dragonflies to see the tiny details in their eyes.

Ruby Meadowhawk Image Detail (Crop of Pervious Image)
Canon EOS 5D MkII
Sigma 150mm f/2.8 macro lens with Canon 500D diopter
Canon 550EX flash with Micro-Apollo diffuser
f/16, 1/200s, ISO 200
Hand-held

At 700 pixels, the image above is about 50% of the size from the real image (so, in the original, the above crop would be about 140 pixels wide). The amount of detail I get from my 22 megapixel 5D MkII with this macro setup is frightening!

Side note: although I hand hold my macro flash setup, I always bring my tripod along… It’s much easier to carry my camera on my tripod over my shoulder than hand-carrying a 6+ lbs camera and lens!

Other Options

If you’re really into macro, there are two other pieces of Canon macro equipment worth considering. I’m talking about macro photography in the 1x to 5x range… There’s the Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 lens, and the MT-24EX Macro Twin Lite Ringlite Flash… This setup, with proper flash diffusers, will create incredible images at high magnification (see the “No Cropping Zone” link below). But for me right now, this gear is too highly specialized. What I really like about my current equipment is that I can use it for many different applications.

Additional Information

For interesting information on flash and macro photography, please see:

• Strobist – Learn How to Light
• No Cropping Zone – Macro Photography Explained
• Juza Forums – Macro Gear Setup
• Fred Miranda Macro Forum

That’s it for this time, friends… I hope you enjoyed this more technical “how-to” post. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a blog comment or to contact me. As always, I’m happy to spread my knowledge of photography.

All the best,

Rob

For many years now, I’ve been taking a vacation during the first week of June. Not only does this coincide with my birthday, but early June tends to be very nice weather-wise and is great for nature photography. Coincidentally, this is the same week as the Green Mountain Nature Photography Workshop takes places, and for the third year in a row, I headed down to northern Vermont for 5 days to be co-instructor of the workshop.

I know, I know, many of you are scratching your heads about this. Why on earth would I want to “work” during my vacation? Why would I choose to get up at 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning for 5 days? Truth is that for me this is not work, and getting up early is worth it. I love to share my passion for nature photography with others, and I happen to have pretty good technical know-how regarding photography and equipment, so it is a pleasure and a thrill to help others in their photographic journey.

So on Friday May 29th 2009, my first day of vacation, I headed down to Vermont to hook up with my friend and photo partner Gustav. Sadly, my wife Johanne had to stay in Montreal, as our 13+ year Labrador Retriever, Gryphon, no longer travels well and gets too stressed when we are away. Many thanks to my darling wife, who did not make me feel bad about leaving her behind.

I’ll reserve a detailed day-by-day description of the workshop for a future blog post next spring… For now, I simply wanted to share a few of my favorite images with you. I’m deliberately choosing images that are different from my previous 2 trips to the workshop.

Four Corners Falls – Missisquoi River – North Troy, Vermont
Canon EOS 5D MkII
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L lens at 21mm
ISO 100, 0.5s at f/20
Filters: Singh-Ray Gold-n-Blue Polarizer
Gitzo GT3541LS Tripod with Really Right Stuff BH-55 Ballhead

On Saturday, we went to Belvidere bog in the morning to shoot wildflowers and practice low-to-the-ground photo techniques, and to Four Corners Falls on the Missisquoi river in the afternoon. In the above picture of Four Corners Falls, you’ll notice a golden reflections on the wet rocks and water on the left portion of the image. This effect is caused by the Singh-Ray Gold-n-Blue polarizer. I just love that filter!

Having polished our lucky horseshoes, a shower-filled Sunday had us visit two waterfalls, both named “Moss Glenn Falls”, one near Granville and one in Stowe. It was crazy – it rained, sometimes heavily, every time we’d get in the car… but we did not get a single drop on us while shooting the waterfalls! The Photography Gods were smiling at us!

This image below was composed to emphasize the beautiful latticework of the branches and leaves that frame Moss Glenn Falls in Granville.

Moss Glenn Falls – Granville, Vermont
Canon EOS 5D MkII
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS lens at 45mm
ISO 100, 0.5s at f/16
Filters: Hoya Moose Polarizer
Gitzo GT3541LS Tripod with Really Right Stuff BH-55 Ballhead

There was an annoying constant spray of water coming from the falls, forcing us to regularly dry and clean our filters and lenses. Sadly, I “lost” a few beautiful images to the excessive water on the front of my lens! Remember: when shooting near water or in a light rain, check your lenses and filters before every shot!

Here’s another composition of the same falls:

Moss Glenn Falls – Granville, Vermont
Canon EOS 5D MkII
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L lens at 28mm
ISO 100, 0.5s at f/16
Filters: Hoya Moose Polarizer
Gitzo GT3541LS Tripod with Really Right Stuff BH-55 Ballhead

In the afternoon, we headed to the Moss Glenn Falls in Stowe. Once again, the weather was cooperative, with mostly cloudy skies (perfect for waterfall photography) but no rain. In my three previous visits to these falls, I had envisioned this composition, but could not do this with my previous camera: my trusty Canon EOS 20D, with its 1.6x crop factor sensor, simply did not allow to get a sufficiently wide angle. Now, with my full-frame 35mm EOS 5D MkII, this is no longer a problem! Walking through knee-deep, ice-cold, fast-moving water was definitely worth it to get this shot!

Moss Glenn Falls – Stowe, Vermont
Canon EOS 5D MkII
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L lens at 22mm
ISO 100, 2s at f/16
Filters: Hoya Moose Polarizer
Gitzo GT3541LS Tripod with Really Right Stuff BH-55 Ballhead

I’m very happy to say that our participants got great moose images on the way to Stowe… But of course, the dumb-ass instructors never saw the brown beast on the side of road, and obliviously drove right past it on the way to the waterfall. What clued-out nature photographers we are!
Oh… Let me correct myself… Given the size of the moose, the animal only qualified as a “moosette”, as far as I am concerned… No wonder I did not see it.

By far, for me, the most stimulating and exciting location for me was Willoughby Lake, located in north-east Vermont. This beautiful lake was carved by glaciers a long time ago – these glaciers created high fjord-like carvings, with steep cliffs and a deep bowl where the lake formed. There are so many compositions here – I could easily have spent 2-3 days in this one place alone! I really have a hard time choosing my favorite images from this location, but here are two that I really like:

Willoughby Lake, Vermont
Canon EOS 5D MkII
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L lens at 24mm
3 exposure HDR image with middle exposure at 3.2s at f/22 and ISO 100
Filters: B+W Polarizer, Singh-Ray George Lepp 4-stop Neutral Density (to slow down the exposure)
Gitzo GT3541LS Tripod with Really Right Stuff BH-55 Ballhead

Willoughby Lake, Vermont
Canon EOS 5D MkII
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L lens at 26mm
ISO 100, 2.5s at f/16
Filters: Singh-Ray 3-stop hard GND, Singh-Ray George Lepp 4-stop ND, B+W Polarizer
Gitzo GT3541LS Tripod with Really Right Stuff BH-55 Ballhead

On my fourth and final full day in Vermont,  I had a fun in the morning teaching people about proper flash usage. In the afternoon, we headed to the Babcock Nature Preserve, where a pair of rare Pink Lady’s Slippers caught my eye:

Pink Lady’s Slippers
Canon EOS 5D MkII
Simga 150mm f/2.8 macro lens
ISO 400, 1/8s at f/8
Gitzo GT3541LS Tripod with Really Right Stuff BH-55 Ballhead

There were 4 participants in this year’s workshop: Roberta, Linda, Fred and Barry – all wonderful and pleasant people, and all made great strides in their photographic journey. It was an honor to share my passion of photography with them, and I was thrilled to see the progress that they made during these 4 dawn-to-dusk days at the workshop…

Oh, and before I forget, a huge THANK YOU!!! to our host, Deb Godin of Lake Eden Campground, who treated us to sumptuous meals and a wonderful hospitality. The clubhouse of Lake Eden Campgrounds is the home base of Green Mountain Nature Photography Workshop. I hope you see some of your at next year’s workshop.

If you interested in seeing more of my images taken during this workshop, I invite you to visit my online album: Green Mountain Workshop 2009

If you have any questions or feedback about any of these pictures, the post, or photography in general, please email me or leave a comment on this blog. I am always happy to hear from you!

See you in the field!

Rob

I’ve been thinking about what to write for the March blog entry. My initial thought was to write about winter photography. You know, as a counterpoint to Gustav’s Solstice 2008 entry, where the self-proclaimed “winter wimp” whines about the cold, dark days and freezing extremities… Use ‘em or lose ‘em, my friend! I’ve not abandoned that blog idea. I will eventually be writing about the joys of winter photography, and the gear and clothing I use to stay safe, comfortable and warm. However, with the Green Mountain Workshop being only 3 months away, I thought I’d use this space to make a shameless self-marketing plug.

Truth is, neither Gustav nor I are very adept at filling this workshop. This boggles my mind… but then, marketing just ain’t our thing, photography is. This workshop is probably the best “bang for the buck” nature photography workshop an aspiring nature photographer can take. Seriously… Why? Well, let me just tell you the ways! (Or ask one of the previous years’ participants.)

We do not have a specific agenda or time schedule – we go with the weather, the flow, and the requests of the participants. When weather cooperates, we maximize the time in the field for hands-on work. When rain hits, we’ll retreat indoors for work on digital workflow, image processing and photography theory. And with the purchase of a new large tent/greenhouse, we’ll able to shoot insects and plants without getting wet even if the rain does not let up!

Although I can’t tell you exactly what we’ll be doing in the 2009 version of the workshop, I can still tempt you by writing about some of the fun stuff we will do and learn. Take a look at my 2008 Green Mountain Workshop blog entry for a day-by-day account of the photo activities and wonderful meals we had last year.

Moss Glenn Falls – Granville, Vermont
Canon EOS 20D with Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM lens at 31mm
1.3s at f/16, ISO 100
Singh-Ray Gold-n-Blue Polarizer
Gitzo G2220 tripod, Really Right Stuff BH-55 ballhead, cable release, mirror lock-up

The workshop is once again based at the Lakeview Campground, on the shore of picturesque Lake Eden in Eden Mills, Vermont. This area is Gustav’s home ground, and it is teeming with subjects from moose to carnivorous plants. It is close to numerous waterfalls, ponds, lakes, bogs, and streams.

Deborah Godin and her daughters are our hosts. Deb provides excellent home-cooked meals, hot showers, and the warmest hospitality you’ll find outside of your own family (love ya, Deb!). The accommodations are comfortable, and you’ll be staying in heated RVs with bathrooms. (Double occupancy.)

Our workshop starts on Friday May 29th in the late afternoon, and finishes the morning of Wednesday June 3rd, giving us 4+ full days of hands-on in-the-field work and behind-the-computer. Weather permitting, we’ll sometimes start at the crack of dawn, and often pack our photo gear as late as sunset.

Let me cover some of the multiple subject you will be shooting and things you will be doing – that is, if you sign up!

Wildflowers and Plants at Belvidere Pond

Dwarf Dogwood – Belvidere Pond, Vermont
Canon EOS 20D with Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L IS USM lens at 117mm
0.5s at f/16, ISO 200
Hoya Moose Polarizer
Gitzo G1340 tripod, Markins M-10 ballhead, cable release, mirror lock-up

Belvidere Pond is located a short drive from the campground, and it’s usually the first in-the-field location we hit, where we focus on plants and wildflowers. The subjects can include Pink Lady’s Slippers, Trillium, Dwarf Dogwood, Clintonia, Jack-in-the-Pulpit and more. This is a good opportunity to learn not-overly-demanding macro-ish photography techniques, the use of a tripod, cable release, polarizing filters, diffusers & reflectors, fill flash, and depth-of-field.

Belvidere Pond

Speaking of Belvidere Pond, this area is the prime location to see an occasional moose. Always keep your eyes open when you’re driving in the area – after all, the road that passes next to the pond is locally known as “Moose Alley”. Expect to go there a few times during the workshop, at dawn or dusk.

Moose – Belvidere Pond, Vermont
Canon EOS 20D with Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM lens
1/160s at f/5.6, ISO 400
Manual exposure using spot metering on the brown fur at -1EV
Gitzo G1340 tripod, Markins M-10 ballhead

Carnivorous and Unusual Plants at Belvidere Bog

Pitcher Plant – Belvidere Bog, Vermont
Canon EOS 20D with Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L IS USM lens and extension tubes
1/8s at f/16, ISO 200
Gitzo G1340 tripod, Markins M-10 ballhead, cable release, mirror lock-up

Belvidere Bog is sphagnum moss-covered glacial bog. In other words, it’s a huge moss sponge floating over about 50’ of very acidic water. This inhospitable environment is a great place to find carnivorous plants, specifically pitcher plants and sundews, along with other beautiful and unusual vegetation. Sundews will definitely challenge you, and will force you to learn about proper macro photography techniques – not only is this plant tiny, with the “flower” measuring only 1/8 of an inch in diameter, it is also extremely difficult to do macro photography on the wet, spongy moss!

At the bog, you’ll also find rhododendrons, sheep laurel, and other photogenic plants.

You can expect to have a BLAST! at the bog – there’s so much to observe and explore in this truly unique setting…

Sheep Laurel – Belvidere Bog, Vermont
Canon EOS 20D with Sigma 150mm f/2.8 macro lens
1/125s at f/5.6, ISO 200
Gitzo G2220tripod, really Right Stuff BH-55 ballhead, cable release, mirror lock-up

Waterfalls

Moss Glenn Falls – Stowe, Vermont
Canon EOS 20D with Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM lens at 24mm
1.2s at f/22, ISO 100
Hoya Moose Polarizer and 3-stop ND filter
Gitzo G1340 tripod, Markins M10 ballhead, cable release, mirror lock-up

I love shooting waterfalls! With long exposures, the water becomes silky and beautiful… There are many waterfalls within driving distance of the campgrounds, including Moss Glenn Falls in Stowe, Bingham Falls in Stowe, Four Corner Falls in North Troy, Moss Glenn Falls in Granville (yes, the same name as the one in Stowe). This year, we expect to go back to Moss Glenn Falls in Stowe, and make our first workshop visit at Bingham Falls. I can’t wait!

Bring your water sandals and a small towel – if you don’t mind walking in cold water, you’ll be able to get some beautiful compositions that are not possible when keeping your feet dry. It’s definitely worth the discomfort…

Four Corner Falls – North Troy, Vermont
Canon EOS 20D with Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM lens at 17mm
HDR using 3 exposures, middle exposure at 2.5s at f/16, ISO 100
Hoya Moose Polarizer and 3-stop ND filter
Gitzo G1340 tripod, Markins M10 ballhead, cable release, mirror lock-up

Digital Workflow and Post Processing

The workshop is really about photography (so yes, film shooters are welcome!), where much of the emphasis is learning techniques to improve your results. With the prevalence of digital SLRs, this really means that we need to spend some time discussing digital workflow and post-processing of your digital images.

If you’re tired of your images looking somewhat dull, overly contrasty yet “flat” looking and undersaturated, these digital workflow sessions will really help you along!

Your typical out-of-camera JPEG image may look like this:

Willoughby Lake, Vermont

… but by shooting RAW, properly converting the image and using good post processing techniques and tricks, you can get the following:

Willoughby Lake, Vermont
Canon EOS 20D with Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM lens at 19mm
HDR using 3 exposures, middle exposure at 1/6s at f/11, ISO 100
Hoya Moose Polarizer
Gitzo G1340 tripod, Markins M10 ballhead, cable release, mirror lock-up

Some of the topics we’ll be covering as part of the digital workflow session include:

• Digital file formats
• Transferring images and file/folder naming conventions
• Image review, selection and culling.
• IPTC/XMP file tagging
• RAW Conversion
• Post-processing using Photoshop CS4
• Image management and cataloguing
• Photoshop tips and tricks
• And more!

We’ll be reviewing software packages such as Adobe Camera Raw version 5.x, Adobe Photoshop CS4, BreezeBrowser Pro, IMatch and Photomatix…

Theory, Odds and Ends

For everything above (‘cept for the digital workflow sessions), we need some reasonably rain-free weather. But worry not! Even if it does rain a lot, you’ll have plenty to do and learn… Gustav and I have a lot of photography concepts and theory to teach you, and this can be done indoors as well as outdoors. Topics we’ll cover include:

• Metering and manual exposure
• Fill flash and flash-as-main light techniques
• Lenses, extension tubes, diopters
• Using filters (polarizers, gold-n-blue polarizers, graduated neutral density, neutral density)

We can also do very interesting insect photography of subjects in an aquarium (none will be harmed!). And with the planned purchase of a large 20′ x 20′ tent/greenhouse, we’ll also be able to do plant, flower and insect photography “outdoors” in whatever nasty weather Mother Nature may throw at us (well, as long as we don’t get gale force winds).

Yeeeeesssssss!!!!!!

… or so, I hope is what you’ll be thinking about the workshop after reading this entry. The 2009 Green Mountain Nature Photography Workshop really offers a lot for the budding photographer who’s interested in natural history, improving their knowledge of photography theory and techniques, and wishes to improve on their digital workflow and post-processing skills.

This workshop is fun! You’ll learn a lot, and the quality of your photography will immediately improve. The meals prepared by Deb Godin, our host, are fabulous (for a day-by-day descriptions of the meals the 2008 workshop, take at look at this blog entry.).

The cost, you ask? Well, for 4+ days workshop instruction, all meals and drink, and RV lodging at the campgrounds, the cost is $850… I challenge anyone to find a workshop that has as much to offer for this price!

If you’re interested in registering, please see the 2009 Green Mountain Nature Photography Workshop page on the Sojourns In Nature web site.

That’s it for this time, friends… I hope the above will encourage you to sign up. And if not, I at least hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Rob