Shooting landscapes with wildlife lenses

The Spires of South GeorgiaSouth Georgia, Antarctica

After one has gone to South Georgia, it is easy to talk about how dramatic of a place it can be. With seemingly calm weather that can turn hostile in a moment, to the great stories of exploration and survival that haunt the mountain sides, it’s a combination of history, geology and abundant wildlife that contributes to the grand atmosphere it exudes.

Photographic Details: This photo is no exception, with shafts of light piercing the clouds and mist settling in the valley this little scene stood out from the distance but in the grand scheme of things was only a small portion of the overall view. I had to zoom with a big (400mm) lens to get the scene as I saw it. Our eyes and brains are good at filtering out the things we aren’t interested in and instead, focusing in on the things we find attractive. In order to express what I felt photographically I had to zoom in. Traditionally scenery photos like this are taken from up close to the mountains with a wide angle lens, it just goes to show that the type of lens doesn’t necessarily restrict it to the type of photos a photographer can make with it.

The photo processing exactly emulates my film darkroom process. Dodging and burning (darkening and lightening) areas of contrast to bring the areas of detail to light, I pay homage to the days of silver images in my digital darkroom.

If you like the work I put into this, help me out by sharing it!

To see the colour version or get a print see my smugmug here: http://kylefoto.smugmug.com/Antarctica/Antarctic-Worlds/19589737_M4DwLg

In album The Master Collection (64 photos)

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Going Wild with Brian Keating

Brian Keating, a great colleague of mine is someone who has inspired me for a long time, I have had that absolute pleasure of being in the Antarctic with him, and his knowledge an enthusiasm for wildlife is astounding.

He is premiering his TV show "Going Wild" he shot in Madagascar last year. It will be on at 8 PM EST (6 and 11 PM Calgary time) tonight (Oct 15) on Discovery HD TV! Please write comments@discoveryworldhd.ca if you can view it to let them know how you liked it.

If you love wildlife I'm willing to bet you will like this!

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King Penguin symmetry

Gold Harbour, South Georgia, Antarctica#wildlifewednesday

Imagine seeing a landscape of king penguins. For as far as you could go these birds are nesting, calling and waddling to and fro between the colony and vast polar sea. It's a cacophony of sounds, smells and in every direction you look there is something happening.

Photographic Details: After taking initial scenery shots it's time to get down and do what a photographer does best. I put on my telephoto lens, lay down on the ground and begin observing every little social interaction around me. It's my job to find something happening amidst the chaos, to tell a story that is greater than the mere presence of thousands of King Penguins. This is where you ask yourself "what is the story here?" "what little events can help create a full photo essay?"

These two king penguins were definitely mates, they both payed a lot of attention to each other and did almost the same thing. Flapping their wings and stretching their necks they would eventually relax, beak to beak in a display of mutual affection. I would anticipate this symmetry and wait for them to relax to get this shot. I chose not to center it and keep much of the colony in the background in order to convey a sense of peace amidst the confusion and noisiness of a crowded penguin colony. At the same time I was pleased with the low depth of field in order to preserve focus on the penguin couple on the right.

Eland Oxpecker Double Portrait

Serengeti, Tanzania One of my favourite birds, the oxpecker on the largest antelope in africa, the Eland. The oxpecker feeds exclusively on ticks, flies and other insects that reside on other animals. While this is somewhat of a favourable relationship, their feeding can be intrusive and irritating for the host. Furthermore it has been observed that the oxpecker will re-open old wounds and create new ones to feed on the blood. For this reason other animals will not tolerate them, I have seen elephants swat them away with little tolerance to their presence.

Photographic Details: I love the dynamic between the two subjects. This photo does illustrate the current mutual relationship these two animals have including the flies buzzing around, albeit without expressing the dark side this bird may have. I took many photos but I was looking for one with the eyes and face of both animals in focus, with the soft mottled textures of the trees in the background. The shade of the trees provided a soft light in the otherwise harsh midday sun.

If you like this please check out my African Photo Safaris coming up in 2012! 

Peyto Glacier,

#mountainmonday Peyto Glacier, Banff National Park, Alberta

Snowshoeing up Peyto Glacier, our group is wearing harnesses, the rope you see is connected to myself and the next person behind me and so on, trekking up in single file in order to stay on a path that has been tested as safe by the leader.

As the glacier flows down the mountain, it bends and cracks, as a result crevasses large enough to swallow a human can form in the ice, but not before a thin layer of snow can cover the tops, creating the illusion that there is solid ice all the way up. The leading man pokes the trail ahead and walks with care, should the surface break away, the rest of the group can put on the breaks and haul him out on the rope.

It took quite a few hours, and due to a few obstacles like the bridge being washed out we almost had to abort our trip, as climbing the glacier would be too hazardous without being able to see where we were.

 Photographic Details: I don’t think a plain scenery shot would have been interesting here, I wanted a photo that would tell a story of adventure and place their viewer in the photographers (snow)shoes. Taken with a wide angle lens I get the scenic view and the dramatic perspective of the rope attached at my hip. Also take note of the slight rainbow effect of the ice crystals in the sky, and clouds.

"Glacier in the sun" takes top photograph on google plus

Plus Extract, the online site by the popular photo extract magazine finds the top images for the day on google plus. For the latest issue I have the privilege of taking the number one photo! My previously released "Glacier in the sun" shot is featured for the number 1 image on the page here:

Photo Extract, Plus Extract

Larches of sunshine Valley before and after RAW processing

larches of sunshine valley, before/after

Sunshine Valley, Rocky Mountains, Alberta, Canada.

I will show you the before and after of my RAW conversion, it’s my hope to demonstrate why a camera requires a photographer and without human direction, the photos they take aren’t accurate, and hardly representative of the experience it captured.

It was a spectacular day in the Sunshine Valley. I was sick as a dog but the beautiful sight of the larches kept my mind off of it. As my mood improved the weather worsened, as if mother nature was trying to offset my enjoyment. The wind began blowing and dark clouds started rolling in as a wall of rain headed towards my direction. The view of the lake was soon framed by the dark clouds and now the plain vista behind the lake was the dramatic view I was looking for.

In real life these clouds had the drama I was looking or, and as my highly evolved human eyes took in the scene I could see the darkness in the sky, and the subtle highlights in the trees. Most people don’t realize how much of a gift our vision is, until they see how the camera sees the world. It’s limited range of view compresses the highlights in the sky so that they are almost white. I look at the camera and think, “that stormy sky is not white, I’ll be able to bring that back later”.

What we don’t realize is the sky is always super bright to the camera, and even though the camera shows a white sky, shooting in high quality RAW my camera has secretly stored the details of that dark sky in there for me to coax out in my RAW processing.

This was all accomplished in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, with the brush and graduated filter tools by selectively decreasing and increasing the exposure. This process is called dodging and burning, and has likely been applied to every professional photograph you’ve ever seen. This technique has been around since the days of film, largely unchanged, it’s just done on computers now. Every photo needs to be calibrated with a human eye, and this is how you show others what it really feels like to be there.

Glacier in the sun

Glacier in the sun Antarctica

It was an ultra windy day, too windy to do any landings to explore other areas. Luckily in the shelter of this ice shelf we were able to get our zodiacs out to explore this bit of area amidst the whipped up ocean. We still had to get out into the weather to get here, after being soaked from the surface of the water being carried by the gale, this little part of the ice shelf felt like a calm piece of heaven. Fine snow was being blasted off the glacier by the katabatic winds, giving the edges an etherial feel. You can see this fine dusting in the sun star, it was like a frozen mist.

Photographic Details: Those who have been following my photography know that I’m not afraid to shoot into the sun, something a lot of people have been taught not to do. And like my other sun shots I used an aperture of f16. This employs more aperture blades, and the more blades used, the more points you see in the sun star. The high image quality of proper RAW exposure and processing ensures that even the shadows have details, all with taking only a single exposure, an important skill to learn while in a moving boat.

For more antarctic photos check out my antarctic worlds gallery: http://www.kylefoto.com/galleries/antarctic-worlds/

Zebras in the dust

Zebras in the dustOn Safari in Tanzania, Serengeti, for wildlife wednesday

During the great migration countless zebra and wildebeest move through the Serengeti, following the rains that move cyclicly through Kenya and Tanzania. The amazing thing about this is moments before these zebra were nowhere to be seen, and upon arriving back to the river side we were inundated with this herd that went on as far as the dust allowed us to see.

These zebra were frantically running to the river to quench their thirst, always aware of the Crocodiles lurking, there was one in the river, but it was full. Nevertheless a zebra would get spooked and the entire group would abandon the river at once, kicking up dust and lining themselves up like this. It's something we spent the whole day doing, it was fantastic.

This was taken on my Kenya & Tanzania Photographic Safari last February, if you or anyone you know likes to travel and take photos this is the best way to see the wonder that Africa has to offer while getting the greatest photos possible. I love sharing my techniques, and it was a pleasure travelling with such talented photographers. I have two more trips in February and September 2012, to find out more check out my workshops here: http://www.kylefoto.com/category/workshops/

If you like this, please share!

#wildlifewednesday

The Skua, Lay down for your wildlife shots

The SkuaAn inquisitive animal is an intelligent one Gold harbour, South Georgia, Antarctic island.

The Skua is one of the most visible predators of penguins in the Antarctic, but also the most intelligent. I parent penguin will often chase after a skua to defend it's egg or chick, but unfortunately for the penguin, the Skua will work in teams. While the parent is distracted the other bird will come in, and they will get to feed. A penguin egg or a baby chick is a high reward for a Skua, I know it might be terrible to watch, but the skuas need to eat too (and their chicks are cute!).

Photographic details It was a joy to get a shot like this, it's times like these that carrying two cameras really comes in handy. I was watching the King Penguin colony, ready to shoot close up shots of penguin behaviour with my telephoto when the skua flies in right in front of me. I pulled out my other camera with my wide angle lens (16-35mm f2.8) and managed to get a few of these shots while the Skua pecked at my polariser. [lightbox id="2" size="small"] While this happened by accident, I maximised my chances of interacting with wildlife by laying down flat on the ground. In this position not only do I have the best viewpoint, I'm also not considered a threat and more of a curiosity to wildlife. Laying down I have had elephant seals snuggle me, penguins walk on me and of course, skuas investigating my lens. I also chose to keep a lot of the background and penguin colony in this shot, keeping this bird in full context of it's environment.

This is a blog post originally posted on http://www.kylefoto.com, If you like this be sure to check out the Antarctic Worlds gallery!

Put people in your landscapes

Put people in your landscapes Too often photographers go to great lengths to ensure there are no people in their photographs. This is often something difficult to do especially when on holidays and in touristy places.

Why not get the people to work with the landscape? How can adding a person or two improve a photograph? One of the most helpful things a human figure can do in a photograph is create a sense of scale

I was trudging along the shoreline in Antarctica, scattered with beached pieces of ice berg left by the waves and tides when I came upon this lovely scene. It was missing something, and I was alone, so I decided this was a good job for the 10 second timer on my camera. I stuffed my tripod into the snow, ran into the landscape as far as I could, and did my best to “look into the scene” in time for the shutter to release. Running back and forth was actually pretty good exercise, and pretty fun! I encourage you to try this environmental self portrait in your next sunset or interesting landscape shot, I’d love to see them if you do!

Technical facts: It’s important to note, on my particular lens (Canon 16-35 f2.8 L) and many other lenses, that when I stop down to f/16 I get a beautiful star shape out of bright objects like the sun. The number of aperture blades employed in the lens determines how many points you see in the star, even more reason to go with the “sunny f/16 “ rule!

Share if you like!

This is a blog post originally posted on http://www.kylefoto.com, if you like this be sure to check out the Antarctic Worlds Gallery here!

Porcelain Adélie

One sunny antarctic day was standing on a rock at the entrance to a penguin colony in Antarctica, watching them zip around underwater with joy. One of the coolest things is that they tend to jet out of the water onto land, but I don't think they look before they leap. Every so often one would fly out onto my rock only to be extremely surprised to see me standing there, immediately and frantically trying to back-flap their way into the water. This Adélie was particularly entertaining!

Luminous ice

This beautiful iceberg was grounded by the low tides in Antarctica outside Cuverville island. The water being so crystal clear and free of sediment that light travels down without reflecting much back making it appear black. In addition the bright overcast conditions and high reflectivity of the snow and ice forces me to let in less light in the camera, darkening the water down even more. It's this contrast that gives the image a sense of drama.

Lately I have been very active on Google+ and have found the community to be very engaging, for that reason I have been premiering a lot of my content on my page here first. So I feel compelled to post some extra info derived from conversations on this article as well.

Thomas Russ Arnestad asks: "I'm curious about one thing though, there are some grey/black spots/shaded in the blue ice; is this a result of pollution?"

I was very careful to keep those spots in there, as they aren't artificial (nor are they dust spots on the sensor). I'm delighted you noticed them because they tell a fantastic story about the formation of these icebergs. I think it's safe to say these icebergs are pretty much geological in origin, as all icebergs start off as glacial ice formed by the compaction of snow on the mountain slope. This ice slowly flows down the mountain, and in doing so it grinds away at the rock, creating gravel and silt and carving U shaped valleys in the mountain side. When some of these pieces of ice finally make it into the ocean, they may have picked up lots of debris and rocks, some can be extremely dirty, huge boulders can even be found in icebergs. You can even go diving in the antarctic and find large "erratics" deposited by rock carrying icebergs.

The older the ice, the more likely it is to be at the bottom of a glacier where there is an extreme amount of pressure, this pushes out air bubbles and causes the ice to become more translucent, and this in turn can make the ice bluer, hence the wonderful colours in this ice and the high amounts debris trapped inside.

Technical photo details: This was shot hand held while driving a zodiac (like the image atop) , then tonemapped in HDR software Photomatix. Later printed on metallic paper the colours really shine and shift, much like the ice does in real life! Approximate location here.

Kenya & Tanzania Photography Safari Sept 2012

Kyle Marquardt in collaboration with Civilized Adventures would like to invite you to join

“Kenya & Tanzania Photography Safari”

Sept. 7 - 23, 2012

My photographic safaris are filling up, thus we have an additional safari on for 2012!

Wake up early with the golden african sunrise to capture wildlife at it's best at the Masai Mara game reserve during the great wildebeest and zebra migrations. Journey down to the world famous Ngorongoro crater, a refuge for 30,000+ animals amidst a stunning backdrop, all while receiving personal photographic tutorials on how to get the best out of all of this from me!

Book at Civilized Adventures Download full itinerary Check out my Africa gallery

Kenya & Tanzania Photography Safari Jan 2012

Kyle Marquardt in collaboration with Civilized Adventures would like to invite you to join

Update: Dates changed “Kenya & Tanzania Photography Safari”

Jan  19 - Feb 5th, 2012

Last year's photographic safari was a huge success. Africa presented us with some incredible photo opportunities and we were there to take them. And so we are going to do it again, please join me in world famous parks and reserves as we venture on twice daily game drives amongst the african wild. As always I'm there to inspire you and make sure you get the best out of your camera. For more information check out the links, itinerary and galleries below!

Book at Civilized Adventures Download full itinerary Check out my Africa gallery

Update: We're always striving to improve our trips and scouting the best locations, thus we have made some improvements on the itinerary, check out the addition of Ol Tukai Lodge here.

Kyle Marquardt highlighted in Business Insider as one of the "Top 104 Amazing Photographers" on Google+

- I'm absolutely flattered to be listed as one of the "Top 104 Aamzing Photographers" on google+ check out the original article here! I have been finding google plus to be a very engaging community, and have been premiering a lot of my updated there first. If you are into photography I highly recommend getting an account, should you need an invite please let me know.

   Business Insider 

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Antarctic underwater iceberg

Sometimes a little forethought turns a concept into reality, a brief making of this photo: Ever since I first found out I was really going to Antarctica, I’ve had this shot in mind. I didn’t know for sure that I would be presented the chance to do this but because the concept existed in my imaginary portfolio it was ever-present in my mind.

To prepare for this I made a small investment in an ewa-marine underwater housing, It’s essentially a waterproof bag that will fit anything roughly shaped like an SLR camera.

How it looks  Canon 10-22mm lens at 14mm (equivalent 22mm) ISO 200 shutter priority 1/125 of a second 

Months later I was driving a zodiac boat outside the Lemaire channel in Antarctica, when this somewhat small piece of ice was floating by me. My imaginary photo flashed before me as I positioned the zodiac just right for the shot. I leaned over the side of the zodiac dipping my camera and lens half into the water. The camera is on shutter priority mode, so I don’t have to worry about managing any settings on my “camera-in-a-bag” in the -1°C water. This being on an ultra wide-angle lens I zoomed out to 14mm (full frame equivalent 22mm) which allowed me to capture a wide enough angle to encompass both the immediate foreground and the background. The underwater part of the image loses a lot of light compared to the above water portion, I had to significantly brighten the water with the original raw image. I expected to get this shot after nearly a hundred tries, but as luck had it this was about the 7th shot I took. Needless to say after I retrieved my camera and rinsed the salt water off the housing I was delighted with the results, and I hope you are too!

The Better Picture: Secretary bird

The better Picture: Photographers take terrible photos too, they are not meant to be seen but are integral in getting a better picture. You have been out on Safari all day, taking hundreds of photos.  Earlier in the morning you happened to have gotten a photo of a secretary bird and now you have been presented with your umpteenth viewing of this very bird; this is an important moment. Now you could put your camera down or instead you could set up your camera in preparation for the decisive moment that might become your ultimate secretary bird photo and perhaps even your best photo of the entire safari.

You may have thought “I already have a plethora of secretary bird photos, do I really need to try again”? Perhaps you are at the point of believing that your previous secretary bird shots are fantastic but this is where you have to step back just a little and try and get past the cognitive bias that all your own photographs are inherently great. Take the Dunning Kruger effect, which theorizes our innate belief in the accuracy of our perspective.  Here is how it works in terms of photography, the first time we take a photo we believe it to be perfect however if we were to give it another try and perhaps even take a moment to place it under scrutiny; this here could transform our photo from a regular vacation shot to a work of art.  Therefore I would like you to always ask yourself this “how could I improve this shot?”

The thought process I described above is classic example and is exactly what happened with the secretary birds. Some people were excited by my first shot of the birds and by all means, technically speaking you could say that I executed the image correctly; I gave the bird room to look into the frame, used a wide open aperture with only the bird in focus and no background distractions were in site.   Due to the wide open aperture my background was softened and there was no accidental motion blur.  Yay!.... Oh Wait, then why is it so blah? The bird is just standing there, nothing else  is going on in the scene, that’s why!

Many photos later I was presented with the same view of a secretary bird, strolling through the grass, looking for her prey and in a split moment she decided to take off. With my camera already trained on her, I was able to track her movement and get the right action shot.

Now we’re talking, the subject is still given room to look into the frame, but now we have action and a dramatic sense of motion, not to mention the gazelles in the background to further express that this is Africa.  Now the photo functions as a more environmental portrait expressing that these animals share the same space. This is a much better photo.

I take a lot of terrible photos initially because I’m not sure if anything better will come along. I take terrible photos like these all the time, but the reason you don’t see them is because I only show my best work. I still want you to take the bad photos but I want you to realize it’s bad right when you shoot it, and expect to take a better one later when presented with the same opportunity. Hopefully the second time around, something magical happens and you are prepared to take the shot because you have a better understanding of what you’re looking for.

These photos were taken in the Masai Mara in Kenya while hosting a photographic Safari, if you like this check out the Africa gallery!

Kenya & Tanzania Safari Workshop 2011 gallery!

New Gallery "Africa"

I had the incredible pleasure of hosting a Photographic Safari in Kenya and Tanzania this year surrounded by wide eyed enthusiastic photographers and adventurers.

A full day in Africa is so jam packed with incredible sightings, engaging wildlife, stunning sights sounds and smells that at the end of the day you sit back in reflection like you've just experienced a week.

I look forward to sharing some exciting stories and more sights from this safari, so in the mean time please take a look at my new gallery "Africa" here.

Africa Gallery

Kenya & Tanzania Photography Safari 2011

Kyle Marquardt in collaboration with Civilized Adventures would like to invite you to join

“Kenya & Tanzania Photography Safari”

Feb. 25 - Mar 13, 2011

Join us on an exclusive journey venturing from the Masai Mara in Kenya through the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania all during the dramatic wildebeest migration. The Ngorongoro crater is filled with some 30,000 wild mammals, the opportunities are endless!

Kyle will ignite your inspiration and passion to get the greatest photos you possibly can. Regular critiques and one-on-one time to get the most out of your photography ensuring every day your photos and technique will improve. Everyone is guaranteed a window seat out on safari, never miss a thing and avoid the crowds.

Space is limited, download the full itinerary here, and check out the official page at Civilized Adventures.

Please contact Civilized Adventures or Kyle Marquardt for more details.