Osprey Building a Nest on a Windy Day /  by Todd Henson

Osprey facing the camera on a windy day, with head feathers sticking straight up.

Osprey don’t have it easy. They build nests close to water with no protection from the elements. I’ve seen osprey nests blown over during strong storms. But these amazing birds just keep rebuilding and moving on.

Today’s photos are of an osprey in Colonial Beach, Virginia, building a nest atop some poles just offshore. It’s a very windy day, as you can see in the photo with the osprey facing the camera. The feathers on the back of its head stand straight up with the wind blowing towards me. This really gives the osprey a wild, aggressive look.

Osprey building a nest on a windy day.

I’ve created cropped versions of both photos giving you closer views of the osprey. Click on any of the images for larger views.

Closeup of osprey facing camera, head feathers upright.

Side view of osprey on its nest on a windy day.

Thinking Through the Shots

I wanted to focus as much as possible on the osprey, meaning I wanted the background to disappear in a blur. The distant shore was quite a distance away, which helped. I was shooting at 400mm focal length, which also helped. My maximum aperture was f/5.6 with the setup I was using but I chose to use f/8 to give a little extra depth of field to capture the osprey in focus. Given the focal length and the distance to the shore, it was enough.

Note, I usually shoot in Aperture Priority mode when background blur is important. This lets me choose the aperture most appropriate for the look I want and lets the shutter speed fall where it will. If I need a faster shutter speed I can then open the aperture further (unless it’s already open all the way) or boost the ISO.

It was a very windy day, so things like the osprey’s feathers were moving. And I wanted to be able to capture the osprey if it flew from the nest. This meant I needed a fast shutter speed. I was shooting with a wide open aperture, which would help give me a faster shutter speed. To increase the shutter speed further I boosted my ISO to 500 (200 is the base ISO for the camera I was using). This let me shoot at a shutter speed of 1/1250 sec.

To sum it all up, I shot at 1/1250 sec, f/8, at ISO 500.

Equipment

I didn’t have my longer lens with me for this shoot, but I did carry along my 70-200mm f/2.8 and a 2x teleconverter. This is how I reached 400mm. The 2x does slow things down, causing slower focusing, and giving me a maximum aperture of f/5.6 instead of the f/2.8 of the lens (2 stops slower). But this combo is smaller and lighter than a larger lens and does give me some versatility allowing both the 70-200mm and 140-400mm ranges. I was happy with the compromise for this trip.

Note, the 2x teleconverter only works with some lenses, so be sure it works with yours before you purchase it.

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New Photography Book Roundup - March 2018 /  by Todd Henson

Five new books I've acquired as of the beginning of March, 2018.

I absolutely love books. And I absolutely love photography. So who would guess I also happen to absolutely love photography books?!?!

I’m constantly on the lookout for new and interesting books to purchase. This post is a roundup of the new photography books I’ve recently purchased. Maybe you’ll find something of interest in the list.

This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. This is at no extra cost to you.

The Landscape Photographer’s Guide to Photoshop: A Visualization-Driven Workflow by Guy Tal

I have always considered myself weak at landscape photography, though I really enjoy it. And I’m a fairly new practitioner of Photoshop and most often find myself frustrated trying to figure out how to perform various actions. I was drawn to this book for those reasons. I’ve seen examples of Guy Tal’s photography and admire his work, so I thought this might be a good book to learn from.

The subtitle of the book is A Visualization-Driven Workflow, and it speaks to the overall theme of approaching your photography with intention. First, visualize an image in your mind, imagine how you’d like the image to look. Use your technical skills to capture that image, as best you can, in the camera. Then take that image into Photoshop and further realize your original vision.

The book is split into 2 parts. The first is titled Theory. It takes the reader through a short history of photography as art, then talks about visualization, and finally goes into more technical topics, talking about the digital studio, analyzing images, and an overview of workflow.

The second part of the book is titled Practice, and goes into details about working in Photoshop. It covers topics from the initial raw conversion process to Photoshop basics and then on to more specific techniques and topics.

I’ve begun reading this book and really look forward to diving in deeper.

Mastering Photographic Composition, Creativity, and Personal Style by Alain Briot

Who can’t benefit from a few extra lessons on composition? I know I certainly can. Alain Briot is a very talented fine art landscape photographer whose work I admire. I purchased this book for similar reasons to Guy Tal’s book: I would like to improve my landscape photography.

The book contains many sections about different aspects of composition, such as learning the differences between how we see and how the camera sees, how to compose with light, with color, and in black and white. It discusses many elements typical of strong compositions.

It also covers various topics related to the creative process, with sections on finding inspiration, exercising your creativity, developing your vision, and achieving your personal style.

Being a fine art photographer, Briot is familiar with interacting with an audience. He has sections in the book about doing this, and about understanding your audience, and how to find an audience. Are you marketing your work to audiences that appreciate numbered prints? He has a section about this topic, as well.

The final section of the book is about the relationship between technical and artistic aspects of photography. He provides a checklist to help guide you to better photographs, to remind you of things to consider when creating your photographs. It includes a technical checklist and an artistic checklist. This section also covers what he calls image maladies, which is a list of problems that can occur with our photographs. He talks about the problems and how to overcome them.

The Art of Photography: A Personal Approach to Artistic Expression by Bruce Barnbaum

This is the 2nd edition of this classic, and it is a monster of a book, coming in at just under 400 pages in a slightly oversized format (10” x 10” versus the more common 8” x 10”). This feels like a text book for a multi-semester class on all aspects of photography as an art form.

The chapters cover all the expected topics, such as composition, visualization, light, color, the use of filters, exposure, control of contrast, printing, image adjustments, presenting your photography, and topics on photography as fine art. The final chapters are about approaching creativity intuitively, and moving toward a personal philosophy.

I already own books that cover most of these topics, but I had read great things about Bruce Barnbaum and have been drawn to the images of his I’ve seen. And even if I’ve already read about some of these topics from other authors and photographers, each person brings their own experiences and methods of conveying topics. I wanted to see how Barnbaum approached them.

I have not yet read the book, but having flipped through it several times I’m very pleased with the purchase so far. It looks fantastic and I can’t wait to get into it. This is the largest of the books in this roundup, so it may take me a while to get through it. I tend to work through these sorts of books slowly, trying to absorb small sections at a time before moving on.

Fine Art Inkjet Printing: The Craft and Art of the Fine Digital Print by Jim Nickelson

I have a very nice inkjet printer, a Canon PIXMA Pro-10. But creating pleasing physical prints can be a challenge. I have experimented a little producing various prints, but haven’t spent the time I think I need to really excel with the printer. So I picked up this book to inspire me to learn more about creating quality prints.

This may be the most technical of the books in the roundup. The book covers all the necessary topics, such as hardware, software, color management, how to edit for the print instead of just for the screen, how to create, evaluate, and correct the print, choice of papers, topics specific to black and white printing, handling the print, storage, and signing and numbering. It contains an appendix with a slew of other topics.

I have read the first few chapters of the book and I’m pleased with the purchase to far. I know I have a lot to learn and I’m hoping this book will push me in the right direction.

The Soul of the Camera: The Photographer’s Place in Picture-Making by David duChemin

I really enjoy David duChemin’s work, both his photography, and his writing. He is very skilled at expressing himself with the written word. I’ve purchased most of his books to date, many in print versions and some as e-books.

He often writes about the softer topics versus the more technical aspects of photography. One of the first books of his I read was Within the Frame, where he wrote about vision and how it can be used to create more emotional photographs, ones that draw in the viewer, make them feel something. In Photographically Speaking he wrote about developing a visual language and how to use this to help better express ourselves photographically.

Now, in The Soul of the Camera, he writes about what’s missing from so many photographs. He says they lack soul. And the book contains many chapters, really a collection of essays, on how to create stronger, more expressive photographs that have soul. A quote from the beginning of the book: “It is time now to turn our attention to what is ultimately responsible for the making of photographs — the photographer’s themselves.”

I look forward to spending some time reading all of these books. I hope some of them may interest you, as well. Let me know in the comments below if you own any of these or which you think you might enjoy.

Tour of Washington National Cathedral /  by Todd Henson

Washington National Cathedral viewed from across the street.

A number of years ago my brother and I signed up for a tour of Washington National Cathedral put together by Washington Photo Safari. We met a group of other photographers one Saturday morning and were led around the Cathedral by a very knowledgeable docent, along with a couple professional photographers from Washington Photo Safari. The docent taught us about the Cathedral and the Safari photographers taught us how to photograph the Cathedral.

As part of our tour we were led into portions of the Cathedral not normally open to the public. This was fantastic, getting to see the building from different vantage points. This alone was worth the trip.

Inside the Cathedral

Downstairs we were able to view the beautiful stained glass windows, which I showed a sampling of in a previous post. When light shone through the windows we sometimes were treated to vibrant colors reflecting off the nearby walls and hallways. This was a very beautiful location.

Colorful hallway illuminated by stained glass windows.

Light shining through a stained glass window.

Upstairs we were privy to an entirely different view of the interior of the building, looking down over the Nave towards the Great Choir, and behind that the High Altar. There were tours being conducted below while we were upstairs. You can see a group of people standing before the High Alter in one of the photos.

The Great Choir, and beyond that the High Altar. Photographed from an upstairs balcony.

Interior view of Washington National Cathedral from an upstairs balcony.

Photographing a photographer photographing details in Washington National Cathedral.

Outside the Cathedral

While upstairs we were led outside onto one of the walkways, and while we were out there it began to snow. This was a perfect day! We photographed the flying buttresses and pinnacles while snow lightly fell from the sky.

Details outside Washington National Cathedral, photographed from walkway.

From this perspective we had very good views of some of the damage caused by the 2011 earthquake. The Washington, D.C., area is not very prone to earthquakes, so these buildings were not built with earthquakes in mind. The Cathedral suffered large amounts of damage. You can see some of the damage in the photographs of the pinnacles.

Pinnacle atop Washington National Cathedral damaged by 2011 earthquake.

Pinnacle in the snow. Notice the hairline horizontal cracks from the earthquake.

They are still working to repair the damage 7 years later, and expect to continue doing so for years to come. The cost of the repairs is extraordinary so they repair as funds become available.

A missing pinnacle, having either fallen in the earthquake or been taken down for repairs.

After the tour we walked around the outside of the building for a while, photographing various elements. One amazing sculpture at the front of the Cathedral is titled Ex Nihilo, and depicts the birth of mankind. It’s quite a sight to see in person.

Ex Nihilo sculpture atop doors of Washington National Cathedral.

Looking Ahead

I would love to visit Washington National Cathedral again one day. I’d like to take a normal tour of the downstairs features, something we didn’t do during this trip. But I’d also like to take another of these special tours through the upper reaches of the building.

Details outside Washington National Cathedral.

Beautiful archways upstairs in Washington National Cathedral.

I’d highly recommend a visit if you’re ever in the Washington, D.C., area. And I’d recommend the Washington Photo Safari group. This is the only tour I’ve taken with them, but I enjoyed it. The tour was a little less about photo instruction and a little more about access to the Cathedral and the docent, but the tour instructors were always nearby to answer questions and were periodically offering advice on things to shoot and different techniques to try.

Metal sculpture on front door of Washington National Cathedral.

Have you ever been to Washington National Cathedral, or attended a Washington Photo Safari? If so let me know what you thought about it in the comments below.

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