Michael Despines Photography

Aug

31

180° !

Shot of the Month Posted by Michael / 10 comments

Shot of the Month – August 2020

Photographers love hitting the beach to capture, what they hope will be, an epic image of where land and sea collide. Photographers on the East Coast of the US usually get up early to capture the sun rising on the horizon. Dawn’s early light and whatnot.

Light chasers on the West Coast typically make it a late evening as they wait by the sea for the sun to paint the sky red as it glides into the ocean.

Having moved to Washington State I am now exploring West Coast seascapes — a new paradigm for this East Coast “kid.”

In September 2019 I made my first visit to the Oregon coast to photograph the shipwreck of the Peter Iredale. You can read about that adventure here. I visited the beach in the afternoon and captured these lovely images:

Standing with my back to the ocean the setting sun painted the rusting hull with a beautiful hue of red and pink light.

In August of 2020, I went back to the same beach but I only could visit the site in the morning. Given that the sun would rise from the other side (the “land” side) the colors would be much more muted. Would it be worth going? Perhaps better to just sleep in? In the end, I dragged myself out of bed at 4:30 am and made my way to the beach. Grumble, grumble. Voice in my head: “…you’re just wasting your time….” Grumble, grumble.

Before the sun breached the horizon I captured this ok shot:

As the sun rose over the horizon I explored how the warm light moved down the ship’s hull:

Yawn. While accurate, not terribly compelling…

I continued to look down at my camera as I shot the changing light. After a few minutes, I looked up and glanced behind the hull.

“Holy S*&T!”

I had totally NOT noticed that the sunbeams were now just high enough over the horizon to blast beams of light through the ship, casting dramatic shadows. This caught me completely off guard. I hadn’t even imagined such a scenario. Frantic, I ran over to the other side of the ship and began to shoot into the sun. I knew we had the potential for something really special with this scene.

For the next 20 minutes, I worked at a feverish pace to capture the changing light and shadows before they vanished….First some color versions:

The harsh light and dramatic setting are well suited for Black and White…

Which version do you like best? (#1?….#6?). (I am leaning toward #4, myself)

So there you have it, another example of why you should always go out and see what Mother Nature has up her sleeve.

Conventional wisdom says,

West Coast Beach = afternoon shoot. (for the “ideal” shot)

But as we can see here, even a sunrise, on a West Coast beach, can offer a glorious scene when the conditions are right.

Shifting the sun 180° can create scenes that are as different as, well, night and day….which seems kinda obvious, now that I say it out loud.

Still caught me off guard though…

Until next month…m

Image #4: Nikon D850, Nikon 17-35mm (@ 35mm), f/22, 1/1000 sec, ISO 64, -1.0 EV

Jul

31

Fall Falls

Shot of the Month Posted by Michael / 2 comments

Shot of the Month – July 2020

In October 2019 I made a quick, mid-week run down to Oregon (Portland is about 3 hours away) to work on my landscape photography skills. I mainly shoot wildlife so I need all the practice I can get. I had visited some of the waterfalls of the Columbia River Gorge in the summer and I wanted to see if autumn brought any interesting color to the compositions. On this quick run, I only had Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning to make images – not much time but my goal was to try and get at least one good photo from the trip. The falls can get quite busy on the weekends so I went down in the middle of the week to, hopefully, avoid the crowds.

Late Wednesday afternoon I hiked up to Ponytail Falls and found the place deserted. Ahhh, heaven. I could commune with nature and compose my shots in peace. I consider the trip a booming success having created this image — not bad for a wildlife guy!

I had to shoot two images to get the entire scene in sharp focus. In the first image, I focused on the rocks in the foreground (leaving most of the scene behind blurry) while in the second image, I focused on the rocks about 2/3rds back in the scene (which left the rocks in the foreground blurry). By merging the sharp elements from the two images together we get one image that is sharp from front to back.

A great way to improve your landscape images is to ensure that you have a strong element in the foreground of the image. In this case, I used the rock in the lower left corner to anchor the photo. The key to a compelling image is depth and this image has multiple layers — the rocks in the foreground, then the stream, the rocks and bushes a bit further back, then the falling water, and finally the rocks of the cliff face.

Truth be told I did place the yellow maple leaf on the rock — it was lying just next to the rock but I positioned it on the rock for better viewing as it helps tell the story and it is visually compelling. I tried positioning the leaf in multiple places and in various orientations. In the end, this composition worked best – I like how the leaf stem guides your eye into the rest of the image. I had started with “stem down” but it all clicked when I rotated the leave around into the “stem up” orientation. I also like how the yellow leaf mirrors the yellow leaves on the bush in the far back right portion of the scene.

Together, these elements convey “Falls in the Fall.” Just what I was looking for…

Until next month…..m

Here are a few links with ideas on how to improve your landscape compositions:

Importance of Foreground Elements (Video)

5 Landscape Mistakes to Avoid (Video)

How to get a perfect foreground (Article)

Importance of foreground in landscape photography (Article)

Nikon D850, Nikon 17-35mm (@ 17mm), f/8.0, 1.5 sec, -0.5 EV, ISO 64

Jun

29

American Pygmy Kingfisher

Shot of the Month Posted by Michael / 0 comments

Shot of the Month – June 2020

Warning: Objects on your screen may be smaller than they appear.

In this image, the American Pygmy Kingfisher (APK) appears to tower over us. Fear not, we are not in danger. The APK is the smallest of all kingfishers and is about 5 inches in length and tips the scales at a mere 18 grams (about the weight of 3 American quarters or about 1/2 an ounce).

The wee bird seems so large because I was floating underneath him in a boat at a close distance with a 400 mm lens when I captured the image. I love this shot as the combination of side lighting and blurred background gives the image an other-worldly, mystical vibe.

APKs can be found in the lowlands of the American Tropics from southern Mexico to central Brazil. They are most commonly seen along small woodland streams, pools, puddles, and small channels in mangroves. You can see their full range here. I photographed this fellow in the Pantanal in Brazil.

The head and wings of the APK are metallic green while its body and neck are deep orange-buff, shading to rich dark rufous on the breast, sides, and flanks. The diminutive kingfisher sits by rivers and will dive headfirst into the water after small fish and tadpoles. He will also dine on insects such as cockroaches, aquatic beetles, and larvae.

Chillin by the river:

Scanning the water below…

Uh, too close!

Smallest of kingfishers = Largest of smiles

Until next month….m

Nikon D500, Nikon 200-400mm (@400mm), f/4, ISO 160, +0.5 EV

Source:

May

30

Green Kingfisher

Shot of the Month Posted by Michael / 1 comments

Shot of the Month – May 2020

On our first trip to the Pantanal in 2017 we learned that this incredible ecosystem was home to five types of kingfishers. I am a sucker for bold colors so I was hopeful that I might capture a few on “film.” While I was hopeful I was not optimistic, as most kingfishers are tiny and skittish making it very difficult to capture a good image. Seems that they do things differently in the Pantanal. On our first day on the water, during a three-hour boat trip on the Pixaim River we saw ALL five species. And even better, the birds often took no notice of us as we drifted by as they scanned the water below for fish. On our second trip to the Pantanal in 2019 I captured the image above of a male Green Kingfisher (GK). The female GK looks similar though she does not have the rufous colored chest feathers.

Small fish are the mainstay of his diet so you can usually find the GK perched on a low-hanging branch near the water’s edge as the bird looks for fish that swim near the surface. Aquatic insects are also on the menu.

Target acquired, Dive!

Target missed! Time to shake it off and get back in the game.

The Green Kingfisher can be found from Southern Texas through most of Central and South America. Their numbers are dropping in Texas due to loss of habitat but they are still plentiful further south. To raise their young GKs build a horizontal tunnel into the side of the river bank. The tunnel is about three long and about two inches wide. (Two inches wide – that gives you a sense of how small these birds are)

This kingfisher, Chloroceryle americana, for you science types, is a real beauty and surely leaves the other birds green with envy.

Until next month…..m

Sources:

Wikipedia (Green Kingfisher)

Audubon

ebird

whatbird.com

Nikon D4S, Nikon 600mm, f/4, 1/1000 sec, ISO 720 (Shot in Manual Mode with Auto ISO)

Apr

30

Kit Kaos

Shot of the Month Posted by Michael / 0 comments

Shot of the Month – April 2020

Over the years I have seen a fair number of foxes but the sightings were usually brief and never really produced any good images. In 2019 I hit the jackpot as I was able to spend two full days near a fox den. The den was home to two females who were caring for four kits. A “typical” day would have me show up at sunrise (near 6 am) and sit by the den for about 6 hours. Around noon I would head into town for a quick lunch and then back to the site from around 2 pm till after dark (7 pm-ish). The females would leave the kits at the den as they went off to hunt. The mothers were seemingly tireless in their efforts and would come and go throughout the entire day to ensure enough food for the pups. During these periods the kits did little and often just disappeared into the safety underground. After an hour or so, though sometimes after much longer, a female would return with a rabbit, mouse, or vole. At this point, all hell would break loose. The pups would burst out of the den excited at the opportunity to feed. Mom would give the prey to one of the kits who would then run off with their “kill.” The others might chase it to try and steal the meal. Mom would then allow the kits to nurse for a few minutes. After feeding the young’ins would be in high spirits and run around like sugared-up toddlers and engage in all sorts of hi-jinks, roughhousing, assorted shenanigans, and general mischief. This chaos could last for ten to thirty minutes. Mom might leave fairly quickly to head off on the next hunt leaving the kits to their antics. Eventually, the kits would tire out or get bored and head down into the den.

And just like that, poof, an empty field. And then we waited for the return of one of the females with the next meal. So my day was made up of long waits of nothingness and then frantic shooting once the females appeared. As the day drew on the periods of nothingness seemed to get longer and longer. Pick at the grass. Pace around a bit. Lie on your back and look at the sky. Review some images. Pick at the grass…And then boom! Foxes are running everywhere and me trying to figure out which act of this three-ring circus to focus on.

It was a blast.

Here are the two moms – both are red foxes. Check last month’s post to understand how this is possible.