| Some of my most memorable photographs are featured in this section, along with photo tips and the story behind the making of each photograph. I hope these images inspire you to go out and experience your own memorable moments. |
 Featured Photo #2 -- American Dipper With Fish |
Nikon
F5 AF 500mm + TC14E teleconverter SB-26 flash + fresnel extender Matrix-balanced fill flash set on "rear curtain sync" mode, for exposure at: 1 / 10 sec. and f/5.6
My friend, Patrick, and I had been photographing American Dippers working the rock and gravel banks of the Yellowstone River since early afternoon -- with gold and blue water reflections providing beautiful background for portrait and feeding behavior images. |
| As the sun dipped below the hills, and
golden light turned to cool shade, we bemoaned the loss of beautiful light, and the fact
that shutter speeds had dropped from 1 / 125 sec. to around 1 / 10 sec. As we prepared to
leave, a dipper came out of the water with a fish in its beak and hopped on a nearby rock.
The fish was still very lively, and it took the bird some time to down it -- giving us
time for several shots. The Quantum Turbo battery proved invaluable in that situation
since flash recharge time was considerably reduced, allowing several exposures instead of
one. The featured photo shown above is the only successful image from that late afternoon series, but it became my favorite Dipper photo as soon as the slide hit the light table. Although lacking the golden light and colorful reflections of images taken earlier that afternoon it successfully conveys the feeling that the Dipper is an integral part of this swirling, splashing, cascading water environment. The water rolling over its feet and swirling over its wing tip and tail feathers further reinforces this notion. The Dippers we photographed were constantly hopping in and out of shallow water; once in a while they would dive into deeper water and remain fully submerged for several seconds. Previous to this experience I had thought dippers feed primarily on water dwelling insects, and was surprised to see how often they caught and ate fish. The wonders of fill flash set on rear curtain sync: The "rear curtain sync" mode on the SB-26 (and SB-25/24) flash allows exposures at shutter speeds slower than the minimum 1 / 60 sec. required for standard "front curtain sync." The slow one tenth of a second shutter speed used for this photo allowed ambient light exposure and blurring of fast flowing water. The burst of flash just before the closing of the camera shutter's trailing curtain (blades) "freezes" subject and camera movement, allowing a reasonably sharp rendition of the bird's head and eye. The image would have looked very different if "rear curtain sync" had not been selected. The minimum 1 /60 sec. shutter speed of "front curtain sync" would have been 2 2/3 stops less than what is needed for ambient light exposure, and the resulting image would have been "all flash". "In-focus" features would be perfectly sharp, but the implied effect of cascading, swirling water would be absent, resulting in a much less dramatic image.
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