Photo of the Day

Sedona, Arizona

Canon D30 (yikes!!!!), 28-70mm. 2 images stitched together in Photoshop. February 2003

Safari Testimonial: Paul Robishaw

Recent safari traveler Paul Robishaw wrote to me with the following:

"Wow!  Just WOW!!

I had hoped that the 2009 Botswana would be a good one and a great learning opportunity.  It was all of that and so much more!

Andy, I have been fortunate in my life to have experienced many fantastic adventures in remote, exotic, and ecologically-pristine locales.  The Botswana safari is right up there at the top of that list!  It was truly amazing!  We spent 12 days in the bush, and each of them seemed better than the one before.  The wildlife sightings, the scenery, the camaraderie . . . I could go on and on.  The last day came way too soon for me.

I’d like to compliment all who helped make the Botswana photo safari such a fantastic one!  Kudos to you, Grant Atkinson (our naturalist guide/driver/geologist/historian/local expert/ good-humor man), the folks at Wilderness Safaris, James and Nicky at Eyes on Africa, as well as the entire staffs of the Kwetsani, Savuti, Chitabe and Mombo camps.  The courtesies, personal care, and professionalism extended by all were truly extraordinary.  The food and accommodations excellent, as well.  I slept very well and put on more than a few pounds.

As you know, I’ve already signed on to another African adventure with you.  This time I’m bringing my wife so that she can experience and enjoy what I did.  Don’t know how are at encores, but I trust you.

One of your African trips should be on everyone’s Bucket List."

Here are just a few of Paul's images from our July 2009 Botswana safari:

You can see my 2010 African safaris online here. I have spots available on some of my safaris and not on others. If you are interested in one of these safaris, please email me at info@andybiggs.com while there is still space available. My safaris book up early!

Photo of the Day

Legadema

Mombo Camp, Botswana. July 2009

Nikon D3, 200-400mm f/4 VR, 1/200sec @ f/4, ISO 12,800

I know, I have been inundating this blog with photos of Legadema lately, however I thought this image would be an interesting study because of the technical details of the image. Did you notice that it was captured at ISO 12,800? Yes, this is a bit extreme, but the sun had gone down 15 minutes earlier, and rather than go back to camp we sat and enjoyed her company for a little while longer. I used Noise Ninja to clean up the noise a tad, and I used Nik Software's Viveza to brighten her up and have her more visually separated from the backgroud.

Photographing a leopard is likely some of the most challenging situations in wildlife photography. You either have one in a tree with extreme light/dark contrast, or you have one on the ground with grass and twigs in the way. Nature is inherently messy, and it is our job as photographers to try and eliminate the clutter by using our shooting position and our focal length to try and isolate our subjects.

As a rule of thumb, I like to instruct my safari travelers by rating items that show up in a scene. You can think of each item in your viewfinder as being positive, neutral or negative. Eliminate the negatives, get as many positives as you can, and neutrals are just going to be there. The branch that is coming out of her head is a negative, however you can reduce it somewhat by using visual tricks to get a viewer's eye to not notice it as much. In this example I brightened her up and darkened the background, as to give visual preference to one thing over another.

Trick: make your subject brighter than the background, as brighter objects tend to attract a viewer's eye. This is why lions sitting in the shade, underneath a tree with a bright background generally isn't a very successful photograph. Wait until your subject has a clean background that is also darker than your subject, and you have instantly created a luminance contrast that is in your favor.

Trick: try to find your subject in a different hue than the background, and you now have a case of hue contrast. In the image above the reflected light in the background (and on the subject) has blue-ish, and the subjects bright yellow coat (even though it is in cool shadow light) is warm. Now you have a warm / blue hue contrast that also helps separate the background from the subject.

Photo of the Day

Legadema

Mombo Camp, Botswana. July 2009

Nikon D3, 200-400mm f/4 VR, 1/400sec @ f/4, ISO 2000

My printing studio

I have around 1,000 square feet of office / studio space near my house, and I have turned the entry room of the space into my large format printer and roll paper storage space. Since the rest of my space isn’t clean at the moment, here are just a few images of the entry space.

On one wall I have my Epson 9890” wide format printer, on another wall I have my Canon iPF8300 44” wide format printer, and on another wall I have a custom made rack which can accommodate up to 13 rolls of paper.

The room is lit only by track lighting, all supplied by Solux. All of the bulbs are their 3500 degree Kelvin wide flood models.

Two printers and the paper rack on the right hand side.

Custom roll paper rack

My custom rack (which needs to be painted) can accommodate up to 13 rolls of paper, up to 44 inches wide. I use 1 1/4 PVC pipes that are cut in 5 foot lengths to hold each roll. I can easily grab a roll and load it onto either of the printers. If I only had one wide format printer, I would give some thought to buy a bunch of that model’s spindle, but that cost can quickly add up. Both of these printers are hooked up over ethernet, and I can just print away from the other room. If I have a big print job that requires a ton of interaction with a printer, I just roll a printer into the other room where I can monitor the printer closely from my desk.

I also have an Epson Pro 3880, a Canon iPF5100, a Canon Pro 9000 II and a Canon Pro 9500 II in my main work room. I will post photos of the other room when I get it nice and cleaned up.

If you are interested in creating better photographic prints, I am now offering private full-day mentoring sessions at my printing studio. This is an opportunity for you and I to work side by side to create beautiful prints from your own digital files. We can work on whatever you wish to work on, from digital capture to Lightroom workflow to digital output. The world is your oyster, and I am here to assist. Typical items that are usually covered:

• Color management
• Lightroom processing and workflow
• Soft proofing
• Black and white printing
• What to look for in a good print
• Paper choices
• Print sharpening
• Upsizing files for large format output
• Editing images for a portfolio
• Mat cutting and presentation ideas

These sessions are very informal, and are designed around getting information to you that is relative to your goals.

You can read more about these sessions here.