By Mike Busch

This week the Long Island Wildlife Photography group once again did not disappoint with a great variety of quality images.

A few standouts include a jumping Carp by Ed Walsh, a fantastic capture of a Northern Pintail in flight by Jason Ganz, and a red bat in daytime flight by Ralph Gisbert.  This week is not one for the squeamish as you will see with some hungry Peregrine Falcons and a Merlin taking down some fresh meals.

 

This week’s photo tip:

We have slacked off on the photo tip section the last few weeks but I thought of one when editing some of my photos last week.

Even with poor light I am very reluctant to crank up my ISO.  I don’t like noise in my images and would rather miss the shot than end up with a noisy mess.  While everyone has their own style and favorite wildlife settings, I strive to get my shutter as fast as possible without stretching the ISO.  If you aren’t using editing software this tip won’t work but if you are using Lightroom or Photoshop this might be worth a try.  The idea is adjust the shutter high enough that you can barely see what is in the view finder.  In the old days before software, you wouldn’t have much to work with.  However with powerful programs and the data picked up by today’s cameras (particularly shooting RAW) there is a good chance to recover the exposure later when editing.

Below is a real world example, last week I had my first decent encounter with a Rough Legged Hawk.  These beautiful raptors spend the summers in the Arctic but occasionally spend some time here in the Winter and early Spring before heading back north.  Unfortunately I ran into the bird below late in the day on a very dark overcast day just as some light rain started coming down.  When the hawk landed in a tree I knew the light was terrible but I kept my shutter at 1/1250 and my ISO 200.  Looking at my viewfinder I had no idea if I had anything salvageable but was able to recover a half way decent image.  This is an extreme example but this same theory can be used anytime, even in great light.  I find myself intentionally underexposing to get the extra speed knowing that I can recover the difference later, give it a try.

Original Image

After basic Lightroom Adjustments: Exposure, Shadows and Cropping

This week’s cover goes to Grace Scalzo who really nailed a nice image of a Red Breasted Merganser in flight.  Grace has offered to take over the column next week, I always enjoy her insights and learn something every time she posts something.

Please take a minute to check out all 5 pages!

 

Grace Scalzo | Killdeer

Jason Ganz | Northern Pintail

Ralph Gisbert | Deer Mouse

Ed Walsh | Merlin