World Wildlife Fund Photo Contest

Here's some fun contest news for wildlife shooters! World Wildlife Fund (WWF) today launched the "Life Grows On" photo contest - presented by CVS/pharmacy Photo - to commemorate WWF's 50th Anniversary and to coincide with Earth Day. The contest is aimed at raising awareness of species and land conservation issues and seeks photos in three separate categories: wildlife, wild places, and people connecting with nature.
 
The contest is open to both amateur and experienced (not clear if that includes pros--you'll have to read more on their site) photographers and the first-place prize is a trip to see and photograph polar bears! Cool or what? Three first-place winners will win a trip for two on the Classic Polar Bear Photo Adventure provided by tour operator Natural Habitat Adventures. This travel package, one of the group's most popular polar bear tours, includes a journey into the realm of the polar bear with an expert photographer. Winning photos will be published in several communication vehicles across the organization that will reach more than 8 million people. There is an entry fee ($15) but it allows you to enter up to fifteen photos.

Here some more info from their press release:

•     150 finalists will receive a WWF red baseball cap in recognition of their amazing photos. There will also be an instant game prize (10 prizes given out each day), which is a WWF reusable coffee mug.

RULES

•     To enter the contest, from April 22 until June 17, 2011, participants must submit photos either online at www.WWFPhotoContest.org or by mail on a CD to WWF-US headquarters at 1250 24th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037.
•     Submitted photos must be the photographer's original work.
•     Limit 15 submissions per photographer. Along with the photograph, the following information is needed:
•      Description of photo
•      Name of Photographer
•      Mailing address
•      Email address

SELECTION

•     Entries will be judged by a WWF-selected panel and will be based on creativity, originality, technical quality, and fit to category.
•     The judges will select the top 50 from each category by July 1, 2011, after which the judging and decision-making will be handed over to the public for final vote. July 2 until July 15, 2011, the general public can vote for their favorite photos and select the winners.

ABOUT WORLD WILDLIFE FUND
WWF is the world's leading conservation organization, working in 100 countries for half a century. With the support of almost 5 million members worldwide, WWF is dedicated to delivering science-based solutions to preserve the diversity and abundance of life on Earth, halt the degradation of the environment and combat climate change. Visit www.worldwildlife.org to learn more.

And by the way, if you want some tips on entering and winning photo contests, I've written a book on the subject:  Winning Digital Photo Contests (Lark Photography Book).

Latest Pop Photo Column: Wildlife from Cars

I don't know if I've mentioned it on here much or not, but for the past six months or so I've been writing a monthly column called "Traveling Photographer" for Popular Photography magazine. My most recent column (the December issue--January was bumped for space reasons) was on photographing wildlife from wildlife drives at national wildlife refuges. I love finding new wildlife drives (there are about a half dozen listed at the end of the article) because you have the convenience of being able to drive deep into a wildlife preserve and you get to use your car as a blind. Also, some of the preserves that I visit (like the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Titusville, Florida, where I shot this great egret) can be kind of dangerous for casual walking--we've seen lots of alligators, Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes, wild (feral) hogs and bobcat there--not to mention mosquitoes the size of small aircraft.

By the way, if you are interested in photographing birds or wildlife, I can suggest some great books and sites--so if anyone asks, I'll do a future posting on that. In the meantime, probably the best bird photographer alive (possibly the best ever) is Artie Morris and his Birds as Art site is worth exploring (you'll be there for hours). Artie's The Art of Bird Photography II is a CD version of his classic book ($40) and it's astounding--literally hundreds (come to think of it, there may be thousands) of his photos that will simply blow your mind. I got it from Lynne for Christmas one year and every time I look at it I just want to run away and become a full time wildlife photographer. His photographs are incredible and he teaches more on that disc than you can possibly imagine--he shares everything and holds nothing back, the mark of a great teacher.

Teaser: Coming up in the March issue of Pop I have a column on cave photography--so get your headlamps and caving gear ready.

Wildlife Photo Tutorial with Cristina Mittermeier

You might have noticed that I'm running a lot of videos this week and there are two good reasons for that: One is that it's easy to post them and the other is that Youtube is full of great photo-related videos. Today's posting is about photographing wildlife and was shot on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. You hear so much horrible news coming out of Mexico, it's nice to see something positive filmed there. Enjoy! Visit Cristina's site for more of her beautiful photos.

Happy Easter, Bunny!

Photographed with a 70-300mm Nikkor (at 300mm, or 450mm equivalent on my D90)  in my back yard, as ISO 1200 (cloudy day and shooting handheld). She's a one-bunny dandelion eradication team--she can eat about one every two or three seconds.

Wildlife in Motion: Let the Little Deer Prance

Unless you're a big time early 1960's rock 'n roll fan (like me), you may not immediately recognize the name Billy Bland. But if you've ever listened to A.M. radio in the United States, you've probably heard his hit record Let the Little Girl Dance (check out the Youtube video, you'll love it). Ever since I shot this photo a few weeks ago I can't stop hearing the song in my head when I look at it because the rhythm of the deer leaping away is perfectly matched to the rhythm of that song! By the way, just for the music buffs out there, Bland's song reached #11 on the Billboard Top 100 and he had a few other minor hits, but then left the music industry.

What does that have to do with a photo tip? Almost nothing. But hearing that song in my head when I look at this photo reminds me of one important quality that is lacking in a lot of wildlife photography: motion. Most photographers are so intent on getting good sharp photos of wildlife that they tend to shoot the animals only when they're standing rock still. But most animals, like this white-tail deer that I photographed on the John Jay estate in Westchester, New York (extra points if you happen to know who John Jay was) live in constant motion. For a deer (or most other wildlife, for that matter) to stand still too long is to invite the slings and arrows of higher-ups on the food chain (including humans). Using--even exaggerating--that motion is a great way to capture the true spirit of the animals you're photographing.

One way to photograph animals in motion and to get a relatively sharp (though not totally, as you can see here) image that also contains the essence of movement, is to use a technique called panning. By setting your camera to a slower shutter speed (use your shutter-priority exposure mode) and tracking the animal as it runs, you get a sharp(ish) image of the animal against a blurred background. Unless you're very good at panning and have some luck on your side, there will always motion in the subject, but that only adds to the realism. You can experiment with speeds from about 1/60 second (the speed I used for this shot) down to around 1/4 or 1/8 second, but the slower you go the more blur there will be in the background and in the subject. As you can see in this shot, even at 1/60 second, which is at the top end of the useful panning speeds, there is still quite a bit of motion in the deer's legs.

Selecting just the right speed is not easy and it takes some experimenting, and since you may 0nly have time to pop off a few frames, you're likely not to get a second chance with that one particular animal. But if you're in a situation where you're photographing animals that are moving around (deer, horses, bunnies, etc.), try keeping the shutter speed set slow and being ready mentally to follow the animal as you shoot. You'll get a much smaller percentage of "keepers" with this technique because it is so experimental, but the winners will really stand out and I think they capture the true spirit of wild animals.

One slight caution: when you intentionally use a shutter speed that you know is going to create at least a partially blurred photo, many photographers get scared off and go back to safe shutter speeds to try to stop the action. Don't do it! In order to succeed at a somewhat risky technique you have to commit to it and let the experiment run it's course. The worse thing that will happen is that you'll get some out-0f-focus photos, but even then, I think you'll be excited by the results because they'll be different than most of the action shots you see.

Of course, you can also use the exact same technique to photograph your own little heard of wild animals as they run through the local park or ride their bikes up and down the street--and that's a great time to practice your wildlife panning skills. By the way, intentionally using a wide aperture (for shallow depth of field) and using a long lens (pretty much required to get close to animals anyway) will exaggerate the motion even more.

Go on Safari in Your Own Backyard

While traveling to far-off places like Africa or Australia or visiting a national park to photograph wild animals sounds like a lot of fun, it's surprising how much wildlife there is in your own backyard--even if you live in a typical surburban neighborhood. In my little yard in Connecticut I've seen red fox, opossums (lots of them), raccoons, wild turkey, a few kinds of snakes (all harmless), woodchucks, skunks, turtles and even the occasional hawk. And that's not to mention the dozens and dozens of different bird varieties that come to my feeders.

The great thing about photographing animals in your own backyard, of course, is that you don't have to go anywhere to find them. Also, if you've lived in a house for a year or two, you probably already know the animals' habits and when and where you're likely to see them. The raccoons in my neighborhood, for example, rattle the garbage cans almost every night in summer at just about 2 a.m. The bunny in this shot has been my gardening pal for a few summers now. She comes within two or three feet of me when I'm weeding the veggie patch and I'm convinced that she likes human company. Even when I got up to run inside and get my camera the day I shot this photo, she didn't move an inch and while I was photographing her from about eight feet away (with a 70-300mm lens on my Nikon D90) she sat patiently munching the grass.

You can photograph most backyard animals with a DSLR and a moderate telephoto zoom lens or a zoom camera with a good zoom range (how I'd love to have one of those 20x zoom camera for doing this). I've had squirrels eating out of my hands within just a few days and you could probably photograph one of them with a wide-angle lens they're so close. If the animals are a bit more skittish, try baiting them a bit with their favorite snacks. If you hide some peanuts in an old stump, for example, every squirrel in the neighborhood will get the word; try to shoot them when they're not actually eating and the photos will look more natural. Water (bird baths and garden ponds) are another irresistable urge to most birds and animals; try setting up a birdbath or a small fountain in front of a simple background and you'll have a nice outdoor studio.

If you leave an old tripod next to the birdbath (or a bird feeder) for a few days before you plan to shoot, the birds will get used to it being there and it will help them ignore you. Also, shoot from a lawn chair if you can since the birds will probably ignore you if you're just sitting nearby. Inch the chair closer to the food or water ever few minutes and you'll be able to get within feet of them. You might also want to consider an inexpensive remote control (the one for my D90 is only about $15) and then you can operate the camera from a greater distance--some remotes let you work up to 50' away.

Photographing animals at night is a bit trickier, but in a future posting I'll turn you on to an amazing device that includes both sound and motion sensors to trigger the camera so that you can get almost any animal to take their own picture during the day or at night. And it's not that expensive.

Believe the Wildlife Warning Signs

The past few weeks I've been researching a possible trip to Yellowstone National Park this fall. It's a place I've always wanted to photograph and I need photos for a new book so hopefully this will be the year. While I was researching the trip I came across a page on the park's official site that gave some very serious warnings (including a video of elk attacking cars) about keeping yourself safe from wildlife and vice versa.

I take those kinds of warnings seriously (and so should you) because I've seen wildlife in parks do some very unpredictable things. Last year we revisited the Neil Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa, a wonderful prairie preserve that has a free-roaming heard of bison. There are signs when you're entering the bison area that warn you that these are wild (and big--they weigh in excess of a few thousand pounds) and unpredictable animals. People take the signs for granted though and somehow think the bison know that you're visitors and they'll remain calm in your presence.

Don't count on it. While we were driving (very slowly) up a gravel road, suddenly we saw a heard of 40 or so bison heading right for us and as they got closer, their pace picked up substantially. Within seconds they traversed several hundred yards and were heading right for our car (and the car in front of us--see the photo) and in a few more seconds we were completely surrounded by huge, snorting, excited bison. I have no idea what sent them off on a tear or why they ended up on the gravel road around us, but to unexpectedly be engulfed by dozens of two or three thousand pound wild animals (with horns) is a weird and insecure feeling. I have almost no fear (but lots of respect) of most wild animals, but this was still an unnerving experience--and we were in a car! I remember thinking that our Ford Explorer probably wasn't much of a match for one of these guys running at full speed. To make things even more edgy, there were a number of babies in the herd and parents are much more unpredictable when there are young nearby.

Fortunately the animals remained very calm and ended up just grazing and feeding their young almost within arm's reach. We sat for about a half an hour watching and photographing them at super close range and wondering what was next. Then, on some secret signal from one of the herd elders, they left as quickly as they'd come.

If you're traveling to a wildlife refuge this summer, pay attention to the warning signs, even if other people don't. Your lives and the animals' depend on it.

Shoot Rock Steady with the Groofwin Pod

Yesterday I talked about the benefits of shooting birds and wildlife from inside your car. The only problem with shooting from a car window is keeping a long lens very steady. Yes, you can probably roll up a sweater or use an impromptu beanbag to keep the camera steady, but if you're using a very long lens, 300mm or longer, you need a serious camera support.

The best window tripod that exists is called the Groofwin Pod (ground-roof-window) and it was designed and manufactured by the legendary wildlife shooter Leonard Lee Rue. This uniquely named and odd-looking camera support has multiple uses: it can be used as a low-level tripod for macro or wildlife work by just laying it on the ground, it can be used on the roof of your car, or it can be used as a window pod. These pods are extremely popular among safari shooters in Africa because they can be used on the roof of a Land Rover while the photographer stands up through the sunroof.

When used in a car window, the pod uses a 9" x 1" lip that can either be slipped into the window groove when the window is down, or catch onto the window itself if the window is partially raised. I've been using my Groofwin for several years (usually in a rented Ford Explorer in Florida) and it's a joy to use. There is a sliding bolt (it sits in a slot so that you can adjust the forward/back position of the camera) that accepts a standard ballhead and you can adjust the height of the camera platform. When used with my heavy duty Canon ballhead I've used lenses up to 600mm and they are held rock solid. As I said yesterday, this is one of the best camera accessories I've ever owned.

I go way out of my way to never endorse or appear to endorse any photo products, but I'm always happy to find one that I can just recommend without hesitation. The pod sells for $259 directly from Leonard Rue Enterprises. If you're a wildlife or macro shooter, you will never regret owning this unique camera support. (Photo courtesy of Leonard Rue Enterprises)

Use Your Car as a Blind

Getting close to birds and animals is probably the toughest part of getting good wildlife shots. Most animals see us as predators and so at the first sign of a human being, they're gone.

But most animals, interestingly enough, don't see automobiles as a threat and so you can get much closer to animals if you shoot from inside your car. Fortunatley too, many wildlife sanctuaries have wildlife drives that traverse wildlife areas. The photo here, for example, was shot on the Blackpoint Drive at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Titusville, Florida. Using a 400mm lens (on a Nikon body) I was able to approach within about 20 feet of this egret hunting. More importantly I was able to photograph the bird for more than an hour from the front seat of my car.

The key to using your car as I blind is to find an active area and then shut the car off and settle in while the wildlife comes to you. The longer your car sits and the less movement there is near the windows, the more comfortable the birds or animals will become. I often mount my camera in a rear window and then when I get to likely location, I sit still for a few minutes, then quietly get into the back seat. Shore birds like egrets and herons tend to return over and over to a small feeding area (what might look like a small tidal puddle to you or I) where they can confine their food. If you park next to one of these areas you'll find the birds returning there over and over again.

In tomorrow's entry I'll tell you about the world's best "window pod"--a camera support designed specifically for photographing birds and wildlife from inside your car. It's one of the best photo products I've ever owned.

Visit a Wildlife Sanctuary

One of the greatest challenges in photography is getting a good close-up shot of a bird or animal. Much of the reason that it's so difficult, of course, is that birds and animals are intensely shy and tend to avoid human company (and who can blame them). One way to get closer to wildlife of all types is to visit a local or national wildlife refuge and there are literally thousands of these around the world, from tiny neighborhood sanctuaries to the giant national parks.

While the wildlife in sanctuaries still won't walk up to you and pose for your camera, they feel much safer in a protected area and so act very naturally and also have less fear of humans. Many sanctuaries have walking trails and boardwalks that will bring you closer to the local wildlife and some of the larger ones even have wildlife drives that let you observe animals from the safety (yours and theirs) of your car. I shot the photo of the great egret here at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Titusville, Florida from the very beautiful 10-mile Blackpoint Wildlife Drive. The drive follows a canal and tidal flats where thousands and thousands of birds gather at certain times of year and you can get great photos from inside your car. In fact, shooting from a car is a great way to get close to the birds becuase they don't see a car as a threat. As long as you remain in the car you can get within good shooting range for even moderate telephoto lenses (200-300mm in 35mm equivalents).

Just do a Google search on "wildlife sanctuaries" or "wildlife drives" and the name of your town or the towns you'll be visiting and you'll find lots of good places to shoot. Some states (like Florida and Arizona) have so many preserved areas that it's like choosing from an embarassment of riches. Always pick up a map of the local state parks, too, since most have well-established wildlife viewing areas. And be sure to make a donation at the visitor center or in the trail collection box; like everyone else these sanctuaries are hurting for donations and a few dollars from each visitor really adds up.