I’m sure the first thought is, “Ahhhh so cute!” Well that was mine too, except there was one thing bugging me. It’s a Hare, they like grass but grass is boring, especially if it looks like a lawn. Well although this is not a lawn that’s what it reminds me of. Since this is a wild creature it needs to be in it’s natural habitat and it needs to look like that in the final image. Well how do you convey that?
Well here are too examples. The one up top is taken with a 600 f/4, TC-17e on a Gitzo Tripod. I was about 20 feet away shooting down at the critter. That already says a lot. It’s a small critter, maybe the size of a cantaloupe. What’s worse is it’s a dark object on a bright background, green reflects light pretty darn well. With critters you can’t alawys be picky about where you’re subject is. In fact there really isn’t any control in the matter. But by changing your relative position to the critter you can change the foreground and background.
In the bottom image, I did just that. Instead of looking down at the Snowshow Hare, I got level with it. I lowered the tripod legs so that none were extended and was literally kneeling on the grass looking over a slight ridge as they did there thing. By doing this not only did i put something between the two of us but I changed how much information was being picked up. The foreground just blew out because it was too close, and the background was too far away from the subject to have any information. It’s a really simple trick that can make a huge difference in how you present the critters story. It’s still a Spring Hare, it’s still in it’s natural environment and he’s still comfortable. Job’s Done.
In the Camera Bag:
Nikon D3, 600 f/4, TC-17e, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film