Well I can’t really believe it but Photoshop World is just two weeks away! Every year it seems to get here faster then the last year, even with only one event this year it still seemed to come up fast. Last year I had the privilege of speaking for Adobe at the Adobe Booth talking about Adobe Camera Raw how it can be used from the basics all the way to light painting. Well it was one heck of a learning experience and I had a great crowd throughout the event. This year I will be teaching for KelbyOne at the Kelby Theater on the Expo floor Tuesday at 5:00pm. The topic this time will be a little bit of everything so that anyone can go from the crowd to the stage. Well this week and next I’ll be talking about a few different things to help out every photographer.
When I first moved to Montana I was interested in many things but Wildlife Photography was never one of them. It didn’t take long for that bug to bite me. I was out exploring every weekend looking for new subjects and documenting their worlds. Like anything else there was a learning curve and each species had it’s own twist. These Mountain Goats were photographed up by Glacier National Park a number of years ago while they were on a salt lick. When it comes to working with big game there are only two ways to compose, either tight cropping off part of the subject when composing or wide so that you take in more of the environment that the subject lives in. Often times it’s easier to get environmental shots because it you simply can’t get close enough physically to the subject. That’s partly why the stigma of the portrait shot in wildlife photography is so sought after. If the goal however is tell the story of how that animal lives then it’s best to try and achieve both. Now that particular critter may not give you that option but that’s where patience comes into play and man is it important with wildlife.
Of course when you get that portrait shot it does tend to stick out amongst your digital library. Profile views certainly tell a different story then a straight on portrait but there is a reason that those kind of portraits don’t come up as often. It comes down to the biology of where the eyes are physically with each species. Humans have eyes in front of their face so the best angle is straight ahead. Not all species share that characteristic. A lot of the time the best view is to the side. Birds are a great example of this because they are always turning their heads to get a better angle. Instead most mammals rely on sound. Ungulates especially rely on their hearing. Knowing this kind of biology is critical when it comes to photography.