Trust your Histogram

If you've been around decent caliber wildlife photographers for any length of time, you will no doubt have heard one of them admonish someone else to always watch their histogram. It's the final litmus test for ensuring our images come out as we intend in-the-field, right?

Yes.

The important thing to remember is that you need to look at the HISTOGRAM specifically.
The actual graph plotted for the data contained in your actual image.

DON'T trust the version of the image you see on the LCD screen, though.
The back-of-camera LCD is far from a calibrated monitor on which to decide whether the colour or even apparent exposure of the image looks correct.

It's easy to fall back on pure image review and forget to rely on data interpretation. Yes, of course the content of the image is important if you are reviewing or double-checking your composition - what I am referring to is exposure checking, especially in tricky and challenging lighting conditions.

Consider this image - RAW, straight conversion, no processing applied.

If, at first glance, you thought that I had way underexposed this photo, you were correct.
Yet, I had done it on purpose!

The setting was a glorious misty sunrise on the last morning of the +Wild Eye Mana Pools photo safari I hosted in July (read the TRIP REPORT). When the sun rose behind the trees as a muted fiery ball, I knew that I wanted a photo with everything decently exposed (even the sun). So I purposely underexposed enough to protect the highlights and shadows from excessive clipping, knowing from experience what I would be able to pull back and rescue in processing. I shoot Nikon, and the specific settings might not correlate with how you would need to expose with other cameras, but I used these settings:

Nikon D800 with Nikkor 300mm f2.8 VR-II Aperture: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/1000
ISO: 250
Exposure bias: -2/3

In this case, I specifically remember that I couldn't really see jack squat on my LCD in terms of composition or image content, the photo was simply too dark. I needed to trust my framing in the viewfinder and also my exposure based on histogram.

The resultant histogram:

Again you might think this is creeping up too much on the shadows and highlights ends of the histogram - and yet I posit to you that this is where knowing your gear comes in and knowing how much you can recover from certain tonal areas that may seem blown out at first.

A couple of delicate processing steps later:

In processing these photos I always try and go for a look & feel that would seem natural - if you were standing there looking into a hazy sunrise you would see detail, soft light and the scene would be oozing with mood. The original frame doesn't have that at face value, and we need to tease that out of the photo in processing. Remember that the human eye can process an equivalent of about 32 f-stops in one view, so a camera can never just capture the precise way in which we perceive a moody, high dynamic range scene like this.

It's easy to overcook this as well and make it look garishly unrealistic! 

The histogram now:

The brightest spots of the sun can be blown out - it's the sun after all.
The darkest shadows are not preventing me from enjoying the image for what is ought to be - a moody dawn in the forest.

The lesson?
Know your gear well enough to shoot on instinct. 
Know well enough what you want to capture to shoot on instinct.
If necessary, read the histogram and interpret what you need to change to bring you as close as possible to a USABLE image.

I hope this post has been of help to you.

Morkel Erasmus

Dawn of the Striped Ones

It's early on a summer morning in Namibia's +Etosha National Park.
The first summer rains have just started to fall - so everything looks and smells fresh.
There's still a lot of cloud cover overhead from last night's deluge...but there's a gap for the sun to rise into on the Eastern horizon.

As I drive out of the gate of the Okaukuejo camp with my wife and kids in the back of the SUV (kids still dozing), I head East towards the nearest waterhole, which is called Nebrownii. 

As the sun starts peeping over the horizon and through the break in the clouds, I find my first willing subjects - a small group of Plains Zebra.

Stop the car.
Fiddle to grab the nearest camera. Lens too long (500mm).
Switch to the other camera - this one has a better focal length (70-200mm).
Start snapping.
Check exposure.
Make adjustments.
Snap again.
Check exposure.
More adjustments.

Framing a rising sun and plenty of sky with wildlife at the bottom makes for a tricky exposure. This is where using your exposure lock function helps, as well as back-button focus to be able to focus and reframe.

Finally satisfied with my exposure on the D800 and 70-200mm combo, I contemplate swopping the 500mm on the D3s for a shorter lens, but realise the sun will rise behind the clouds in a few moments. So I grab my instamatic wide angle that is always with me (that would be the Apple iPhone 5, folks), switch on the HDR function, and snap a few images that way.

Here's the DSLR photo...

Nikon D800  |  Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VR-II @ 70mm  |  f4.0  |  1/250 SS  |  ISO-800

And here is the photo taken with my iPhone...

Which do you prefer?

Sure, the iPhone version doesn't have the same high resolution quality, and it came out a bit over-the-top when it comes to the HDR effect, but it does make it look quite surreal. The perspective is definitely better for me at this wider focal length. Perhaps I should have switched lenses right away when I got there...but I will have to take that lesson into my next safari.

What's the old adage? The best camera is the one you have with you...

Morkel Erasmus

Thirst of a Kudu

The sound of a francolin's call fills the air - air which is crisp with chill, fresh as only a new day in a remote piece of African bush can be. The sky is painted the hue of a delicate rose. It's dawn, that magical time of day when the bush comes alive, when everything is on alert, when the crimson sun is not yet beating down relentlessly on the dusty earth...

A herd of graceful and beautiful Greater Kudu approach the waterhole. Gregarious, as they ever are, big radar ears scanning around for the slightest hint of danger. There are young ones in this herd, and there's no bull present, so the ladies must be vigilant indeed!

I sit motionless, my head, shoulders (and my camera of course) sticking out of a manhole made in the top of an underground concrete research bunker at this specific waterhole. I have been sitting here for a while so the Kudus have no idea I am here - unless I chase them away by moving suddenly. As they approach the water, I gently move my camera and lens in their direction by shifting its orientation on the beanbag I am using for support. The light is very low, so I need to have very steady hands. I switch on my lens' Vibration Reduction (VR) for extra stability, and I switch my camera to the quiet shutter mode, so I can be as non-intrusive as possible .

The herd eventually relaxes enough to start drinking their fill...but the vigilance never leaves them. Ears alert, heads popping up every time my shutter trips, females looking around for danger the whole time. But danger is far away on this morning...they have a good long drink, and eventually saunter off back into the bush in search of food. I relax, and take a deep breath as the sun peeks over the horizon. 

Nikon D3s  |  Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II  |  f5.6  |  1/320 SS  |  ISO-2500

Moments like this is what it's all about...for so many it's just chasing those iconic species like lions, leopards, elephants...and yes of course I enjoy seeing and photographing them...but it's about so much more. Wildlife photography is about appreciating the diversity of Creation, the immense balance and beauty that exists in nature. It's an immersive experience, and one you need to be present for when you are in the field. 

Nikon D3s  |  Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II  |  f4.0  |  1/320 SS  |  ISO-1000

As usual, the photos will display at best resolution and sharpness against a dark background if you merely click on them and cycle through with your arrow keys.

Thanks for having a read of my blog! I hope you have a stunning day.

Morkel Erasmus

Forest Zebras

We usually associate Zebra (specifically, the species Plains/Burchell's Zebra) with the rolling plains of the savanna, and not with forests. However, there is one place where you can see them in a forest...and that's in Mana Pools National Park in Zimbabwe.

There are many things which could have been better in this photo. That darn middle zebra with its head down is my main bugbear, and the elements of the scene could have been better arranged. What I do love, is how this transports me to being out on the Mana floodplains at first light...and there's few things that beat that!! Can you spot the hippo in the background??

I captured this photo on foot. It was also my first time using the new and improved Nikkor 80-400mm VR-II lens (and I was duly impressed).

Techs:
Nikon D3s
Nikkor 80-400mm VR-II
f5.6  |  1/200 SS  |  ISO-900

click on the photo to display at proper resolution and sharpness

I will be heading to the Chobe river on Wednesday, leading my first Wild Eye photographic safari of the year. See you on the other side!

Dawn of the Springboks

Most nature photographers travelling to Africa will tell you that the golden light on our continent just seems richer and sweeter than anywhere else. Let me tell you something else - of all the places in Africa I've visited, there are one or two that stand out above all the others when it comes to the glorious quality of light that it produces. One is definitely the Kalahari. On a cloudless morning the quality of light during the "golden hour" is something that makes me giddy.

This photo was taken early one morning driving south from Mata Mata rest camp in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (South Africa). As I came past the Sitzas waterhole there was a herd of Springbok that were being lit up as if they were angelic. I had to stop and create an image. Dialing in a negative exposure compensation (bias) allowed me to enhance the mood even more.

Techs:

Nikon D7000

Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VR-II

f5.6  |  1/400 SS  |  ISO-100

Exposure Bias -0.7

click on the photo to display properly

Have a great day!

Morkel Erasmus

Pastel Lion

This young male lion was photographed from an underground bunker hide in the Etosha National Park, Namibia. I got up at the crack of dawn to see two young males approaching the waterhole. I grabbed my cameras and ran to the bunker. What followed was a beautiful sighting in beautiful light! At this point, a few minutes later, one of the young males walked right up to the opening where I was shooting from. 

I was able to capture this frame using a 140mm focal length, and it's pretty much uncropped. In order to get those lovely colours in the sky on the horizon, I needed to blend back a darker exposure of the same RAW file using luminosity masks. I hope you like it!

Techs:

Nikon D800

Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VR-II @ 140mm

f4.0 | 1/200 SS | ISO-560

Do click on the photo to view it properly.

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Mountain Stream

Here's a peaceful image to take you into the weekend...

Captured one morning back in 2010 in the Giant's Castle region of the Drakensberg mountains of South Africa.

Have a great weekend, friends!

Morkel Erasmus