Simple; Simply Soaked!

Simple. And Simply Soaked!

Back from Haida Gwaii...and there definitely seems to be TOO few bear images in here right now...so...

I often have a debate with myself over whether I should go to new regions and pursue new subject matter or return to the same locations and subjects and challenge myself to find a new way to portray the "same old" subject matter (tho' I have a real hard time thinking of photographing grizzlies in the Khutzeymateen as shooting the "same old" subjects!). When I ventured into the Khutzeymateen in the spring of 2011 I went in thinking "use negative space more" and "shoot more verticals" (and...yes...some cover shots for some specific publications WAS driving this thinking). My goal was to shoot verticals with a strong use of negative space that could stand alone AND work well with copy (text) overlaid on the image. It was a tough balance to strike, but definitely an interesting challenge!

Overlaying this goal of capturing "vertical negative space" images was my own preference for simple images with a minimal number of elements. And, of course, my predilection for moody images shot in anything but bright direct sunlight is hardly a secret! Of all the images I shot in the Khutzeymateen in spring 2011 (about 6,000 shots over 9 days) this one likely fits my "vertical, negative space, good for a cover or alone, simple, and moody" checklist the best (tho' I do have a few others that would challenge it). Interestingly, to me the image also pretty accurately matches the image I conjure up in my mind's eye when I think Khutzeymateen.

This image nicely illustrates a technical point about portraying rain in an image (and the rain is best seen in the larger image). I find that making rain drops show in an image is mostly a function of image processing, not image capture. This image was shot at a moderate shutter speed (1/250s) - which was driven largely by the need to have a speed high enough for me to hand-hold a pretty chunky lens (a 400mm f2.8 telephoto). I could have used anywhere from about 1/60s to up to about 1/400s and still had sufficient "streaking" in the drops to make them appear as rain. But, until I took two specific steps during image processing the rain drops were pretty much invisible (especially at the smallish sizes the images are shown here). The "tricks"? First, I locally enhanced the contrast in the background to slightly lighten the whitish rain and slightly darken the background forest. Second, I selectively ran a heavy but low pixel-radius sharpening (300% at 0.1 pixels in Photoshop CS5) on the background to help the drops stand out just a little more. A subtle thing, but an important thing...

Subject: Soaking wet female Grizzly (Urus arctos looking a little forlorn
Location: Khutzeymateen Inlet - Great Bear Rainforest, BC, Canada
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: Nikkor 400 mm f/2.8 VRII lens - handheld from floating Zodiac
Exposure: 1/250s at f4.5. ISO 280. No compensation from matrix metered exposure.
Crop: Very minor - this is about 90% of full-frame image

All the gory details about this shot (processing details, conservation, etc.)

http://www.naturalart.ca/galleries/latest/detail_2.html.

Comments and critiques welcomed - probably best to view the larger version prior to doing so!

Cheers...thanks for looking...

Brad

PS: My images from Haida Gwaii will be appearing in other galleries as I did only limited wildlife shooting on the trip this year.