Wildlife - 2nd HM

Gallery: EPA 2011Posted September 28, 20114,279 views42 comments

Walking On Water

A few weeks ago I won the title Nature Photographer Of The Year at the 2011 International Photography Awards with a series of four snow monkey images. Two of those I've posted here before, this is the third one.

I'm particularly pleased with the results, because all my efforts to create a unique look by experimenting with remote controlled off-camera flash actually paid off. Off-camera flash is commonly used in studio, portrait, model, advertising and macro photography, but hardly ever on mammals, and never on snow monkeys.

I will continue with this technique on other species as well - I have recently used it with whooper swans for instance. I'm sure that soon others will start to do this as well, but until then I'm happy to have found a new way to create a unique look for often photographed species - one of the biggest creative challenges for any wildlife photographer.

For this shot my SB-900 flash was positioned off-camera on the left, set to full manual. I used a radio controlled device to trigger the flash. Camera was a D3x, set to manual at a shutterspeed of 1/250, f/5.6, ISO 400. Lens was a AF-S 70-200/2.8 VR II.

Comments

42 comments

Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on September 28, 2011 at 10:30 AM

Hi Marsel, once more congrats on this achievement! Your creativity and experimentation efforts certainly paid off. I love this one, the soft warm light, the mood and of course the eye-level perspective and those gorgeous shiny eyes.

Registered on February 24, 2006, 504 Posts, 7203 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Yeoh on September 28, 2011 at 10:40 AM

Marsel
This is fantastic. I went there last year and these animals are really interesting to shot. Great to see a creative take on this. The light here is very special. Congrat on IPA award

Registered on September 1, 2009, 588 Posts, 8184 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on September 28, 2011 at 12:41 PM

Congrats on the award Marsel, I like this image but I'm not sure about where you cropped the reflection. I think it would have been nice to see the whole reflection or to crop a bit higher.

I'm not sure off camera flash is as rare as you think it is. It's not uncommon in bird photography.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Cindy Garwood on September 28, 2011 at 12:42 PM

Fantastic Image and Congrats on the award. You deserve it.

Registered on April 7, 2011, 46 Posts, 141 Comments

Comment posted by Marsel van Oosten on September 28, 2011 at 12:52 PM

Congrats on the award Marsel, I like this image but I'm not sure about where you cropped the reflection. I think it would have been nice to see the whole reflection or to crop a bit higher.

Thanks Nate. The 'do you show the whole reflection or do you crop it' discussion always comes up when I post an image with a reflection. I have a tendency to crop my reflections, but I'm aware that most people prefer to see all of it. It just one of those things. I wouldn't mind cropping it a bit higher though.

I'm not sure off camera flash is as rare as you think it is. It's not uncommon in bird photography.

I should have added bird photography to the list.

Although in bird photography it is almost always used as a way to freeze motion or fill shadows, while aiming to keep the flash as unnoticeable and the overall look as natural as possible. Using off-camera flash creatively as a dominant, main light source, and especially on mammals, is quite rare though.

Registered on March 9, 2004, 285 Posts, 2277 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on September 28, 2011 at 12:56 PM

You have many top shelf images in your portfolio, Marsel, and to my eye this ranks with your best. The lighting makes for a gorgeous effect. Congrats for the recognition!

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Fabio Giarrizzo on September 28, 2011 at 1:46 PM

Fantastic atmosphere and light effect on this one- Whatever tecnique you used, the result is a splendid, unique image- My best congrats, Fabio

Registered on December 3, 2010, 90 Posts, 1614 Comments

Comment posted by Hussain Nalwala on September 28, 2011 at 2:15 PM

Marsel congrats on this great achievement..... The piture you ahve post is also great.Supurb sharpness on the face...

Registered on April 18, 2011, 298 Posts, 339 Comments

Comment posted by Anand Narayanan on September 28, 2011 at 2:55 PM

Congrats Marsel ! Masterfully done. The lighting is terrific, the evening winter sun would be proud.

My only wish is to see your pics here more ofter

Registered on October 25, 2009, 110 Posts, 835 Comments

Comment posted by Jorne de Bruin on September 28, 2011 at 3:47 PM

A well deserved award Marsel, congratulations!! I like your out of the box thinking here, the flash works very well and creates a lovely mood! I can see it both ways here with the reflection, the image works great as is, but a complete relfection could work as well, anyway, a superb image!

Registered on June 26, 2008, 178 Posts, 2136 Comments

Comment posted by Guy Runco on September 28, 2011 at 11:59 PM

Nice shot Marsel - congrats on the award.

Registered on September 9, 2008, 77 Posts, 705 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on September 29, 2011 at 1:56 AM

Absolutely gorgeous Marsel, the lighting effect is brilliant. Congratulations on another richly deserved award and thank you for sharing your wonderful images!

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by James Campbell on September 29, 2011 at 2:19 AM

Love this, along with the rest of the snow monkey series

you are so right about the challenge of finding new and interesting techniques in wildlife photography. It's relatively easy to follow paths already taken - and is a good way to learn the techniques already out there - but doing things differently, well thats another story all together. In terms of mammal photography, the use of flash in this way is definately something unique and I applaud your creativity

Stunning...

Registered on January 12, 2009, 48 Posts, 377 Comments

Comment posted by Jagdeep Rajput on September 29, 2011 at 8:11 AM

Congrats Marsel ! Great technique and stunning effect !!!
I like the way rising steam softened the effect of flash and it looks very natural .
Jagdeep Rajput

Registered on April 29, 2008, 686 Posts, 2857 Comments

Comment posted by Oscar Dewhurst on September 29, 2011 at 4:11 PM

Congratulations Marsel!

This shot is fantastic - the light is just stunning, and the low POV is great

Oscar

Registered on August 6, 2009, 85 Posts, 502 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on September 29, 2011 at 10:21 PM

Congratulations for your ingenuity and creativity - another stunning image in the series. Thanks for sharing the idea too, I bet many of us will be thinking more outside the box after seeing what imagination can do.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Jude Haase on September 29, 2011 at 11:58 PM

WOW!! Outstanding lighting and composition as always!!!!

Registered on April 3, 2006, 236 Posts, 1657 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on September 30, 2011 at 3:51 PM

Outstanding image and mood to this, very creative approach to try something different. Congratulations on the the award, way to go.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on September 30, 2011 at 7:08 PM

Congrats on your award. With images like this it is well deserved. The lighting and pose are spectacular. I really like how the flash brings out the monkey but leaves the surrounding fog unlit. It really creates a primordial feeling.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Walters on October 1, 2011 at 10:01 PM

Love the light and mist. Very unique image. Congratulations on the award.

Registered on October 30, 2005, 405 Posts, 3693 Comments

Comment posted by Ajit Huilgol on October 2, 2011 at 10:49 PM

Genius! Sheer genius!

Registered on December 19, 2008, 302 Posts, 2055 Comments

Comment posted by Soubhik Patranabis on October 3, 2011 at 2:41 PM

Amazing !

Registered on January 25, 2010, 54 Posts, 610 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Roberts on October 3, 2011 at 3:49 PM

Simply an extraordinary image. The lighting makes it unique indeed. Nicely done.

Registered on March 9, 2011, 69 Posts, 501 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on October 5, 2011 at 4:13 PM

Wonderful image. Your creativity and persistence have clearly paid off. Congrats on your award. Fantastic series of images.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on October 5, 2011 at 5:23 PM

Sweet shot!!!! I love the light on it's face, as well as the expression.

Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments

Comment posted by Neil Rossmiller on October 5, 2011 at 5:31 PM

Exquisite, Marsel
I wouldn't be surprised to see this as next months cover shot.

Neil

Registered on October 30, 2009, 156 Posts, 749 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on October 5, 2011 at 9:34 PM

Love your snow monkeys - the mist and light here is wonderful.
Congrats on the EP!
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on October 6, 2011 at 12:10 AM

Congratulations Marsel, well deserved EP!

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by Craig Strand on October 6, 2011 at 12:42 AM

I add my congrats to this exceptional series and also for the EP! Thanks for the explanation and flash use and your technique.

Registered on March 30, 2008, 416 Posts, 2885 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Evans on October 6, 2011 at 3:39 AM

Congratulations on the well deserved award, this is an amazing photograph. As a newbie here I can only imagine the skill and expertise that went into this. What I am certain of though is it's superb. Simon

Registered on October 1, 2011, 11 Posts, 23 Comments

Comment posted by John Williams on October 6, 2011 at 11:32 PM

Another superb shot, congrats (and a huge congrats on the IPA award!!!)!

Registered on September 6, 2007, 221 Posts, 5985 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on October 7, 2011 at 12:46 AM

Congrats Marsel

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on October 7, 2011 at 7:43 PM

WOW! That's amazing! I really like his head turn and the light on him. Awesome job with the flash! The mist looks great. Congrats on Nature Photographer Of The Year!

Registered on February 8, 2011, 254 Posts, 1302 Comments

Comment posted by Ray Whitt on October 8, 2011 at 8:07 PM

The light is so beautiful, outstanding image. Congratulations!

Ray

Registered on May 27, 2011, 92 Posts, 2619 Comments

Comment posted by Roman Kurywczak on October 12, 2011 at 9:01 PM

Sweeeeet!!! Love the use of the flash and glad the vision paid off in a WP! Outstanding!!!

Registered on November 20, 2009, 56 Posts, 748 Comments

Comment posted by Neal Cooper on October 18, 2011 at 2:01 AM

Congrats Marcel. An image deserving of all the deserved accolades. Beautiful.

Registered on June 3, 2009, 144 Posts, 306 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on January 3, 2012 at 12:53 AM

Congrats on the 2011 win - gorgeous image!
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on January 3, 2012 at 8:29 PM

Marcel I absolutely love this image. Congratulations on the award

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on January 3, 2012 at 10:17 PM

Beautiful image well done. Well deserved EPA.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments

Comment posted by Garry Revesz on January 4, 2012 at 12:07 PM

Hi Marsel, wonderful, wonderful image. Ironically, I have just started toying with some new approaches to wildlife photography because it is challenging to get something different, and you sure nailed this one. Congrats!

Garry Revesz
Toronto, Canada

Registered on April 29, 2010, 0 Posts, 4 Comments

Comment posted by Mohammad Hosseini on January 5, 2012 at 8:35 AM

Congrats Marsel,

Registered on May 16, 2011, 15 Posts, 301 Comments

Comment posted by Roger Leekam on January 8, 2012 at 9:00 AM

The light and mist combine to produce an atmosphere which is both warm and mysterious. As you say, a unique Nature shot!

Registered on May 28, 2009, 83 Posts, 646 Comments