Making Better Photographs

In wildlife photography, we often only get a small window of opportunity in which to take photographs (bird flies past, dolphin jumps out of the water, etc).  Sometimes though, we have the chance to spend more time with a subject, which gives us the ability to make the most of the scene by trying out different compositions and techniques.

JuvRBG_DSF6687-Edit6x4WEBThis image of a juvenile Red-Billed Gull is what inspired me to write this post. I like this photograph, and I wanted to share the process I went through in making it. I noticed it preening on the upturned boat as I was walking along Pilot Bay at Mt Maunganui. Something I’ve been pushing myself to try more often is shooting wider and closer to my subjects – and as I only had the Fuji X100 with it’s fixed 23mm lens on hand, this was a great opportunity. Gulls are relatively tame (because they expect you to feed them), so I was confident that this one would stay put if I approached. I ended up spending around 15-20 minutes trying different things until I was happy with the images I had made – my knees were not so happy after spending this time on the gravelly ground!

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This is the first photograph I took of that scene – it’s nothing special. Most of the elements of the final photograph are already there, but they don’t work together and the image is flat.
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Next attempt – getting closer so that the gull is more dominant in the frame. A better image, but not by much. I wanted to include another element of the gulls in the mid-ground, but the lack of action makes this dull instead of adding to the image.
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Getting down to the level of the gull and underexposing for the sky – two elements that will be important in the final image, but here are largely unsuccessful – the gull is lost against the sky, and the angle on the boat isn’t great.
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Getting closer, and a better angle on the boat. A wider aperture blurs the background slightly to make it less distracting. However, this image is all neutral, and nothing pops out and grabs your attention.
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A little bit of flash – we might be on to something here. If we push the flash and underexpose more, the sky will be moody, and the gull will stand out more.
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Getting somewhere! I like this image, but I wanted to push the blue tones in the sky, and I also wanted some action from the main subject. The flying gull in the background gives a point of interest other than the main subject, without disappearing into the background or being distracting.
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And here we are – the final image with crying Gull, flying Gull, and moody clouds. I darkened down the white patch on the boat in post-processing so it wasn’t quite so distracting.

I would have preferred a better positioning of the flying gull, but that opportunity didn’t present itself. So there you go – a walkthrough of how I worked through a scene to make better photographs. Try everything – one thing will lead to another and you’ll be able to decide what’s working and what isn’t. In total I took 46 different photographs of this particular scene, and came away with one that I liked, and one that I really liked, and felt was successful.

The key to making better photographs? Shoot a lot of images, and try different compositions and techniques until you find something that works well.

Edin

Seabird scientist and conservation photographer working in Aotearoa New Zealand.

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