WOW! Eye Opening Numbers For Wildlife Photography!

Good Morning Everybody,

Last evening we had a fun Zoom meeting with our first Safari group.  Don Dickson, who runs the "Internationally" famous Texas School [link] put the whole thing together for us.  It was a "hoot" reminiscing about the great times we all had on that trip.

Yep, we do get kind of close to the animals, lion included.  That's probably the biggest surprise for first-time safari adventurers. Thanks to Kevin Dooley of Idube Photo Safaris [link] for sending this photo over to me this morning. That's me next to the driver with LaDawn behind him. We are really only a few feet away from the lions - safaris are definitely an adventure!

We joined the Dicksons on their Safari and then were to follow up with two more of our own when the bottom dropped out of our travels. No problem though, we already have them rescheduled for about the same time next year.  I put the links at the end of this post.

Anyway, I hope you all got a chance to view the YouTube video I put up just a few days ago.  It really shows what an exciting trip it was. If you missed it, here is the [link] to the video one more time - Enjoy!  Now on with the show....
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WOW!  Eye Opening Numbers For Wildlife Photography!

Last Thursday I did a post entitled "Camera Settings for Wildlife Photography - Mostly Manual Mode and Why" [link] which really got down to the "nitty-gritty" of my wildlife shooting strategy.  Today I want to ramp up that post with some surprising statistics about the Shutter Speeds, Apertures, and ISOs I used most often.  These numbers are based on the EXIF data of 20,179 wildlife images I made two years ago during our safaris back then.

Shutter Speed

Take a look at the table to the right.  I think you will be surprised by the numbers here. As you can see, my exposures ranged from 1/50 second and lower up to 1/8000 second.  OK, how did I come up with this data?  It was easy once I really got the "hang" of some of Lightroom's EXIF data reporting features. I asked Lightroom to just report all exposure data from my Canon 5D Mk3 and my Canon 7D Mk2 and presto, the Shutter Speed info appeared!

OK, back to the numbers. Take a closer look at the chart to the right. Notice that 67% - that's 67% - of my shutter speeds were 1/1600, 1/2000, or 1/2500 second! A quick point of clarification... NOT all those exposures were made on Manual mode. A large number of them were made on Shutter Priority mode as well.  I'll cover that shooting strategy in an upcoming post next week. Needless to say, two-thirds of my photos were made at very high speeds for all the reasons stated in my post referenced above.

Keep in mind that safari shooting conditions vary widely.  Birds are flying, animals are moving, and the safari vehicle is bouncing, sometimes like crazy.  All these factors require faster shutter speeds to freeze the action.

Aperture

Now let's move on to Apertures. I used the same Lightroom reporting technique to determine my most used range of shooting apertures. Once again, check the table to the right.

In most cases, I was shooting wide open with my telephoto lenses. When shooting the Canon 5D Mk3 I mounted my Sigma 150-600mm lens with its maximum aperture of F6.3.

When shooting my Canon 7D Mk2 fitted with its 100-400mm lens (my all-time favorite wildlife shooting combo), again maximum aperture F6.3. You can see from the data that nearly 1/2 of all my exposers were at the maximum apertures of both the lenses.

If the light was bright, like at mid-day, I would stop down 1/2 to one full stop just to pick up a little more depth of field.  I found that mostly helped with my bird photography.

Still, you may be questioning my use of both lenses maximum apertures for so many of my photos.  The answer is quite simple - both of these lenses are super sharp lenses.  I never felt I was compromising the image in any way when shooting wide open.

ISO

Now on to ISOs ...  As I mentioned in my early post (referenced above), I do like to "float the ISO in these kinds of shooting conditions. I don't want the ISO to go to high, but I do want it fast enough to allow me to use the necessary shutter speeds I need for my wildlife photography. Now take a look at the ISO chart to the right. OK, OK, I did let the ISO float a little on some occasions - I'll get to that in a minute. But DO notice that 56% on my images were in the ISO 1600 - 6400 range.

The reason for the higher ISOs is accounted for by our early morning and our late afternoon/early evening shooting.  But, let's re-analyze the data differently. If you total the ISOs from ISO 400 to ISO 2000, the total number of exposures accounts for over 44% of my images.  That means that most of my images were made at very manageable ISOs.

With the use of software like Lightroom, I can easily manage the slightly higher ISOs.  Heck, back in my "wedding days"  I would routinely shoot all my reception images at ISO 3200.

Still, I think the analysis of this data is really fascinating to see.  It really shows what the Apertures, ISOs, and Shutter Speeds need to be to get the optimum photograph with the gear I was using. Had I been using a 300mm/F2.8 lens, my data would have been different, obviously.  But I was using gear that worked great for these wildlife shooting situations.  The gear is reasonably priced and gave me a great result for our Safari experiences.

Take a look at the photo having "lunch" to the right. Notice the camera specs: Canon 7D Mk2 fitted with 100-400mm Sigma lens: 1/2000 second @ F5.6 zoomed to 123mm at ISO 2500. Anything less than the higher shutter speed and high ISO and I would have missed the photo.

I hope everyone enjoyed the discussion today and I certainly hope it will at least give you some starting points in any upcoming African adventures you may have in your future.

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Hey Gang,

That's it for me today.  I can't believe it's Friday already. Have a great weekend and I'll hope to see you next week for a few more ideas and discussions.

Cheers for now, David


Oh, BTW, Here are the links to our rescheduled Safaris for next year.

South Africa at Thakadu: March 30 - April 9, 2021 [link]

Botswana, Africa at Mashatu: April 9 - 19, 2021 [link]

We are sorry we couldn't continue on Safari this year but both LaDawn and I are really looking forward to next year - hope to see you there!  David and LaDawn

"From Here To Eternity”

"From Here To Eternity”
©David A. Ziser

LaDawn and I headed down to Nashville, Tennessee on Monday and had great fun photographing the Great American Eclipse.  You can read the entire story below. The experience was not without it’s pitfalls and dramas but in the very brief 71 seconds of “Totality”  I managed to pull off a few good images.

In the photograph above, I tweaked the original image in Lightroom CC to bring out the sun’s corona more predominantly. Even with the high ISO I was using Lightroom saved the day with it’s marvelous noise reduction capabilities. Lot’s more images below.

Camera specs: Canon 7D Mark II fitted with Sigma 150-600mm lens and Sigma’s 1.4X tele-extender giving me at an effective focal length of 1366mm, F14 @1/250 second, ISO 3200.  Enjoy!  -David

It’s Eclipse Time! Photographing The Great American Eclipse.

Good Morning Everybody,

I’m pretty darn excited about my post today. The topic is completely different from anything I've blogged about before.  Why, because today I'm blogging about a once in a lifetime event.  That's right, today I'm writing about the Great American Eclipse!

What happens if you take this…

and place it in front of this…

You get this… the Great American Eclipse!

First, The Back Story

About 6 weeks ago news about the first Solar eclipse to cross the US in years was really starting to intrigue me. On August 21, 2017 the epicenter of the eclipse was going to be pass over Hopkinsville, KY, just about 3 1/2 hours down the road from us. Nashville was only about an hour more and it seemed that it offered a lot more to experience so we decided that we would head to Nashville, TN to check out the eclipse.

Now the challenges of photographing the eclipse began to appear. Hotels throughout the eclipse's path were all but sold out but we did manage to secure a suite at Embassy Suites  very close to downtown Nashville - a very nice property BTW.

Next, where should we view the eclipse? A check with the Nashville website gave many suggestions - we opted for the beautiful Cheekwood Estate and Gardens, the old Maxwell Coffee estate and now a beautiful arboretum and museum, about 8 miles outside the city.

And finally what gear should I use to capture the best images. I had just picked up Sigma's new 150-600mm Contemporary lens which I just previously blogged about here on my blog [link]. With my 1.4x tele-extender and the 1.6 magnification factor of the lens and tell-extender on my Canon 7D Mark 2 I would have an effective maximum focal length of over 1350 mm - practically a small telescope - and that should do the trick. Check out my hands-on review of this lens right here [link].

Those of you who have read this blog regularly know I'm not a big fan of tripods in most cases but in this case it was absolutely a necessity. I dug out my old Gitzo tripod of years past, prepped it for the shoot, and re-familiarize myself with using a tripod.  I know that sounds crazy for a professional photographer to say but after about an hour of trial and error I thought I had developed a satisfactory eclipse routine with my tripod.

We had our approved eyeglasses but oh no… what was I forgetting? The eclipse filter so I could actually photograph the sun. Heck, I didn't want to take a chance on going blind during this adventure. After a little research I ordered and 8x8 filter from Thousand Oaks Optical and a 95mm UV filter. I simply cut the Mylar to fit my UV glass filter and secured, with a few drops of glue, one to the other and I was good-to-go.

Thousand Oaks Optical also sells a 95mm solar filter for about $80 but they were out of stock by the time I got around to ordering one - it would have been a better choice. OK! I think that's good for the back story - let's head to Nashville for the Great American Eclipse!

Heading Down the Road

We were up and packing about 4:45 a.m. Monday mourning - we had commitments all day Sunday which prevented us from leaving the day before.  Besides, we were hoping our later departure would help us avoid the dreaded traffic jams predicted by all the news stations.

Well, as they say the best laid plans....  Just 15 minutes into our trip Google Maps alerts us of a major traffic jam just north of Louisville, KY and directs us down to Lexington, KY and then west to the I-65 corridor adding about 25 minutes to our drive time.  No problem, it was still a beautiful drive through the horse farms in central Kentucky.

We were nearly to the on ramp for I-65 when Google Maps alerted us of a 22 minute delay just to progress onto the road - more darn construction - the upside - as we crawled along we passed a awe inspiring field of sunflowers. Our very slow progress allowed LaDawn time to retrieve one of our favorite vacation cameras, the Canon SX-60, and began firing away.  She managed a very nice collection of sunflower images in our 15 minute drive by.

Shorty after that delay we were finally southbound and down…. 10-4 Good Buddy - we were on our way albeit about 55 minutes behind schedule. We would still arrive about an hour before the start of the eclipse so no problem.

Pulling Into Nashville - It's Almost Eclipse Time!

About three hours later we're pulling into Nashville. It's almost eclipse time and we are fired up.  You could tell this was an "eclipse town" by the messaging on the signs over the expressway - "No Parking during eclipse". 

I have to say, I've never seen anything like that before! We followed Google Maps directions to Cheekwood Estate and Gardens and were soon slowed again by the fellow "eclipse watchers" heading to the arboretum   But in a short time we arrived, parked our car and made our way to Reception to pick up our tickets.  The place was a buzz with fellow eclipse enthusiasts of all sizes, shapes, and ages.

It's Eclipse Time!

We walked the short distance to what looked to be a good viewing area and I began to set up tripods, cameras, long lenses, and filters. Another gentleman  was already set up with a nice looking setup.  We introduced ourselves to each other and I quickly struck up a conversation.  It turns out that he was a professor of Physics at NC State.  And boy, was he helpful - he had recently attended a local astronomy club meeting and picked up a "ton" of info on how to photograph the eclipse from beginning to end.  His info was invaluable and sure added to the success of our shoot.

Michael and I kept checking our time - the eclipse was due to begin in just a few short minutes.  Everyone was excited!  The moon was to touch the sun at 11:58 a.m. I was looking through my viewfinder and in just seconds I was witnessing the beginning of the Great American Eclipse – Wow! It was cool!  LaDawn was using our little Canon SX-60 camera fitted with its own eclipse filter.  Both of our camera setups gave both of us effective focal lengths of over 1300mm – plenty to witness the eclipse.

We were ready and the crowd of our fellow eclipse watchers were ready too.

But alarmingly clouds began to float in over the sun – horrors of horrors – were we going to miss the eclipse!!!??? The clouds kept coming and were getting thicker – we were all a bit panicked but could do nothing about it except hope and pray that they would surely pass. We did have time on our side.  The full eclipse was not scheduled to happen until 1:27 p.m. – we had plenty of time for the clouds to clear and the clouds were relatively scattered in the sky above. Check out the two photos below – YIKES!!!

As luck would have it the clouds did clear and I got some great images as the moon made its way across the disk of the sun. Check out the next image below I was seeing something nobody else saw if there were wearing their eclipse glasses – Sunspots – three of them right in a row just next to the moon’s disc. Way Cool! Check out the next two images. You can really see them clearly.

The image below is a quick HDR I made in-camera on my Canon 7D Mark 2. I think it looks kind of cool with the halo around the sun.

As the eclipse progressed I continued to shoot. The eclipse went from looking like Ms. Packman to a banana and beyond – it really was amazing to watch the progression. You could feel the temperature drop significantly too.

We were getting close now.  With just a few minutes from totality…. and then – I couldn’t believe it, nobody could!  We were just seconds from totality and then it happened - we ran out of luck again!!! Those friggin’ clouds rolled back in just as we were about to hit totality.  Was the Great American Eclipse over for us? Were we all going to miss our-once-in-a-lifetime event? It sure was looking that way. Check out the next two photos and you can easily understand our panic and disappointment.

I kept shooting anyway, shooting through the clouds hoping all the time that the clouds would somehow pass quickly and we could still at least capture a few seconds of the total eclipse. In this next photo, even through the clouds you can make out the beginning of the Baily Beads effect, those sparkling little specks at about 7 o,clock on the disk, morphing from the Diamond ring effect. Darn, if those clouds would just disappear!!!

Luck of all luck – the clouds finally dissipated just a few seconds later just as the moon totally covered the sun and hit eclipse totality.  A loud cheer went up from the 2500 eclipse watchers – the it was – our first total solar eclipse – amazing!!! The image below clearly shows the Baily Beads twinkling near the bottom of the disk.

We were almost there – the Baily Beads were going to disappear in only seconds…

And then it  happened – a total eclipse of the sun – WOW!!! The picture below shows the full eclipse with Lightroom tweaks to bring out the sun’s corona.  Sure looks like a National Geographic photo to me ;~)

But wait a second, what else was I seeing?  What were those specs at about 3 o,clock and 5 o,clock on the eclipse disk?  They look like eruptions of some kind.  They were – they were solar prominences!!!  Check out the next image – you will see them quite clearly in the cropped image.  I’ve only seen this type of phenomena in magazines or on PBS Nova series.  To see them in person was quite a treat! They can shoot out from the sun’s surface up to 500,000 miles!

During those few moment of totality the world around you is eerily different – something special was happening and you probably would never experience it again in your life.  You felt as if you were communing with the universe!

The moon continued it path across the sun and soon we could see the Baily Beads and Diamond Ring effect clearly this time without the clouds distracting from the scene. The image below is just 32 seconds past the image above.

The moon continued its journey across the disk of the sun for another 90 minutes and I continued to shoot to the end still trying to soak up and appreciate what just happened.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow! It was over! It sure was exciting! You just couldn’t help but to keep thinking back on what you experienced first hand and what just happened.  The crowds started to disperse. A few folks walking past noticed my camera setup and stopped by and asked if I got any good photos.  I showed the back of my camera – then they began asking if they could buy my eclipse photos – they would pay any price some told me! 

I was amazed – more people wandered up to see what the others were viewing on the back of my camera – they wanted to buy photos too!  Wow! If I had only known I would have brought my Square card reader ;~)

Many even asked if they could snap a photo with their cell phones – I gladly obliged.

 

 

 

So that was our eclipse adventure and what an adventure it was. We had to deal with the drama of cloud cover two times but all worked out perfectly. We were able to see and capture so many cool eclipse images including sunspots, solar prominences, Baily’s Beads and the Diamond Ring effect, and we met a lot of really friendly eclipse watchers too.

Again, my thanks goes out to Michael, for filling me in on so many eclipse photo tips that I wasn’t aware of that really helped make our shoot such a success. Also my thanks for all the folks that stopped by to look through my camera and snap a few of the images off my LCD screen.

DAZNOTE: For all those interested, I really don’t care if you “right-click” on any of the images above and keep them as a souvenir of that special day – August 21, 2017.

Camera Exposure and Shooting Details

Before I leave let me give you a few details about how I handled the shooting session.  I was originally going to shoot everything on manual but that strategy quickly went south as the clouds started rolling in.  I switched to “Program” mode until I was just shooting the final crescents of the sun. Then I switched to “Manual” mode. Typical exposures were F11 at 1/250 second.  All the images above from the first two crescents forward were all shot on “Manual” mode

Here was the kicker though.  My Thousand Oaks filter were extremely dense which necessitated that I shoot at an ISO of 3200.  I know that sounds high and it was. My friend Michael was shooting a ND 5 filter and was using an ISO of only 400.  Nevertheless, I had to go with what I had - I’ll have to check into alternatives in the future.

With my camera, lens, tele-extender combo gave me a maximum aperture of only F9.0 – I wish I could have closed down more than F11 but the density of the filter prevented me from doing so and still shoot at an acceptable shutter speed. And speaking of shutter speeds, the camera sure was bouncing around a lot so I kept “image stabilization” switched on even though it’s recommended not to do so.

So there you have it, my experience photographing the Great American Eclipse.

Oh, BTW, the next “Once In a Lifetime” Great American Eclipse rolls around on April 8, 2024 [link].

That’s just 7 years from now and tracks right up through Indianapolis, just two hours from where we live. It seems to me that these “Once In a Lifetime” events happen more often than you think ;~)

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Hey Gang, that’s it for today.  I hope you enjoyed the post and if I met you in Nashville, I sure hope you will leave a comment. LaDawn and I are spending the few days in Panama City, Florida just soaking up unobstructed rays of the sun before heading back home.

Cheers everybody and Adios for now,

David

Just Checking In–Only 7 Days To Go!

Hi Gang,

LaDawn and I just returned from a wonderful 9-day trip to New Orleans celebrating St. Patrick's Day/Weekend with fun parades, colorful characters, good friends, and great food!

We then headed down to the French Quarter for a photography conference with some of the top pros in the industry - talk about an inspiring experience - WOW!

We're in town this week and then it's off to Orlando next Tuesday (March 28th) where I'll be presenting a new and exciting program for the Legends of Photography Tour which after a short break is traveling the country as we speak.  I'm excited and looking forward to seeing everybody again so I really hope you'll stop in to see me. Hey, for $20 bucks with code below - it's a steal of a deal! See all the details below.

Also, don't forget my Geek Tip Of The Week at the end of this quick newsletter.

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See You In Orlando Next Week! 

Hey Gang, you can catch me in Orlando on March 28, 2017 for the brand new Legends of Photography Tour [link].  I've got a few new program surprises in store for you and as always, we will have Door Prize Time!

You can reach the hotel, aLoft Orlando in downtown Orlando, at 407.380.3500. Doors open at 4:00 p.m. and the program wraps up at 10:30 p.m. Plan to stick around and let's have an adult beverage together after the program.

Need more details about all the speakers - just hit any of the links or the image above. Registration has been reduced to only $20 with my secret code - Secret Code: DZ20 Like I said, you'll find me in Orlando on Tuesday March 28, 2017. I hope to see you there!

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Maybe Just Four Seats Left! February 22 - March 4, 2018

We still have just a few seats available for our African Safari [link] for February 22 - March 4, 2018. This is a 10 Day/9 Night All Inclusive Safari - yes, beautiful lodge accommodations, meals, and safari excursions are ALL included for only $7999 for two people! (airfare not included)

If you have priced Safaris, you know this is a steal of a deal! Please give Kevin a call at 505-345-6322 or his cell at 505-401-2988 for all the exciting details so you don't miss out - it's going to be a great trip!

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After All These Years In Wedding Photography, I'm On Cloud 9! Well, Amazon Cloud Drive - Which Is Close

I have so much "stuff" stashed on computers, hard drives, tablets, and phones for the studio and my personal images it's getting crazy to back everything up. I decided to do something about it. I signed up for Amazon's Cloud Drive.

Sure, I've been a big fan of Dropbox for years but it's just too expensive for large backups. That's where Amazon Cloud Drive comes in - unlimited all-you-can-eat backup for only $59/yr.! You can even try it FREE for 30 days.

Amazon just added the "Sync Folder" feature which now puts it on par with Dropbox too - pretty cool. OK, I will admit, uploads can take a while with a slow internet connect but even with our moderate speeds at the studio it's still a great solution for our client's finished images. I'm still "playing" with it but things are really looking promising. Once we hit the higher speeds, I'm sending everything up to the "cloud".

DAZ NOTE; No, I don't receive commissions from the referral but I do own a few shares of Amazon stock so if you do decide to check it out my stock may rise a few pennies and help my retirement package ;~)

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Hey Everybody,

That's it for me today. I hope you have a great rest of the week and I look forward to seeing you next week in Orlando.

Adios for now, David

Safari #2 Almost Sold Out! Catch Me In Orlando, VIP Seating, and Geek Tip Of The Week

Hi Gang,

This is going to be my last email for a while. LaDawn and I will be hitting the road shortly so time will be limited, but before we go I wanted to bring you up-to-date on a few things still happening around here and offer another Geek Tip of the Week.

Second African Safari Almost Sold Out!

February 22 - March 4, 2018

They tell me that my first Safari was the fastest booked Safari in the history of the company - I was not only floored but also very excited. So they talked me into doing a second safari.  Now I'm super-stoked!!!

LaDawn and I immediately cleared calendars and set our additional dates for our new African Safari [link]. for February 22 - March 4, 2018.  Feb 22, 2018 is your travel day from the states to arrive in Johannesburg on Feb. 23.

This is a 10 Day/9 Night All Inclusive Safari - yes, beautiful lodge accommodations, meals, and safari excursions are ALL included for only $7999 for two people! (airfare not included) If you have priced Safaris, you know this is a steal of a deal!

Your accommodations at the Thakadu Suites in Madikwe offers twelve suites, reflecting a strong Afro-Asian safari ambiance, each boasting a viewing deck overlooking the Marico River. These spacious suites offer every comfort and luxury and are wonderfully decorated and appointed.

Right now we 5 cabins available and have 3 couples looking at them as we speak! The Lodge cabins are just beautiful - check them out for yourself below.

I'm thinking this Safari will book up in a very short while!

You are also definitely guaranteed to see lots of African wildlife up-close and personal. AMAZING, LIFE CHANGING, I WAS BLOWN AWAY! - these are the typical remarks from folks who have attended Kevin's Safaris in the past. Here are a few images mostly from my friend, Rick English, made on last year's Safari. Rick are you reading this.... I remembered to give you the image credit ;~)

Even if you're just thinking about it, please give Kevin a call at 505-345-6322 or his cell at 505-401-2988 for all the exciting details so you don't miss out - it's going to be a great trip!

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The Biggest Photography Tour of 2017!

Hey Gang, you can catch me in Orlando on March 28, 2017 for Sandy Puc's brand new Legends of Photography Tour [link]. The line up is fantastic! Just look at all those good looking folks below and you'll get an idea that this will be the biggest tour series this year!  It's a big deal!

For all the details about the tour just hit any of the links or images above. Now for the really good news. Registration is now listed at $40 but since you are reading this newsletter, I can get you in for

Only $20 with Secret Code DZ20.

Check it out to see which "Legend" is visiting a city near you. Like I said, you'll find me in Orlando on Tuesday March 28, 2017 - I hope to see you there.

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Only A Few VIP Seats Remain For PhotoPro Expo 2018!

Early every year I've told you about the Best VIP Seats in the house and at the best prices for next year's PhotoPro Expo 2018 [link]. Details of next year's show have not been posted - but the first 50 VIPs who register get the lowest price possible and Priority Reserved Seating - only $109.00 with Promo Code PPEVIP18.  So don't wait...mark your calendars NOW and register for PhotoPro Expo February 8-11, 2018!

Hit the

REGISTER NOW with Promo Code PPEVIP18

to reserve your space. 

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GEEK TIP OF THE WEEK - My Favorite Travel Companion - After LaDawn of Course ;~)

Yes, we do a lot of traveling these days and that's GREAT!!  One of my favorite travel items I travel with all the time is my handy-dandy SanDisk Connect Stick [link].

Check it out...

-200GB Capacity802.11n Wireless Connectivity

-USB 2.0 Connector

-Stream Content to Three Devices

-Free SanDisk Connect App

-iOS, Android, Windows & Mac Compatible

I can load it up with over 50 movies, tons of music, and some of my favorite photos. When I'm on a long flight I just fire it up - it becomes it's own Hot-Spot - and I just stream away to my iPad and enjoy the show. I've found it for as low as $79.95 on Amazon [link] but it's typically about $89.  You can also find it over at B&H [link] too.

Works like a charm and makes the time fly-by - no pun intended.

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Hey Everybody,

That's it for me today. I hope you have a great rest of the month and I hope to see you next month in Orlando.

Adios for now, David