Hi, this is Janine, and today I'm sitting
here in Cape Town because I had been invited for the Wild Shots
Conference 2019 as a speaker. Very exciting. And I was speaking about 'Who Dares Wins - Risk-taking and rewards in wildlife photography' ' thereby, I don't speak about physical risk to yourself or to your camera gear. But technical risks to your photography. So I quickly want to share that
presentation with you guys. It's about 20 minutes long, and I'll be
speaking about slow motion blurs, extreme exposures, different angles
in daring to shoot on high ISO. Hey guys, before I start, please
don't forget to subscribe. If you enjoy content like that,
we have lots more coming out. Press a little bell button down below and
you'll always get notifications if we have new videos for you. Let's get going. So why would I be taking any
risks in the first place? Especially if we can get a safe
straight forward shot to start with. Well, I would say that only about 20%
of images are so called picture perfect. I would even dare to say that for
interaction or action shots, it will be less than 5%. At that stage you really need to know
your camera well enough to get the shot in camera. What do I mean by that? Even though we can often create nice
memory shots, in reality, we have to deal with things such as bad
and busy backgrounds. Shadows - half on your animal,
half not on your animal. Animals that are not cooperating. SImply just don't want to
turn around towards you. Even though the light is perfect. Weak light conditions such as dusk or
Dawn or even overcast with rainy days. Harsh light, bad angles
and bad foregrounds. All these things need to align perfectly
for you to be getting a beautiful photograph. A piece of art rather
than just another image. To give you an example, it took me about
six years to find a leopard in such favorable conditions with a dark,
stormy sky with golden light. The pose just perfect and a great
depth of field leading into your shot. My skill set as a photographer only played
a very marginal role in capturing this photograph. It just all added up. However, if those conditions do not turn
in our favor, and line-up accordingly, we will have to start thinking out of the
box - and take risks and be different - to turn the image to our advantage. This means we need to start reading the
given situation and utilize different downfalls to our advantage. This will then allow us to create
something really new and exciting. Rather than creating the same
identical look over and over again. How many lion shots have
you seen in your lifetime? They look nearly identical. It has become really, really
difficult to create something new. Have you noticed that everyone gets
similar shots of, for instance, snow owls and flied puffins, underground hides,
or snow monkeys sitting in a hot tub. It has become custom to strive after
a beautiful image that you have seen somewhere rather than to create
your own customized images. Therefore, I want to urge you during this
talk to try and capture the soul of the animal, and dig deep, while
making the viewer think about it. Try and tell a story and be intriguing. Create art rather than
another shot down memory lane. Taking safety shots and memory shots are
great practice, to get to learn both your camera, and the Wildlife's behavior. But then, try to explore and capture the
mood, rather than always go for the first best thing that's out there. So let's get started. First of all, I want to dare you to
shoot really, really, really slow. Teaching on a daily basis gives me
the opportunity to speak to lots of photographers...and a lot of photographers
really enjoy a little bit of motion blur in the limbs, or the wings of
the animal, to show the dynamics. However, wouldn't it be way more exciting
and mysterious to blur the limbs so drastically that they
almost become translucent. Dare to show real motion that cannot be
overlooked, rather than just hint around it This will make the face jump out at the
view as it's the only sharp thing to possibly look at. Creating those type of dynamics in a
photograph keeps the attention of the viewer way longer than just
a regular exposed shot. Let's look at an example together. This beautiful male leopard
should be a photographers dream. Walking in the last
golden light of the day. Unfortunately, the background is way
too busy and way too close, to create a beautiful image - like so often when we
shoot from a game viewer, we just can't create the distance between
the subject and the ground. Only few photographers own a 2.8 telephoto lens to create the necessary bokeh or blurry background, to give the leopard
the spotlight it deserves...and even fewer photographers can get the focus point
right - at that distance - because your depth of field is so minute
on a 2.8 at that distance. Instead, dare to shoot slow. Daring to shoot slow might provide
you with the risk of not capturing a worthwhile image - as your success rate
goes down drastically - even for really well-practiced photographers. However, if you do succeed, you receive
a photograph worth keeping...rather than another safety shot. The close ground is
suddenly no issue anymore. Instead, the streaks really add to
the image, and the leopard becomes a beautiful, mysterious creature that we all love. Who says that we always need to have
the face pin sharp in our photograph. This shot was taken at a
full second at an f/2.8. It was that dark. The lion was walking over burned
ground after a recent bushfire. However, the colors and the dynamics of
the photograph tell a story that I thought was worthwhile telling. Remember - Picasso said, 'learn the rules
like a pro, but please break them like an artist'. You see, not just unfortunate backgrounds,
but also low light conditions, really invite you to try slow motion blurs. And if you doubt yourself and think you'll
never be able to master this technique - especially when it comes to wildlife -
and risking those few precious chances you might have in the bush shooting a lion. Try and practice on something more steady. For instance, an old time automobile...and
remember, most of the time the backgrounds are so bad, or he light is so weak,
you wouldn't get a good shot anyway. Read the situation and
utilize it accordingly. Sometimes, our subjects might not move
parallel to us, so we don't get the chance to pan in order to create
a nice motion blur. But even a twisting motion can look
phenomenal on a slow motion blur. We need to shoot it a little bit faster to
get the rest of the image nice and sharp. Any type of water splashing, or droplets
or raining, can enhance the water, so much so, that it looks amazing
on a slow motion blur. And then there's times that our
subjects might not move at all. How often do we encounter sleeping
predators that just don't give us a nice image at all? Admittedly, creating a slow motion blow
with a sleeping wild dog is a challenge. But let's try. Face that challenge by creating a rapid
motion yourself and twisting the zoom, either in or out - doesn't matter which
way you go - you create this nice tunnel effect. The idea is to pull the entire picture out
of a center that's interesting, because the center's is the only place that's
going to remain sharp and in focus. You'll need to shoot slow enough to give
your wrist enough time to twist, but not so slow that you shake
up the whole picture. ...and by the way, this technique looks
absolutely phenomenal with patterned animals, such as zebras, for instance. Next. I want to encourage you to dare to
play with your light conditions. If your subject is in very, very different
light than what your background is, it shouts at you. It screams at you. It's the best opportunity
you could possibly get. For instance, when the subject has shade,
and it's significantly darker than what the background is. A lot of photographers stopped shooting
entirely because they're call it harsh light. The subject and the background add such
stark contrast to each other, that they cannot be evenly exposed -
and nicely exposed together. Take advantage of it and take the risk, by
creating a nice, beautiful high key image. This works particularly well with
naturally dark or shady animals - lifting off against, for instance, bright
reflective water - or bright reflective sky. After all, we will struggle to tell the
leper to please turn around as the sun is right behind them. It also works well with light beige, grey
sand and yellow grass in the savannah, especially when the lion has decided to
lie in the shadow of the bush, and the sun shines right behind it, or with a baby
elephant standing in the shadow of the mum. So instead of exposing correctly for the
background, which often takes a big part of our image, we start
exposing for the subject. We will take it even a step further. We will overexpose on the subject, so much
so, that all shadows are lifted and the background turns bright,
ideally, completely white. As you can see, your histogram will
start falling off to the right hand side. The more background you have, the more
it will bunch up on the right, and you'll show the big parts of
your images are burnt. Great. That means we're getting it right. If the shadows were not too harsh,
some high-key images work in color. However, generally the subject will end up
looking so washed out that we will have to turn it into black and white. That is a typical high key image. The strong contrast shouts for black and
white, and if you pull the blacks in post production, the image
will really pop at you. Please remember that high-key images
really live off negative space. Don't crop it too tight. The wide open space gives the lion space
to breathe and calms the image down. The opposite to a high key
image, is a low key image. This baboon mother was slowly waking up
on a fallen branch on a cold winter's morning. Low key images are another beautiful,
sleek way of getting rid of nature's busy backgrounds. This time, the subject must be
significantly brighter, ideally in the sunlight. And the background must be much darker. Ideally in the shade. You might think this type of photograph
takes significant post production efforts, but no, this is how I shot it. The background was in the shadow and
automatically turned pitch black shooting on an exposure of minus 3.7. The only thing that remains visible
is that lit up part of the baboon. You can see that the post production image
only shifts the histogram slightly more off to the left. Amazingly, it takes minimal adjustment
efforts if you shoot it right to start with, and therefore is
allowed in competitions. This is how I would have shot it, if
I shot it on a normal exposure. Yes, you can see all the details, but at
the same time, you lose a beautiful moody atmosphere of the early morning, In turn,
you might argue that this exposure might look much prettier if I had
actually shot it from the right side - from the sunny golden side - instead
of shooting into the shade at the baboon. Here we go. This is shot from the
beautiful golden lit side. It provides us with a nice portrait. But nothing significant. It loses the early morning mood in the
mysterious look that lets the viewer wonder what might, or might
not be, beyond those shadows. Take the risk and create art instead. Early morning, and late afternoon light,
generally works best for low key images, as it provides us with long shadows caused
by the vegetation or the riverbanks. This allows us to create these naturally
dark backgrounds, such as here, where the lion was stepping into
the early morning light. The timing is key. We lose the background as the
lion walks three steps further. He will be fully illuminated by the sun,
and the background will touch the sunlight as well. It is only in that split moment where his
head is peeping out into the sunlight, while the rest is
submerged into the shadows. While this technique works really well
with sidelight as it creates a cool 'Phantom of the Opera' effect, where one
side of the face merges into the dark shadows of the background. It also works when it's fully illuminated. However, the preconditions
have to be there. If the shadow in the background isn't
consistent, you can't edit it afterwards. If you have to try and edit between this
individual sand grains or individual pieces of fur, you will lose detail. It's nearly impossible. Read the light and utilize
it to your advantage. Last but not least, low key images also
work by shooting straight into the light, creating translucent water splashes, or feathers - fake feathers in this
instance on this Warrior's head, or fur from the back. Proper backlit will be casting a strong
shadow on the side that is visible to the photographer, only leaving the
golden halo around the animal. This is why we call it rim lighting. However, the concept of a low key
image remains exactly the same. Whatever is touched by the sun, such as
the grasses below, will remain visible, and everything in the
shadow will turn black. You agree? This is when we take photography a step
further from merely document menting things to making light our paintbrush. Our tool to create art. Soul in mood. Next, I want to talk about daring to
change your position - and your angle - even though you might risk losing the
shot, as you will lose a little bit of time moving around. Nevertheless, don't always
settle with the first best thing. Your position really makes a huge
difference to your photograph. This is a shot, many of our guests can
get, on a photo boat with us on the Chobe River. This is the very same shot, only
shot about 60 centimeters higher. As you lose the low angle, by getting up
from the floor to the chair, you start losing the distance to your subject, and
therefore that beautiful shallow depth of field. We will take it another
step and stand up straight. We start getting a little bit of
reflection, but lose all of the personal angle with a beautiful bokeh. Instead of shooting towards the horizon,
we now start shooting down at the animal. So it's that simple to make a very
ordinary portrait, quite beautiful. And still, I have to urge my guests every
single day, to get off that chair, and sit on the floor because it
costs time and effort. Please go the extra mile. It will be worthwhile. The only time that lower isn't better is
when you start fighting with the horizon line. Going straight through your subject. The blue water makes for a clean enough
background, that going low is really not of advantage here. So please dare to change your
position to get the better shot. Whether that means that you need to go
down to the ground, and lie flat on your belly - if it is allowed - or whether the
subject was kind enough to elevate itself, by posing on a termite
mound or a fallen log. Or whether it means that you simply take
the risk and go a full 180 degrees around the subject, in order to take
it from a different angle. Shoot it into the sun. The un-intuitive angle. Don't settle with the first best thing. Last, but not least. I find a lot of photographers desperately
trying to keep their ISO low, and not just low, unfortunately too low. I dare you to shoot on high ISOs. It's crucial. It is what it is. In wildlife photography, our absolute
priority remains to keep the shutter speed up. For regular exposure, I believe one
should shoot a minimum of roughly double your focal length, to ensure our
own camera shape doesn't cause an unintentional motion blur. That means if I shoot on a 400mm lens,
I would ideally want to shoot at minimum 1/800 sec. If you have a crop sensor, please
include that into your calculation too. That means in weak light, such as dusk
and dawn, or even in artificial light conditions. -On a dark subject such as an
elephant, hippo or gorillas, for example. For high key images, when we have
to ask for all that extra light. As well as when we require extra
shutter speed for action shots. For instance, birds in flight. We need to push our ISO. Rather have a sharp image with a bit of
grain, than have a blurry image with none. This image was shot on 8,000 ISO
in order to support 1/1000 sec. Look at the detail of the water
droplets and the mane of the lion. You might think that you would have rather
shot it slower, in turn for lower ISO. But why would I risk such an opportunity? I mean, feeding lions, off
a moving boat in a river. On a 600mm lens, my chance for a sharp
picture would have gone down exponentially on a lower shutter. Matter of fact, even at a 1/1000 sec, I
often find marginal motion blur in my own photographs. Instead, I kept my ISO high and I
have a photograph packed with details. Please remember that if you shoot on
high ISO, it is always good to shift your histogram a little bit to the right
hand side - shoot a little bit brighter - because even though more details sit
in the dark, the noise also hides in the dark. So if you shoot a little bit overexposed
and have to pull your exposure back a little bit, you'll have less noise,
than if you shoot on a darker exposure. Let's have a look at the next image. This was shot on a dazzling 20,000 ISO. Yes, I have to admit that such settings
don't leave much margin for cropping. You need to be extremely close. We were only about five meters away from
that lion...and you need to work with a good sensor. But did I have a choice? Shooting on a 400mm lens - on my widest
aperture - I was only on 1/50 sec. This means I could have either shot it
on 20,000 ISO, or have no image at all. I am very glad I was able to capture
the beautiful glow after sunset. The light just becomes so magical. And you might notice the dominance
of cats when it comes to high ISOs. Yes. These guys like to move around
when the light isn't sufficient. But you also get into trouble with big dark
elephants, that swallow a lot of light, especially when you intend to shoot high
key images that ask for that extra light on a plus 3.3. In order to get the water
splashing of the young elephant sharp, I was keen on keeping my
shutter speed quite high. But not just high-key images. Take a simple portrait of an elephant,
and you'll see how much extra light you'll require, to compensate for the dark skin. You can choose between lowering your
shutter, and risking a blurry image, or increasing your ISO. Similar challenges arise when you're
forced to shoot indoors without a flash. Don't worry. Dare to shoot on high ISOs. As I said, it does
depend on your equipment. How much can you push it? How getting a dark, or a blurry image,
will not help you in either case. So please dare to be different. Go the extra step and break the norm. Don't give up just because shooting
conditions just don't seem ideal. Instead, make the challenge part
of your creative thinking process. And most of all have fun. Thank you very much for listening. I hope you enjoyed this. If you want to get more tips or tricks,
please look me up on social media. I a,m on Facebook under Janine Krayer
Wildlife Photography and on Instagram, under Janine Wildlife Photography. Please don't forget to subscribe. Hit the bell button down below. You'll see all our new
sessions coming out. If you found this interesting,
we have lots of more to come. come. Have a good day.
