At Tom Bol Photo Workshops, we celebrate great images created on our workshops by selecting a Photo of the Month. For August we chose an image from our Galapagos Workshop created by Ned Reese. We hope you enjoy Ned’s images as much as we do!
Congratulations to August 2022 ‘s featured photographer – Ned Reese
The Story…
I had about 70 images of the night heron. Going through them, that one was in the middle of the string of images.
It was stunning when I brought it up in Photo Mechanic. The image is almost untouched. I did very little to improve it. It was almost an accident.
I like tight framed shots of wildlife, shots of the face, with interesting facial expressions. Animals are not too distant from humans. You can read their faces. You could put a lot of captions on that frame.
When we landed on Genovese Island, there were birds everywhere. It was early on in the trip. It was kind of like taking a drink from a fire hydrant. There was so much going on around us.
This was a different kind of shooting for me. There was so much activity and life everywhere we turned. On Everest I learned to step back and take in the environment before starting to shoot. You cannot do that in the Galapagos. I found myself grabbing the camera and just trying to be cognizant of all of the correct settings while shooting.
I like this image more every time I look at it. It speaks to what I was trying to get, an interesting facial expression and tack sharp details. I have been doing a lot of photography recently, listening, being around Tom and Cree. My photography has improved by magnitudes.
EXIF Data:
Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400 lens shot at 310 mm
F10, 1/2000 sec, ISO 3200
Manual Mode, auto ISO
Ned’s Tips for Photographing Wildlife:
Take a lot of shots
Auto ISO is key to shooting in manual. Tom insisted I try it and it was awkward at first. It made it much easier in the long run. You learn more about your camera too.
About Photographing in the Galapagos
To be honest, at first Galapagos was just another workshop. I have been working more on my technique than on locations. Everybody talks about the Galapagos. I wasn’t prepared for the reality of being on the ground and photographing there.
In retrospect, it was in the top 5 of all my favorite photo locations.
It was special in ways I am still learning about. There is so much life there. It is so prevalent, everywhere. It’s like wall paper. On bear trips you have to go out and find the bears. On this trip, animals are everywhere.
The sailboat made it even more special. I’d go back but only on a sailboat. Darwin and Fitzroy explored the Galapagos in a ship. This was an associative experience for me. I can’t image doing it any other way.
Flamingo Shoot:
We hiked into the pond and flamingos were all over the place. It was a sunny day with a lot of contrast and there was not much activity. We decided to walk to the end of the pond and it looked like they were going to do something. My arm was getting tired from holding up my 500mm lens for so long….
When they took off, I took 30-40 images of them flying. This image was a statistical success. It had the right light, good composition and everything was sharp.
On Ned’s Horizon:
New Zealand
Africa: Botswana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa
Alaska
Antarctica
“I just like to go….”
Where are Tom and Cree?
With Fall right around the corner, we are headed to Alaska for our Brown Bear Safari in Katmai National Park. We are back home just a few days before heading to Norway and on to New Zealand in September.
With so much travel in September we will do our best to answer your questions while on the road. This will be our busiest month since starting our business five years ago. By October things will slow down and we will be in the office more often. Thanks for your patience. We are almost caught up from all the postponed trips from 2020 and 2021.
To see our 2023 schedule, click here
We hope you are enjoying a great summer. Thanks for reading our posts!
Tom and Cree
Congrats!