The Digital Capture of Light

As an amateur photographer, one of the subjects that really fascinates me is birds. For some photographers, the thrill is in capturing macro subjects, for others it is people and their emotions, for me personally, I could spend hours altogether in my own world when I'm photographing either ancient architecture or nature - especially birds. These are two completely different subjects and make me think and react in different ways.

While photographing temples and other architecture, I'm looking at a static image. Here my most important tools are the forms and the light. I'm always looking for the angles that will get me an interplay of light and shadow on the structure and make it stand out in the photograph. On the other hand while photographing birds or other wildlife for that matter, in addition to these composition techniques, I'm also looking for an opportunity to show the subject in action. I feel the addition of the action adds another dimension to the image that helps in connecting the viewer to the subject. I have a few photos to illustrate my point:

The first image is a static composition. It is a picture of a Neotropical Cormorant seated by the bay. It is a classic profile portrait composition with the bird looking into the frame. It showcases the jeweled eye that the bird is famous for and the exposure is on the mark to show details in the birds black feathers. While the photo itself is pleasing and nice, there is no drama or extra story to the picture that grabs the attention of the viewer.


Similarly another static composition is the American White Pelican below. Here I've gone for an unconventional composition with the bird looking away from me. I have the focus and exposure nailed and you can see the details in the white feathers, but again there is nothing beyond that.


Now lets contrast that with the following picture of a Snowy Egret that has caught its breakfast.
I captured this picture early one morning, after I set up my tripod among the egrets and pelican that were foraging for their morning food. As I patiently waited, I caught a sight of this particular bird away from all the others hunting for a bite to eat. The early morning glow in the light was perfect. I fixed my focus on this bird and shot away as it went hither and tither looking for a fish. I couldn't contain my excitement as suddenly it locked in on its prey. My shutter went on a continuous fire as the egret plunged for the kill. This is probably my favorite frame in the sequence with a perfect focus as you can see the fish in the birds beak. I feel that the viewer of the photograph subconsciously feels the story behind the picture and thus it connects a lot more than a static composition would.



Here are a few more compositions that have a dynamic character to them.


This American Brown Pelican was seated on one of the pier on the Galveston Bay. It seemed to have something stuck to its beak, so it would scratch it against the pier repeatedly. The contortion of its head and the action make this photo for me.

Another foraging photo early in the morning. This time its a Black-Necked Stilt thats wading through the shallow marsh waters looking for an insect or a small fish to eat. The action, the reflection and the ripple in the waters make it an interesting composition.

This is another photo of a Snowy Egret. In this photo, the light was coming from behind the bird, and as such was not the best situation to photograph it. I have few pictures of the bird just sitting on the stick, doing pretty much nothing. Then suddenly, it spread its wings and appeared ready to take off. The light coming through the feathers caught my eye and I immediately captured this shot before it took off. This is one of my favorite pictures and one that connects almost universally with all who see it.

The dynamic composition doesnt come along easily. You have to wait for it and sometimes you wait and wait and it never comes along, but when it does, the photos you make from that instance are so rewarding that the wait is easily worth it!