The challenges of November photos

[Scott M]

Thought this was a small but interesting look into the challenges of November wildlife photography

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Just another gray day in November (fine by me)

by Bill Marchel, Star Tribune

BRAINERD — If you are meteorologically inclined, you know November is the cloudiest, gloomiest month of the year. Outdoor photographers are well aware of this.

I thought about these conditions last week while hiking through the woods with camera and tripod thrown over my shoulder, attempting to photograph white-tailed deer on yet another dreary November day.

Recently I had received an e-mail from an editor of a deer hunting magazine in response to a small submission of images I had sent to him.

"I'd love to get your work on the cover," the editor wrote. "Generally, we put less value on static images. I like the images you sent, but they are slightly handicapped by being somewhat soft on light, so the color is strongly gray/brown with not much contrast."

I paused and looked around. I saw brown leaves, gray tree trunks, tan grass and, of course, a depressing November sky.

Let me see. I need to photograph a big rutting buck in action, in good sunlight, and with a colorful background. Not possible on that day, or, according to the forecast, the next day or the next, or even the next.

I thought about my digital camera and how recent technology has allowed quality images to be taken in low light that were only dreams back in the film days. That was in my favor. I could do nothing about the gray day, but I could increase the ISO setting just a bit on my camera and, despite the flat lighting, achieve a shutter speed sufficient enough to capture an action image. The price? A certain amount of digital "noise" would be introduced into the image.

Thirty years ago I spent roughly $1,200 for my first camera body and a 300-millimeter telephoto lens. I had done a little research and thought that might be a good starter kit for a wildlife photographer. It was. But the film-camera-and-lens combo was a far cry from what is available today. No autofocus, no motor drive, no instant viewing of your images.

What hasn't changed in wildlife photography is the need to understand your subject. I've hunted, photographed and studied white-tailed deer with a passion since I was a youngster, and those hours and hours in the field have helped me get quality images as much as my equipment has.

Earlier that recent November day, I shot a sequence of images of a white-tailed doe as she bounded with tail raised along a forest edge. She and her fawn were separated by about 50 yards, and I knew one would run toward the other. I adjusted the camera setting accordingly. Autofocus aided me in keeping the running deer in focus, and the eight-frames-per-second capture speed helped me secure a variety of action poses. Using the 3-inch monitor on the camera back, I realized I had a few winners. Gray light or not, editor's likes or dislikes, I was fond of what I saw.

It's not that I don't appreciate the editor's viewpoint, or understand that he needs to please his readership. If people want to see big bucks with outlandish antlers, posed in perfect light on the cover, then so be it. But I don't have to agree. After all, what speaks of whitetails more than gray November days when the rut is in full swing?

I am, of course, fond of an image of a big rutting buck in a colorful setting and in perfect sunlight. But when hunting with camera, you take what you can get.

The world of the whitetail is fascinating. As a wildlife photographer I have a chance be a part of it all year. I've photographed a fawn so new to this world that it was still wet with afterbirth. And what's more beautiful than a deer dressed in its orange summer coat as it stands in a field of wild flowers?

But given the choice, I'll take a day in the field during the November whitetail rut. Three times over the years I've had a ringside seat while mature, thick-necked bucks engaged in all-out battles. Those fights were no sparring matches between lesser bucks. The speed, power and pure athleticism on display was perhaps the most exciting natural event I've ever witnessed.

Give me November whitetails, sun or no sun, gray-brown background or not. Just get me outdoors, camera in hand.

[Hwood]

Nice read.

[Steve Foss]

He writes well, Excellent read.