Tuesday Morning -- photo essay

[Tom Wilson]

Here's a little photo essay I thought I'd post for an outstanding morning of hunting on Tuesday for me and Gunner...

This was the start of our day...

Shortly after sunup Gunner wants to know if we're gonna see any birds--of course I tell him yes, but at this point in the morning I'm not sure--it was looking kind of slow...

Then it happens a lone gadwall decides to come and take a little too close of a look--this was the last thing she saw...

Here she came not only the first duck of the morning, but the first Gadwall of the year for me.

Not too long after that, the second Gadwall of the day appeared and fell neatly to the umphf of my new favorite shells.

At close inspection near the boat--I see that I have shot another hen Gadwall.

Then it happened just like it's supposed to--a lone Mallard Drake comes looking to talk sweet to a couple of my hen decoys--He soon regretted this decision...

Good Boy Gunner! Good Boy!

It's My job Dad! It's all I do, and I do it well!

And so the day ended with a limit of 2 Mallards and 2 Gadwall, and one proud owner of one fine Dog!

[Flick]

Those are sweet, the first two are awesome. The close-up of your dog is so clear it seems like you can reach out and touch him. Nice work.

[bear204]

what kind of camera do you use im guessing not a disposable

[BLACKJACK]

Great pictures Tom!! I was duck hunting out in South Dakota last week, we didn't get a duck but it was such a beautiful morning that I was wishing for a camera to preserve the morning!! The sandhill cranes were making a racket, the moon was setting in the west, the sun was coming up in the east - a beautiful morning that I only have in my memory banks and not on film. Keep up the good work!

[FOOT]

Tom, I really enjoy your pics. They make my heart pound. Especially since I have been unable to get out as much as I wanted to this year with work commitments and a small health problem. Keep them coming.

[Ben1022]

Yeah Tom,

how 'bout a few pointers. What lens, shutter speed and camera are you using? If I could acheive 1/2 the quality you present, I'd be happy.

[Koda]

Tom-

How do you store your camera in the blind?I think I remeber you saying you use the D70. I have a Canon 300D and to this point I'm not brave enough to take it with me in the blind. Do you wear it the whole time or have a waterproof bag?

[Tom Wilson]

Ben,

Photography is nothing more than the capture of light. Too often, (I am guilty of it as well) we look at something and think there is no way I could do that, but the simple fact is that anyone could have taken these same photos. I will not argue that I have some advantage because of my equipment, but even the simplest of 35mm SLR cameras could have done the exact same thing. I was using a long lens, but I could have shot these with a 200mm lens, as this was roughly what my zoom distance was at. I use aperture priority 99% of the time when I shoot outdoors. I had my camera set at F8 to give me plenty of depth of field and also this is my lens' sweet spot. I had a shutter speed of 1/400th of a second for half of the photos, and 1/500th of a second for the other half. I used a film speed of 400.

Back to the light--Cameras only work one way, they determine exposure by the amount of light that is reaching the film plane (or sensor with digital) based on a combination of shutter speed and aperture setting. Any 35mm camera using 400 speed film with the aperture set at F8 would have given the exact same exposure of 1/400th of a second. 1/400th of a second was obviously fast enough to stop the action in these photos. This was due again, to the amount of light that was available. The position of the sun and the time of day makes this type of photography possible. There are many things other than this that affect your photos, but remember these simple truths...

1) Light and the quality of light you have will make or break a photo.

2) Film is cheap--shoot a ton of photos.

3) You will never love a photo you don't take.

I don't mean to make it seem trivial, because it isn't. I have spent a lot of time in the last 9 years learning to take better photos, but when it comes down to it, those three things will absolutely determine your success rate with photography. I don't have enough finger strength to type out everything that I've leaarned in just the last year, let alone the last nine, but if you are serious about learning to get better I suggest the following...

Take your camera (even a disposable) everwhere you go, and take lots of photos. The other thing I would tell you would be to go to a store like Borders or any other book store and check out some of the books available. I learned a ton about taking better photos from books when I was first getting started. Even the 35mm photography for dummies books are packed full of information. I had a book that was titled "SHOOT!" and it was one of the best books I ever found. I sent it to my mother and now she is learning to shoot better. I would be happy to answer any specific questions you might ask, and thanks for the kind comments.

Tom Wilson

[Tom Wilson]

Koda,

I have a Pelican case that I carry everything, but the tripod in. It is completely waterproof, and according to their advertising, can handle pressures of up to 3 atmospheres(whatever that means). It works great, and if the boat flips over it floats, so I can use it as a life preserver. I would highly recommend a case like this for anything that you want to carry with you and protect from everything. They make them in a ton of sizes and configurations. I hope to get a smaller one for Christmas this year, big enough for the D70 and the kit lens. The current one is about 24x20x9. They're awesome and I highly recommend one for your valuables.

Tom W

[Mr. B]

Tom,

A person walking around at sea level is at one atmosphere of pressure. Underwater an atmosphere is 33 feet. I believe your case is good to 99 feet. It has been so long since I have looked at my scuba diving books that I might be wrong.

Great pics love seeing them. My favorite is the first one of Gunner. That is the same look Maggie gives me when I miss a pheasant.

[Sartell Angler]

agreed...first pic of the dog is phenomenal.