Ameristep Is In My Doghouse

I've made wildlife photography in my backyard into a personal project.  My goal is to photograph the wildlife that visit in a setting that looks as natural as possible.  This requires placing my camera in locations that would disturb the very wildlife that I want to photograph.  A couple of years ago, I decided to purchase a blind so that I could conceal myself.

I researched blinds on the internet and found that many photographers use a hunting blind called the Doghouse.  It is made by Ameristep.  The blind is spring loaded so that it can be set up quickly.  In theory, it can be taken down as quickly but I normally struggle for a while, look at YouTube videos and  struggle some more before I'm able to put it back in its bag.

Once the Doghouse is set up, I have plenty of room inside for camera, tripod, chair and much more.  It has windows on very side that can be zipped open.  Unfortunately, they are so low that they are difficult to use with my lens on a tripod.  They are too high for me to shoot lying on my stomach.  As a result, it hasn't been used as much as I intended. 

I set it up today and immediately had a problem.  When I opened the zippered window, the pull tab on the zipper broke off in my hand.  A closer look revealed that the entire metal part of the zipper pull had fractured and broken away.  There isn't any way to close the window without the zipper and I was no longer concealed.  Since I was all set up, I turned the blind so that I could use the side window.  I carefully opened the window and that zipper broke off in my hand as well.

I assumed that a blind made for hunting would be tough enough to handle wind, rain and snow.  My blind has had only light use in the backyard and has never been rained on.  The rest of the blind is fine but the weakest link (the zipper) has rendered it useless.  I decided to replace it with a Kwik Camo Photography Blind made by LensCoat. 

In the meantime, my screened in porch provides some cover.  If I prop the door open, I have a narrow view of the yard.  I decided to photograph woodpeckers today.  I used a 400mm lens so I didn't need to be too close to the door.  I used a piece of a tree trunk that had a hole drilled in it to hold some of the suet that attracts woodpeckers.

A Downy Woodpecker was the first to check out the tree trunk.  A male and female came back several times.

A White-breasted Nuthatch investigated the tree trunk several times during the course of the day.

This Red-bellied Woodpecker dropped by once.

 European Starlings were the most frequent visitors.  It was a more difficult for them to get the suet.  However, they were up to the challenge.

A Beautiful Day

You might look at this sunrise photo and feel that I used too much saturation  in Photoshop.  That isn't true.  Even a mediocre sunrise can look spectacular through a super-telephoto lens.  It allows the photographer to focus on a tiny bit of sky with the best color.

This Bald Eagle wasn't going to take any chances.  He was in a tree near the road.  I had less than a second to stop my vehicle and raise my camera to my eye before he had flown away.

The few Sandhill Cranes I saw today were far from the road.   If I were in the blind on the left side of this photo, I would have a better photo.  The cranes have hundreds of square miles to search for food so you could sit in a blind all day without a crane for miles.  You have a better chance in the evening if you rent a blind near the river.  The few blinds near the river cost hundreds of dollars to rent and the cranes often arrive after dark and leave before sunrise. 

Spray and Pray

This is my favorite of the hundreds of hummingbird photos I took today. 

If you read the forums, you will discover that photographers often dismiss the work of their successful peers by claiming that their own techniques  are a purer expression of the art.  Some brag that "I didn't use any Photoshop" or "my colors are not enhanced".  Others boast "No HDR" or "This panorama was made from a single image".  They complain that the other guy spent too much on equipment.  They boast  "I shoot JPEG instead of RAW because I know how to get it right in the camera".    The implication is that a photographer with a better image cheated by breaking an unwritten rule.

"I don't spray and pray - I get it right the first time" is a boast often heard.    The implication is that if  you fire off hundreds of shots, one of them is bound to be good.  No one could afford this technique in the days of film but digital has made it affordable.  

I took hundreds of shots of hummingbirds today and picked my favorite five.  If that isn't spray and pray - I don't know what is.  I could have gotten a sharp and well exposed  photo of a hummingbird at the feeder  with fewer shots.  Spray and Pray was a choice - let me tell you why.  Sharp and well exposed photos of hummingbirds at a feeder are a dime a dozen - I wanted images that were more interesting.

Notice the tongue,  I'm not sure if this is an attempt to capture an insect.

I prepared for weeks.  Hummingbirds are not extremely common in Nebraska.  My feeder has been out all summer.  Spray and Pray humming bird photography is more successful if you have a hummingbird.

I'm still learning.  I tried a 200mm lens this time instead of the 600mm I used last time.  I used all natural light this time instead of flash.  I wanted to see if the hummers were less skittish without the flash.  I put up a Woodland Green Camo blind on my deck so I would be less intrusive to the hummingbird when I got closer.  I didn't fool the hummer but my neighbor got a good chuckle out of me sitting in a blind on top of my deck in the middle of a hot August day.  

I had several goals in addition to sharp and well exposed photos.   I wanted to stop the wings.  I wanted a natural background.  I wanted to capture details that were difficult or impossible to see in normal viewing conditions.

The eyes are in sharp focus - is this skill or a prayer answered?

Spray and Pray actually started as a military term for using a fully automatic gun.  If you fire enough bullets, you should hit something.  The army has found that using a short burst is more effective than using up all the ammo with a long burst.  I used short bursts as well.

My hummingbird feeder was actually a battle zone.  One hummer had staked a claim and would chase off any other hummers that tried to invade the area.  Foreign hummers were attacked when they got close to the feeder.  Birds at the feeder would back out and check for danger for a split second and then return to the feeder or fly away.  

I used the fastest shutter speed on my camera - 1/8000 second to try to stop the tiny wings that beat 60 times a second. This fast shutter speed meant that I needed to make other compromises.  I used an aperture between  f 2.8 and f 3.5.  I had to up my ISO between 640 and 1000. My feeder has white flowers on the feeding ports.  I used these to set my exposure.  I increased the aperture until the flowers blinked  indicating overexposure and then backed off to the point where the blinking stopped.

My feeder has four feeding ports.  I could have closed three of them and forced the bird to eat from the port best suited to my photos.  I choose not to do this - my big camouflage  blind was enough change for today.  I set my initial focus on the port that was orientated correctly for my photos.

When a hummingbird appeared; I waited for it to feed at the proper port and attempted to focus on the point that it stopped when looking for danger.  This is harder than it sounds because it usually stayed there for a split second.  When I felt that I had achieved focus, I sprayed using as many frames per second as my camera could deliver. In between feedings, I reviewed the results of the previous burst.  I checked the exposure and made any adjustments I could in preparation for the next burst.  

When I decided I had enough images, I downloaded them and started my culling process with Breezebrowser.    I selected all images and evaluated each one in the Slideshow setting that only moves to the next image after the image on the screen has been rated.    The first evaluation  sorted the images into two groups - God Awful and shots with a Hummer.  40% were God Awful.  

The second pass was a more critical evaluation.  I compared 4 images at a time and selected those that had the eye and beak in sharp focus.  I compare 4 at a time because images that appear to be in focus might not be the sharpest example.  It's amazing how much two images taken a split second apart can vary.   I tried to eliminate 3 of the four being compared but sometimes eliminated all four and occasionally chose several.

The third pass was more subjective.  When I had several similar images from a single burst, I chose the one with the best wing placement.   The remaining images were the best from each burst that had produced sharp well exposed images.  These were the images that were placed into Lightroom.

Lightroom is nondestructive.  I cropped the images and adjusted the composition.  I adjusted highlights and shadows as needed.  Since all the images were taken in the same setting, I usually could sync an adjustment to many other images.  When the adjustments were complete I exported the images as JPEGs.  I used Breezebrowser to pick my favorite five.

I don't claim that these five shots are the ultimate Hummingbird photos.  They were the best I could do today using this setup.  Next time I can try something different to see if my results improve.  It isn't fun evaluating hundreds of shots.  If I learn that certain conditions cannot  produce a good photograph,  I can avoid them and concentrate on better opportunities.

I learned several things today.  I learned that blinds become sauna when they are on the deck in August.  I learned more about hummingbird behavior and got some practice focusing .  I learned that 1/8000 of a second isn't adequate to totally stop the wings.  I learned that the end of the beak also is in motion or at least often  appeared to be less sharp.  I learned that I don't  get a black background shooting in natural light.  I learned that ISO 1000 grain can be adequately reduced in Lightroom.