A Bird and a Photographer

 

The symbiotic relationship between avians and mankind has significantly influenced their lives. Birds have always been a part of the legends and folklores of different cultures all over the world. Their songs and magnificent beauty of feathers have inspired human imagination which for many mingles them with divine intervention. Also, for many they not only  give flight to human emotions and creativity, but also caution about impending doom, if any. The fact cannot be ignored that some of the technological inventions that we enjoy today have been inspired by birds.

Today, for many urban dwellers a bird may often be regarded as a nuisance, but those who are avid bird watchers and bird photographers keenly observe behaviour of birds and appreciate even crows and ravens for their intelligence. It’s due to growing influence of avians  in our social aspects that the nursery rhyme ‘one for sorrow and two for joy’ and warning of bad luck signalled by single magpie reflects our attitude to conflictual relationship with birds. Some would agree that there appears an element of disrespect for birds in our language we use today. We have some unacceptable connotations like ‘a bird-brain’ (a silly person) ‘for the birds’ (a matter of no consequence or something unimportant) and even ‘killing two birds with one stone’ are examples of contempt in our language.

Many nature lovers believe that such an attitude having influence of myths, legends and practices is largely to be blamed for birds not getting desired prominence in photography. Thanks to the bird clubs for they are not only changing attitude of the people by generating awareness about birds, but are also helping creative minds to explore more about avians and hone their skill as observers of their behaviour and record it in photographs.

Bird photography is such a genre which requires precise skills and boundless practice. Invention of photography may date back to early 19^th century, but bird photography gained ground only after the vibrant colours and fascinating lines of their profile began to draw attention of bird lovers. The advent of cell phone cameras and social media helped professional photographers as well as enthusiasts in developing interest in birds. Although fascinated by their shapes, colours and texture of any plumage captured in a fraction of a second, it’s appreciable that there has also been greater emphasis on conservation issues through photography.

Today, a good number of wildlife professionals specialize in making photos of birds. Also, there are those who can be simply termed as beholders because they point their camera whenever and wherever their camera takes them. There is another class of bird photographers who would prefer to first see the bird with their binocular before making its photo. For them colours and lines of birds are feast to their eyes. Over the years wildlife photographers have reached such a level of skill that makes bird a flag bearer and  no wonder it might almost be mistaken for seasoned actor on stage with  each twig and lighting fine tuned to capture a stunning photo. Thanks to the technological advancements and wisdom of camera manufacturers who now add a bird mode in their cameras so as to enable photographers to shoot birds with precision.

Gone are the days when bird used to be a rare subject for photographers, mainly due to the limitation of making photos only in monochrome, who could not do justice to the  fabulous colouration of birds. No one had even dreamed of photographing birds in colour. Therefore despite this disadvantage the photographers did not stop focusing on flowers. They laid emphasis on contrast and tonal variation. Also, due to lack of technology they used to be ill equipped in capturing rapid movement of birds. The advantage for photographers was that the flowers do not force them to camouflage themselves while capturing their close-ups .

If we look back, the idea of photographing  a moving or a flying bird used to be a technical challenge, but now-a-days movement of birds can easily be frozen. This aspect of photography is an asset not only for an artistic pursuit, but it’s also crucial in developing scientific understanding of nature and a way to observe and document birds in their natural environment without harming them. Advancement in photography has opened new vistas of hope and aspiration for not only bird photographers, but also ornithologists, conservationists and wildlife enthusiasts.

The fact cannot be ignored that human brains are fine tuned to see human portraits reflecting behaviour, personality, expressions and emotions. Interestingly, similar aspects are seen in portraits of birds. There are those who create staged environment to welcome real birds and observe them in their studio like settings, having special backdrops, and birds are considered as  characters on stage. A question arises, is bird a model, source of inspiration or an accessory for photography.

Although many bird photographers go out with ideas about what to look for, but they  seldom understand how to look. Today, photographers make use of not only state of art technologies, drones, GPS, night vision devices, powerful binoculars, monoculars and all that is offered by digital world including artificial intelligence.

Some photographers have unflinching curiosity to photograph species or  their choice or the one never seen before, to which many emphatically call ‘lifer’. Despite so much technological advancement, still there are areas which need to be explored to better understand the life of avians. There are flight paths of birds that are invisible to the naked eye. I am reminded of Xavi Bou who revealed flight paths, that are invisible to the naked eye, by combining multiple photographs into single image in his series Orthographies.

Wildlife photographers follow a strict ethical code of conduct and go to far away places to limit disturbances and avoid manipulations. Many of them develop an extensive knowledge of the terrain of a specific area as well as behaviour of the birds they set out to photograph. There are those who are contented with photographing birds in their immediate surroundings. Also, there are those who travel to remote areas in search of distinct species. It’s not because forests are shrinking due to rapid urbanization, thus forcing the birds to adapt to new surroundings. In the recent past there were reports in media about some bird lovers making bird-friendly concrete structures to facilitate birds with shelters.

This reminds me of nature definition of some prestigious international photographic organizations like Fédération Internationale de l'Art Photographique, or FIAP (Eng. The International Federation of Photographic Art) and Photographic Society of America (PSA) which state
“Nature photography records all branches of natural history except anthropology and archaeology. This includes all aspects of the physical world, both over water and underwater. Nature images must convey the truth of the scene. A well-informed person should be able to identify the subject of the image and be satisfied that it has been presented honestly and that no unethical practices have been used to control the subject or capture the image. Images that directly or indirectly show any human activity threatening a living organism's life or welfare are not allowed. 
“The most important part of a nature image is the nature story it tells. High technical standards are expected and the image must look natural. Objects created by humans, and evidence of human activity, are allowed in nature images only when they are a necessary part of the nature story. Photographs of human-created hybrid plants, cultivated plants, feral animals, domesticated animals, human-created hybrid animals, and mounted or preserved zoological specimens are not allowed.

“Photographs made where the scene is natural and the animal is unharmed in a carefully managed environment, such as Zoo, rescue centers and ethically managed natural environment farms are permitted. 

“Attracting or controlling subjects through the use of food or sound for the purpose of photographing them is not allowed. Maintained situations such as provided supplemental food due to hardship caused by weather conditions or other conditions beyond the animals' control, where photography is incidental to the feeding of the animal does not fall under this provision. 

“Controlling live subjects by chilling, anaesthetic, or any other method of restricting natural movement for a photograph is not allowed. 

“Human-made elements shall be permitted under the following circumstances:
a) When they are an integral part of the nature story, such as a songbird singing atop a fence post, a manmade object used as nest material,  or a weather phenomenon destroying a man-made structure.
b) When they are a small, but unavoidable part of the scene, such as an unobtrusive footprint or track in the background.
c) Scientific tags, collars, and bands are specifically allowed.”

The definition further states, “When photographing at a zoo, sanctuary, or rehabilitation center, it would be construed that the photographer ensured that it’s properly accredited and conforms to best practices. “For wildlife photography, the definition states,”In addition to the restrictions on Nature photography, to be eligible for any Wildlife award images must meet the following conditions:

(a) Zoological organisms must be living free and unrestrained in a natural habitat of their own choosing. 

(b) Images of zoological organisms that have been removed from their natural habitat, are in any form of captivity, or are being controlled by humans for the purpose of photography are not allowed. 

(c) Botanical organisms may not be removed from their natural environment for the purpose of photography. 

 (d) Images that have been staged for the purpose of photography are not allowed.  
Nature Editing Guidelines: Processing or editing must be limited to making the image look as close to the original scene as possible, except that conversion to grayscale monochrome is allowed.

“Allowed editing techniques:

• Cropping, straightening and perspective correction.

• Removal or correction of elements added by the camera or lens, such as dust spots, noise, chromatic aberration and lens distortion.

• Global and selective adjustments such as brightness, hue, saturation and contrast to restore the appearance of the original scene.

• Complete conversion of color images to grayscale monochrome.

• Blending of multiple images of the same subject and combining them in camera or with software (exposure blending or focus stacking)

• Image stitching – combining multiple images with overlapping fields of view that are taken consecutively (panoramas).

“Editing techniques that are not allowed:

• Removing, adding to, moving or changing any part of an image, except for cropping and straightening.

•Adding a vignette during processing.

• Blurring parts of the image during processing to hide elements in the original scene.

• Darkening parts of the image during processing to hide elements in the original scene.

• All conversions other than to complete grayscale monochrome.

• Conversion of parts of an image to monochrome, or partial toning, desaturation or over-saturation of colour” concludes the definition.

The bird is not only a symbol of freedom, hope and grace, it has also inspired writers, philosophers, observers of nature, as well as ordinary folks. Above all, some of the technological inventions that we enjoy today are credited to bird which continues to be a flag bearer and will continue to inspire humanity for ages to come.

-Subhash Sapru

 

Let's avoid pitfalls while shooting birds

“Oh! I missed a nice shot, my camera refused to focus”, “The light changed suddenly and got all settings disturbed”, “Oh Sxxx ! had the shutter release button been pressed a fraction of a second earlier, I would have got an award-winning photo.” At times while we are busy making photos of birds in company of fellow photographers, we hear such annoying murmurs that suddenly distract our attention and we may get  distressing thought “ I may not be in a similar situation”. 

Let’s delve on some of such pitfalls and understand how to save our day.

Sudden change of light-Some experienced photographers prefer to set ISO on auto with its minimum and maximum limits depending on their expected requirement in a given situation. They understand that either the natural light may suddenly change or the subject would abruptly move in shade or harsh light. Therefore, auto ISO comes to their rescue. A similar situation may hardly leave time to readjust ISO by scrolling the camera menu. These days we see some cameras equipped with an ISO button close to shutter release button at top of camera body to let user adjust ISO without waste of time. It is there where it should be. This facility especially helps those who do not like to set ISO on auto. Do it as the situation demands.

Camera does not focus- This is a very annoying situation. There can be several reasons that make one to struggle to achieve perfect focus. It may be due to some shooting conditions, which can be easily handled if you have carefully read your camera manual. If the camera hunts for focus, back and front and is unsuccessful in achieving it, generally it means either the camera lacks contrast or you are trying to focus in low light.

One must understand that both DSLR and Mirrorless cameras being different in technology, they differ in focus system. It’s, therefore, necessary to understand our gear. Not only the camera, but also lenses. For instance, we must know the minimum focus distance of our lenses. How contrast detection and phase detection work in a camera.

Front focus or back focus- Most of the DSLR users often experience that while auto-focusing, instead of focusing on the subject, the camera either focuses in the background or foreground. This situation calls for calibration of camera lens and these days some cameras have built-in system for calibration of lenses. One can find this provision  by scrolling down the camera menu to look for AF fine-tune feature. Contrary to the DSLRs the problem is rare with mirrorless cameras because  these cameras focus on image sensor itself. Another reason for impaired ability of camera to focus precisely can be due to dirty contact points. Therefore, make it a habit to periodically clean your equipment.

Yet another reason for struggle with focusing can be wrong selection of AF mode. The focus mode as well as area mode work differently. One must know where to use AF-C or Continuous Servo AF focus mode  and which AF area mode is to be chosen. Remember, the central AF point gives the sharpest images. Good that if your equipment has the ability to over-ride autofocus  with manual focus.

Missing first frames – Take offs by birds are always exciting. Some of the new generation  cameras are now equipped with Pre-Release Capture system. We can get images before we fully press the shutter release button. To begin with, first set pre-release burst in camera, if it’s equipped with this facility.  With the half-press of shutter release button, or the  AF-ON button if we have set back button focus, one second of images will be recorded before actually release of the shutter.

The behaviour of birds being unpredictable, we should keep a close watch on the bird and try to anticipate its behaviour and  flight. At times it may appear that the bird is about to take off, but actually it won’t. Any repetition of the shooting process can result in accumulation of several images which would need adequate storage space in memory card.

Flying bird gets lost behind branches-Its very disgusting for a bird photographer when a flying bird which is being chased to get its clear shot, suddenly disappears behind branches of a tree. The moment it again appears, we once again aim our camera to make an image, but that moment is too short to be recorded.

The solution to such a peculiar situation lies within the camera, if equipped with facility of focus tracking with lock-on. This provision allows us to select the length of time the camera will ignore an intruding object that blocks our subject. If this function is enabled, the camera locks on to the subject and provides a variable time-out period for the lock-on functionality. This time-out can be adjusted in camera according to the delay time period as one may prefer. Practice and practice.

Do your  homework- There are some other pitfalls which can be easily avoided by simply doing our homework. For  instance, before moving out with a camera, ensure that its battery is fully charged and data card has adequate storage space. Prefer to keep at least a spare battery. Don’t forget to give a fresh look to the camera settings.

Patience and Practice- These two are the key factors that matter a lot in bird photography. It’s a common saying that the lost image is always the best image. Some photographers who find focal length of their lens inadequate in a given situation, try to be close to the subject ignoring that the bird may not like their presence and would fly away. A keen birder knows  that like human beings, the birds also prefer to be within their own comfort  zone. Our patience in their territory will reveal that some  of them not only look  inquisitive, but actually approaching us provided  we give them the opportunity.

-Subhash Sapru

A strange phenomenon

The other day I happened to come across profile of a fellow bird photographer who has mentioned a quote by Magnum Photographer Inge Morath as having said, “ Photography is a strange phenomenon, you trust your eye and cannot help but bare your soul”. Yes, we trust our eyes without paying too much attention to technical issues as these can interfere with creative aspects. No doubt a good photographer makes image with his feelings and some images do touch our soul.

Inge Morath has rightly mentioned her feelings, but her emphasis on trusting our eyes made me ponder over a question does camera sees more than our eyes. If so, how and why. The answer to this question holds more significance for bird photographers and birders who keenly observe not only behaviour and anatomy of birds, but also their morphology.

An inquisitive mind may question similarities as well as differences between the camera and the human eye. Those who have better understanding of functions of optical devices also know that camera sees more than the human eye.

I have seen many birders who first see birds with their bare eyes, then through their binocular or monocular and then make a ‘record’ photo of the bird with the help of a long lens in the given situation so as to observe and study bird’s distinctive markings. They all understand that bare eyes or say ‘unaided eyes’ need modern gadgets to see beyond their limiting factors.

The technology is fast developing thus widening the gap between the functions of human eye and the camera. While the human eye has always remained as such, the technological developments that have taken place since the invention of camera obscura have unfolded a whole new world of visual media. This process is unending and future inventions may be more startling.

When we capture an image, only a visual record is made, which is flat and has  two dimensions, but when we see the visual impact remains in our memory for a longer period of time and is of three dimensions-- length, height and has depth of field. Also, a camera can create a brighter picture as it has the potential to collect light for a longer period.

We all know both the eye and the camera have a lens and both receive light through an aperture device.  They also have a method to interpret that light as an image. In camera we can adjust light through aperture, automatically or manually whereas eyes have pupil, a round area in the iris, which controls light. In both, the camera and our eyes, the light and image are inverted by the receiving mechanism.

In eye, light is received by retina, which is almost of the same size of  sensor of a full frame(35mm) camera and is an extension of brain. Light is transmitted to the back portion of brain and image is perceived. It is because of curvature of retina that its edges are about the same distance from the lens as the center. Therefore, unlike camera lenses, the retina has corner sharpness and we also see more in corners. On the other hand the flange distance, the space between where the lens is mounted to the camera body and to the camera’s image sensor, is comparatively larger. The shorter a flange distance, the smaller and lighter a camera body can be. The mirrorless cameras have, therefore, shorter flange distance thus are lighter and smaller than the DSLRs.  In case of lenses generally the corners are not as sharp as the center of an image is.

The question remains why camera sees more than our eyes. We know the camera sends every pixel data from sensor to the computer which may result in certain distortions like barrel distortion, colour variation and vignetting. Contrary to it, eyes are not so capable because data passes through optic nerve. Eyes adjust their sensitivity to see naturally, but cameras have a feature to adjust ISO manually or let it get adjusted automatically.

Camera sensor has regular grid of pixels with every square millimeter having exactly the same number and pattern of pixels. In cameras the field of view depends on the kind of lens. On the other hand, retina, a small central area of about 6 mm, has dense concentration of photo receptors. Interestingly this portion has best resolving ability than any camera.

Although our peripheral vision has high refresh rate, our eye is sensitive to moving objects, but has not much resolution to read letters. The focal length of the human eye is the distance between the retina and the eye lens and this focal length varies from person to person. Not many know that 50 mm camera lens closely matches the human eye as the angle of view created by the 50 mm focal length is almost the same as the viewing angle of the human eye. The built-in technology of eye can’t match the ever-improving modern technology of camera.

The old saying goes, ‘eyes are the windows to the soul’. Photography makes us trust our eyes, but it is also such a magical phenomenon where silence speaks louder than words. At times its sound is more deafening than words. Let’s keep enjoying the sound of silence of this strange phenomenon of photography.

As I conclude, I am reminded of another female photographer, Maggie Steber, who has also rightly said, “The camera can open many doors, but sometimes you need to put it down and live."

--Subhash Sapru