For those interested in the technical side of the shoot:

The camera I used was a Nikon D800. I wanted as much resolution as possible and, short of renting a medium format camera, the Nikon D800 was the best choice. I have to say that, though I had a terrible time with the camera’s autofocus, when it was right the resolution and sharpness were superb. You simply cannot get an idea in sized down web res files, but these can go very large and still maintain sharpness of every feather on the bird’s head. I’m also very pleased with the tonal range the D800 produced in the final photos. For these shots I was shooting at ISO 100, generally at f/11, in continuous AF mode to keep up with the constant little movements the birds make.

I had some difficulty with lens selection because I needed to have a relatively close working distance while at the same time having a high magnification so that I could crop in to photograph just a bird’s head. My Nikon 70-200mm lens just did not have the magnification I needed. I could focus down to just under 5 feet with it, but I couldn’t crop nearly as close as I wanted; 200mm on it still left me with way too much bird and background for the composition I was seeking. I could use my Nikon 105mm micro (macro) lens and get as close as I wanted. The problem for me there was twofold. One, I couldn’t get that close to some of the birds (the tawny eagle was a little unsure of me), and two, my depth of field was just entirely too small at such a short focal distance. I had to shoot at such a small aperture that diffraction was becoming a limiting factor. I could go with a fixed 300 or 400mm lens but then there’d be no versatility and some wouldn’t let me get as close as I wanted and still focus. After considering the things I wanted in a lens for this shoot, high magnification, a relatively close minimum focusing distance, versatility, and good sharpness, I decided on the Nikon 200-400mm f/4 lens.  Stepped down the sharpness was fantastic, it let me focus even closer than I needed to, and I had the versatility of zooming in and out as needed to incorporate the amount of the bird I considered most appropriate. I will say, however, that this lens is BIG, but it did a fantastic job.  I rented the Nikon 200-400mm lens from LensRentals.com (who offer outstanding customer service). I highly recommend them for testing out gear before buying or for those pieces of equipment that are just too much of a strain on the budget or that you will not use frequently enough to justify buying.

My lighting setup was 3 Paul C. Buff Einstein lights. Birds are quick, even if moving their head from one position to another (which they do frequently). I wanted a short flash duration from my lights to be sure to stop those movements, but also to be able to do the few flying shots I did (which I intend to visit more extensively in future shoots). Yes, we currently believe the speed of light to be both the fastest thing in existence as well as constant. What changes is how long the flashes stay on. The longer they stay on, the longer the exposure, thus the less “stopping power” they have. The Einsteins are built for speed, among other things, and were perfect for the job. They are affordable and very versatile. I was shooting them between 1/8 and 1/16 power, which was enough to freeze these birds mid flight. I had one Einstein camera left with a large 86″ PLM with a diffusion cover on it. Camera right I had 2 more Einsteins with umbrellas on them. All of the lights were within 5 feet of the birds.

Finally, the RAW conversion and bulk of the editing was done in Phase One’s Capture One software. This is the first time I have ever used the program but anyone familiar with Adobe Lighroom, and even those not, should be able to pick up on it very quickly. My main reason for this choice was strictly image quality. I’ve heard repeatedly that Capture One is the best RAW converter out there and after this experience I see no reason to refute that claim. I was impressed with just how much I could do in it (95% of the work was done there, with the remaining 5% being done in Photoshop) and I do believe I got a level of image quality from it that is superior to what I would have gotten otherwise.

I will be returning to the center in a few months to photograph more as they rotate their flight birds (bald eagle, spectacled owl, asian brown wood owl, etc!). In the meantime please enjoy the resulting photos from the day.

My idea was to focus mostly on the room, but to feature John in multiple places throughout it in hopes it would make the photo more surreal while at the same time take some of the focus off of John himself since there would now be multiple versions of him to draw your attention; one man suddenly becomes a crowd of 4, and in crowds the individual is less of a focus. It would also place John in the position of being reflective of his work by, in a way, watching himself and reviewing what he’s already done.

We shot this in the “green room” of the Sword Gate House on Legare Street, which was decorated by John himself. We were pleased with the results.

This past weekend was spent at Mepkin Abbey in Monck’s Corner, SC with the woman I love. This was the second time I’d been and I had fully planned to spend lots of time photographing the beautiful landscape of the Abbey. However, Friday rolled around and brought with it….clouds……and rain. And they stayed all weekend.

Naturally, I was a bit bummed by nature’s supposed interference with all the beautiful photos I had created in my mind. After much needed rest, twice, and some great, all vegetarian, monk made meals we decided it was time to roam the grounds. In coming upon their labyrinth cut from a field of tall grasses and wildflowers I realized I still had as much to photograph as I desired right in front of my face. The labyrinth was filled with all sorts of interesting insects. I spent hours wandering the curvy path and shooting several bugs that were kind enough to be still for me long enough to photograph them. I had only my Nikon 105mm macro lens with me, so I had to be literally inches away from them to fill the viewfinder. Below are a few of the results from the day.

Later on we stumbled upon some chanterelle mushrooms growing in the woods and spent the remainder of the day hunting out more. We filled half of a shopping bag with the beautiful golden mushrooms, keeping a cup for ourselves and giving the rest to the grateful monks. It was a weekend of rest, good meals, silence, slowness, nature, relaxing,  learning, and being. Though it wasn’t the weekend I was expecting, it proved to be more fulfilling than I could have imagined.

If anyone can help with specific ids of these, please let me know.