I wanted to get down some of my thoughts that have been through my head over the last week regarding bird photography, and maybe just bird photography in general.  I’ve started to inform the impressions that there are three type of bird photographers; the one who sets up everything in advance from the lighting to the background, to even the plants; the second photographer who takes pictures of the birds that may have the strongest colors, or wings, and shape.  These photographers will tend to de-emphasize the background of the bird because they are often focused on perhaps a particular part of the bird; and the third type are those who shoot pictures of birds, but it is equally important about the background of the bird, the composition of the photo, etc.

What I have found is that more hard core photographers are very free with their opinions on someone else’s photographs, what the mistakes were, why it doesn’t make a good photograph, etc.  Non hard core photographers or just causal “picture lookers” don’t really notice the greater details of the picture, just how it initially strikes them and how it may compare to anything they’ve ever seen before.

So where am I in all this mess?  I think I’m in a transition.  I’m predominately in the second camp, often neglecting the whole scene of the shot and focused just on one particular area, yet I’m wanting to move to the third type of photographer, while keeping a balance with the second photographer.  I am drawn more to close up pictures as I think it makes the bird more lifelike to me, it’s not just something sitting out in a tree or field, but almost something I can touch. I also tend to get very spastic when taking pictures and if I see a bird I want to take a picture of, more often than not I’m thinking about camera settings and that’s about it.  Once I see the actual picture, I think about all the composition or adjustments to the photograph that I didn’t apply.  I think if I can learn those two things so that they become a natural part of my photography, then my photos will really begin to improve.

Keep in mind, these are solely my opinions, they are in no way judgmental.  I also want to take a moment to comment on my class that I took at the Houston Arboretum.  The class was $80.00 for two nights worth of instruction, and 1 full day long field trip at Brazos Bend.  To me, $80.00 is quite a bargain for 3 days worth of classes lead by an expert in the subject matter.  Speaking of which, the instructor was Greg Lavaty.  I had never heard of Greg before last week.  I had posted a couple of bird pictures in a photography forum and I had two people mention to me that I should try and get in contact with Greg, or at the very least take a look at his website as he is one of the most knowledgeable bird people in this area.  After I did a brief search on his name, I noticed that he was leading this class at the Arboretum, so I instantly signed up.

Since I began photography I have relied on books and just raw experimentation.  I’ve never met someone who is considered an expert in their field prior to this.  I can now say honestly, if you have an interest in photography (regardless of the subject) and that person is offering a workshop or training class, it will likely well be worth the money.  I’m not talking about these worldwide experts who charge thousands of dollars to go on a trip with them to some exotic location.  Those may be just as good, if the instructor really has time to help you identify your subject matter, and really has an interest in helping you become a better photographer.  If you’re going to spend lots of money on something like this, I think it would be a worthwhile investment to hear other opinions from those who have been on these trips.

Enough about that, let me talk about my experience.  I probably learned more about photography, and even more about birds, in 3 days than the hundreds of dollars I spent on books.  What’s said in a book is fine, but for me, translating what was printed on paper versus actually be out in the field can be quite difficult.  In this class, whether Greg was intending to or not, as soon as a bird made a sound, even if we couldn’t see it, he could identify it.  If he could see it, then he could even identify it further, such as what gender, where you can expect to find these birds in a specific area of the park, etc.  More often that not, he could predict its behavior so that we could plan our shots.  There is not a single book that will ever do that for you, trust me, I own hundreds of books on birding already and I like to think I’ve researched some of the best ones out there.

One last thing that just crossed my mind that I think is important.  Does the instructor have passion about what they are doing?  To me that also makes a world of difference.  I can pretty quickly sense if an instructor is just teaching a class for the money or the line they can add to their resume.  It will be pretty obvious that they have no passion for what they are doing.  Maybe they did at one time, but the passion is gone now.  I can almost assure you that if you sign up for one of these classes with an instructor who has lost their passion you will leave the class with little more than you could have bought in a book.  On the other hand, if you can find someone who is truly passionate about what they are teaching, you will likely get the priceless information and knowledge, and I would argue you’ll get better pictures as well.

Greg also proposed some pretty far out ideas based on the reaction of the class, but he has the proof that he practices what he preaches.  Don’t use a tripod and get as low to the ground as you can really created some rumbling in our class.  I was probably the youngest person there behind Greg, but even I’m no spring chicken anymore, and didn’t think these ideas would work.  Almost everything I have read about the Canon 500mm lens (8.5 lbs) says you really can’t hand hold it, and should just use a tripod, yet here’s Greg saying he rarely uses a tripod. After hearing that, I assumed that Greg just must be crazy, or he’s one strong guy.  Fortunately, I can report from my experience at least, that Greg has some very valid points, and you can handhold a lens that big and take sharp shots.  However, you also have to be a bit strategic.  Lean against something if you can, if you get on the ground, lean back so you can balance the lens on your chest.  In other words, don’t make it harder than necessary.  And sure, this getting low to the ground thing sounds crazy to me if I were to just squat down and take pictures.  I’d never get back up, my knees are like spaghetti.  However, I can sit down and be okay,  I can lean back against a tree low to the ground and be okay.  Never tried (or thought) about those things before this class because most everything I ever read said just always use a tripod.

Just so it be known, I’m not doing an endorsement deal with Greg because I’m expecting some kind of deal to happen, rather, I think it’s rare to find someone in any field that you feel confident in their judgment and they have some knowledge that will be useful to you that you can’t get out of a book.  Even fewer are those that are willing to share that knowledge.  That being said, if you come across any opportunity like this, take advantage of it, you won’t regret it.

Lots of Fritillaries were flying around, a few Monarchs, and several Skippers.  There was also a beautiful Hawk hunting mice, a family of Red Eared Sliders (Turtles), some funky Caterpillars (no idea what they were), two Praying Mantis, and a weird looking Spider munching on a Skipper.  At least those are what I got pictures of.

One area that I particularly like is the Wildflower field they have.  Below is a picture of a mass of Black Eyed Susans from the field.

Black Eyed Susan Field

The first class was Butterflies of Houston and the Upper Texas Gulf Coast taught by Nancy Greig, Ph.D.  She is the Curator of Entomology at the Cockrell Butterfly Center.

The other class was Photographing Butterflies with Kathy Adams Clark and that’s what I want to talk about today.  First of all, the Houston Arboretum is a wonderful place to go to take pictures of Butterflies!  If you go there you will definitely see Butterflies, especially if you head out to this wildflower field they have.  I didn’t get a chance to really explore all that much, but it is someplace I will visit again just to take pictures.

The Photographing Butterflies class was fantastic.  It was about an hour lecture, then another hour or so out in the field taking pictures of Butterflies.  This is the first chance I’ve ever had to meet with a professional photographer and it was definitely worth it.  Here’s why.  Although I may have lots of Butterflies in my backyard, it’s always been a challenge knowing where to focus to get those really crisp pictures.  Another nice thing, at least for me, was asking Kathy about what it takes to be able to sell your photographs.  That information alone was worth the price of the class.

So to summarize, I’d highly recommend the Houston Arboretum and any classes they offer.  I really, really liked that place, and the folks they get to teach these classes are experts in their field.  I’m not getting paid or trying to kiss up to anyone, that’s just honestly how I feel.

Oh yea, here’s a picture I took from the class.

Gulf Fritillary On Dead Leaf