In the Field

Man and Nature. Shearwater (Denny Island), BC, Canada. October 2, 2007.

There's a number of places on this website where I mention how much I like side-lighting. Why? Well...I think this image says it all!

My location manager and I had to kill a few hours while waiting to hook up with our guide at the beginning of a recent trip into the Great Bear Rainforest. So we decided to take a walk to a deserted cannery (there isn't a whole lot to do for visitors to Shearwater!). I saw some crows in interesting light and was amusing myself with them (hmmm...that doesn't sound too good) when my unpaid employee/location manager pointed out this gull on the edge of a rickety pier. When I first started shooting the sky was overcast and the scene through my viewfinder was good. But moments later the sun came out and image came to life! I particularly liked the way the light was almost caressing the moss and bush in the lower left side of the frame. Full credit for this shot should go to my dedicated location manager/translator (to help me understand UK English only)/unpaid employee/colleague/bottle washer - this one's for you Andy!

This image was quite difficult to capture and produce. The challenge to overcome was the extreme brightness range (or "dynamic range") contained within the scene - it was definitely beyond what my camera's image sensor could record. So...I exposed for the highlights on the gull (which meant underexposing the image by over 2 stops) and retrieved the shadow detail later during processing of the RAW image. This is the type of scene where I'm glad I'm now shooting digitally (this scene would have been WAY beyond what could be captured using a transparency film like Velvia).

Behind the Camera

Man and Nature. Shearwater (Denny Island), BC, Canada. October 2, 2007.

Digital Capture; Uncompressed RAW (NEF) format; ISO 100.

Nikon D2Xs with Nikon 200mm f/2G ED-IF AF-S VR lens with Nikon TC-14E 11 1.4x teleconverter (420 mm equivalent with digital conversion factor) - handheld. VR turned to "On" and in "Normal" mode.

1/400s @ f6.3; -2.33 stop compensation from matrix-metered exposure setting.

At the Computer

Man and Nature. Shearwater (Denny Island), BC, Canada. October 2, 2007.

RAW Conversion to 16 bit TIFF, including first-pass sharpening and exposure compensation using Phase One's C1 Pro. Multiple RAW conversions (3 at different exposure settings) in this case to balance shadow and highlight detail (see below).

Further digital correction on 16-bit TIFF file using Adobe's Photoshop CS3 and LightZone 3. Minor tonal adjustments performed in LightZone (using the ToneMapper/Relight tool). Photoshop adjustments included compositing and masking of three exposure vesions (at -1.0 stop, -0.3 stop and +0.3 stop for highlight retrieval, adjustment of grays on bird, and shadow retrieval on railing, respectively), selective saturation enhancement and selective sharpening for web output.

Conservation

Man and Nature. Shearwater (Denny Island), BC, Canada. October 2, 2007.

Ten percent of the revenue generated by this image will be donated to Raincoast.

This image was captured along a portion of the coast of British Columbia that is known as the Great Bear Rainforest. This globally unique habitat is under threat of development, particularly from logging. The Raincoast Conservation Society (and Foundation) is an effective and efficient organization that has been fighting for protection of this unique habitat. If you are looking for a meaningful way to contribute to the conservation of this amazing ecosystem, Raincoast will provide maximal "bang" for your conservation dollars.