To Print or Not to Print...

For several years, I couldn't decide whether or not to invest in a large format printer. Printing costs for a professional photographer can be extremely high. If you like printing your images on canvas, printing costs are ridiculous. This makes your costs really high which in turn mean that the price you pass along to your client is very high as well.


The good news is if you print at least weekly, in my experience purchasing a large format printer is definitely worth it. The day I set up my printer, I was instantly printing better paper prnts than the best professional printer in town. Your printer is calibrated to your monitor, so what you see is what you get. In the case of a professional printing company, they get a file and they more or less guess at what the colours should be. This may make the prints fairly close, but often not nearly as close as you would like. Now that I am printing my own work, I control the papers used, the colours and I don't have to drive across the city to approve a print, then again to pick it up.


The bad news is that there is definitely a learning curve involved when dealing with stretching canvases, but once you find the canvas that you like, learn how to stretch canvases so that your corners are perfect and find the canvas treatment that works for you, your costs drop by about 80%. At the end of the day, that is what makes me happy! The best part about stretching canvases, is that I can print up 20 canvases for an exhibit. When the exhibit is over, I can take the canvases apart that don't sell and re-use the stretcher bars on my next exhibit.


If you haven't printed on canvas before, sharpen your image just a little bit more than you would otherwise. Canvas prints show your image a little bit softer than photo paper. That is why the canvas look is great for wildlife, because you aren't usually looking at many sharp edges when you are looking at fur. That being said, I have had many city sky line canvases done as well and they have been great sellers, so I suppose it comes down to a matter of personal taste. Some of my favourite animals to print on canvas are tigers, leopards, lions, cheetahs, foxes, wolves, bears and especially polar bears.


Below is a typical picture that would look great on canvas. Deer are a soft subject and you just want to cuddle a deer fawn. They are just too cute!

So, to print or not to print? I suppose it depends how much printing you intend on doing, how much of a perfectionist you are and how much you are interested in learning a new trade. Personally, I have really enjoyed it. I bought a 44" printer, I try to print weekly and I have really enjoyed creating prints from shutter to print. Now I am thinking about learning the framing trade. I think there will be a big learning curve there and framers charge an arm and a leg! Hmmm, to frame or not to frame... Anyone have any suggestions?

Check out our main wildlife photography website and our Kenya/Tanzania blog

Eleven Tips on Photographing Polar Bears

I have been going up to photograph the polar bear moms and cubs in Wapusk National Park for five years. In that time I have learned a thing or two about how to photograph these amazing families and how to keep warm while doing so.

Photographing polar bears can be very rewarding, but also very challenging. Polar bears live in a very cold environment so photographing in these conditions can create a host of issues. In this blog, I will list some tips on photographing polar bears up in Wapusk National Park.

1. Bring the longest lens that you can afford or rent and a good quality DSLR. If you are going up to photograph the polar bear moms and cubs you will need a long lens and a camera that can withstand cold up to -50. On my first year I used a 600mm with a 1.4 teleconverter and a full frame camera body. Since then I have tried many different set ups over the years from 600 mm and a 1.4 teleconverter to an 800 mm with and without the teleconverter and with and without a crop sensor, to having an 800 and a 600 as a back up or an 800 and a 100-400 with a 1.4 teleconverter as a back up. Each of my colleagues have their own camera/lens set ups that they prefer. My preference over the past four years is the 800mm lens and crop sensor body. I like the 800mm to get as much reach as I can on the bears. The crop sensor helps that and the crop sensor batteries last much longer in the cold than the batteries in the professional camera bodies. I bring my canon 1Dx pro body as a back up, but mostly use it for the aurora borealis images at night.
2. Bring extra batteries. Camera batteries do not like the cold. A great trick is to buy hand warmers, put them in your pocket with your extra batteries. Make sure to switch your batteries out if they get down to the half way mark. Sometimes the battery meter isn't very accurate in the cold. When your battery levels are too low, your camera focusing and shutter will slow down. At times the battery meter will look okay, then your battery may die on you right in the heat of the action. When you switch out your batteries and warm the cold one up, the warmth will often bring back the charge of the battery.
3. Dress warmly! If you are only going up once, you can rent a goose down parka and snow pants. They will pay for themselves if you buy them and go up twice. Over the years I have seen many different styles of parka set ups. They will all either be a one piece or a bib and snow pants. Many companies offer clothing that is warm enough, but they all have one thing in common. The parkas and snow pants must be made of down. Underneath my parka I layer my clothing with a long johns top, then t-shirt, then light sweat shirt, then heavy sweat shirt, then down vest, then windbreaker jacket, then lastly my parka. On the bottoms, I wear long johns, then insulated light snow pants, then my down snow pants. If it isn't -50 with a mean wind, I can take off the down vest and or windbreaker. If it is -50 with a wind, I need all of that protection or the wind will cut through my parka really easily. Another possibility is that I am just a wimp. Perhaps a tough guy may only need the parka and a sweater, but I'm not that guy. Warm wool socks are a given. Warm boots are also an absolute must! For around $50 you can buy boots rated to -80 or so. You don't have to break the bank when buying warm boots, but you absolutely must keep your feet warm or you won't be able to stay outside for more than a few minutes. Regular winter boots won't cut it.
4. Any kind of camera cozy is better than nothing. When your camera is just set up on a tripod and there's no action, even a touque or wool hat over the camera is better than just leaving the camera exposed. The cozy doesn't necessarily provide warmth, but it does protect the camera from windchill. I invented a cozy that works well. You can put a hand warmer in the cozy, then switch out the hand warmer every couple of hours. (Hand warmers work best in a warm spot i.e. in a boot or a glove or inside a jacket. If the hand warmer dies out in the cold, put it in your glove and it will re-charge) This helps your battery to last much longer especially if you have you are using a pro-body camera. You can see an example of my arctic camera cozy here. This was my first arctic camera cozy. It did work well, but after using it for a season, there were some changes that had to be done so it is easier to use while wearing big mitts. 8 of my colleagues bought a cozy from me. The one thing for sure that all the photographers agreed on is their batteries lasted about 5 times longer while using the pro-camera bodies while using the cozy. The other things it did really well is it gave us an extra layer to protect our hands from the cold and shielded the LCD screen so it didn't get all frosted up.
5. Noon time warmers- Around lunch time, it is wise to put your foot warmers in your boots. Even though it is really cold, your drive to the bears can be warm, so my feet do perspire a little bit. This perspiration then freezes if I stand outside for several hours. Now I bring an extra pair of socks and switch them halfway through the day and add a foot warmer to the bottom of my sock. I am now keeping hand and foot warmers in my car in the winter in case of emergencies. The good warmers last for 24 hours and work very well! (The only warmers I will buy are heat factory or hot hands. The other popular brand- naming no names are terrible!) 
6. At night remember to take the liners out of your boots at the end of each day and put them, along with your socks on a register or near a wood stove or some place warm. Your boot liners and socks may not appear or feel wet, but they will likely be damp on the inside. They will absorb any moisture and hold it. When you go to put your boots on the next morning, your feet will get cold very quickly if your liners didn't have a chance to completely dry out. I even bought an insole that has holes in it. These insoles help to give an extra layer of insulation of air under your feet and the moisture drops to the bottom so your feet aren't sitting directly on top of the dampness. It seems to help.
7. Take two camera bodies!! Always take two camera bodies in case something happens to one of them. You never know what may happen and for sure, you never know how your camera is going to react when it experiences -40's and colder. The best part about taking two bodies is you don't have to change lenses as often which gives you a much better opportunity to "get the shot".
8. Before you bring your camera and lens into room temperature from the extreme cold, make sure to wrap your camera and lens in a plastic bag. When the camera warms up, the water builds up on the outside of the bag, rather than on your camera sensor and inside your lenses. The last thing you need is water droplets and or water stains on your sensor.
9. Bring a thin pair of gloves that you can keep in your pockets to change the camera settings, set up and take down. It is difficult to have the dexterity to do the things that you need to do at that temperature with thick mitts. We like to keep our mitts on strings like you do with a child. That way you can take your hand out of your mitts, put your thin gloves on and drop your mitts without losing them. When your hands get cold you can quickly put them back in your cozy mitts. ( Keep a hand warmer in each mitt and your hands will always be toasty).
10. When photographing bears in Wapusk National Park in Canada. Wildlife is unpredictable, so make sure you spend a little more time out on safari than you think you need. On my first trip I was originally offered 4 days, then later was able to upgrade it to 6 photo days. On that trip I was able to see bears on two of the six days. My second trip up I was offered 8 days. (Here's my blog from 2011 and pictures from 2010 and 2011). Now I won't go up for less than ten photo days. If you can afford to go up longer then do it. The longer you go for the better chance you have of having a great experience. This isn't Africa where you are guaranteed to see wildlife everywhere five minutes after you get off the plane. Some days you won't see a single animal. On the days that you do though, it's magical. In 2012 we had a difficult year, then in 2013 we saw a bear family on 9 out of our ten days. In 2014 it was tough again. We only saw one bear cub, but we saw her at her den, she was clean, the background was great and she was expressive, so although the sightings were slim, it was still a great trip.
11. Book in advance if possible. Polar bear photography trips are quite expensive. There aren't many places in the world that you can go to photograph these amazing animals and a lot of people would love the opportunity to photograph them. If you are interested in going, save your sheckles and book early.

That is all the tips that I can currently think of to ensure an enjoyable polar bear photographic adventure. Good luck with your shoot if you go. It is certainly a very memorable experience. For anyone interested in seeing our other galleries, you can visit us at Harvey Wildife Photography

Overcast to Brilliant Prints!

I'm sure everyone has seen those beautiful pictures that are taken in the early morning light or the soft evening light just before dusk. And yes, more often than not if you can get a subject to pose at either of those two times of the day, that soft lighting can make an average picture breathtaking! Unfortunately when shooting animals in the wild, they don't necessarily pose when the light is right. A lot of people get quite discouraged because of poor lighting, but poor lighting is no reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater. There are advantages to an overcast day.

1. You don't have to worry about any shadows. Shadows can be very distracting in a picture. Sometimes you can have a great shot, but the shadows can get in the way even if you have perfect light.
2. The picture won't be harsh due to bright or harsh lighting.
3. You can use fill in flash easier to bring out the highlights in eyes, hair and or fur.
4. If you feel your picture is too dull due to the lighting, you can raise the saturaton, or temperature of the picture or both in post production software.
5. If the weather conditions show overcast all day, you can shoot for hours on end all day long without worrying about bright light and shadows.

This picture of a siberian tiger is a really big seller for me. It was a pretty dark February day at about 3p.m. I was disappointed as I thought the photo shoot would be a flop due to the lighting conditions, but I was determined to make the best of it. This picture was taken in the mountains in a field. The sun was going down over the mountain on an already dark overcast day. On the bright side, there are no shadows and the sun isn't interefering with the picture with harsh tones that are difficult to fix in post production software. It turned out really nicely.  To compare, I photographed a cougar in the early morning light the next day. I was lucky as the light was very nice and so I had both extremes in 12 hours. 

The moral of the story is, don't stay home just because it's cloudy out. Some of my best pictures have been taken on an overcast day, where the light is actually quite bright (but not harsh). 

Check out our main wildlife photography website and our Kenya/Tanzania blog

Amateur Photographer; Professional Prints

I am not a professional photographer, I merely create images to sell on the side. Each year however, I sell more and more prints, canvases and greeting cards. My goal is to someday retire as a full time photographer. That being said, alhtough I am not a profesisonal photographer, I do feel that many of my photos are every bit as good as any wildlife photographer out there and yours can be too. Here are a few tips on how to make your photos look more professional.

1. Tools of the trade: Research what photographic equipment the pros are using and buy the same equipment. I use canon cameras and lenses and photoshop and lightroom for processing. Yes, the equipment  and software is expensive and yes, that is a big part of the reason that the professionals images look so good. You can race a pinto against a ferrari on a race track, but the only thing in common between the two will be the track that they race on. There is absolutely no way that a pinto is going to compete with a ferarri on a timed lap and there is no way you are going to compete your point and shoot camera up against the equipment that the pros use.
2. Homework and practice: the beautiful thing about photography is there is a never ending amount of techniques to learn and practice. The nice thing is that you will be rewarded and will learn more on every photo shoot that you go on.
3. Research where pros photograph their subjects and go there. Do as the pros do.
4. If you want to produce images like the pros, then keep on top of R and D; Rip off and Duplicate and add your own signature or style to your niche. How do you think the pros became pros? They pretty much followed these simple steps.

To photograph these leopards I had to research where to go to find them. Many photographers travel across the world and never get a chance to even see one leopard. We saw them every day on safari. You can't photograph them if you can't see them, so do your homework.

To photograph these lions, I needed the right equipment. I needed a long lens, so I could keep my distance without getting eaten:). The right equipment in the right place.

You definitely don't want to be close to bears when you are photographing them. A 600 mm lens with a 1.4 teleconverter comes in pretty handy when you want a picure of something that may just eat you if you get too close.

All the rest you can learn. You can learn photoshop. That is just hours in front of a computer, googling questions when you need to know step by step instructions on how to improve an image. You can learn about speed and aperature, composition from books, trial and error.

Keep snapping. The professional equipment is expensive, but the lenses are pretty much timless. The canon lens technology hasn't changed much in years, so invest as much as you can in good lenses and enjoy your photography.

Greg

Wildlife Photogaphy; Tools of the Trade

Your success in taking great wildlife pictures begins with the right equipment. 

 I still remember being on holidays years and years ago. We are in kayaks in the ocean. The water is crystal clear without so much as a ripple. The sun is just barely peaking out from behind the clouds. The light is soft and I see an eagle in a tree staring down at the water. I get my camera ready and focus on him. He swoops down right in front of us to pick up a fish. Now most shots you see of eagles picking up fish out of the water are shots from the side. Intresting, but not dramatic. This eagle was facing us as he dropped down out of the sky to grab this fish. I had perfect timing. his talons are sunk into the fish, wings spread wide, you can see the splash and water droplets from his wings and talons leaving the water. I could see his eyes as he was looking up as he was taking off from the water with his prize. It actually looked like he was looking right at me! Absolutely perfect timing. Perfect picture. Exciting, interesting, dramatic. A picture that you coud hang on your wall and spend hours looking at it in awe. Literally one of those once in a lifetime shots...

The result? A somewhat blurry picture of a perfect opportunity. I was so crushed! I knew right then what my problem was. I bought a crappy lens and ended up with a crappy result. If I had the camera equipment that I have now, the picture of that eagle would have been enlarged, framed and the center piece of my livingroom as it would still be hanging over my fireplace to this day. Instead I have a picture of a cougar in that spot. I love my cougar, but that eagle picture would have been truly amazing.

So, a few tips, so you don't miss out on your once in a life time opportunity. If you haven't decided on which camera equipment to buy here are some tips for you.

1. Research the lenses first. Photography equipment has come a long way in recent years. Your lens is going to be your biggest asset. Don't make the mistake of rushing out and buying the first camera that is on sale. You can't put canon lenses on a pentax camera.
2. The leaders in the industry are canon and nikon cameras and lenses. Some people like one, some like the other. When on safari, I notice that most wildlife photographers use either one or the other. Personally I think Nikon cameras edge out Canon in some ways, and canon cameras edge out Nikon cameras in some ways, but at the end of the day, I prefer the "L" series glass of the canon, so that is my camera of choice. Choose the lens, then buy the camera and build your lens collection around your brand of choice.
3. Wildlife isn't usually fond of close human presence, so the longer the lens the better.
4. The best wildlife light is dim in the morning and dim in the early evening. To take advantage of that soft light, buy a lens with the smallest aperature you can buy. A zoom or long lens starting at an aperature of f2.8 with image stabilization will go a long way to assist you in taking those amazing wildlife pictures, so spend as much as you can afford on each lens. If anything, scrimp on the camera. Camera technology changes yearly. The technology in my lenses hasn't changed since I bought them ten years ago. You will upgrade cameras every few years, but you will use those same lenses on all of your cameras throughout the years. I can't stress it enough. Spend the bulk of your photography budget on the best lens you can buy!
5. To reiterate; you need to bring your subject in closer, with the smallest aperature, so you can use faster speeds to stop the blur of the action with lower ISO's. Simple principle, expensive lenses to get the results you are looking for.
6. Learning photoshop and lightroom are a must whether you use Nikon, canon, whether you have a pc or a mac. Spend lots of time learning the in's and out's of photoshop and lightroom. These programs can be intimidating, so get some Scott Kelby help. His books and website will help you with any question that might arise with the latest in photoshop and lightroom products. His tutorials are easy to follow and written so even I can understand them.
7. Where to buy? Here are a couple of my favourite spots. In the states I like to go to B and H Photo: or in Canada I like: Don's Photo at or sometimes: McBain's at: I usually prefer Don's or B and H Photo. Sometimes one edges out the other, but they are both great companies!

Remember to respect nature and respect wildlife. Nature and wildlife can and will cause injury and or death to those who are arrogantly disrespectful. If you can't be respectful, inevitably one day, a guy like the beast below will teach you a lesson that you may never have the second chance to learn from. The picture below illustrates one more reason why you need to buy a long lens. This picture was taken with a 600mm lens with a 1.4 teleconverter. It is cropped a little bit, but shows the intimacy of this beast while living to talk about it because we are not invading his personal space..

'The Beast'

Check out more grizzly bear pictures at our Harvey Wildlife Photo Gallery

Wildlife Photography; Focus On Good Light.

Widlife Photography can be very difficult and involves a lot of time, good timing and a lot of luck....and like anything else, the harder you work and the more shots you take, the luckier you get. Every photographer understands the benefits of the soft lighting of the early morning and late afternoon. Unfortunately, you never know when you are going to see wildlife. That is where the luck comes in. Hopefully these tips may come in handy.

1. When on safari, increase your odds. Do your homework. Whether you are on your own or with a guide, try to figure out where the wildlife is going to be and get there early in the dark of the morning or the early afternoon and wait for that perfect light. If you are settled in and quiet, you have a better opportunity of getting some nice nature photography shots in the nice soft light than if you are just arriving to where the wildlife is as the light is softening. When you arrive where the wildlife is, the wildlife may run away due to your disturbing them etc. It is just easier to get there first, let them get a little bit accustomed to your presence ahead of time and hopefully your preperation will pay off. Not to mention, if you are there first and you are quiet, sometimes wildlife will almost come to you.
2. Don't be afraid of an overcast day. Very often, you will take the best pictures on overcast days. There are no shadows, the lighting doesn't get so harsh that your photos are virtually beyond photoshop repair and you can take pictures all day long. I love overcast days.
3. Use a long lens. If you want a deer to be a little more comfortable in your presence, it is a lot easier done with a 600mm lens, than a 300mm. The obvious problem with a 600 is the weight of the lens, but that is another issue.

This picture of a black backed jackal family is a perfect example of being in the right time in the right place and doing your homework. We knew this black backed jackal family was in this area; or hoped they would be as we saw them the day before. We had our guide take us to the same area again just before dusk. We parked the landrover in an open area. A hundred or so yards away, we could see an adult black backed jackal on the edge of the tree line. I focused my 600mm on him, a few minutes later his mate joined him. They made some sort of call, then shortly after that out popped a baby black backed jackal. He came out and greeted his parents. I took about ten shots as they were making their greetings. This was my favourite picture of the series.

In that situation everything happened perfectly.

1. We did our homework and had an idea where the black backed jackals would be.
   
   
2. We got there before the soft light of the afternoon so they could get accustomed to our presence.
   
   
3. We waited 100 yards away so they would feel they were at a comfortable safe distance to go about their routine.
   
   
4. I focused on them with a 600mm lens and waited and hoped for some action.
   
   

I got lucky that time. Wildlife Photography is just that though. Successful wildlife photography to me is defined as the moment where preparation and education meets luck.

With that, I wish you good education, good preparation and good luck with your wildlife photography. 

Wildlife Photography; Get it clear...

Wildlife can be tricky to photograph. Your subjects rarely sit, pose, or look in the direction that you want them to, so you have to be ready for when they do. I have a couple tips that might help you with that.

1. Animals move a lot. Use a high shutter speed. I usually use a shutter speed of minimum of 400. You never know when the wolf you are trying to photograph is going to walk, run, jump or swat at something. Nothing is more frustrating to me than a perfectly focused picture that has a lot of blur in the feet (or worse the mouth or head) because I wasn't expecting the action. Some photographers like blur as it shows action. I don't mind blur if it is done on purpose, but even then, to me the eye is drawn to the blur and not the head of the animal where it should be. If you are using a zoom lens that doesn't have image stabilization, it can be a little trickier to get that sharp shot. Your shutter speed should be at least be equal to the zoom of the lens. If you are zoomed out to 250mm, your shutter should reflect at least 250mm, or you may end up with too much camera shake and a blurry picture. I just use image stabilized lenses, so I have one less thing to worry about.
2. If you are doing portrait shots, and your wolf subject is not moving much and you want a nice portrait of the wolf's head, I change my shutter to a slower speed and a higher aperature. If I am photographing a wolf for instance, because the wolf has a long nose, if I use a low aperature of f4 ish, the nose will be in focus, but the eyes will not be sharp. If the eyes are sharp, the nose may not be. This doesn't look very good. Use a small aperature i.e. f 12 or 14 or as high as you can get it, so you can get that sharp head shot. At the same time, if your portrait shot isn't very tight and you have a busy background, you may better off to keep the aperature large at F4, so that the background is blurred out.
3. So, large aperature, fast shutter, or small aperature, slow shutter? What do you do? Well, like I said, different shots require different settings to get different effects. I typically carry two cameras. One remains set with a larger aperature and faster speed setting so if the animal is moving, I pick up that camera and fire off as many shots as I can. If the wolf stops moving and sits down and it looks like he is in more of a relaxed mood, I will switch to my other camera (it is usually the one with the larger telephoto lens), so I can do some portrait shots. As soon as he gets active again, I switch back to the other camera.
4. Animal interaction is great and usually much more interesting than only having one subject. The problem however is for instance, if you are photographing foxes, one fox for can be ahead of the other one slightly, so more often than not, one fox is in focus while the other one is blurry. That doesn't very often make a good picture. Try to position yourself if possible so that both foxes are the same distance from your camera. I stole this picture from the links page on my website. It is a good example illustrating motion, both foxes are the same distance from the camera and the focus is good. Also, because there is interaction, the picture can become much more ineresting than if there was just one fox in the picture. This picture illustrates an adult fox disciplining a baby fox that has gotten out of line. I love this photo. You didn't have to be there to see what was happening in the picture. Like they say, "a picture is worth a thousand words," and that is certainly the case in this fox picture.

Yes, this picture was cropped and photoshopped for my website. If you want to see other pictures of foxes, check them out on my nature website.