Photo Field Trip with Joanne Williams

By Jim Shanteau

It was 7am Saturday March 17 when our small group of 6 gathered at Viera Wetlands with Joanne Williams as our photo expert and Jason as trip coordinator. We were all eager to learn all we could from her after seeing her awesome inspirational presentation the night before at the SC chapter meeting. What a wonderful treat it was!

We entered the wetlands and drove around the perimeter observing the wildlife and scenery as the sun rose. We stopped along the road on the eastern side of the first pond with the sun behind us and several photo subjects across the pond in front of us. This is where we stayed for the remainder of the morning focusing many of our shots on 5 black crowned night herons (3 immature) lit up by the early morning sun. Other birds seen and photographed from this sight included a pair of bald eagles, crested caracara, snowy egret, great blue heron, osprey, blue-winged teal, lesser scaup, anhinga, double-crested cormorant, and pied-billed grebe.

Joanne offered many terrific pointers as we photographed and during a review of photos previously taken by Bunny. Following are a few of her suggestions to improve nature photography results.

1. Know your camera. Experiment by taking the same shot at various settings of exposure, F-stop, ISO, etc. while taking notes. Always have your camera manual handy for quick reference.
   
   
2. Take a quick record shot of the subject centered then try to improve the shot by adjusting settings and composition.
   
   
3. Photograph the front of subjects. Avoid photographing subjects from behind when possible.
   
   
4. Leave plenty of space in front of where the primary subject is looking.
   
   
5. Be aware of the background. Look for color or reflections in flat water and keep horizon, tree-line or shoreline horizontal.
   
   
6. Choose a primary setting (i.e. aperture priority) and stay with it to maximize speed.
   
   
7. Minimize reliance on photo editing. Try to take the photo you want with the camera.
   
   
8. Always use a rigid tri-pod when photographing with a long lens (i.e. >300mm). A large bean bag on a car hood or window frame will also work quite well with the car engine off.
   
   
9. Get an early start.Photos taken between 10am and 3pm will likely be too harsh in full sun.

Many thanks to Joanne and her husband Ted for making the trip, presenting her superb educational wildlife photography presentation at the Space Coast Audubon chapter meeting, and offering photography knowledge based on her extensive experience to our chapter members.