Photographing Vancouver Island

You've planned your trip for months and have traveled thousands of miles for the opportunity to see killer whales in their natural environment.

Camera in hand, you jump aboard the boat that will take you within meters of these giant mammals. On the way out to the viewing site, you set your camera on 'program' (automatic) mode so all you have to do is point and shoot. You're now ready to capture the famed orca on film so that you can show all your friends back home how close you actually were. The whale-watching boat slows to an idle and the skipper yells that there's a pod just off the starboard bow. You find yourself a strategic spot to shoot from and ready your index finger on the shutter release. Suddenly, a huge dorsal fin, like the conning tower on a submarine, breaks the surface. You begin snapping photos, frantically unaware of the blinding glare reflecting off the water and into your lens. Another one surfaces about 100 meters from the boat so you focus your 50mm lens and again rattle off frame after frame. In all, you bang off four rolls of film and you're positive that at least a few of them are award winners. Back home, you eagerly wait while your photos are developed. The clerk, unimpressed, hands you the developed prints and you rush out to the car to view your masterpieces. Your anticipation quickly turns to utter disappointment as you view print after print. Every shot is either vastly underexposed, or what was the great orca of the deep, has been reduced to little more than a black mark in a sea of blue.

If stories like this apply to you, the following information may be helpful in improving your photographic skills. Follow the tips and techniques below and you will come home from your vacation on Vancouver Island with pictures of a lifetime.

Learning to Control Your Camera

In the past, a photographer had little choice but to learn how the camera operates because it was all done manually. Many of today's cameras are fully automatic, giving the photographer more time and freedom to capture the perfect moment without having to worry about technical problems. However, just as the computer can replace the writer's pen, it is still the writer who has to do the thinking. The camera cannot compose the picture or tell you from where you should shoot. The success of a photo still lies with the creativity, imagination and readiness of the photographer.

Camera Basics

Your camera's shutter speed and aperture settings work together to create the proper exposures. The shutter determines the amount of time the camera will allow light to hit the film. The aperture (referred to in F-stops) is the size of the opening (eye) in the lens that determines how much light will hit the film. In program mode, the camera decides both the shutter speed and aperture settings. In aperture priority mode, you set the aperture manually and the camera decides what the appropriate shutter speed will be. In shutter priority mode, you set the shutter speed manually and the camera decides what the appropriate aperture setting will be. In manual mode, you set both aperture and shutter speed.
Aperture settings determine the depth of field of your photographs - in other words, how much of the foreground, midground and background will be in focus. F 2.8 results in minimal depth of field but enables faster shutter speeds for freezing action. This is often the aperture of choice for photographing wildlife. F 22 creates maximum depth of field but much slower shutter speeds. Higher F numbers are effective in shooting landscapes and usually require a tripod. The rule of thumb for maintaining sharp photos with handheld photography is the shutter speed must not go below the reciprocal number of the focal length you are using (i.e. 200mm lens - 1/250 second or faster).
The table below illustrates how aperture and shutter speed work together and the resulting depths of field:

Control Settings:

1) Program mode eliminates the photographer's need to think about proper exposure. However, program mode only works in average conditions. The meter in your camera takes an average reading of the scene and exposes accordingly, but it can be fooled. If you are exposing on a predominantly dark background (i.e. dark water), the camera meter will try and compensate for this and often the end result is overexposed photos. The same applies if you are shooting with a predominantly white background (i.e. snow), only the opposite occurs. You end up with underexposed pictures. A simple way to overcome this dilemma is to switch to 'manual' mode and meter off a neutral background (i.e. the palm of your hand). Program mode also denies the photographer the freedom of creative exposures and aperture settings as the camera determines what these settings will be. However, program mode can be an effective way to capture events as they unfold but you must be aware of its limitations.

2) Aperture priority allows more creativity for the photographer than in program mode. You can manually set aperture and the camera will automatically set the shutter speed. However, the same problems can arise as in program mode if the camera is pointed at a dark or light background. The solution is exactly the same. Switch to manual mode and meter off a neutral background to ensure proper exposure. If photographing wildlife is your thing, set the aperture so that it is wide open, usually F 2.8 or F 4 depending on your lens. If there is an abundance of available light, you may be able to close down the aperture to allow greater depth of field and still maintain fast shutter speeds. With landscape photography, you will want to have edge-to-edge sharpness in your photographs which requires greater depth of field (i.e. F 16 or greater). More often than not you will want to use a tripod to eliminate camera shake as shutter speeds can be much slower. Many cameras come with a depth-of-field preview button which enables you to see how much of your composition will be in focus. If you don't have edge-to-edge sharpness, close down the aperture until you can see that everything is in focus.

3) Shutter Priority is much the same as aperture priority only you manually set the shutter speed and your camera automatically sets the aperture. Shutter priority is usually preferred when you are trying to maintain fast shutter speeds.

4) Manual is the setting on your camera that offers you the greatest freedom and creativity. You decide the shutter speed and aperture settings. While it takes a little more time to get the proper exposure, you don't have to rely on your camera's meter for proper exposure. It enables you to bracket* photos of the same subject thus increasing your chances of getting the perfect exposure.

* Bracketing is a technique used by many photographers to increase their chances of properly exposing their photographs. It involves usually taking three shots of the same scene. The first exposure is taken by using the camera's meter. The second is taken one F-stop over the camera's meter reading and the third is taken one F-stop under. This can be done on any setting if your camera is equipped with an exposure compensation dial. Otherwise it must be done on manual mode. Bracketing is the single most important thing you can do to ensure proper exposures under difficult lighting conditions.

Useful Tips

There are many different techniques you can do to add flare to your photographs and below are some of those tips to take you from mundane to WOW!

Learning to read light:
Direction and intensity of light are the two most important elements you need to master if you are to create interesting images.

Direction of light can be determined by the shadows cast by objects the light is falling on. Shadows always lie away from the light's origin. Side lighting on your subject emphasizes its shape and can make it much more appealing. Early morning and evening most often provide the best light for outdoor shooting. Backlighting can also be an effective way to emphasize your subject. This kind of light (often called rim lighting) can separate your subject from the background. Midday is not conducive to creating stunning images. The light cast by the sun at this time of day is flat and casts no shadows because it is directly overhead. Most professional outdoor photographers will not even bother to take their cameras out of their bags at midday.

Intensity is the brightness of the light source. In outdoor photography, more often than not, the light source is the sun. But the type of light coming from the sun can be quite variable. On a clear day, sunlight will be intense creating a bright subject that casts sharp shadows. This hard light brings drama and excitement to your images as well as texture. Be aware though that often your film lacks the latitude to expose both the lit and shadowed areas of your subject. This is where you as the photographer must decide what part of your subject you wish to be properly exposed. If you meter on the shadow areas, part of your image may be overexposed. Similarly, if you meter on the sunlit part of your subject, you may well lose some shadow detail. On cloudy or hazy days, the light becomes diffused and casts softer shadows. The film in your camera will have an easier time exposing both the lit and shadowed areas of your subject. However, when the light is diffused your images will often lack the punch that you get from a more intense light source as it tends to diminish the texture. Depending on what you are trying to achieve, soft light may work for you as it can create a mood of peacefulness, calm and warmth.

Shooting Sunsets
There are a few easy techniques to follow to increase your chances of capturing a beautiful Vancouver Island sunset on film.
1) Don't meter directly off the sun. Meter off the sky or clouds slightly away from the sun so you get an average meter reading of the entire composition.
2) Make sure your horizon is straight. This is one of the most common mistakes amateur photographers make when shooting landscapes and nothing ruins an otherwise great image than a crooked horizon.
3) Set your aperture (F 11or higher) so that your foreground, midground and background are all in focus. This may require the use of a tripod as you will have to close (stop) down your aperture. Refer to the table above to see how to set your aperture to achieve greater depth of field.

Shoot the Moon
Full moons can be tricky business to expose properly and still maintain a viewable foreground. If you plan on capturing a full moon, it's best to time it as it crests over the horizon while the sun is still throwing some twilight on the surrounding landscape. You must meter directly off the moon and bracket every composition to increase your chances of a proper exposure. If you fail to meter off the moon, it will quite likely be overexposed with no detail. You will definitely need a tripod as exposures tend to be much longer. Add at least one foreground element such as a mountains, a boat, or a tree to your composition, otherwise it will appear to be lacking something.
Another way to shoot a full moon is to set your aperture at F 11 and your shutter speed to 1/ISO of your film (i.e. ISO 100 film - shutter speed = 1/125).

Panning
Using a slow shutter speed to create blur, you can add the illusion of speed to your images as well other interesting effects. You must follow your subject with your camera as you press on down on the shutter release. The result is your subject should be acceptably sharp while the background is blurry. By reducing your shutter speed to around 1/30 second you can also create interesting effects with your subject such as ghosting and double images. If you're confident with your handheld steadiness, try it without a tripod, otherwise a tripod is recommended.

Making water flow
Slow shutter speeds can also create the illusion of flowing water from a river or waterfall. You will definitely require a tripod to ensure the rest of your composition is tack sharp. Stop down your aperture so that you reduce your shutter speed to 1/15 second or less. Often, the result is an ethereal, peaceful image.

General Tips for Composition

Bull's-eye: A common mistake many aspiring photographers make is to place their subject dead center in the frame. Occasionally, this does work, but 99 per cent of the time it ruins the photo. Try placing your subject off to one side and have them look into the frame.

Distracting Elements: When composing your photo, check all corners of the frame to make sure there are not any distracting elements that will take away from the subject of your image such as branches, cars, telephone wires and poles, etc. Also make sure that the subject of your photo doesn't appear to have a telephone pole or the like growing out of his/her head or body.

Framing Your Images: Foreground images can be very effective in highlighting the subject of your photos (i.e. a piece of gnarled driftwood on the beach with a cruise ship going by). Other foreground elements like tree limbs also work well to frame your images. Don't forget that you will want edge-to-edge sharpness so you will need to have maximum depth of field.

Look for the unusual: Make every attempt to be unique when composing your images. Don't be afraid to experiment with a number of different compositions of the same scene. Don't just shoot at eye level. Shoot from ground level or get up higher and shoot down. Remember to look behind you. Not everything occurs in front of you. Shoot reactions of people as events occur.

Camera Gear

Camera Body: There are many excellent amateur SLR (single lens reflex) cameras to choose from. Depending on how much you are willing to spend and what features you want, they range anywhere from a few hundred dollars to over $1,000. Don't get rid of your point-and-shoot camera if you do decide to buy an advanced SLR because they can still come in handy for getting that quick picture. Many professional photographers keep a point-and-shoot handy to grab that quick photo of an unfolding event that otherwise would have been missed. Remember: Always keep fresh batteries on hand. There's nothing worse than having that perfect picture before your eyes and finding out your batteries have died.

Lens choice: A beginner photographer will need at least two zoom lenses to adequately cover most photographic needs. A 28-70mm lens is useful in shooting landscapes, those group photos around the campfire, or the flotilla of fishing boats in the harbor. A 70-200mm lens will compress distances and bring your subject closer to you. It may be adequate for shooting wildlife, but a longer lens is preferred by most photographers to get a close-up shot of that bear or elk. It is, however, perfect for photographing cruise ships as they idle by the Campbell River fishing pier every evening and it is also great for portraiture.
Depending on your budget, these lenses can run anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand. An F 4 - F 5.6 is more than adequate for the beginner photographer for both lenses and is much cheaper than their F 2.8 counterparts. Brand names also plays a significant role in the price of lenses, but remember, you get what you pay for.

There is an infinite amount of other gear and gizmos to add to your camera bag, but this provides you with a good starting point on the road to great images. As you grow into your new hobby, you will want to add and upgrade your equipment.

Vancouver Island is the outdoor photographer's dream. From birds, to plants, to killer whales, to majestic landscapes, the opportunities are endless. If you use the tips and techniques provided above you will be able to capture those memorable experiences you had during your vacation to this natural wonderland.

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