Snowy Owl "Familiar Fence Post"

Having become thoroughly disgusted and frustrated with where my photography was and unable to find the help that I needed where I live, I drove out to Long Island, New York to spend a "Shoot The Light" "A Day In The Field" day with Chas Glatzer. I went to him specifically for examination of my original images, scans and finished prints, post production Photoshop work and if time was available, metering techniques. Chas confirmed my long held fear that my scans were not of the quality that I needed even though they were done at a professional lab. Detail, sharpness and color gamut that is present in the originals is not present in the scans. While someone skilled in Photoshop can make my images look decent for printing and marginally better for presentation on these forums, they will never, as is, come close to the originals. Two years of working trying to make my scans and prints look the way they should is going down the drain. Chas helped me with specific problems that I have been having with Photoshop and showed me different ways to deal with those problems.

Taking a break from the Photoshop instruction in the late afternoon, Chas drove me out to Jones Beach to go over metering techniques. Years ago I adopted (swallowed hook, line and sinker) the philosophies of a different wildlife photographer that a particular camera body, one that I still shoot with today, would handle 98% of any lighting conditions that I would deal with without any compensation. This mistake has limited me ever since in what I can photograph and the quality of the resulting images. Chas went over sunny 16, incident metering and evaluative metering while compensating for varying lighting conditions and subjects. I do not recommend trying to cram all of this into one day as I did. It is information overload. While Chas was getting Black Skimmer images like the one he posted last week, I was lying in the same sand trying desperately to retain all that had been thrown at me that day. I understand all of the principals behind the techniques, it is relearning how and when to apply the techniques and compensations that will take me time to digest.

Chas is the consumate teacher. He wants you to get to whatever level you want to get to with your photography. His philosophy is, here are the fundamentals, here are the techniques, go to work. Find your own style. Chas is extremely open and giving of what he knows and will go over anything that needs repeating until you understand it. I went to Chas for answers and I got them. To get to where I want to be I am going to scrap two years of work with my original images and relearn exposure handling adopting Chas' techniques. I wish that I had listened to someone who two years ago told me of the web site where Chas and many of you were available for instruction and critiques. That was another mistake that I made. I would not be in the situation that I am in now, having to start over again. As daunting and disheartening that is to me, I look forward to seeing how much better my finished images will look when I am back on track.

Was it worth driving twelve hours out and twelve hours back, taking two hours to get through New York City because of missed turns and existing on Mountain Dew to stay awake along the way? Yes! The only thing that I would do differently is spend two days there instead of one. As soon as I am finished with my show schedule, I will be arranging for another session with Chas with another "Day In The Field" or an extended "Shoot The Light" workshop. It was my pleasure to have met Chas and his family.

This snowy owl image was taken in Pendleton County, Kentucky a few years back. Before posting the image, I used as many of the Photoshop techniques that Chas showed me as I was comfortable with at this time. This snowy went to this same fence post each evening within fifteen minutes of 5:45pm to begin hunting in the field. I was set up waiting for him to take flight. The sun was disappearing behind a distant ridge in back of me when a single shaft of beautiful warm sunlight illuminated him. The snowy stayed there for ten minutes staring at me bathed in this gorgeous light. This is one of the many images that I took of him at this time.

There is something magical, something mystical about snowy owls. They get into your heart and where they come to visit becomes holy ground.

I hope that you enjoy the image. I loved taking it.

Suggestions, ideas and reposts are welcome.

David

Nikon F5, 600 F4 AFS
Gitzo 1410 Tripod
Wimberly Head
Fuji Provia 400F
High Res Scan
Photoshop; Quick Mask, Magic Wand, Levels in selected areas, USM, Burning and Dodging, Smart Blur