More timber wolves

[Manfred M]

Here are a few more shots of timber wolves that I captured last weekend.

[Shadowman]

Very nice series, nicely exposed.

[Bobobird]

... and lived to get the pics and tell the story.

Excellent shots all.

[Nicks Pics]

These are excellently done! Ones that strike me best are 2, 3, 4, and especially 5, though #3 looks a little flat, or something, was it a natural affect like mist or something? Quality of these is top notch. What equipment did you use?

[Manfred M]

These are excellently done! Ones that strike me best are 2, 3, 4, and especially 5, though #3 looks a little flat, or something, was it a natural affect like mist or something? Quality of these is top notch. What equipment did you use?

The lighting was quite flat; the snow is effectively a giant white reflector that drives soft, diffuse light everywhere. This is great for seeing facial details and details of the fur. Increasing contrast gives more "punch", but a less realistic look. I sharpened based on seeing these details. The black and white points were set to "reasonable" values based on what I saw that day. I focused on the eyes of the front wolf, so the one in the back might be a touch soft.

Equipment - Nikon D800 with the original Nikkor 80-400mm lens. All shots were taken from a heavy duty tripod and ball head. Settings - ISO 100, aperture priority at f/8

[NorthernFocus]

Beautiful animals and well captured, Manfred. Yes shooting over snow has its pros and cons. I love the third shot. Nicely done.

[Antonio Correia]

They are all great images !

I admire their quality. Very much !

Wonderfull processing !

[Barbara Ponder]

Beautiful shots! I especially like the 2 shots of the pair.

[Nicks Pics]

The lighting was quite flat; the snow is effectively a giant white reflector that drives soft, diffuse light everywhere. This is great for seeing facial details and details of the fur. Increasing contrast gives more "punch", but a less realistic look. I sharpened based on seeing these details. The black and white points were set to "reasonable" values based on what I saw that day. I focused on the eyes of the front wolf, so the one in the back might be a touch soft.

Equipment - Nikon D800 with the original Nikkor 80-400mm lens. All shots were taken from a heavy duty tripod and ball head. Settings - ISO 100, aperture priority at f/8

Thanks for the info Manfred,
I have noticed how nicely the snow show the details, these remind me of the clarity of photos taken under controlled lighting.
Just one follow- up question: when you use aperture priority are you controlling shutter speed at all? I usually don't use it for wildlife because I thought it might allow shutter speeds to go too low where it needs to be high.

[Cananeer]

Excellent captures - I really like #3-5 & 6 these are wall hangers for sure!!
(meaning enlarged and framed )

[Stagecoach]

Great series Manfred , No 5 is my pick of the bunch.

[Manfred M]

Thanks for the info Manfred,
I have noticed how nicely the snow show the details, these remind me of the clarity of photos taken under controlled lighting.
Just one follow- up question: when you use aperture priority are you controlling shutter speed at all? I usually don't use it for wildlife because I thought it might allow shutter speeds to go too low where it needs to be high.

Nick - when one shoots aperture priority at a fixed ISO, the camera calculates and applies the correct shutter speed.

The flip side of the argument of shutter speed versus aperture is that I might shoot at apertures that are too high and my depth of field might be too shallow to get reasonable detail sharpness. Don't forget, there are two ways of introducing motion blur; the animals moving (and generally in the winter the wolves are moving very little when not looking for food, in order to preserve energy) and camera shake. That's why I shot using a tripod; it eliminates camera shake and allows for better and more accurate framing, especially when shooting with a long lens.

I tend to shoot low ISO (100 in the case of these images), to maximize dynamic range and colour depth while minimizing digital noise. I know a couple of things about my lens, and it tends to be nice and sharp in the f/8 to f/11 range. I also knew that I wanted enough DoF to get the animals looking sharp, but wanted some degree of softness in the background so as to ensure that the trees, etc. do not overly distract the viewer in the final product. Shooting in snow, I generally start with +1 exposure compensation and I do take test shots and check my histogram and vary a bit. I think these shots were all take with exposure compensation values of between +0.7 and +1.7. Shooting conditions were light overcast with some sunny breaks.

When I look at my metadata, the shots were all taken at shutter speeds between 1/250th and 1/800th.

Now, if I were hand holding the camera, I suspect I might have chosen to go shutter priority and would have selected a shutter speed around 1/1000th.

[Tom Barry]

They're all great shots. Wolves are my favorite of all animals, and you've more than done them justice.

[Mike Buckley]

I like all of them but the last one is especially nice for me because it combines the close-up details of the subject with the context and social aspect provided by the wolf in the background.

[Krawuntzel]

Hi Manfred
an outstanding series. Since here in Switzerland we do not have many wolves in the wild, may I ask, where you "found" them and how close did they get?
Erwin

[Mike Buckley]

I usually don't use it [aperture priority] for wildlife because I thought it might allow shutter speeds to go too low where it needs to be high.

One solution is to use aperture priority combined with Auto ISO if your camera allows you to configure the slowest shutter speed to be used as one of the Auto ISO settings. (Some older models don't allow that.) 99% of my handheld shots are made using that combination of settings including when I went on safari and photographed animals. Doing so combines the best of all worlds for me by ensuring the desired depth of field, a shutter speed that stops the action, and the lowest possible ISO within the constraints of the selected aperture and shutter speed.

[Wavelength]

What a great set of images!!! adorable

[Manfred M]

Hi Manfred
an outstanding series. Since here in Switzerland we do not have many wolves in the wild, may I ask, where you "found" them and how close did they get?
Erwin

Erwin - I cheated. These are semi-wild animals in a nature park, rather being wild ones.

I've only ever seen one timber wolf in the wild (also in the winter). At night out in the country not far from where we live, one can hear them howling, but sightings are very, very rare. They do avoid people.

[Nicks Pics]

Nick - when one shoots aperture priority at a fixed ISO, the camera calculates and applies the correct shutter speed.

The flip side of the argument of shutter speed versus aperture is that I might shoot at apertures that are too high and my depth of field might be too shallow to get reasonable detail sharpness. Don't forget, there are two ways of introducing motion blur; the animals moving (and generally in the winter the wolves are moving very little when not looking for food, in order to preserve energy) and camera shake. That's why I shot using a tripod; it eliminates camera shake and allows for better and more accurate framing, especially when shooting with a long lens.

I tend to shoot low ISO (100 in the case of these images), to maximize dynamic range and colour depth while minimizing digital noise. I know a couple of things about my lens, and it tends to be nice and sharp in the f/8 to f/11 range. I also knew that I wanted enough DoF to get the animals looking sharp, but wanted some degree of softness in the background so as to ensure that the trees, etc. do not overly distract the viewer in the final product. Shooting in snow, I generally start with +1 exposure compensation and I do take test shots and check my histogram and vary a bit. I think these shots were all take with exposure compensation values of between +0.7 and +1.7. Shooting conditions were light overcast with some sunny breaks.

When I look at my metadata, the shots were all taken at shutter speeds between 1/250th and 1/800th.

Now, if I were hand holding the camera, I suspect I might have chosen to go shutter priority and would have selected a shutter speed around 1/1000th.

Thanks for the info, that's helpful.

[chauncey]

Your forth image...what caused them all to be standing?