Penguin

[guppiecat]

Turns out you can use the same technique for bats in mid-flight to get penguins in mid-swim.

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.

Comments

[guppiecat]

You watch the movement for about ten minutes and identify the paths that the animals are taking. For example, if there's a hole for critters to fly (or swim) through, you have a point of constraint.

Then you pick a backdrop that you want the animal to be over. Sometimes this is the hole itself, sometimes it's a wall nearby. If the wall nearby is too close, you don't want to use that because ...

Next you set up your flashes. You pick a primary flash and set it so it doesn't cast a shadow against the nearby wall. Take a few shots to identify where there too much shadow.

Set up the second flash to fill in that shadow at lower power and a different angle. Again, be careful not to put a shadow on a wall if you don't want one.

Put the camera on the tripod and open the camera lens angle wider than you need and stop down the lens to something reasonable for this. I typically wind up at 16 or 22. Take a test shot and adjust the flash power up to where need it.

Then, you wait and every time a critter goes through your pre-determined spot, take a photo and zoom in to check your focus. It'll never be perfect, but you want it good enough to see teeth, eyes and claws. (No teeth for penguins.)

Eventually, everything is set up right and you can get the perfect shot. Usually, that is when the critters change their flight/swim pattern.