The importance of experimenting

I thought I'd try recording a podcast away from my usual studio, mainly because I've just reached Sydney after two weeks in Namibia, most of it well away from an internet connection.

So, how important is experimenting and how big a role should it play in your photography?

I'll also share a few things from my trip to Namibia, which included a couple of days in Etosha National Park.

It's time for another podcast...

Transcript

>> Speaker A: 0:20

Well, hello again. And this, podcast is slightly different to what I normally do, and there is a reason for that. It's, perhaps slightly contrived, but there you go. So normally I record the sat in front of my computer or, on a video call with somebody if it's, ah, a guesthouse, podcast. Today though, I'm on, or just on the edge of Coogee beach in Sydney. So, that's down in the southern, beaches of Sydney. And part of the reason for that is I've just come from a couple of weeks in, Namibia, and, while I was down this way, I thought I'd just go to Sydney and visit, friends and, just catch up with people, because I haven't been here for nearly five years. So, for those who don't know me, I did live for quite a while, about 14 years in Sydney. So it's always nice to catch up with people. You might get some noise in the background, that's fine. and in Namibia, I mean, I've spoken about this, in one or two podcasts where I've been talking about preparation. So this was, a trip where I did a couple of things. One was to fundraise and support era, ehra Namibia, which is one of the projects that I support through sales, of my, fine art prints. So if you haven't had a look at those, please do on the website. but nominally 10% of the purchase price of the pictures, goes to error. And, that excludes the shipping pricing, but m, basically the pricing is set up to allow me to do that. So error is one of the projects I support, and era stands for elephant human relations aid. They work with local, communities in Namibia to help people to live with elephants because of the, ah, sort of unsettled nature, of that part of the country. The, ah, people who traditionally lived there moved out some decades ago and other people on the whole moved back in. When they first moved in, the elephants had also abandoned that area because it was basically a war zone for a while. But then eventually the elephants came back again. And you now have elephants living with people who not only are not particularly knowledgeable about living with elephants, they never grow up with them, but also they have an almost superstitious fear of them. So that was a bit of an eye opener, when I first went to Namibia, at the end of 2019. So what, one of the things that eero do is to educate people about elephants and how to live with them. Another thing they do and that I got involved with was just building protection for infrastructure. So we built a big two metre high wall, around a water tower, basically to stop elephants knocking it over, because elephants can be very destructive. So era do a lot of great work there. And, that population of african desert elephants is one of only two that's left in the world. So it's certainly important, unfortunately, because there's been a serious drought in Namibia for the last two years now. There has been, or there's now a government move to cull certain animals in wildlife parks, including a tosha, which I also went to. But ah, also elephants in the wild. So there are numbers against this. how good an idea that is is debatable, but that's what they've decided to do. So the drought is putting pressure on everything, really. People and elephants, and other animals of course, too. So that's, what I've been doing. And then I also had a quick, couple of days up in Etosha, the, national park towards the north of the country, and got extremely lucky with the animals that I got to see there. So for a trip that was really less than 48 hours, I'm very happy with what I got, including seeing a leopard, walking to a waterhole, which I hadn't seen before. So that was a good one. Okay, so anyway, back to what I was thinking about as really the theme for this podcast. So there are a couple of themes. One of them though is just experimenting. So I'm doing this podcast. I could have sat where I'm staying and done it in my bedroom using my computer. Just done a normal one. I don't have all of my normal gear with me, but I've got enough to do a, podcast. But I thought I'd try something different. And that really has also been a theme for me with that first part of the trip. So, the fundraiser that involved walking what turned out to be 106, kilometres in the desert, over five days. And I had a camera with me, with my wide angle zoom. So it wasn't my long telephoto. And we didn't see much in the way m of animals, except very far off, lots of tracks. So if you are trying to learn, spore and read the story that's on the ground of what's been going on, then, it's certainly a good one for that. One of the things we did see were very fresh elephant tracks. There was certainly no more than an hour old. and as it happened some leopard tracks that were a little bit older. But the photographically, the thing was, I was mostly shooting landscapes. I was with a group of people there shooting lots of stuff on smartphones as a group. That whole trip was well documented and I just thought I'd experiment with different photographs that people weren't taking, so that there was, some alternative, I guess, art coming from, that particular walk. And again, this is a theme that I've spoken about before, and I believe very strongly in that. For, your photography to develop and perhaps to keep your enjoyment of it fresh, it's good to just experiment, try different things, try different angles, try where you'd normally shoot landscape format, shoot portrait, shoot from a different angle, get down low, shoot from a sort of very much ground level view, get up high, if you can, and shoot down onto things. All of these give you a different perspective. And part of that, for me at least, is what we're doing as photographers is allowing people to see their world. Perhaps if it's an area they know, see it a little bit differently from a different perspective, and also see the world through our eyes. If that's, something else, that is a theme. So, whatever we photograph, we photograph for a reason, because it inspires us in some form. We may be seeing things that other people are not. So it's an important thing to remember, with your photography, particularly if you're sharing it regularly. It's what you're doing is sharing your view of the world with other people. So experimenting was, definitely, a theme for me. Now. a lot of them didn't work. That's the nature of it. so I tried something. It wasn't quite getting the results I wanted, but that leads me on to another thing that I've also spoken about before, and that's what you do with your photographs. So I'm a big believer in not deleting anything for at least three months. And the reason I say that is that when you look at a photograph straight after you've shot it, if you didn't quite get what you were going for, there's a big temptation to just delete it and maybe try again, if that's, a possibility for you. But if you leave it a few months and then look at the photograph, what you're doing is you've forgotten. Or the chances are that that expectation, that image you had in your mind, perhaps that you were trying to, get onto the memory card. That image has gone, it's been forgotten. So what you're doing is you're now looking at that photograph as an image in its own right. And I've certainly got photographs that are now photographs that I really like that initially they weren't what I was going for and there was a real temptation to just delete them. So I do definitely recommend that you don't do that. I know sometimes there's pressure on, space on memory cards, that kind of thing. So if you can, get a bigger memory card now, when I buy a camera, I always buy the biggest memory card and fastest memory card that the camera will support. That, may change over time, because there might be software updates for your camera, that kind of thing. that, that's basically a tip. Whenever I buy a new camera body, I always get the biggest and fastest memory cards, that it will take and that maximises, obviously what I can store on the camera, which, is quite a lot, always shoot raw as well. So that's a temptation to maybe shoot jpeg, just to keep the file sizes down, but don't do that. and the reason I say that is if you might capture that one picture, that really makes a whole trip worthwhile. But if it's jpeg, you've already lost a lot of the information anyway. It's a compressed format and you'll find that you're very limited in what you can do to just enhance it. And post processing is something that, to me is just another aspect. It's the next phase in photography these days with digital photography. I'd never do that with film. but it's definitely the case with, digital that you would, the first three stages are imagining the image, seeing it there, possibly here I've got little birds around, but imagine the image, acquire, it on the camera and then work with it in post processing to get the best version of that image that you can get. another thing I've spoken about is the ethics of that. I have no ethical problem whatsoever, because my intention is never to deceive. when I edit, I'm simply trying to bring out the, best of that image and bring out the image that I had in my mind or I saw through my eye. Because what you record on the camera is different to what you're seeing, which is why you can see an amazing sunrise. Take a photograph of it and it looks really bland and horrible. There's just nothing there. And that's simply the difference between how our visual system works and how the camera works. So don't be afraid. Excuse me. Don't be afraid to post process. You, might want to re crop if it's something. If it's an action kind of shot, like the example always give, is a breaching humpback whale, where you haven't got time to really set things up. You've got to be on that animal fast just to get an image. so there's absolutely nothing wrong with just re cropping it, putting the animal in slightly different position, in terms of where it sits in the frame. All those sorts of things are perfectly valid as post processing. So, getting back to the sort of initial theme of, just experimenting, I recommend doing it all the way through. Definitely with your acquisition, try different things. If you've been on any of the webinars and haven't done any recently. But one of the things that I, like to talk about in those, more on the composition side, is just to try different compositions in a move. If you have got a subject that's relatively static, just move it around in the frame. Just try taking different shots with different levels of foreground, background or that kind of thing, and, see what you get. So that definitely is something to think about when you're taking a photograph. So if you are planning a trip and you're away, know your camera, first of all, so that you can actually spend more time thinking about the composition. Because you don't want to be trying to remember how to set an aperture or a shutter speed if you're in that situation when you're away. You honestly haven't done your prep. So no sympathy on that one. but that does bring me to another point, and that is simply to make sure you really are familiar with your camera, that you can operate it without thinking about it. and the reason I say that is that, I was probably a little bit run down when I left to go to Namibia. And I was thinking I might be able to get some sleep on one of the flights I was on. And that, didn't really work out. by the time I got to windock, which was my first stop, I was so tired, I couldn't actually sleep. And then I was doing, some sort of four or five hour bus rides, at different times. On one occasion, three days on the trot. And, kind of got a bit of sleep on those. But the bottom line was I was having to do a lot of my photography and I was really tired. And, I like to try and keep a video diary when I do trips like this just on my smartphone. but unfortunately, the smartphone got very low on power and I tried recharging it, with a support vehicle while I was doing the walk and got it up to 33%. So we decided to just try and get it a bit higher. And for some reason it then went to 1% and then died completely. So that really didn't work. But that is a suggestion. Maybe keep a video diary. The one entry I did make though, I was looking very tired and, you know, hadn't shaved for a few days. And was generally not happy with Lufthansa for creating quite a lot of dramas on the way out. So again, know your camera, know it really well. It does mean that when you are there with animals, those moments when you need to be on and thinking about it, it doesn't matter what you're doing five minutes before, five minutes later, but you need to be just focused enough to get your shots. Make, sure you're not spending that time trying to remember how to do basic settings on the camera. Okay? So that's really the main theme. But I guess, and I've obviously touched on a bit of prep for doing a wildlife shoot. I'm. I must admit my packing this time has been pretty atrocious. And I still managed to forget a few things that I really wanted to take, but none of them were photography related. So, my priority was definitely, getting the camera gear there. a couple of things to think about though. Where I was was very, very dusty and a lot of very fine dust. And I'm pretty sure my one, angle zoom will need to be completely stripped down now and cleaned because this dust has a way of working its way into joins. And that obviously is not what you want now. Just something that springs to mind because someone asked me, on the sport vehicles was if I wanted to use the compressed clean it. absolutely not. So if you are tempted to use a compressor, remember, if you're using a high pressure, air thingy to clean, what you're doing is you're basically forcing dust into joins and into the mechanics of the lens. And you absolutely don't want to use that. Use, a, ah, regular blower brush. It's low pressure. It will tend to blow things away, because it takes, less energy effort for dust to come off the lens rather, and off the body of the lens rather than try and get into the joins. And then I just used a microfiber, cloth that I'd use on the lens, just to clean up, both the lens and the camera body because both were getting a bit dusty. another thing that I do, which I didn't do with this particular I didn't do on this trip because I was using the wrong lens. But I, used a splash cover. So you can get these things. They basically have an elasticated, open end that you put around the, glass part of, the lens. And then the whole cover covers the lens and camera. And then there's generally, a little hole that you pull over the viewfinder for DSLR. And, then, the eye cup will slide over the top and hold everything in place. With a bit of luck, those things are great because they cut out almost all of the dust that's going to reach your camera and lens combination. And, I had a situation a few years ago where I had dust getting in between the, lens and the, camera body. I think someone's having a call behind me, so hopefully that's not getting in the way. But yeah, the dust was getting in there and I started getting communication errors, between the two. So. And that was stopping the camera working. And then I was having to try and keep things clean and disassemble to clean in a dusty environment, which is really not the, ideal way to go. Okay, so, what else? There was one other thing that I wanted to talk about. And, that is just, a minor thing, I guess, but it's quite important. And I'm pretty sure I've spoken about this before on, other podcasts, but I was on probably the worst vehicle I think I've been in to do, photography. And that was, sort of like a truck thing. I, really didn't like it because I like to be ideally kind of clear on all sides, so I can just shoot wherever and, not be trying to shoot through glass, which I did do on occasion here, because, I didn't really have an opportunity, an alternative, but it was one of these big truck things. And I like to be as low down as possible. So my own opinion is that for good wildlife, photographs, and frankly, for any photograph that involves something that's alive, if you can get to the same eye level as them, I think you get a much stronger connection with the subject. And that, after all, is the purpose of a portrait. It's not only to record physically what people look like, but also to maybe, establish some sort of emotional connection between the viewer and the subject. And perhaps if you're the viewer get some sense of the personality of that person or with that animal, because animals have personalities as well. And, that makes it a, more powerful photograph, in my opinion. So I like to get as low down as possible. Now, on this vehicle, we were already pretty high. So, I don't shoot out of those open roof things, which we did have on this. It was a pretty awful one, actually, on this vehicle. But there was a sort of good enough, but always shoot through the windows. So ideally on a regular little four wheel drive, thing that they have on these, safaris, you're relatively low and you can get low enough, that you can get something that looks like you're on, on the ground with these, with the animals. So that's something I've managed to do before, but, that really was just another tip that I wanted to share just while I'm talking about this particular trip and, just, general wildlife photography. But if you are preparing, it's just something to think about. And when you get on a vehicle, just look at where you can position yourself, where are the places to go on either side of the vehicle and, kind of be ready to jump in there and get your shots. So, as with all of these things, it's good to be ready because sometimes things can happen very quickly and, if you're not ready for them, you'll miss them. Then you're absolutely kicking yourself for going all that way and then missing out on a shot. And I definitely missed out on one or two, not necessarily because I wasn't prepared, but things, like the driver decided to move and, just at the wrong moment. And so m where you can, having a good rapport with the driver is helpful. It's something I've tried to do. And another thing I like to do, with a driver is to show them the kind of shots I can get. I did this with the leopard because although we were a fair way off, with the 400 mm zoom, and I use a canon eos five deciseconds, so the image size is very big. So I've got a combination of good optical zoom and good digital zoom, I was able to show him just what I could get from shooting from a distance. So I think once a driver sees that, they know you're not just shooting with an iPad or something like that, you are capable of getting good stuff from a fair distance away. So that can help. In particular, if you're with someone for several days that can do a lot to get a good relationship going with the, driver. Okay, so look, that's pretty much it. I'm going to sign off now, and, I will speak to you again in the next podcast. Bye for now.

>> Speaker B: 20:04

Just before I go, I want to remind you that, first of all, I have an offer running, with, my free download. So if you go onto the website and there's a link at the bottom of the description of this particular podcast, and that will take you to a link, to where you can give me your email, I will send you, a PDF, which is ten simple steps to improve your photography today. So, it includes the kind of things that I talk about in the podcast. So it's all there in black and white. With some examples, you can see what's going on. And also remember, I offer, online photography courses. I do fine art. If you haven't checked out my galleries, please do. The links are, again below the description of the podcast. And don't forget to help me out. So you're welcome to subscribe both to the podcast and you can become a member of my Patreon membership and, join me there. So in that membership, you get, access to me. and also you get advance notice of things that are coming up. I'll tell you about other things that are going on that I don't share in my Facebook group or on Instagram.

>> Speaker A: 21:13

Or anywhere else, really.

>> Speaker B: 21:14

So it is, just a membership where if you like what I do and you just want to be a part of it, the subscriptions are really low. It's just a cup of coffee a month. So, how much better could I be than that? So please take a look and, I'll speak to you in the next podcast. Bye for now.