Every aspiring wildlife photographer’s dream is to acquire a big telephoto. For me, the dream came true when I was able to get my hands on Canon’s 300 mm f2.8 IS L lens, one of the sharpest lenses ever made, and a perfect reach, size, and weight for the varied wildlife photo opportunities that abound here in Costa Rica. But upon discovering a creature to photograph, it’s easy to forget the other lenses in your bag. Luckily I didn’t forget my other lenses a couple of weeks ago at the Selva Verde Lodge in the northern lowlands of Costa Rica.
While at Selva Verde for a conference, I snuck out early one morning to see what wildlife might be around the lodge grounds. Not 5 minutes later, the lodge manager told me that there was a caiman in the creek up by the reception desk. I approached the caiman as I normally do when out for a hike — armed with my tripod-mounted 300 mm lens and 550 EX flash with Better Beamer on my 20D camera body. Indeed, the caiman was there, and he was big, about 6-7 feet long, which is close to the reported limit for these tropical cousins of the alligator. I started at once to compose some portrait images with my 300 mm lens, and these turned out nice, particularly with a bit of fill flash to open up some shadows around the eye.
Tech info: Canon 20D, Canon 300 mm f2.8 IS L lens, 550EX flash at -3 flash exposure compensation, f5.6, 1/200, ISO 200
But the portrait didn’t really capture the mood of the scene that I was viewing — a caiman floating in a blackwater stream with dappled sunlight coming through the forest canopy. Luckily I had thrown a 28-70 mm lens in my waist pack, and I quickly mounted this on my camera body and moved closer to work handheld because it would have been very difficult to set up a tripod without disturbing the caiman from this closer distance. With this wider angle lens, I began to get images that looked like they could have been taken along the farthest reaches of some unnamed Amazon tributary stream. In reality I was about 100 feet from the reception desk at the lodge! I used a polarizer and varied the rotation to provide for different degrees of reflection. I also raised my ISO to 400 to get faster shutter speeds since I was handholding. I composed the frame to take advantage of the dappled sunlight on the water, which draws the viewer’s eye through the frame to the caiman.
Tech info: Canon 20D, Tokina 28-70 f2.8 zoom lens with polarizing filter, f4, 1/100, ISO 400
Tech info: Canon 20D, Tokina 28-70 f2.8 zoom lens with polarizing filter, f4, 1/100, ISO 400
Tech info: Canon 20D, Tokina 28-70 f2.8 zoom lens with polarizing filter, f4, 1/100, ISO 400
These last three photos show the caiman in its habitat and because of the light and the reflections on the water, they have a mysterious look that will make impressive images when printed big. The lessons from my 10 minutes with the caiman at Selva Verde are two. First, if you have a big lens, use it by all means. These lenses are awesome! But don’t neglect the smaller, lighter, and cheaper lenses in your bag. Second, if you don’t have a big lens, don’t neglect wildlife photography. Sometimes a photo of a creature in its habitat is more impressive than a tight closeup. Wildlife habitat photos, however, require a good eye for composition so you don’t end up with a small subject lost in a chaotic environment. Look for leading lines and diagonals to strengthen your composition and make the subject stand out.
Nos vemos en el campo (see you in the field),
Greg
