About OpenDP's November editor's pick artist bird photographer - Kari Post

Kari was born and raised in Northeastern New Jersey where she developed a fond love for animals and nature early on. At age 14, Kari picked up her first SLR camera in a high school photo class and immediately became hooked. As a college freshman, she made the leap to digital, and has since dedicated much of her free time to improving her photography.

Kari Post - Photographer Image © Chris Kayler

Kari's Site was picked by our editor at Open Digital camera & Photography Directory as the site of the month. After reviewing her artistic bird Photography work we chose her for our Featured Photographers of the Month section, for others to learn from her success.

1- We believe that your area of specialty is wildlife photography and specially birds. Now what camera do you use? Do you use digital camera or 35mm or both? What models? Are you planning for an upgrade? Please give us your reasons why you’ve chosen this equipment and not other brands that come close to yours.

I currently use a Nikon D200 as my primary body. I shoot digital because I like the immediate results of digital and the feedback provided by the histograms and LCD screen, which are useful for determining the correct exposure and fine tuning composition. Digital also allows me to shoot as much as I want, and gives me the opportunity to experiment with new techniques and different compositions, something I couldn’t do back when I shot film and had to pay for every individual roll that went through my camera. Digital gives me complete control over processing each image and I have learned a lot more about photography from shooting digital than I was able to with the limitations of film. I used to shoot color negative film using a Nikon N65, but I haven’t touched it since I went digital in November 2004 when I bought a Nikon D70. I replaced the D70 with the D200 this spring. If I had the money, I’d love to get a D2Xs, but the D200 is a fine camera and I’m quite satisfied with it.

At one point, I considered switching to Canon because they are very prominent in the digital SLR world and many photographers whose work I admire shoot Canon, but I preferred the controls and feel of Nikon and switching all of my lenses would have been costly. Canon and Nikon are two very beasts. Canon offers image stabilization on long lenses that bird and wildlife photographers use, tend to have less noise than Nikon sensors, and they offer full frame sensors for landscape work. However, my Nikon setup has produced images far sharper than any I’ve seen from a Canon camera and I just feel more comfortable with the camera. I would readily recommend either brand to aspiring photographers.

Kari Post - Photographer Image © Chris Kayler, www.chriskaylerphotography.com

2- What lens do you use? If you are using multiple lenses can you give us the purpose of each and which one works best in what condition for you? Are you planning for an upgrade? If you use multiple lenses on the field can you explain why you chose one over another in different cases?

In my bag I have a Sigma 500mm f/4.5 EX APO HSM, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G IF-ED AF-S VR, Sigma 180mm f/3.5 EX Macro APO RF, and Nikon 17-35mm f/2.8D ED-IF. For bird photography, I use the Sigma 500 most of the time. The reach of the 500 is necessary for all but the tamest larger birds, such as certain ducks and geese, or environmental shots. I use the 70-200 for larger animals, and shots of birds or animals that include a lot of environment, large flocks of birds grouped together, or flight shots when I can get pretty close to my subject. The macro lens is good for detailed close ups of bird feathers or nests, when you can get that close, and the 17-35 is ideal for the rare situations in which you get up right next to your subject and include a lot of background environment, although I own the macro and wide angle lenses primarily for other types of nature photography, mostly flora and landscape work, respectively.

Laughing Gulls – Assateague Island National Seashore, Maryland, USA – May 15, 2006

What are you laughing at?
Laughing Gulls – Assateague Island National Seashore, Maryland, USA – May 15, 2006
Camera: Nikon D70, Lens: Sigma 500mm f/4.5 EX APO HSM. Settings: 1/4000 second, f/4.5, ISO 200, NEF, tripod, natural light, about 85% of original frame.

This shot is actually from when I started to get serious about nature photography and just bought my 500mm lens. It’s one of my first successful bird shots. I took this at Assateague Island National Seashore, which is a great place to find a variety of unique and interesting species that are pretty accumulated to humans and allow for an easy approach. These laughing gulls were the easiest birds to approach on the beach, and I was amused by their antics, so I spent a lot of time shooting them. For this shot, these two birds started calling and I wanted to capture the bright red of their bills and mouth. I took a shot or two, and then stopped down for more depth of field, but by that time the birds had moved and the composition I had wanted had vanished. Looking back, I think the slightly out of focus bird in the back actually adds to the image, had he been in sharper focus, the separation between the two birds would have vanished. Sometimes you can learn a lot from your mistakes, and just because a photograph isn’t perfect doesn’t mean it can’t still be a great shot.

3- What is your favorite tripod? Do you use a monopod as well? If yes then let us know in what condition you prefer monopod over tripod? Do you use alternative heads for your pods? If true please let us know why and your brand of choice?

I use a Gitzo G1325 carbon fiber tripod with an Arca Swiss B1 ballhead. A good stable tripod is an absolutely necessity for using long lenses for bird photography, and the G1325 is strong but lightweight, making in excellent for field work. I like ballheads for their versatility; they allow for a pretty wide range of motion and can be used with all lenses, from super telephoto for bird photography, to wide angle for landscape work.

4- If there was no limit on your budget then what sort of photography equipment you would buy? Please name the whole equipment and brands.

If I had endless resources and financial support, I would buy two Nikon D2Xs bodies, two SB-800 flashes with an infrared trigger system, and the following Nikon lenses: 600mm f/4 AF-S II, 500mm f/4 AF-S II, 200-400mm f/4 VR, 300mm f/2.8 VR, 17-55mm f/2.8, 12-24mm f/4, 10.5mm fisheye, 85mm f/1.4, 200mm micro, and 60mm micro, as well as all three Nikon TC-E II teleconverters. I would also buy two new ballheads, most likely the RRS-BH55 or Markins M10, one to replace my current Arca Swiss and one for a car window mount, and a Wimberely II gimbal head. I’d get Kirk, RRS, or Wimberley quick release plates, flash brackets, and macro rails and a set of Kenko automatic extension tubes. I want to get into underwater photography and think it would be neat to get underwater shots of ducks, penguins, and pelagic species of birds, as well as underwater shots of fish and other animals, so I would get a Subal underwater housing with flat ports, dome ports, and underwater strobes. I also want to experiment with infrared photography, so I’d get an infrared converted D2Xs or D200 body as well, and I’d like to get a medium or large format digital camera and digital back, such as a Hasselblad H2 and Phase One back, for super high detail shots that can be printed huge.

5- What is the most difficult situation in photography of birds? And how do you over come it? Is there any book you might want to suggest to beginners and pros alike in this field?

Shots of bird behavior and birds in flight are often very appealing but quite difficult to photograph. Small species of birds that fly erratically, such as swallows, are very difficult to follow in a frame and focus on, and shooting them in mixed lighting conditions requires a considerable amount of skill. The best way to learn to shoot subjects such as these is tons and tons of practice, which requires tons of patience. Beginners should start by just learning to track and shoot larger, slower flying species with predictable flight patterns, such as gulls, geese, larger herons and egrets, pelicans, or osprey, whichever is readily available. My first successful bird-in-flight shots were of gulls that were being fed bread by people on the beach. You can also practice panning and tracking subjects by photographing cars on a highway. To get successful birds in flight shots, you need to use high shutter speeds most of the time and a fast focusing autofocus lens. Pay particular attention to the direction of light and direction you are shooting in, as shooting against the sky or dark leaves can throw off your exposure quite a bit, which is why I shoot manual most of the time and expose for the subject.

Bird behavior is also very interesting to photograph, and this is where knowing your subject is the biggest advantage you can have. Being able to predict when a bird is about to fly off, call, or flap its wings will enable you to anticipate the moment and get the shot. These moments happen so fast that they are nearly impossible to catch if you don’t notice them while already looking through the viewfinder aimed on your subject. The best way to learn about bird or animal behavior is to observe species whenever you get the chance. You can learn a lot just by watching your subjects interact in their environment.

Killdeer – Central Square, New York, USA – June 24, 2006

Killdeer on Nest
Killdeer – Central Square, New York, USA – June 24, 2006
Camera: Nikon D200, Lens: Sigma 500mm f/4.5 EX APO HSM, Flash: SB-600 w/ Better Beamer FX4. Settings: 1/100 second, f/7.1, ISO 250, NEF, tripod, fill flash, about 98% of original frame.

This killdeer and its mate were nesting near a tree sapling on a friend’s property. By approaching slowly over a period of a couple of hours, I was able to get very close to this bird as it sat on the nest, so close that I actually got within the minimum focusing distance of my lens and had to back off. Here, the bird is ruffled up because a car drove past on a nearby road. This shot was taken towards the end of my session as the sunlight started to fade, so I used a touch of fill flash to add life to the image and the catch light in the eye.

6- What metering you use most of time for photographing small birds? Do you change your metering often or you stay loyal to one metering mode?

Most of the time, I manually meter using the camera built in meter and then adjust the exposure by looking at the histogram. If a subject is particularly dark or light, I’ll make sure to get detail in that area of the histogram, but I usually try to record as much detail in the whole scene as I can and then adjust for brightness and contrast in post processing. I often use matrix metering and meter the whole scene, but occasionally I’ll choose to spot meter if the background is really mixed and the subject is pretty uniform in color.

7- What is your best offer for a beginner if he wants to gather his/her first set of equipment for digital photography of birds? What if he is on a tight budget? And what if he is not on a tight budget? Please advice for both conditions.

A typical setup for most bird photographers consists of a DSLR camera, a 500mm or 600mm lens with or without teleconverters, flash and flash extender with or without a flash bracket, and tripod with a ballhead or gimbal head. This “basic” setup is very expensive and probably not the best way for most people to get into bird photography. For high quality shots at a fraction of the cost, a photographer can get awesome bird photographs with just an entry level SLR and a 300mm f/4 lens. I know one excellent bird photographer who started with just this equipment, and has since added a 1.4x teleconverter and flash with a Better Beamer flash extender attachment which he mounts on a Gitzo G1325 tripod and RRS BH-55LR ballhead. Many novices may be tempted to start out with a more inexpensive 70-300 zoom, but the quality of those lenses will not get you the detail you see in professional photographs and they are usually slow and yield poor results when used with teleconverters. Super zooms, such as Sigma’s 50-500 and Tamron’s 200-500 are slightly better, but are still considerably slower than a 300mm prime and once again, nearly useless with teleconverters. Using an entry level SLR body with a 1.5x (Nikon) or 1.6x (Canon) crop factor and at least four mexapixels, although I’d recommend no less than six, will give you extra reach. If money isn’t an option, a pro level DSLR body such an Canon’s 1D Mark II N or Nikons D2Xs paired with a 500mm or 600mm f/4 lens will get you plenty of reach and lightning fast autofocus. You will also want a quality external flash unit (the Canon 580EX or Nikon SB-800), flash extender (Better Beamer), and flash bracket, as well as a sturdy carbon fiber tripod and gimbal head. I’d recommend buying a shorter telephoto lens as well, such as a 300mm f/2.8 or f/4 as they are easier to handhold for flight shots and its significantly easier to track and find subjects with the wider angle of view these lenses offer. They also allow for more depth of field and are good for environmental shots of smaller species or full frame images of larger species. I prefer using a shorter lens closer to the subject when possible, because longer lenses tend to compress the subject and background and since subjects tend to be farther away, you have more air to shoot through which increases distortion and decreases the amount of detail you can capture. Even wider lenses, such as a 70-200 or wider, can also be used for environmental shots and larger species, and are useful for photographing mammals, environmental details, and larger subjects.

It is also important for any photographer to have photo editing software with advanced corrective features, such as Adobe Photoshop and an appropriate RAW converter. The digital workflow that happens after the shot is taken is one of the most important aspects of digital photography and is often overlooked. The right post processing makes a huge difference in the impact an image has when viewed and can really bright a shot to life.

8- What type of accessories are a must to have on the field when you are out for photographing birds? What are those items that one should bring with her in order to take quality photos and not to miss a scene?

For most bird shots, using a touch of fill flash will add life to the photo, even out harsh light, and a catch light to the bird eye. Use an external flash unit coupled with a flash extender to add fill light when using a telephoto lens. You also never want to run out of memory, so have plenty of high capacity high-speed compact flash cards with you. I use a portable storage device with a 100GB harddrive out in the field to transfer used CF cards on to, so then I can reformat them and shoot more. Batteries are also extremely important! I use two batteries and then bring along the charger and use a power inverter to charge dead batteries in the car, but consider buying three or even four batteries if you can afford it or if you will be shooting for long periods of time without a chance to recharge.

Canada Goose – Glen Rock, New Jersey, USA – October 21, 2006

I got this shot recently while shooting at a duck pond near my house. What I like about this photograph is that the subject and location are rather commonplace, but all of the elements of the shot – the arch of the goose’s neck, the colors of the water, and the subject’s reflection – come together to make a really beautiful image. Never overlook seemly obvious public areas when trying to find places to shoot. Subjects at local parks are often very tame and easy to approach, and the parks tend to be very accessible to photographers. Such areas are great places to practice and you’ll often be pleasantly surprised by the images you can take home after just a few hours of shooting.

9- What do you think has made your photos superb, your proficiency, your talent, or your equipment? Or a combination of all? We believe you are a professional in what you do, let us know more about you. How long you’ve been in to this, what are your favorite books and photographers and what camera you started with at the very beginning.

Any person can invest a $20000 in camera equipment and go out to a pond and photograph birds, but what makes any photographer, especially a nature and wildlife photographer, successful is his or her knowledge, experience, skill, and creativity. I don’t like the mindset that you should have a ton of expensive equipment to get good nature photographs, but at minimum I would recommend using a digital SLR that gives you complete control of the camera settings, and a quality prosumer or professional lens, one at least 300mm if you want to photograph birds, although it is possible to work with a shorter lens if you use an environmental approach to your photography. You can get nice photographs with a point-and-shoot camera, but you’ll learn more as a photographer if you have complete control and if you are serious about photography, you will eventually want to upgrade to a SLR anyway. A good photographer has excellent technical skills and is able to get a sharp, well detailed, and properly exposed image as well as creative skills that give him or her the eye to balance color and composition, vary angle of light and shooting angle, and manipulate the depth of field to produce an overall pleasing, well-balanced, unique image. In the digital world, a photographer also needs to know how to use software tools to optimize the images they shoot; post processing makes a huge difference. To photograph nature and wildlife, the photographer must know the subject well and be able to get close and capture behavior in which the subject and environment present one complete image. Nature photography requires a considerable amount of perseverance, patience, and practice as well; photographers who wish to photograph nature must learn how to approach a wild subject without scaring it off and must be patient while waiting for the right light, the right subject, the right pose, etc. Above all, a nature and wildlife photographer has to be dedicated and passionate about his or her work; nature photography requires long hours in the field dealing with extreme hot and cold weather and adverse weather conditions such as wind and rain. Nature photographers often get up before the sun rises and going to bed after the sun sets for the best light, and many times they spend hours waiting for a shot they never get. However, that and the experience of just being in the field is what make nature photography so rewarding.

I have always loved photography, ever since I was very little and used my mom’s dinky point-and-shoot camera to take photographs of animals at the zoo, but I really got into it in high school when I took a couple of photography classes and learned to use an SLR camera. I bought my first SLR (a Nikon N65) when I was sixteen then switched to digital two years later, but I consider my jump to digital when I really became serious about photography, because it was then that I was able to shoot all of the time and really experiment. That was only a couple of years ago, but I have learned so much about photography and improved greatly since then. I would love to pursue photography as a more serious hobby and hope to one day be able to make a living from it. I would love to do projects for National Geographic or some other organization that sent me traveling around the world learning about, discovering, and photographing all different types of animals and natural places.

My favorite legendary photographers are Art Wolfe, Galen Rowell, and David Doubilet, but much of the work I admire are from people just like me, photographers that few people have really heard of but that have some really neat and inspirational work, such as Marc Adamus, Jasper Doest, and Chris Kayler, and women in the field like Kim Steininger and Cheryl Surry. I also like the work of Ofer Levy, Marsel Van Oosten, and Monica and Michael Sweet. There are so many amateur photographers out there with a ton of talent, and many whose work I like much more than more well known and widely published nature photographers; the only thing that separates them from the “greats” that everyone has heard of is some publicity and widespread recognition.

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