Digital Photography

Carl Palazzolo, DVM, MBA

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Introduction

Welcome to my web page for digital photography with an emphasis on wildlife photography. Most of my photography work involves taking people on trips and photographic workshops (we call them fun shops) around the world. On all of my trips you will learn photography and get to use my professional Canon equipment. We have a ball, take tons of photos, eat like royalty, have a photo contest, give a prize to the best photo of the trip, and learn about a different culture.

I make a web page for the people that go on my trips so they can show off to their friends. This is my version of photojournalism, and how I share my photography with others. You are always welcome to join us and get that special keeper you can print out and hang on your wall.


This page has detailed slide shows on the following trips we have already been on. When you scroll down the page you can click on the links and see many more pictures:
For those people that go on my trips I put on a slide show for them to show off their trip and
pictures to their friends on a large screen high definition TV
. This makes the pictures come to life,
and when embellished just right they make their friends who did not go on the trip wish they had!




Upcoming Polar Bear Trip 2012

The details are set for this trip with National Geographic. Anyone can join us, even if you are not a veterinarian and not a photographer. Its a chance to see
polar bears in the Arctic above Norway, one of the most beautiful and pristine places on our planet. Unfortunately, the environment is changing rapidly and the polar bears are
at risk of extinction.

Polar bear 1
Polar bear
              2

For general information and to reserve one of our 5 remaining spots contact:

Sharel Felger

LUXE Travel Group

Phone: (949) 336-1000 x1601  sharel@luxetg.com  

 

For more information on the trip follow these online links. Don't miss the boat video link below on the "World's Ultimate Expedition Ship"


The trip- http://www.expeditions.com/Itineraries45.asp?Expedition=171&Destination=285

The boat video-   http://www.expeditions.com/ngexplorer/
      Click on the Icon that says "See The Ship" and then click on "Video Tour"

Webinar- http://www.expeditions.com/Theater17.asp?Media=1531     
                                    

2013 Serengeti Safari

We are going back again to the Serengeti to see the babies being born and the big cats. We went there in 2009 and 2011 it was such a good trip. If you click on the gorilla picture below you will see the 2011 Serengeti trip. Contact me at Carlp@me.com and I will send you the brochure.

We also plan a trip to Borneo (again) in October of 2012 to visit our orangutan friends. This trip is already full, but we might go back in the summer of 2013.


The Rwanda/Serengeti trip was my 6th trip to Africa, my first with the gorillas. Click on the
Silverback picture to learn about this trip along with the Serengeti trip for the big cats and
Tanzania for the Hadzabe hunters.

Rwanda trip


The Galapagos trip was in March of 2010. Its a must see for anyone interested in the history
of Charles Darwin and unique wildlife found no place else. Click on the picture to learn more.

CP


In July of 2009 twenty of us (two groups of ten on sequential trips) went to Tanzania.
Its the same trip I took 23 years ago, and it was tremendous to see it over again.

Click on the picture below for all the particulars.

Lioness on a log


Our Feb 2008 Antarctica page is up and running- Click on the penguin photo below to get all the details.

                                     


Here are pictures from our Masai Mara trip in October of 2007. We have a detailed page
on this trip- click on the wildebeest to get a detailed account of our trip.



Bears of Katmai

This trip was in August of 2005. This grizzly weighed over 1200 pounds according to
our guide. We decided it was best not to bother him while
he was dining. We went
back in August of 2012, and plan to go again in 2 years.



Lions of Tsavo

This was a research trip in Tsavo National Park. At the end of the trip we went to the Masai Mara.

This is a maneless lion protecting his kill from us.



Orangutans of Borneo

This unbelievably interesting trip was in 1991. Back in those prehistoric days there was no
concept of digital photography, so all of these photos, and the black rhino slide show
that follows, are from slides that were scanned. We are going back in October of 2012.

This orang had no problems showing us how she felt about our presence
and gave us the universal gesture of love!



Black Rhino of Zimbabwe

This slide show gives you a good idea of the poaching problem in 1995 and why it is
impossible to stop. It was a beautiful country at the time, too bad Zimbabwe has political
problems at the moment.


We go to Yellowstone National Park several times per year.

Click on the coyote picture below to learn about our trip in December of 2010 to see the wolves

Coyote face


Contact me at carlp@me.com with any questions.

If you want even more safari information here are links to two extensive safari articles I wrote for a friend that runs a photography business in Thailand. If you are a wildlife photographer you need to think about getting to Africa soon. The abundance of wildlife and the predator-prey relationship is the best on the planet. It is changing dramatically though, so you cannot wait and expect it to stay this way over the next several years. The following article talks much more about this.

Set aside the time for these articles because I went back 25 years in my photography and safari cabinet to bring you this information. They will give you the scoop on my equipment, my experiences traveling to all 7 continents, and the conservation work I have done primarily with highly endangered species. When you are done come back here and you can finish the rest of this page if your eyes are not too tired.

    Safari Article Part I-   http://www.stickmanweekly.com/Photo/12December/BKKSWPhoto70.html

    Safari Article Part II-   http://www.stickmanweekly.com/Photo/19December/BKKSWPhoto71.html



Practice, practice, practice

If you want to get better at your photography you need to practice with your equipment and become very familiar with it. You might also want to join us on one of our trips or go on one of our wildlife and nature workshops.

People commonly ask me if they should purchase the Canon Mark IV,  Mark III, 7D, 60D, 5D Mark II,  5D Mark III, 1Dx, Rebel, or Nikon D4, D800, D700, D3S, D3, etc.
The most important thing though is not this equipment, it is to practice with the equipment you already have so its use becomes second nature. You need to be quick on the draw to get those wildlife photos, and that only comes with familiarity with your equipment.

Following are examples of practice photos I have taken at the Rose Bowl,  in my backyard, in a wilderness area in northern Michigan, and a wildlife refuge near my house called Bolsa Chica. I shoot frequently to keep my skills up, and nothing keeps your skills up better than to shoot fast moving birds. They are a great way to practice your focusing skills and can be hard to expose properly when they are dark against a light background.
Can you identify the following birds?

The birds are colorful and give you great photographic opportunities









The real challenge is catching the birds in action- this is called Birds in Flight (BIF)
















Hunting and feeding behavior is always interesting












These shots are from northern Michigan which is oh so quaint and an outdoors and wildlife mecca






















Click the Osprey picture below to see lots more wildlife and scenery of northern Michigan

Osprey


I occasionally assist Peter Read Miller and his fellow Sports Illustrated photographers at the Rose Bowl. He is a Canon Explorers of Light member, along with other famous wildlife photographers like Art Wolfe, Frans Lanting, and Paul Nicklen. He has been on my African safari and of course brought back some awesome photos.

One of his more unique shots from the Masai Mara


Here I am at the 2010 game hours before the fans show up. This is some of the equipment Peter uses during a game. It consists of numerous Canon 1D Mark IV cameras, a Canon 7D camera, and Canon 800mm, 400mm, 300mm prime lenses along with Canon 70-200mm and 16-35mm zoom lenses. When the new 200-400 mm becomes available he might use that one also.



Things get a wee bit more crowded when the game starts



A few Rose Bowl shots I have taken over the years







My Equipment

This is a list of the cameras and lenses I have used over the last several years. I will be upgrading my equipment this year to the Canon 1Dx along with the Canon 500 mm f/4 IS II lens and new teleconverters.

Cameras
Canon EOS 1D Mark IV




Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III 



Lenses

The most important part of your purchase in a digital SLR camera setup is the lens. You should budget for a high quality lens before the camera body. All too often a nice camera is used with a mediocre lens, negating the potential of the camera.

Canon makes a series of nice consumer grade lenses. The 75-300, 100-300, 28-135, 55-250, and the 18-55 all give you a nice picture. If you want to get the most out of your expensive camera you need to upgrade to Canon's L series of lenses. This is their professional lens series, and will give you pictures of better quality.

You will notice the following lenses all have a red ring around the front of the lens. This denotes Canon's professional series lenses, and are also called "L series" lenses in the Canon world. When it comes to lenses, the axiom "you get what you pay for", certainly applies. It is not uncommon for a professional sports or action photographer to spend up to $10,000 for professional lenses. Lenses can be a fixed focal length or a zoom.

The fixed focal length lenses (also called prime lenses) sometimes produce a higher quality photo. An example of a popular prime lens is 300 mm. This is equivalent to 6x. It is only 300mm, and you have to personally move farther or closer to your subject if you need to change the composition. Sometimes this is easily remedied by changing the fixed focal length lens rapidly to one of more or less magnification. This  assumes you have the money to purchase several lenses, and the inclination to carry them around. Also, in a dusty environment like Africa, removing the lens from the camera while you are changing it can cause problems for the camera. I must admit to missing many a good picture while changing one of these lenses because the wildlife action does not stop while you are changing lenses.

The zoom lenses are more flexible, and you won't miss as many photos because now you can zoom in and out and not have to personally move to change the composition. Since most of us are not shooting for professional publications and don't need that extra minor difference in quality, the quality of the zoom lenses will more than suffice and will yield amazing photos.

Canon announced a new lens that we hope will be available soon. It is a 200-400mm f/4 IS USM with a 1.4X extender built in. This has the potential to be an outstanding wildlife lens.

Canon has recently released a lens that might be of interest to someone that needs one high quality lens for all of their photographic needs. This has the advantage of being able to travel  lighter and still get great photos as compared to bringing several lenses. It is a compromise at the wide angle side and the telephoto side, but it focuses instantly, produces a tremendous quality photo, and has the latest image stabilization. You might want to give it a test before you get too involved with lots of expensive and heavy wildlife lenses. This is not the lightest lens in the Canon arsenal. Don't underestimate the importance of weight when you are trudging for hours with heavy camera equipment in rough terrain.

Its the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 L IS USM


Following are some recommended lenses:

Canon 70-200mm f/4  Image Stabilized (IS)

This lightweight and relatively inexpensive zoom lens will cover a wide range of photographic needs. It is  recommended for genral travel photography and takes great photos. If you can only purchase one lens for all your photographic needs this is the one if weight is important and you are not shooting wildlife at a distance. The lens can keep an aperture of f/4 all the way from 70 mm to its maximum of 200 mm. This differentiates it from a consumer grade lens, and is consistent across the Canon line of "L" series zoom lenses.

It does not have enough focal length for wildlife photography in general, it is a compromise for someone needing a lens for general purpose photography and the above Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 L IS USM is too heavy and expensive.


Canon 24-105mm f/4 Image Stabilized (IS)

This relatively lightweight wide angle zoom has great image quality when you need to get a wide field of view. I used it often on my Tsavo trip, Antarctica trip and in Galapagos. Whenever I am shooting I always leave the house with this lens, no matter which camera I have or my subject matter. It is awesome on the 5D, 5D II, and 1Ds Mark III because it gives you a wide angle, yet it can zoom to 105 mm.


 Canon 135mm f/2.0

This very high quality prime lens is used when you want pictures of tremendous sharpness. I use it for many of my portrait shots. It excels in low light situations because of its f/2.0 aperture.  When you are using flash at night the big aperture gives it more power to illuminate further in the distance. 

The  photo at the top of this page with the lion over the cape buffalo was taken with this lens. It was a night shot, and since we didn't dare get too close to this lion and his kill, I had to shoot from a distance that was at the maximum range of my flash. Having the larger aperture (f/2.0) of this lens gave me enough flash power to get the photo properly exposed.

Many of the gorilla shots were with this lens because we were in the darkness of the jungle and were not allowed to use flash. This lens saved the day on this trip. It is also great at concerts, museums, churches and plays when flash is not allowed.




This is a good time to touch on flash photography. If you are interested in wildlife or sports photography you need a good external flash. I keep mine available at all times when I am shooting, even in daylight. I use professional external flashes (also called strobes) on all my workshops and will teach everyone how to use it in daylight and evening. When you want additional reach, and are using a lens of 300mm or longer, the Better Beamer will help extend your reach.

The primary flash is use is the 580 EX. It has significant power to reach those
elusive animals that hide in the trees and bushes.



One of those elusive night creatures you can surprise with a flash like this and a good lens. Do you know what this creature is?



Canon 400 mm f/5.6 

This prime lens has great image quality and is relatively light for 400 mm compared to the other telephoto lenses. Its a great wildlife lens when you are walking around and weight is a factor. When coupled with the 20D / 30D / 40D / 50D /  60D / 7D or Rebel series it is equivalent to a 640 mm lens on a 35 mm camera.

It is not image stabilized, which might be a problem in low light if your camera does not take noise free pictures at higher ISO's. It is a bargain if you travel for your wildlife photography or any time weight is an issue. It goes with me on all my trips and workshops because of the image quality and light weight for 400 mm.

Here is an example of a handheld shot with the 400 capturing a Forster's tern streaking by




Canon 300 mm f/2.8 IS

Optically speaking professional photographers feel this is the finest lens in the Canon arsenal. It is highly prized for outdoor sports photography because it focuses rapidly, the large aperture can blur the background and the pictures it produces are outstanding. 

Lenses like this one, and the following one, take practice to learn how to use them properly. They are larger than the lenses most people are used to, and need steady support like a tripod or monopod in many cases, although you can hand hold the 300 mm easily for short periods of time. Keep in mind that 300 mm is oftentimes not enough power for wildlife, and this lens is commonly used with the 1.4X teleconverter to make up for this deficiency.

I used this lens on the Antarctica trip to take the picture of the whale tails.  I also used this lens to take the hummingbird picture above.

Version II of this lens is available and promises to give and even better quality photo with substantially less weight.




Reddish Egret taken with this lens and a 1.4X TC



Canon 500 mm f/4 IS  

I purchased mine used, although it was barely used and in mint condition. These lenses hold their value, and even purchasing it used it still cost $5000.

I use it for all my wildlife work when I am not hiking, in which case I will use the 400 mm f/5.6 described above. I also purchased it so all of the attendees of the Yellowstone and Africa trips and workshops can get a chance to use such a superb wildlife lens. If you are going to Africa and want to come back with outstanding photos this is the lens of choice.

I sometimes use it with a Gitzo carbon fiber tripod and a Wimberely or sidekick head. This tripod is light, very strong, and can easily hold the weight of this lens. The Wimbereley head makes the lens "float" on the tripod, and is a joy to use. When I travel with it I bring a lightweight Gitzo tripod and use an Arca Swiss ballhead and the Wimberely Sidekick.

The optics are outstanding, and it is the wildlife lens of choice in the Canon world. Canon also makes a 600 mm lens which some would argue is the wildlife lens of choice. It is a monster in size and weight compared to the 500 mm, and I doubt many of us would be thrilled to lug such a large lens through the airport, lug the heavy tripod needed to use this lens, and then set it up in the field.

To me the 500 mm is a much better compromise in size, weight, and power. Canon also makes an 800 mm f/5.6 lens. I have used it and it is awesome for wildlife. It is lighter than the 600 mm, and will be a tremendous wildlife lens if you are willing to spend well over $10,000 for a lens. Since most people find this just a little bit outside their budget, we will stick with the 500 mm.

All of this will change in the near future as Canon brings out new versions of these lenses that are lighter, optically better, and unfortunately, dramatically more expensive. They are called version II and hopefully will be here soon once the effects of the Tsunami in Japan have allowed Canon to get back to full production.

I bring the 500 on all my Africa trips for everyone to use. It has Image Stabilization (IS) so you can hand hold it on occasion, although a tripod or steady support are recommended. We will almost always be using it from the Land Rover without a tripod since we can easily steady it (as long as the other people in the vehicle are not moving around) with a bean bag. You can see this if you link to the 2007 Masai Mara page.

Version II, an much lighter version of this lens should be available soon (for a much higher price unfortunately).


Striped Kingfisher taken with the 500




Canon 100 mm f/2.8 macro

For closeup (called macro) photography you need a specialized lens. I use the Canon 100 mm f/2.8. You will need to practice with this lens because focusing can be difficult due to the limited depth of field. A tripod is highly recommended.


Flash is important in macro photography. One of the best ones regarding portability, ease of use, and cost, is a ring flash.





This type of lens lets you bring to life a world we rarely notice. With the flowers swaying in the wind and the insect constantly moving you need to practice if you want any keepers.




Macro photography can be lots of fun





To learn the nuts and bolts of digital photography follow these links to my lectures:

Beginning Digital Photography

Intermediate Digital Photography

AAHA 2008

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