High Contrast Nature Shots in Sunny Florida

[chris m., central florida]

I'll be going over to the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine tomorrow

morning. In years past, I have been able to get some beautiful

(nearly full frame) shots of egrets, a few herons, cranes and the

obligatory baby gators for my two young sons with only a 200mm lens.

 

I've used Velvia slide film, but as most photographers know this is a

high contrast film. The Egrets lose any detail in their feathers,

however, any bird of another color is captured beautifully.

 

I'd like to shoot print film tomorrow to produce some 11x14 prints or

even a 16x20. From my weekend business as a people shooter, I know

that Fuji NPH does a remarkable job with high contrast subjects and

the grain structure is excellent. I shoot it rated at 325 or 250.

 

What do you all think the best 35mm print film would be for a high

contrast (almost direct sunlight at 9 am) shot of a white egret? I'd

like to hold some of the shadow detail/feather detail if possible.

The grain needs to be somewhat fine, fine enough to produce an 11x14.

 

Thanks for your help in advance!

 

Chris M - Central Florida

[john_karsten]

I'd check my exposures if I was missing detail in egrets with Velvia, white subjects are always tricky.

As far as print films go I tried out recently from Kodak's select series: Royal Gold. It is the only print film I've really been happy with. You might bring a roll out for a spin see if it suits you.

 

Happy Hunting!

[jeff_hallett1]

I was not aware that anything was happening in the "swamp" this time

of year at the Gator Farm. I live about 20 min away and most of us don,t really see courtship displays /breeding plumage etc. this early.

Maybe I should ck it out ...huh?

[matt_hagadorn]

I agree with John. I find when shooting egrets I usually need to apply -1/3 to -1 stop exposure compensation, depending on the background. Even a full-frame egret doesn't affect the meter as much as the larger and (usually) darker background. A modern matrix meter will open up for the background and blow out the bird.<p>

 

If you haven't already, try Provia F. Less contrasty than Velvia with amazing grain.

[charles_bush]

Believe it or not, Kodachrome does much better on a white subjects in bright light than more modern films like Velvia, Provia, E100s, etc. You might consider shooting a couple of rolls this go around. With print film, NPH might be a good choice as well as Porta, although almost any print film will handle the contrast much better.

 

Good Luck

[tom_may]

Chris,

I do lots of egrets. I second the opinion of the Royal Gold. I recently shot some Gold (unusual;I usually do transparancies, with lots of Velvia), and got some of my best shots. The detail in the feathers was smooth and subtle with clear whites but a very slight peach tone in the shading that some might object to on the grounds it's not natural coloration, but that I loved. If you use velvia you can't be too concerned about 'natural' colors anyway. I blew some of the shots up to 11x14 and the grain was excellent. I used a 300 lens on tripod. My suggestion for mid day is to back light, as I did with these shots. I spot metered the egret and then compensated 2 1/2 stops (more than I would with tranparancies) and bracketed around that setting. This set the bird off from the sky background very nicely.

 

Hope it helps.