Hi

I still tend to go for the second (or third) shot of a scene
..
One reason is to change the composition: as Hans-Georg says - it is often
better put the key focal point off centre, and when pressed for time (e.g.
mammal on the move, bird fidgeting etc) pausing to get it 'right first tmie'
may result in a good photo of the animal just leaving the frame. Having got
one or two shots 'in the can' I also make sure I get a selection of vertical
and horizontal compositions. With a good view / subject /composition I will
happily take 5 or 6 shots over a couple of minutes (don't forget the light
changes as well). This is not a blunderbus approach - rather I try for 6
excellent pictures. Inevitably one or two will be better in some detail.

One of the most common points I edit for is catchlights in the eye. If a
bird flicks its head round just right, you can get that magical point of
light which brings the whole thing to life. Similarly, active large mammals
have a tendency to move their heads around at the critical moment. With
digital I don't have to worry about the costs anymore, or the time to switch
films/cameras every 36 shots.

Cheers

Charles

www.wildviews.com
Natural History Photography

"Hans-Georg Michna" wrote in message
...
Liz wrote:

In message
Hans-Georg Michna wrote:

I can see the photo already in the viewfinder, so I
usually take a first shot quickly, then wait for a better one.
Surprisingly often, in the vast majority of all photos, the
first remains the best, and quite often the second photo doesn't
get taken at all, because the situation deteriorates.

Good for you!
I'm not selective enough, so I to tend to fire off a shot fairly quickly,
especially if it's a species which is new to me, then wait to see if I
can
get closer or something better happens, and often I do/it does. I do
waste a
lot of film, though, so your way is no doubt best.
The thing is, I do different things with my slides.
If I'm doing talks to birding/wildlife groups, I show a mostly different
set
of slides than if I'm talking to camera clubs.
Bird groups just like to see nice birds, and can forgive less than
perfect
compositions if the bird is nice or interesting and you can talk a lot
about
it.....(I can usually talk for Scotland...)

Liz,

if you need a documentary photo of a rare bird, then it's even
more important to take one shot immediately, before even
thinking. The reason is, of course, that the next second the
bird may be gone. And a bad photo is sometimes better than no
photo at all (although bad photographs always tire the audience,
so you have to be careful here).

On the other hand, it is one of the abilities of the
professional photographer to take one shot, and that one is just
correct in all aspects. It is perhaps a good idea for us
amateurs to strive for this as well, as it sharpens our
photographic abilities and draws our attention to the factors
that tend to be forgotten by laymen. The amateur who learns to
take each picture technically correctly and with the right
framing will make better photos. I'll ramble on a bit, because
this may give some newcomers some ideas about how to improve
their photos.

To give one example, one of the most prevalent amateur errors is
to have the main motive in the center of the photo, rather than
the correct frame selected. In other words, when he takes a
photo of a cat, the head or nose will be in the middle, one half
of the photo will show empty background, and part of the cat may
be cut off (which is not always bad, by the way), while the more
learned photographer will have the frame around the cat. Another
typical amateur mistake is the desire to have everything on the
picture, while a well-chosen detail may yield a much better
photo.

I sometimes ponder this strange first shot phenomenon. (Why is
the first shot so often the best?) One possible explanation is
that you drive around or wait for a photo opportunity, and when
you spot one, it is exactly because the situation is already
better than the many others before where you didn't pull the
camera. So there's a lot of ways for this situation to
deteriorate, but it is rare for such a situation to improve on
its own.

I also often spot a photo while driving. Then I stop and find
that I have to actually reverse and go back to the point where I
spotted it, because it looks best from there. This is why you
need to have to develop a photo culture with your driver when
you don't drive yourself. A good driver geared to supporting his
clients' photography should move the car even by a few feet if
desired.

When I drive and have photographing passengers, I often tell
them to shout "stop" when they spot a photo opportunity. This
reduces the problem that somebody in the car does spot one, but
doesn't dare to ask to halt the car or even go back. But I find,
that, often enough when this is done, the other passengers also
pull out their cameras and thus prove that it was worth the
effort.

Hans-Georg

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