14 Apr 26

*Puffin at speed bringing sand eels for the Pufflings*

There is an endless debate about how much editing is too much for wildlife photos particularly in this age of digital imaging and advanced post processing tools. I made some observations about my stance on this topic in a blog post a couple of years ago ( How much editing is too much editing? ), so I won’t re-visit that here. Rather, this is about digital manipulation, moving beyond realism.

Mostly I minimise post-processing, as the scene itself and the wildlife in question is enough for me to be satisfied with an image. However, on occasions, the creative juices start flowing. Particularly with a subject matter I have photographed extensively, when I am looking for new angles or ideas. The aim of this digital creativity is always to draw out something interesting about, or an emotion around, the subject matter.

*A sequence of a Puffin’s controlled crash-landing*

Have you ever seen a Puffin land? A relatively simple digital manipulation is to combine images in post-processing. Not opportunistically, but with a plan developed at the stage of capture. Observing a Puffin landing is humours, as it looks like a semi-controlled crash-landing. Its small wings, which allows it to dive deep into the ocean searching for sand eels, makes it harder for it to land when flying back to its burrow. The image above tries to illustrate this awkward descent through a series of frames combined into a Puffin’s final flight path.

*Harbour Seals in the river mouth … a combination of 5 frames*

Another simple reason for combining images is if the subject matter just doesn’t fit into your frame. The seals, above, lazing on a mud flat were too much for my 500mm focal length, so I shot a series of 5 overlapping images from left to right, and combined these in post. Did I experience this scene? Not exactly, as the seals moved slightly between each frame, but does it give a good representation of the lovely scene of these seals at dusk in a Canadian river mouth … yes, definitely. Post-processing to combine several frames allowed me to capture the essence of this scene, with the added benefit of a shallow depth of field which would have been harder to achieve with a shorter focal length.

The image of the diving Pied Kingfisher on Lake Victoria, Uganda, used a similar technique. I used a 560mm focal length to capture the bird at the moment it stopped hovering and commenced its dive to catch a fish. However, with this focal length I filled the frame with the kingfisher, and the context of its action was lost. Having captured the bird at the precise moment I wanted, I switched to a 400mm focal length and waited till our boat was a bit further away and shot the wider scene without the bird. The two images were combined in post.

*A sequence of four frames capturing the speed and agility of this Kingfisher catching its food*

The sequence of the diving Common kingfisher above is again a composite of several images shot in rapid succession. The idea here is to create an image which depicts the bird’s body shape, speed and power as it goes through the moments just before, during and after catching a fish, all of which takes place in around a second.

*Playing with shutter speeds: Two images of a Dipper combined to emphasise the movement of the water*

Whilst spending many days with the Dippers on the River Dart on Dartmoor, I used several techniques to try to capture the feeling of flow in the rapids. One such technique was to shoot two images. One at a shutter speed fast enough to freeze the bird, then another image at a very slow shutter speed to emphasise the fast movement of the water. These images were combined in post processing to create a pleasing if somewhat surreal image of the dipper in the river. Similarly, the Dipper shot below also creates a strong feeling of movement of the furiously fast water, whilst deliberately ignoring the lack of sharpness in the bird (you can still easily see it is a Dipper) caused by a single image shot at a very slow shutter speed (1/10s at 800mm).

*A deliberate very slow shutter speed … emphasising movement*

There is nothing new in using slow shutter speeds to emphasise movement, but it can be a bit hit and miss attempting to create the desired effect. Repeat shooting and patience is required, testing different shutter speeds to create a pleasing image. The Puffin in-flight at the top of this post is shot at 1/100s which turned out to be a good setting for such a fast-moving bird. Two images were then combined in post to bring out the best combination of shape and movement.

*A chimp deep in the Ugandan rainforest*

The possibilities with digital image manipulation are endless, from simple combinations of multiple shots to much more abstract results. The aim is to draw out key characteristics of the subject matter, a shape, form, colours, speed, activity and so on, and emphasise this in a creative way to tell a story. For example, the images of a chimp deep in the dark jungle above and below, have been edited by heavily underexposing the dense foliage. This draws the focus to the expression, shape and texture of the chimp’s face.

*Edited to emphasise the somewhat scary expression*

This type of image manipulation can create discussion and divide opinion. What someone finds interesting and pleasing, someone else may find a waste of time. I merely dabble occasionally with this type of post processing – mostly on drab rainy days. Sometimes, I like the outcome, other times I discard the result. Your opinions may vary widely on the quality of the output in this blog. As Microsoft Copilot just told me: "One person's digital image masterpiece is another person's 'my toddler could do that'—and both are right." So having asked Copilot for a quote on how taste differs, maybe I should ask AI to generate my image for me instead of spending hours labouring in front of photoshop. Now, that’s an entirely different topic …

Digital Creativity

Birds of Easdon Tor