A moment of anticipation
Camera technology has changed so much over the years. As a teenager back in the mid ’60s, with no money to spare, I started photographing rodeos with a Kowa camera that had a split-lens focus. I loved that method. Frames per minute was the norm, because it depended on how fast you could crank the film and refocus. In an eight-second bull ride, or 18-second barrel race, that usually meant only one – to a maximum of three – shots per ride. You learnt to anticipate the moment a horse was going to be at the maximum length of his stride, or a bull at the highest point of his buck.
Flash forward through the Zenit E, Konica T4, Nikon F50 – all of those film cameras still work, if I wanted to buy film – then the Nikon D60, to Nikon D7000, and D7100. The Nikon D7000 has been a workhorse and given me amazing photos. In the early years, everything was manual. I learnt the basics, including when to anticipate that peak point in movement. Now I am amazed and appreciate the technology that we now have to capture amazing action images. I can afford to buy the latest and greatest full-frame camera, but I don’t need it. However, I am a little jealous of my wife’s D500 that I bought her for her birthday.
My year now is marked by four seasons; snowy owls (December to March); the tundra and trumpeter swan migration (March to June); the great blue heron rookery (June to September) and the fall migrating bird season (September to December). What a ride so far. These snowy owl photos are from one session. They were shot, handheld, with the Nikon D7000 and Nikon 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 ED lens, at 1/500 sec, f/7.1, ISO1000.
Robert Wright
Great shots, Robert! Camera technology may have moved apace over the years, with machine-gun-like frame rates, but there’s no substitute for anticipating when to take your shot.