How to Photograph Baby Gators

[Phocal]

I have a lot of people ask me how I get so close to baby gators and today I will reveal one of my tricks.

I was driving down this road at Anahuac NWR and like always was looking at any open water for signs of wildlife.



When at the very back of this little niche at the spot marked "O" I spotted a baby gator.


G = gator (if you look close you will see them). The bottom G is the gator that I document in this post. The numbers correspond to the photos of the gator I document.

Yes, I really did spot a 1 1/2 to 2 foot baby gator all the way back there while driving somewhere between 5 and 10 mph. It's the shape of the head that gives them away among all the other stuff in the water.

In this next photo you can see the gator I spotted first. Now, when I spotted him he was floating on top of the water but when I approached on foot he sank down so only his head is visible. You can also spot another gator in the back and to the right.

[ATTACH alt="Location is marked as "O" in the 2nd photograph posted. "]media_3701917[/ATTACH]
Location is marked as "O" in the 2nd photograph posted.

Now................................

If I were to just stand there they would stay at the back of that niche if not move deeper into the reeds. As you can see from the above photo, they are to far away for good photographs and there is to much vegetation obscuring them.

So how do we get closer?

That's just it, we don't. With all that vegetation around the edge of the water you would never get close enough for good photographs. So I stood there for a few minutes looking around and all I was able to spot were the two gators photographed above. My real concern was where mama gator was. These guys are 2 years old and should still be under the watchful eye of mama. Right now she should have her new babies with her (if her nest survived the flooding from Harvey, which most did not) but she will still let last years hatch hangout close for protection. It is around age 3 that she makes them leave because they can and will eat her newest babies if given the chance. She will even still protect them, so I was very cautious and looked everywhere for her. Since I have never seen babies in this location previously (gators tend to build their nest in the same general if not exact same spot every year) I am pretty sure they ended up here after the flooding and may not have mama around.

But........................................

I have learned to never trust anything and always always always find mama if possible because it could be a new sexually mature gator whos babies I am looking at. I was unable to locate an adult gator, but decided to give my trick a try anyways.

Wait..........................................

I haven't told you how we get closer. We actually don't get closer, we get them to come to us. Now you will really start to understand why I was looking for mama gator.

You see..................................baby gators are very curious..............just like our young. They have learned to stay away from humans, but they almost always see humans standing.

So...........................

If you lay down, they will overcome their fear and move closer out of curiosity. FYI, this same trick works for adult gators in the water but that is for another story on another day.

So I laid down at the edge of the water and it didn't take long. This gator appears from location 1 and begins a slow but steady journey towards me.


Location marked as 1 in the 2nd photograph posted.

He was not the only gator to come out of hiding and move towards me. I counted a total of 12-15 babies, they were moving around and in/out of the reeds so an exact count wasn't possible.

Here is a photograph of him when he reached location 2


Location marked as 2 in the 2nd photograph posted.

He got to location 3 when I snapped this shot.


Location marked as 3 in the 2nd photograph posted.

After the above photograph I lost all the light as the clouds obscured the sky, evident in the first 2 photographs I posted (which were taken after I was done because the idea of this thread occurred to me as I stood up from shooting). In that 2nd photograph the baby at the bottom G is the one photographed above. He got much closer but all the shots looked terrible because there was no light, so I deleted them.

This last photograph shows 3 gators (the most I could get into frame) and they were hanging out in the area between location G on the left side of the photograph and location 2. Really need to start bringing the wide-angle with me when I am laying down there to capture better photos to use for explaining/sharing/teaching.


There really are 3 in this photo. All you see is the tail of the 3rd baby gator.

While I haven't been able to get birds to come to me when I lay down I do sort of use the same trick. When I see a bird working a shoreline hunting I will get ahead of it, laydown and wait. Much higher success rate when you let the subject come towards you rather than you trying to get closer.

I will also mention that while laying there I was constantly looking and watching for mama gator. My dad taught me to shoot a rifle with both eyes open and it's something I continue to do in photography. It allows me to watch for things like a mama gator approaching while still framing and taking photos. So while laying there I am scanning for any sign of movement under the water or weeds parting as a gator swims thru them. I am so hyper vigilant while laying at the edge of the water, but I have to be because things can go wrong quickly when dealing with the apex predator of the swamp.

All photographs are taken with my new Olympus 300mm f4.0 IS Pro and MC-14. I was really happy to find the babies because I bought this lens mostly for photographing baby gators because it has a great macro ability. I will also be able to use my cameras focus bracketing feature with this lens, something I can't do with my other lens. I have only had the lens for about a month and this was the first time finding baby gators since getting it. I really wish the light had kept around when the one gator got close. Would have given me a great chance to test out this lens for the purpose I bought it. Oh well, I am going to my favorite baby gator nest this Saturday and can't wait.

Based on the last photograph of the baby gator I am very happy with the results from this lens for macro type photography. I can't wait to get some baby gators close and in good light to really see what it can do. Especially looking forward to focus bracketing some shots so I can stack them for a deeper DoF. I am also really curious about how much of the frame a baby gator will fill at the minimum focusing distance.

Hope everyone enjoys the little bit of insight I have provided in how I approach photographing a wildlife subject.

Regards,

Ronnie

 

[Jim Beverlin]

Well done Ronnie. Looking forward to seeing your images from Saturday.

 

[Old Greenlander]

Phocal,

Yes Mama

that is what you should look for

unfortunately, most of the time is under water and may launch at you in a surprise attack

and you may be on your belly, or bent looking through the lens with a narrow field of view, the fore very vulnerable....

While I like your reportages I don’t encourage your to go after the little ones , it is very dangerous

 

[R V C]

Hey Ronnie

Thanks for taking time out to write about gator shooting and your techniques, I really appreciate all the hard work you put in now when I see your pictures. I still think its damn crazy to lie down and wait for gators but I guess it takes all kinds to make this world

Cheers Ronnie

Rahul

--
"Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you learn to do it well."
-- Zig Ziglar
https://www.flickr.com/photos/126558841@N07/

Glad you enjoyed the photos as well as the story behind getting them.

If there was a different way to get the photographs I get I would be all for it. Unfortunately there is only one way to get eye level photographs of gators and that is laying on the ground and being uncomfortably close. Adult gators I shoot with 300mm of effective reach (these were with 840mm) from 8-12 feet away while laying on the ground. You have to be that close because they sit low to the ground and any rise in the earth or vegetation will block your view. Only way to do it is with a short focal length and being close to negate most of the obstacles blocking your view.

hmmm very interesting Ronnie

how do you manage with the slope on the bank, the pictures would still be top down.. assuming you are on the bank and not submerged in the water..

cheers

rahul

--
"Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you learn to do it well."
-- Zig Ziglar
https://www.flickr.com/photos/126558841@N07/

Hey Ronnie

I typically use my skimmer pod when laying at the waters edge, in this case I had left it in the Jeep because I wasn't sure I was going to take any photos (the light was terrible).

Here is a photo of the skimmer pod a friend designed and printed on his 3D printer for me. This thing has been indispensable since getting it, because I shoot 80% of my wildlife photos while laying on the ground.

That's a sweet setup, very very interesting, dose it float? since you call it skimmer! makes me very curious, what about the bobbing in the water?

That is actually a live view of the bullfrog I was watching

I almost always lay right at the edge of the water. It can be very uncomfortable on steep banks because of how you have to angle your neck when laying head down a hill. If the bank is really steep I will lay parallel with the water and make the best of it.

Honestly, if there is any bank (even a small incline such in the first photo posted) at all it can be extremely uncomfortable to lay there for any length of time. If needed I will crawl out in the water some (only if it's shallow) to relieve the strain on my neck/back.

I know what you mean, the pain in the neck and back can be fearsome, I can only manage 10 minutes at a time..

Basically I will do what ever is necessary for that eye level photograph because I really hate wildlife photos that are not take at eye level of the subject............unless it's an interesting perspective that is.

In my original post the first shot of the single gator swimming towards me I am somewhat happy with the perspective. I was not sure how the photos would turn out so was not shooting like I normally do and I was freehand (no skimmer pod). The distance he was away helps make the perspective look like I am close to eye level. The second shot he was much closer and you can really tell that I was not at eye level. That is the one thing that really bugs me about that last shot. If I had dropped a little lower I would love both shots a lot more because I ended up catching some really cool color and texture in the water (in my opinion).

agree with you there!

That is one area where the skimmer pod really helps. It is really hard to hold the camera that low while laying on the ground, so without the skimmer pod I tend to end up with photos from a bit higher (what ever height my camera is with my elbows on the ground for stability).

Here is a photograph where I was laying in the water parallel with the bank to photograph the bullfrog marked by the blue arrow (was the only way to get a profile shot because of his location). The skimmer pod and ball head are completely underwater so that I can get low, wanted to go a bit lower but could not get the skimmer pod to dig deeper into the mud (was on hard bottom). The amazing part of this photo is I was able to crawl that close to the frog, take photos and then crawl away to get this setup photo...........all without spooking the frog. I also was able to get the camera and move away without spooking him. I personally consider it a complete failure if I ever spook an animal, even when moving away after getting my photos. I make every effort I possibly can to never ever ever ever spook an animal at any time.

wow that's really cool, my stalking skills are nowhere near you. guess I have to work on them. do you just wear a swimwear?

Photo showing my EM1 w/ 50-200 SWD attached to my skimmer pod. Notice the skimmer pod and ball head are full submerged. My subject (a bullfrog) is marked by the blue arrow.

In this photo I wanted the camera sitting on the water but that was as low as I could get it. This time it's my tripod underwater. The tripod actually has the forward leg fully extended and the two rear legs fully collapsed. The water was probably a good 10 foot deep with a very very step drop off that started right at the edge. My plan was to capture a baby gator with the fisheye, but they would never swim close enough (they were just to afraid of the camera I guess).

maybe leave a dummy camera for a while for them to get used to it.

I was worried I would slip into the water if I tried to get it to sink deeper and knowing that mama gator was back in the reeds (I could barely see her) I didn't want to go into the water. That would have caused a lot of commotion and probably ended up with me getting eaten before being able to get out. I always planned to go back and try again, this time with my climbing gear so I could tie off to the Jeep and have a way to not actually fall into the water. By the time I was able to get back over there the vegetation had grown up to much (another reason I prefer winter for gator photograph, less vegetation). The babies are still there, saw them when I was there taking the original post photos, but the vegetation was to thick............will be back around January to photograph them.

hmmm..you live a dangerous life my friend.

FYI, was operating the camera via wifi and the Olympus app on my phone.

dosnt the camera go into sleep mode while you are waiting?

But.........................

While waiting for the babies to get close to the fisheye I did shoot this image, which I was very happy with.



Oh, you have probably noticed in the setup photos that the rear LCD is flipped open. I will use the LCD to frame and focus a lot of times when in these strange positions. Really helps elevate some of the strain on my neck/back.

yeh the flip out lcd Is a life saviour. and that's an awesome picture. would you try a high rezz mode someday?

Any more questions don't hesitate to ask.

Regards,

Ronnie

Cheers Ronnie and thank you for the detailed reply. appreciate it mate.

Rahul

--
"Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you learn to do it well."
-- Zig Ziglar

Rahul Chavan

Explore Rahul Chavan’s 5,996 photos on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

 

[Phocal]

I was calmly stalking a dragonfly and was waiting for it to do it's pond patrol loop and return to it's perch. They do tend to loop back to favored places so patience is rewarded.

yes they do and a tactic I use often

I was kneeling on the bank of the pond. As it left, I looked down into the pond to find myself face to face with a gator about 1-2 feet below the water. Given that they do that to ambush animals that come to drink, I'm real glad I didn't get any closer.

My biggest fear is actually something similar. I spend a lot of time laying along the edge of the swamp watching bullfrogs or snakes. I am after a photograph of a bullfrog catching a dragonfly or a snake catching a bullfrog. So I will spend hours watching them and waiting, still haven't gotten the shot but continue to try.

While laying there I have had gators come out on to the bank 8-10 feet in front/behind me a number of times. I am not really worried about one trying to make me a meal while laying there since they probably don't even know I am there. But the threat of one coming out right were I am is a very real possibility. The ones that have come out behind me have been the worse because I didn't know they were there until I stood up and spooked them as well as myself.

I backed away slowly.

--
My photo blog: http://birdsnbugs.com
RF Stock Portfolio - http://www.dreamstime.com/resp129611

 

[Phocal]

Well done Ronnie. Looking forward to seeing your images from Saturday.

 

[Phocal]

Phocal,

Yes Mama

that is what you should look for

unfortunately, most of the time is under water and may launch at you in a surprise attack

and you may be on your belly, or bent looking through the lens with a narrow field of view, the fore very vulnerable....

While I like your reportages I don’t encourage your to go after the little ones , it is very dangerous

 

[Phocal]

Hey Ronnie

Thanks for taking time out to write about gator shooting and your techniques, I really appreciate all the hard work you put in now when I see your pictures. I still think its damn crazy to lie down and wait for gators but I guess it takes all kinds to make this world

Cheers Ronnie

Rahul

--
"Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you learn to do it well."
-- Zig Ziglar
https://www.flickr.com/photos/126558841@N07/

Glad you enjoyed the photos as well as the story behind getting them.

If there was a different way to get the photographs I get I would be all for it. Unfortunately there is only one way to get eye level photographs of gators and that is laying on the ground and being uncomfortably close. Adult gators I shoot with 300mm of effective reach (these were with 840mm) from 8-12 feet away while laying on the ground. You have to be that close because they sit low to the ground and any rise in the earth or vegetation will block your view. Only way to do it is with a short focal length and being close to negate most of the obstacles blocking your view.

hmmm very interesting Ronnie

how do you manage with the slope on the bank, the pictures would still be top down.. assuming you are on the bank and not submerged in the water..

cheers

rahul

--
"Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you learn to do it well."
-- Zig Ziglar
https://www.flickr.com/photos/126558841@N07/

Hey Ronnie

Rahul,

I typically use my skimmer pod when laying at the waters edge, in this case I had left it in the Jeep because I wasn't sure I was going to take any photos (the light was terrible).

Here is a photo of the skimmer pod a friend designed and printed on his 3D printer for me. This thing has been indispensable since getting it, because I shoot 80% of my wildlife photos while laying on the ground.

That's a sweet setup, very very interesting, dose it float? since you call it skimmer! makes me very curious, what about the bobbing in the water?

The original is called "Skimmer Ground Pod", that is a mouth full to say so most people just call it a skimmer pod. The idea was born out of people finding a way to get a very low perspective when shooting at the beach during low tide. Originally a lot of photographers made there own from frying pans or Frisbee's, actually many still do because like me they feel $100 is just to much for a piece of plastic. With 3D printing becoming very affordable and people building their own it's (which is what my friend did) becoming more common place than a few years ago.

It does not float and was not designed or intended to float. Now, my friend who made mine is someone I introduced to kayak photography and I think is working on something that will float for macro on the water. But he needs a larger printer, which he intends to build at some point but like me has to many projects going on at one time. It will be pretty easy to get one that will float with an EM1 and the 60mm macro................but anything much bigger than that and you are going to need a pretty large pod to actually float.

Oh, I should add that some will attach the camera directly to the skimmer pod to get an even lower perspective. They do by first attaching one of those quick releases to the skimmer pod. The only problem with that is the only way to level out the view is turning the camera in the tripod collar and I have just never really liked that. I find leveling with the ball head much faster and easier, especially when there is a lot of action to follow. For a single static shot it may be fine, but when trying to follow a bird along the beach as it hunts................just much easier to put the ball head on very lose setting and just follow the bird.

That said, I am starting my search for the shortest ball head I can find that will support my largest lens. Thankfully I shoot Olympus, so my weight needs are much less than when I shot full frame so I can use a smaller and cheaper ball head.

That is actually a live view of the bullfrog I was watching

I almost always lay right at the edge of the water. It can be very uncomfortable on steep banks because of how you have to angle your neck when laying head down a hill. If the bank is really steep I will lay parallel with the water and make the best of it.

Honestly, if there is any bank (even a small incline such in the first photo posted) at all it can be extremely uncomfortable to lay there for any length of time. If needed I will crawl out in the water some (only if it's shallow) to relieve the strain on my neck/back.

I know what you mean, the pain in the neck and back can be fearsome, I can only manage 10 minutes at a time..

when it's really steep I will lay parallel and just shoot to the side. not the most comfortable but much better than laying perpendicular and bending my neck/back to see forward.

Basically I will do what ever is necessary for that eye level photograph because I really hate wildlife photos that are not take at eye level of the subject............unless it's an interesting perspective that is.

In my original post the first shot of the single gator swimming towards me I am somewhat happy with the perspective. I was not sure how the photos would turn out so was not shooting like I normally do and I was freehand (no skimmer pod). The distance he was away helps make the perspective look like I am close to eye level. The second shot he was much closer and you can really tell that I was not at eye level. That is the one thing that really bugs me about that last shot. If I had dropped a little lower I would love both shots a lot more because I ended up catching some really cool color and texture in the water (in my opinion).

agree with you there!

thanks

That is one area where the skimmer pod really helps. It is really hard to hold the camera that low while laying on the ground, so without the skimmer pod I tend to end up with photos from a bit higher (what ever height my camera is with my elbows on the ground for stability).

Here is a photograph where I was laying in the water parallel with the bank to photograph the bullfrog marked by the blue arrow (was the only way to get a profile shot because of his location). The skimmer pod and ball head are completely underwater so that I can get low, wanted to go a bit lower but could not get the skimmer pod to dig deeper into the mud (was on hard bottom). The amazing part of this photo is I was able to crawl that close to the frog, take photos and then crawl away to get this setup photo...........all without spooking the frog. I also was able to get the camera and move away without spooking him. I personally consider it a complete failure if I ever spook an animal, even when moving away after getting my photos. I make every effort I possibly can to never ever ever ever spook an animal at any time.

wow that's really cool, my stalking skills are nowhere near you. guess I have to work on them. do you just wear a swimwear?

LOL, I probably should since I tend to spend most of the day wet whenever I go shooting in the swamps.

When this photo was taken I was testing the IQ of my 50-200 SWD with the EC-20 and wanted to see how well it could do macro. This was at the lenses minimum focus distance, I actually got closer but had to back off so I could focus. The resulting photograph was terrible, but not because of the lenses ability (which surprisingly turned out to be very good with a 2x TC). The light was just terrible, but the photo does show how well that combo can do.

Photo showing my EM1 w/ 50-200 SWD attached to my skimmer pod. Notice the skimmer pod and ball head are full submerged. My subject (a bullfrog) is marked by the blue arrow.

In this photo I wanted the camera sitting on the water but that was as low as I could get it. This time it's my tripod underwater. The tripod actually has the forward leg fully extended and the two rear legs fully collapsed. The water was probably a good 10 foot deep with a very very step drop off that started right at the edge. My plan was to capture a baby gator with the fisheye, but they would never swim close enough (they were just to afraid of the camera I guess).

maybe leave a dummy camera for a while for them to get used to it.

I have thought about that. just not sure how legal it is in a National Wildlife Refuge or how long it would be before some fisherman pulled it up. This place is a magnet for fishing and crabbing. A good friend is a volunteer at the refuge and I do plan on talking with him about it.

I was worried I would slip into the water if I tried to get it to sink deeper and knowing that mama gator was back in the reeds (I could barely see her) I didn't want to go into the water. That would have caused a lot of commotion and probably ended up with me getting eaten before being able to get out. I always planned to go back and try again, this time with my climbing gear so I could tie off to the Jeep and have a way to not actually fall into the water. By the time I was able to get back over there the vegetation had grown up to much (another reason I prefer winter for gator photograph, less vegetation). The babies are still there, saw them when I was there taking the original post photos, but the vegetation was to thick............will be back around January to photograph them.

hmmm..you live a dangerous life my friend.

LOL, not really, but maybe...............

Wildlife photography in the swamps is dangerous no matter what. But I do like to photograph two of the most dangerous animals in the swamp


no crop with 150/2




no crop except going to 16:9 - taken with my 150/2




no crop - same snake same location, just added the ec-20

FYI, was operating the camera via wifi and the Olympus app on my phone.

dosnt the camera go into sleep mode while you are waiting?

nope, I turn all that off so it will stay one the entire time...........

But.........................

While waiting for the babies to get close to the fisheye I did shoot this image, which I was very happy with.



Oh, you have probably noticed in the setup photos that the rear LCD is flipped open. I will use the LCD to frame and focus a lot of times when in these strange positions. Really helps elevate some of the strain on my neck/back.

yeh the flip out lcd Is a life saviour. and that's an awesome picture. would you try a high rezz mode someday?

when I get a camera that will do high rez I will, still shooting the original EM1. Right now I have 3 cameras (EM1 x2, EM5) that all use the same battery. Because I do spent days at a time away from power, having to only carry one battery is nice. Not sure I am ready to carry 2 types of batteries and the only way around that would be to buy 3 EM1mk2's.

I also really hate the flippy screen on the mk2. One, because it's slower to deploy and use. But the biggest thing I hate about it is use the screen to shoot from strange angles or to get lower perspective in my kayak. Right now I can hold the camera over the edge of the kayak and right at water level and use the LCD to frame. I can do that with the flippy screen also but it's much harder to line things up when the screen is not on the same axis as the lens. It really is a lot harder (especially when using telephoto lenses) to frame when the screen is not on axis. I may honestly just hold out until the mk3 and hope they go back to the flip screen like on the original EM1.

Any more questions don't hesitate to ask.

Regards,

Ronnie

Cheers Ronnie and thank you for the detailed reply. appreciate it mate.

Any time and if you ever have more questions don't hesitate to ask

Ronnie

Rahul

--
"Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you learn to do it well."
-- Zig Ziglar
https://www.flickr.com/photos/126558841@N07/

 

[R V C]

Hey Ronnie

Thanks for taking time out to write about gator shooting and your techniques, I really appreciate all the hard work you put in now when I see your pictures. I still think its damn crazy to lie down and wait for gators but I guess it takes all kinds to make this world

Cheers Ronnie

Rahul

--
"Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you learn to do it well."
-- Zig Ziglar
https://www.flickr.com/photos/126558841@N07/

Glad you enjoyed the photos as well as the story behind getting them.

If there was a different way to get the photographs I get I would be all for it. Unfortunately there is only one way to get eye level photographs of gators and that is laying on the ground and being uncomfortably close. Adult gators I shoot with 300mm of effective reach (these were with 840mm) from 8-12 feet away while laying on the ground. You have to be that close because they sit low to the ground and any rise in the earth or vegetation will block your view. Only way to do it is with a short focal length and being close to negate most of the obstacles blocking your view.

hmmm very interesting Ronnie

how do you manage with the slope on the bank, the pictures would still be top down.. assuming you are on the bank and not submerged in the water..

cheers

rahul

--
"Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you learn to do it well."
-- Zig Ziglar
https://www.flickr.com/photos/126558841@N07/

Hey Ronnie

Rahul,

I typically use my skimmer pod when laying at the waters edge, in this case I had left it in the Jeep because I wasn't sure I was going to take any photos (the light was terrible).

Here is a photo of the skimmer pod a friend designed and printed on his 3D printer for me. This thing has been indispensable since getting it, because I shoot 80% of my wildlife photos while laying on the ground.

That's a sweet setup, very very interesting, dose it float? since you call it skimmer! makes me very curious, what about the bobbing in the water?

The original is called "Skimmer Ground Pod", that is a mouth full to say so most people just call it a skimmer pod. The idea was born out of people finding a way to get a very low perspective when shooting at the beach during low tide.

ahhh.. now I get it, but then you can easily get a manfroto pixie for as much.. anyway.. more options now..

Originally a lot of photographers made there own from frying pans or Frisbee's, actually many still do because like me they feel $100 is just to much for a piece of plastic. With 3D printing becoming very affordable and people building their own it's (which is what my friend did) becoming more common place than a few years ago.

not a bad idea..

It does not float and was not designed or intended to float. Now, my friend who made mine is someone I introduced to kayak photography and I think is working on something that will float for macro on the water. But he needs a larger printer, which he intends to build at some point but like me has to many projects going on at one time. It will be pretty easy to get one that will float with an EM1 and the 60mm macro................but anything much bigger than that and you are going to need a pretty large pod to actually float.

true that, and then it would be moving with every small wave

Oh, I should add that some will attach the camera directly to the skimmer pod to get an even lower perspective. They do by first attaching one of those quick releases to the skimmer pod. The only problem with that is the only way to level out the view is turning the camera in the tripod collar and I have just never really liked that. I find leveling with the ball head much faster and easier, especially when there is a lot of action to follow. For a single static shot it may be fine, but when trying to follow a bird along the beach as it hunts................just much easier to put the ball head on very lose setting and just follow the bird.

That said, I am starting my search for the shortest ball head I can find that will support my largest lens. Thankfully I shoot Olympus, so my weight needs are much less than when I shot full frame so I can use a smaller and cheaper ball head.

That is actually a live view of the bullfrog I was watching

I almost always lay right at the edge of the water. It can be very uncomfortable on steep banks because of how you have to angle your neck when laying head down a hill. If the bank is really steep I will lay parallel with the water and make the best of it.

Honestly, if there is any bank (even a small incline such in the first photo posted) at all it can be extremely uncomfortable to lay there for any length of time. If needed I will crawl out in the water some (only if it's shallow) to relieve the strain on my neck/back.

I know what you mean, the pain in the neck and back can be fearsome, I can only manage 10 minutes at a time..

when it's really steep I will lay parallel and just shoot to the side. not the most comfortable but much better than laying perpendicular and bending my neck/back to see forward.

now why didn't I think of it ! (facepalm)

Basically I will do what ever is necessary for that eye level photograph because I really hate wildlife photos that are not take at eye level of the subject............unless it's an interesting perspective that is.

In my original post the first shot of the single gator swimming towards me I am somewhat happy with the perspective. I was not sure how the photos would turn out so was not shooting like I normally do and I was freehand (no skimmer pod). The distance he was away helps make the perspective look like I am close to eye level. The second shot he was much closer and you can really tell that I was not at eye level. That is the one thing that really bugs me about that last shot. If I had dropped a little lower I would love both shots a lot more because I ended up catching some really cool color and texture in the water (in my opinion).

agree with you there!

thanks

That is one area where the skimmer pod really helps. It is really hard to hold the camera that low while laying on the ground, so without the skimmer pod I tend to end up with photos from a bit higher (what ever height my camera is with my elbows on the ground for stability).

Here is a photograph where I was laying in the water parallel with the bank to photograph the bullfrog marked by the blue arrow (was the only way to get a profile shot because of his location). The skimmer pod and ball head are completely underwater so that I can get low, wanted to go a bit lower but could not get the skimmer pod to dig deeper into the mud (was on hard bottom). The amazing part of this photo is I was able to crawl that close to the frog, take photos and then crawl away to get this setup photo...........all without spooking the frog. I also was able to get the camera and move away without spooking him. I personally consider it a complete failure if I ever spook an animal, even when moving away after getting my photos. I make every effort I possibly can to never ever ever ever spook an animal at any time.

wow that's really cool, my stalking skills are nowhere near you. guess I have to work on them. do you just wear a swimwear?

LOL, I probably should since I tend to spend most of the day wet whenever I go shooting in the swamps.

When this photo was taken I was testing the IQ of my 50-200 SWD with the EC-20 and wanted to see how well it could do macro. This was at the lenses minimum focus distance, I actually got closer but had to back off so I could focus. The resulting photograph was terrible, but not because of the lenses ability (which surprisingly turned out to be very good with a 2x TC). The light was just terrible, but the photo does show how well that combo can do.

hey that's damn cool, the new 300 will focus even closer if I am not mistaken, I do have extension tubes by kenko with full connections that work wonderfully.

Photo showing my EM1 w/ 50-200 SWD attached to my skimmer pod. Notice the skimmer pod and ball head are full submerged. My subject (a bullfrog) is marked by the blue arrow.

In this photo I wanted the camera sitting on the water but that was as low as I could get it. This time it's my tripod underwater. The tripod actually has the forward leg fully extended and the two rear legs fully collapsed. The water was probably a good 10 foot deep with a very very step drop off that started right at the edge. My plan was to capture a baby gator with the fisheye, but they would never swim close enough (they were just to afraid of the camera I guess).

maybe leave a dummy camera for a while for them to get used to it.

I have thought about that. just not sure how legal it is in a National Wildlife Refuge or how long it would be before some fisherman pulled it up. This place is a magnet for fishing and crabbing. A good friend is a volunteer at the refuge and I do plan on talking with him about it.

yeh better to ask.

I was worried I would slip into the water if I tried to get it to sink deeper and knowing that mama gator was back in the reeds (I could barely see her) I didn't want to go into the water. That would have caused a lot of commotion and probably ended up with me getting eaten before being able to get out. I always planned to go back and try again, this time with my climbing gear so I could tie off to the Jeep and have a way to not actually fall into the water. By the time I was able to get back over there the vegetation had grown up to much (another reason I prefer winter for gator photograph, less vegetation). The babies are still there, saw them when I was there taking the original post photos, but the vegetation was to thick............will be back around January to photograph them.

hmmm..you live a dangerous life my friend.

LOL, not really, but maybe...............

not maybe.. definitely.. with the picture you psoted.

Wildlife photography in the swamps is dangerous no matter what. But I do like to photograph two of the most dangerous animals in the swamp


no crop with 150/2


no crop except going to 16:9 - taken with my 150/2


no crop - same snake same location, just added the ec-20

FYI, was operating the camera via wifi and the Olympus app on my phone.

dosnt the camera go into sleep mode while you are waiting?

nope, I turn all that off so it will stay one the entire time...........

But.........................

While waiting for the babies to get close to the fisheye I did shoot this image, which I was very happy with.



Oh, you have probably noticed in the setup photos that the rear LCD is flipped open. I will use the LCD to frame and focus a lot of times when in these strange positions. Really helps elevate some of the strain on my neck/back.

yeh the flip out lcd Is a life saviour. and that's an awesome picture. would you try a high rezz mode someday?

when I get a camera that will do high rez I will, still shooting the original EM1. Right now I have 3 cameras (EM1 x2, EM5) that all use the same battery. Because I do spent days at a time away from power, having to only carry one battery is nice. Not sure I am ready to carry 2 types of batteries and the only way around that would be to buy 3 EM1mk2's.

I know what you mean, I hope the em5 mkiii has the same batteries as the emi 1mkii, so I can get them both and phase out my em1+em5 combo.

I also really hate the flippy screen on the mk2.

true..this one taken with the screen flipped out and me leaning out of our rowboat..




couldn't do it or would be tough with the flippy one

One, because it's slower to deploy and use. But the biggest thing I hate about it is use the screen to shoot from strange angles or to get lower perspective in my kayak. Right now I can hold the camera over the edge of the kayak and right at water level and use the LCD to frame. I can do that with the flippy screen also but it's much harder to line things up when the screen is not on the same axis as the lens. It really is a lot harder (especially when using telephoto lenses) to frame when the screen is not on axis. I may honestly just hold out until the mk3 and hope they go back to the flip screen like on the original EM1.

thanks for taking time out to answer me Ronnie. cheers.

Rahul

Any more questions don't hesitate to ask.

Regards,

Ronnie

Cheers Ronnie and thank you for the detailed reply. appreciate it mate.

Any time and if you ever have more questions don't hesitate to ask

Ronnie

Rahul

--
"Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you learn to do it well."
-- Zig Ziglar
https://www.flickr.com/photos/126558841@N07/

--
"Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you learn to do it well."
-- Zig Ziglar

Rahul Chavan

Explore Rahul Chavan’s 5,996 photos on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

 

[CD1]

This is easily, hands-down, far-and-away, the most insightful and inspirational post I've ever read on this site. Masterful. You know your quarry, know your gear, are willing to do the difficult and uncomfortable things in pursuit of your goal, and generously share with us.

Thank you. I've enjoyed this thread tremendously.

 

[AvyMan]

+1 to CD1's post above. I, too, have enjoyed these shots and narratives a lot--and your past posts here as well.

We share a lot of the same techniques and wildlife mindfulness you describe. Mine is just adapted to much different terrain and subjects. Your posts are quite interesting because of my total unfamiliarity with the environment and wildlife in your area. Thanks for the education!

Nick

 

[Phocal]

Hey Ronnie

Thanks for taking time out to write about gator shooting and your techniques, I really appreciate all the hard work you put in now when I see your pictures. I still think its damn crazy to lie down and wait for gators but I guess it takes all kinds to make this world

Cheers Ronnie

Rahul

--
"Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you learn to do it well."
-- Zig Ziglar
https://www.flickr.com/photos/126558841@N07/

Glad you enjoyed the photos as well as the story behind getting them.

If there was a different way to get the photographs I get I would be all for it. Unfortunately there is only one way to get eye level photographs of gators and that is laying on the ground and being uncomfortably close. Adult gators I shoot with 300mm of effective reach (these were with 840mm) from 8-12 feet away while laying on the ground. You have to be that close because they sit low to the ground and any rise in the earth or vegetation will block your view. Only way to do it is with a short focal length and being close to negate most of the obstacles blocking your view.

hmmm very interesting Ronnie

how do you manage with the slope on the bank, the pictures would still be top down.. assuming you are on the bank and not submerged in the water..

cheers

rahul

--
"Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you learn to do it well."
-- Zig Ziglar
https://www.flickr.com/photos/126558841@N07/

Hey Ronnie

Rahul,

I typically use my skimmer pod when laying at the waters edge, in this case I had left it in the Jeep because I wasn't sure I was going to take any photos (the light was terrible).

Here is a photo of the skimmer pod a friend designed and printed on his 3D printer for me. This thing has been indispensable since getting it, because I shoot 80% of my wildlife photos while laying on the ground.

That's a sweet setup, very very interesting, dose it float? since you call it skimmer! makes me very curious, what about the bobbing in the water?

The original is called "Skimmer Ground Pod", that is a mouth full to say so most people just call it a skimmer pod. The idea was born out of people finding a way to get a very low perspective when shooting at the beach during low tide.

ahhh.. now I get it, but then you can easily get a manfroto pixie for as much.. anyway.. more options now..

The advantage to the skimmer pod over a tiny tripod is you can push it forward as crawl closer to your subject and it will not get hung up on any thing. Look at that first photo below and imaging trying to manipulate even a tiny tripod as you crawl forward thru that grass compared to just gently pushing the skimmer pod forward. All of my tripods are capable of going perfectly flat, but I would never try to use them like I do the skimmer pod.

Originally a lot of photographers made there own from frying pans or Frisbee's, actually many still do because like me they feel $100 is just to much for a piece of plastic. With 3D printing becoming very affordable and people building their own it's (which is what my friend did) becoming more common place than a few years ago.

not a bad idea..

It does not float and was not designed or intended to float. Now, my friend who made mine is someone I introduced to kayak photography and I think is working on something that will float for macro on the water. But he needs a larger printer, which he intends to build at some point but like me has to many projects going on at one time. It will be pretty easy to get one that will float with an EM1 and the 60mm macro................but anything much bigger than that and you are going to need a pretty large pod to actually float.

true that, and then it would be moving with every small wave

Oh, I should add that some will attach the camera directly to the skimmer pod to get an even lower perspective. They do by first attaching one of those quick releases to the skimmer pod. The only problem with that is the only way to level out the view is turning the camera in the tripod collar and I have just never really liked that. I find leveling with the ball head much faster and easier, especially when there is a lot of action to follow. For a single static shot it may be fine, but when trying to follow a bird along the beach as it hunts................just much easier to put the ball head on very lose setting and just follow the bird.

That said, I am starting my search for the shortest ball head I can find that will support my largest lens. Thankfully I shoot Olympus, so my weight needs are much less than when I shot full frame so I can use a smaller and cheaper ball head.

That is actually a live view of the bullfrog I was watching

I almost always lay right at the edge of the water. It can be very uncomfortable on steep banks because of how you have to angle your neck when laying head down a hill. If the bank is really steep I will lay parallel with the water and make the best of it.

Honestly, if there is any bank (even a small incline such in the first photo posted) at all it can be extremely uncomfortable to lay there for any length of time. If needed I will crawl out in the water some (only if it's shallow) to relieve the strain on my neck/back.

I know what you mean, the pain in the neck and back can be fearsome, I can only manage 10 minutes at a time..

when it's really steep I will lay parallel and just shoot to the side. not the most comfortable but much better than laying perpendicular and bending my neck/back to see forward.

now why didn't I think of it ! (facepalm)

LOL..............it's not ideal and still not super comfortable but it helps when laying there for long periods.

Basically I will do what ever is necessary for that eye level photograph because I really hate wildlife photos that are not take at eye level of the subject............unless it's an interesting perspective that is.

In my original post the first shot of the single gator swimming towards me I am somewhat happy with the perspective. I was not sure how the photos would turn out so was not shooting like I normally do and I was freehand (no skimmer pod). The distance he was away helps make the perspective look like I am close to eye level. The second shot he was much closer and you can really tell that I was not at eye level. That is the one thing that really bugs me about that last shot. If I had dropped a little lower I would love both shots a lot more because I ended up catching some really cool color and texture in the water (in my opinion).

agree with you there!

thanks

That is one area where the skimmer pod really helps. It is really hard to hold the camera that low while laying on the ground, so without the skimmer pod I tend to end up with photos from a bit higher (what ever height my camera is with my elbows on the ground for stability).

Here is a photograph where I was laying in the water parallel with the bank to photograph the bullfrog marked by the blue arrow (was the only way to get a profile shot because of his location). The skimmer pod and ball head are completely underwater so that I can get low, wanted to go a bit lower but could not get the skimmer pod to dig deeper into the mud (was on hard bottom). The amazing part of this photo is I was able to crawl that close to the frog, take photos and then crawl away to get this setup photo...........all without spooking the frog. I also was able to get the camera and move away without spooking him. I personally consider it a complete failure if I ever spook an animal, even when moving away after getting my photos. I make every effort I possibly can to never ever ever ever spook an animal at any time.

wow that's really cool, my stalking skills are nowhere near you. guess I have to work on them. do you just wear a swimwear?

LOL, I probably should since I tend to spend most of the day wet whenever I go shooting in the swamps.

When this photo was taken I was testing the IQ of my 50-200 SWD with the EC-20 and wanted to see how well it could do macro. This was at the lenses minimum focus distance, I actually got closer but had to back off so I could focus. The resulting photograph was terrible, but not because of the lenses ability (which surprisingly turned out to be very good with a 2x TC). The light was just terrible, but the photo does show how well that combo can do.

hey that's damn cool, the new 300 will focus even closer if I am not mistaken, I do have extension tubes by kenko with full connections that work wonderfully.

macro is actually the main reason I got the 300/4 as was happy with the IQ from my 150/2 and EC-20. It does focus closer and I will be able to use focus bracketing with it.

Photo showing my EM1 w/ 50-200 SWD attached to my skimmer pod. Notice the skimmer pod and ball head are full submerged. My subject (a bullfrog) is marked by the blue arrow.

In this photo I wanted the camera sitting on the water but that was as low as I could get it. This time it's my tripod underwater. The tripod actually has the forward leg fully extended and the two rear legs fully collapsed. The water was probably a good 10 foot deep with a very very step drop off that started right at the edge. My plan was to capture a baby gator with the fisheye, but they would never swim close enough (they were just to afraid of the camera I guess).

maybe leave a dummy camera for a while for them to get used to it.

I have thought about that. just not sure how legal it is in a National Wildlife Refuge or how long it would be before some fisherman pulled it up. This place is a magnet for fishing and crabbing. A good friend is a volunteer at the refuge and I do plan on talking with him about it.

yeh better to ask.

I was worried I would slip into the water if I tried to get it to sink deeper and knowing that mama gator was back in the reeds (I could barely see her) I didn't want to go into the water. That would have caused a lot of commotion and probably ended up with me getting eaten before being able to get out. I always planned to go back and try again, this time with my climbing gear so I could tie off to the Jeep and have a way to not actually fall into the water. By the time I was able to get back over there the vegetation had grown up to much (another reason I prefer winter for gator photograph, less vegetation). The babies are still there, saw them when I was there taking the original post photos, but the vegetation was to thick............will be back around January to photograph them.

hmmm..you live a dangerous life my friend.

LOL, not really, but maybe...............

not maybe.. definitely.. with the picture you psoted.

Wildlife photography in the swamps is dangerous no matter what. But I do like to photograph two of the most dangerous animals in the swamp


no crop with 150/2


no crop except going to 16:9 - taken with my 150/2


no crop - same snake same location, just added the ec-20

FYI, was operating the camera via wifi and the Olympus app on my phone.

dosnt the camera go into sleep mode while you are waiting?

nope, I turn all that off so it will stay one the entire time...........

But.........................

While waiting for the babies to get close to the fisheye I did shoot this image, which I was very happy with.



Oh, you have probably noticed in the setup photos that the rear LCD is flipped open. I will use the LCD to frame and focus a lot of times when in these strange positions. Really helps elevate some of the strain on my neck/back.

yeh the flip out lcd Is a life saviour. and that's an awesome picture. would you try a high rezz mode someday?

when I get a camera that will do high rez I will, still shooting the original EM1. Right now I have 3 cameras (EM1 x2, EM5) that all use the same battery. Because I do spent days at a time away from power, having to only carry one battery is nice. Not sure I am ready to carry 2 types of batteries and the only way around that would be to buy 3 EM1mk2's.

I know what you mean, I hope the em5 mkiii has the same batteries as the emi 1mkii, so I can get them both and phase out my em1+em5 combo.

I also really hate the flippy screen on the mk2.

true..this one taken with the screen flipped out and me leaning out of our rowboat..

great capture, love how you got the snake doubling back on itself. you are right, it would be hard with a flippy screen and it's why I hate them. wish they at least do like Pentax did with there screen that can function like a flip screen and/or a flippy screen (but I do wonder about the durability of their design). actually I wonder about the durability of any flippy screen................I can see all kinds of accidents trying to use it in the field.

couldn't do it or would be tough with the flippy one

One, because it's slower to deploy and use. But the biggest thing I hate about it is use the screen to shoot from strange angles or to get lower perspective in my kayak. Right now I can hold the camera over the edge of the kayak and right at water level and use the LCD to frame. I can do that with the flippy screen also but it's much harder to line things up when the screen is not on the same axis as the lens. It really is a lot harder (especially when using telephoto lenses) to frame when the screen is not on axis. I may honestly just hold out until the mk3 and hope they go back to the flip screen like on the original EM1.

thanks for taking time out to answer me Ronnie. cheers.

any time.....................

Ronnie

Rahul

Any more questions don't hesitate to ask.

Regards,

Ronnie

Cheers Ronnie and thank you for the detailed reply. appreciate it mate.

Any time and if you ever have more questions don't hesitate to ask

Ronnie

Rahul

--
"Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you learn to do it well."
-- Zig Ziglar
https://www.flickr.com/photos/126558841@N07/

--
"Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you learn to do it well."
-- Zig Ziglar
https://www.flickr.com/photos/126558841@N07/

 

[Phocal]

This is easily, hands-down, far-and-away, the most insightful and inspirational post I've ever read on this site. Masterful. You know your quarry, know your gear, are willing to do the difficult and uncomfortable things in pursuit of your goal, and generously share with us.

Thank you. I've enjoyed this thread tremendously.

Thank you, I really appreciate comments like this. I like teaching and sharing and it's nice to know that others appreciate it and can learn from it.

 

[Phocal]

+1 to CD1's post above. I, too, have enjoyed these shots and narratives a lot--and your past posts here as well.

Thanks, I do appreciate comments like yours.

We share a lot of the same techniques and wildlife mindfulness you describe. Mine is just adapted to much different terrain and subjects. Your posts are quite interesting because of my total unfamiliarity with the environment and wildlife in your area. Thanks for the education!

you are welcome and I am glad you enjoy and can learn from them. Much of what I do can be adapted to other animals and other environments. A few post recently here and other places about actual in the field stuff got me thinking and there are not many who write about what goes into wildlife photography. So I have been trying to shoot photos of the area and that will show how I go about getting the shot. Now, that takes 2nd place to actually getting the shot...............so not always possible. But I have been trying to change up what and how I shoot so I can do more informative post. I have a few ideas for some future post but just need to find the right situation in the field and be able to document it in photos for the post.

Ronnie

Nick

--
"I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order." John Burroughs, American naturalist and essayist 1837-1921.