I like to go to this pond on a trail in the middle of the forest. It’s in a huge gully and I’ve seen Turkey Vultures there before, so I’m always checking! I’ve seen salamanders in this pond and this day a few weeks ago I saw some water striders! I loved the ripples they were making and waited for him to get into the reflection of the tree.
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Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Nikon D3400
ISO 200
300mm
f/6.3
1/160
Cropped and adjusted exposure slightly, and sharpened and noise reduction
Vanessa, nice timing waiting to get the strider still while keeping the ripples in the frame. Centering the strider gives it more visual weight and having it in the tree reflection lets the bright areas around it’s lets stand out.
@Mark_Seaver Thanks, Mark! I appreciate your explaining why this works. There’s a lot of images that I like that are posted on this site, but I can’t always exactly say why! You help me to know things to look for not only in other people’s photos but mine as well.
Well done Vanessa,! Several summers ago, I tried photographing water striders in a river, and quickly found out it was not so easy to get a good image. I like your image - the overall composition like @Mark_Seaver said, the softness of the water, and the small and large ripples. On my attempts the striders did not show up so well. The tiny ripples/bubbles? showing where it is walking on water really helps the image.
Striders are wicked hard to shoot so congratulations! I agree that the reflection of the trees sets it off nicely. The but itself looks a little soft, but heck, at least it’s in frame! They’re so quick I often just get the ripples.
Thanks @BenM and @Kris_Smith for looking and your inputs! I think I would need a bigger lens for a sharp strider at this distance! I have a few where the strider came out more detailed but not as sharp as I would like but then there’s not the surrounding environment as much. They’re fun to watch!
Otherwise I was just chasing them all over the place getting nothing but ripples. The same technique can be used for other critters that move around a lot like dragonflies, butterflies & birds. It takes patience, but often yields good results.
It’s autofocus, but I lock it in by using the focus lock button on the back of my camera. I use back-button focus as a regular technique instead of focusing with the shutter button. By locking in the focus the camera won’t try to acquire something else while you wait for your quarry. I’m not familiar with your camera, but you probably have a way to do this, too.
@Kris_Smith Ha! Guess you have some cleaning to do! … Yes, I do have that feature, I’ve tried using it before and didn’t like it, but I’ll have to give it another go! Thanks!
… Yes, I do have that feature, I’ve tried using it before and didn’t like it, but I’ll have to give it another go! Thanks!