by Randy Kumura, GE, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Wildlife Photography
hobby
94
Pronghorn
Wildlife
Photography
Anytime,
Any Place
One of the benefits of
traveling with colleagues
is that you have the time to
talk to them and learn what
they are passionate about.
Here is Randy's story...
1 Hoopoe - June 2008
camera: Canon 20D, Lens - Canon 100-400
PAC.AUTUMN.2009
Randy,
on one of his nature photo trips
On a warm winter’s day: It is
7 AM on a winter morning. The sun
will not rise for a while, which is
perfect as we need a couple of hours
to get to our destination. A patch of
black ice sends us hurtling off the
road. My friend gets out to survey
the situation and determines the
snow is only a meter deep. After a
steep climb back to the highway
we arrive at our destination and get
into position. The thermometer
reads -30° C, the wind is howling
down the Bow Valley, and the effective temperature (adjusted for wind
chill) falls below -40° C. Etiquette
prohibits the stomping of feet and
clapping of hands, which is often
used to try and keep warm. As time
passes by it seems even colder. By
now you are probably wondering
why any sane person would drive
on roads not suitable for travel in
order to stand motionless in subzero temperatures. The answer is
simple … we are hoping to photograph the first recorded wintering
Golden-crowned Sparrow in Alberta reported the previous week.
Just when we are about to give
up to the cold weather, something
flies in, lands on the ground and
starts feeding. We wait patiently
and eventually it comes into view;
it is our target subject, a Goldencrowned Sparrow! First I need to
stop shaking from excitement, next
remember to breathe, but not on
the viewfinder or lens, a foggy lens
would be a disaster. After composing myself, I take a photo, and check
the exposure using the histogram.
Everything is good to go, and this
begins another session of wildlife
photography. What type of person
would pursue a hobby under extreme weather conditions? In the
words of Paul Harvey “… and now,
the rest of the story.”
I t st a r t e d i n n o ce n t l y
enough: As a child growing up
in Canada I was actively engaged
in two types of extra curricular activities: fly tying and photography,
which is the focus of this article.
Back in the day there was limited
to no funding for such activities
but I was fortunate that the teachers allowed us to use their personal
equipment to take and develop pictures. One year I was even the photographer for the Year Book, which
was my first experience with a focused photography task.
95
The day after high school graduation I purchased my first 35 mm
Single Lens Reflex (SLR) camera
that I have to this day. I expanded
my collection of this type of manual
focus equipment and it has served
me well for two and a half decades.
There was a significant change in
technology with the release of auto
focus equipment. Some serious
photographers believed auto focus
technology was for people who did
not know what they were doing (i.e.
could not focus); I was in this group.
I was reading a book by a wellknown bird photographer who
opened with a similar comment
about believing he would never
switch to auto focus. He went on
to describe how the advanced auto
focus technology opened up new
possibilities - flight photography.
With manual focus equipment,
capturing a bird in flight is an adventure on its own, truly a hit or
miss scenario with more misses
then hits. In 2003 I was out with a
guide in poor lighting conditions. I
knew I could not get a sharp image
so I had to put my cameras down,
while the guide was still shooting.
Later that day I started quizzing him
on what he was doing earlier, and
learned that his equipment is compensating using gyros. I researched
this technology, and the new millennium brought me a change in
equipment as I switched over to
auto focus starting with the same
set up camera I had observed.
Digital photography was becoming a viable technology, however it is too much electronics and
software, and I am a photographer,
not a System Operator. I waited
until digital technology advanced
to a point where I felt it would not
be frustrating. In 2005 I took the
plunge and there has been no looking back. It is interesting how much
this technology has changed perceptions; the shutter for the first
Digital SLR I purchased was rated
at 75,000 operations. I thought to
myself that was ridiculous as nobody could possibly take that many
photos in his or her lifetime. I have
subsequently learned that on a slow
year I will exceed this count.
Technology advances have not
been limited to camera bodies and
lenses. The tripod head I currently
use is an engineering masterpiece.
I can effortlessly track a moving
target with a 7 kg camera and it remains stationary when I let go.
Safari – A photographer’s
dream Holiday: In January of
2001 I put down a deposit for an
African Safari in the fall knowing
that the 9 months of anticipation
would be torture. In late September, with a lot of anxiety, we started
our journey to Kenya. Three days
2 American Beaver - May 2009
camera: body - Canon 40D, Lens - Canon 600 f4
This is the Life for Me!
As George Carlin stated, “Life is not measured
by the number of breaths we take, but by the
number of moments that take our breath away."
Nature photography has taken me on a life
long journey in pursuit of these moments.
later we are heading to our first
game park; the roads are rough,
progress is slow, and we arrive towards the end of the day. As the sun
is going down we find our first herd
of African Elephants. Although it is
getting very dark I quickly shoot off
a roll of film. Our guide tells us to
save our film as he will get us closer
to elephants in the coming days.
With some reluctance I limit myself to a second roll of film (for those
of you who are curious I have close
to 150 rolls of film with me) and
hope our guide comes through. A
few days later we are in the middle
of a herd of elephants and end up
getting charged. I shoot off a few
photos of the charging elephant’s
forehead while thinking to myself
that our guide is really good at driving in reverse at a high speed.
Towards the end of the day we
went to the river to check it out,
where we discovered a pride of lions on the far side of the river. The
lions have attracted a lot of attention and it is difficult to take photos
without other safari vehicles in the
shot. We wanted to go to the other
side of the river but the park was
about to close for the day. Although
we cannot get closer, we are still
very excited to encounter our first
wild lions. Five minutes later one
of the lionesses gets up and starts
crossing the river; the rest of the
pride follows her. The pride exits
the river just in front of us with two
cubs sitting down in a perfect pose;
a rare magical moment captured on
a couple of rolls of film. In his 10
years of guiding our guide had not
observed such an event.
PAC.AUTUMN.2009
The shutter for the
first Digital SLR I purchased was rated at
75,000 operations.
I thought to myself
that was ridiculous
as nobody could
possibly take that
many photos in his
or her lifetime. I
have subsequently
learned that on
a slow year I will
exceed this count.
Technology
advances have not
been limited to
camera bodies
and lenses; tripods
have significantly
changed over the
years. The material
used for the tripod's
legs has evolved
and carbon fibre has
reduced the weight
while increasing the
strength.
Wildlife Photography
hobby
96
Birders have this
concept of a
“Favourite Patch”,
which is quite simply
a place they like to
frequent.
There is a green
movement in birding
called Non-Motorized Transport (NMT)
birding that when
applied by a determined person, yields
amazing results.
Our last day of safari has a poor
start; it is raining quite hard. It is a
slow day as the rain has driven the
wildlife to seek cover. The weather
breaks in the afternoon and we discover a pair of mating lions, which
we dutifully record on film. Our
guide tells us that lions mate approximately three times an hour
for a week. Soon after, we recorded
round 1 and exactly 20 minutes
later, round 2. As we wait for the
next round, one of my fellow safari
travellers comments that it would
be funny if we turned around and
there was something more exciting
behind us. We all turn around to
see the rest of the pride, lounging in
the grass waiting for the amorous
couple to finish their honeymoon.
A lot of lion photos were taken this
day.
The Vigil: It is spring and love
is in the air, especially for the migratory birds that venture north
to breed. My favourite visitor is
the Black-necked Stilt, whose first
recorded breeding in the area was
in the 70’s; however wetland and
habitat loss has extended the stilt’s
breeding range north. The previous
year I had attempted to photograph
stilts mating and encountered exposure challenges due to the lightcoloured underwings revealed
during copulation. The winter of
studying my errors pays off and I
achieve the results I was hoping for.
Days later I am checking sloughs
and come across a nesting pair of
stilts. The site is too good to be
true, the nest is reasonably close to
the road with an unimpeded view,
and most importantly neither adult
is alarmed by my presence.
I am thankful for the Internet as
my pursuit of nature photography
leads to many questions that can
be often answered through some
determined web browsing. Some
web surfing reveals the incubation period is 18 to 25 days. Thus
begins what I now refer to as my
vigil. I return the next day and the
adults are taking turns incubating
the eggs. During this period I continually photograph the nest and
am fascinated by the interaction of
the stilts with each other and the
surrounding animals. Eventually I
realize there are three nesting pairs,
the second nest is visible, and the
third nest is in the reeds.
I arrive one day several weeks
into the vigil to quite a commotion.
The adults are very agitated; vocalising and jumping around. In due
course I realize that there is a pair of
ravens in the area, oh oh predators,
this cannot be good. The adult stilts
take turns harassing the ravens in a
coordinated effort; this is very interesting as I have never heard of
this kind of behaviour.
3 Black-necked Stilt - June 2008
Lens - Canon 400 f5.6
camera: body-Canon 20D. Lens - Canon 600 f4
PAC.AUTUMN.2009
Hoary Marmot
camera: body - Canon 40D, Lens - Canon 600 f4 IS
Day 21 is very overcast and the lighting is
poor. I arrive to check the nest and one of the
adults is very vocal and the second is sitting on
the nest and wiggling. Have the ravens returned?
I quickly scan the area and note there are no ravens. Soon the adult on the nest stands up to reveal a newborn chick. The adult picks up the egg
shell and flies off with it. The other adult sits on
the nest and commences to wiggle. Oops, forgot
to take some photos. Over the next few hours
two more eggs hatch. The overcast sky made
conditions for photography poor; however I will
never forget this experience.
An introduction to rare bird alerts: Late
summer; the shorebirds are heading south; I’m
checking the slough where I observed the stilts
hatching. There is a bird I have never seen before;
I need to get some photos to help ID the species.
Fortunately, by now I have learned to include
known species for comparative purposes. I return home and start studying my field guides;
4 Indian Roller - June 2008
camera: body Canon 20D, Lens - Canon 100-400
by Randy Kumura, GE, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
97
however I remain baffled. Finally I
accept defeat, post a few photos on
a local birding web site, and request
some assistance.
People who seek out birds fall
into two basic categories; those
like me who like to take photos
and birders. Experienced birders
tend to be extremely knowledgeable, especially regarding their local
patches. I am hoping a birder will
respond to my request and ID this
bird for me. My previous requests
were answered within a few hours,
this request gets a response in a few
minutes. Oh no I think, the species
is so obvious nobody has to consult
any reference material. With some
trepidation I open the response
and learn that this bird is a Ruff. A
short time later the phone rings,
the caller identifies himself as a local birder, informs me that a Ruff is
very rare for our area, and asks for
the location of my sighting. I know
that this bird winters in sub-Saharan Africa - it was, indeed, a long
way from home.
Why fly when one can
drive? Twice a year I travel to Spokane to attend conferences. In the
past I have flown however the increased airport security has turned
this trip into a day long trip, and for
several years I have driven to avoid
the difficulties of air travel. I turned
this10-hour drive into a mini-ad-
venture. Travelling to WPDAC is
the perfect opportunity to assess
the spring migration and plan my
future photo trips. Often I get the
year’s first swan sightings during
this trip.
My preference to drive extends
beyond the Spokane conferences;
we recently attended a meeting in
Saskatchewan that had us driving through a large sagebrush area.
I always hope to see a Pronghorn
during this drive. Although I didn’t
see any Pronghorn on the trip out,
the return trip was quite different.
I saw numerous groups and after
getting home it occurred to me
that it is fall so the bucks must be
gathering harems for the rut. The
following weekend we are back in
sagebrush country, driving the back
roads, searching for Pronghorns.
One of the groups we find is behaving quite strangely, then we realize
another buck is challenging for the
harem. Unlike other ungulates, the
duel consists of one buck chasing
the other one. This dramatic event
happens several times. I soon recall that Pronghorns are the fastest
North American land animal and
getting a photo of this rutting behaviour is challenging.
Photo Ops are everywhere:
I am fortunate that my career has
allowed me to travel and like most
people, I visit and photograph the
6 Wild life: Pica in the Canadian Rocky Mountains
Llens - Canon 600 f4
sights promoted by the local tourist bureau. Hong Kong is a good
example. I photographed the harbour, neon lights, and all the typical sights until I had an awakening.
One day as I was walking down a
typical Hong Kong street with high
rise buildings a shadow passes over
and I looked up to see a large bird.
As I watch it fly down the street between the buildings I start to think
it is a heron. Curiosity gets the better of me so I chased this bird down
the street. I suspect there are few
people who have endeavoured to
follow a heron down a Hong Kong
street. After a short journey, it starts
to descend, disappearing from sight
into a public park . This little oasis
in the middle of Kowloon is populated with several Black-crowned
Night-Herons and other bird species to photograph.
Dubai is another place I had visited many times but never searched
for wildlife to photograph. I discovered the Safa city park and photographed several species I had never
seen before; the highlight being an
Indian Roller. Once again nature
photography led me off the beaten
path to uncover a mini-paradise,
this time in the middle of a desert.
My experiences have altered my
approach to hotel selection where I
now search for hotels that are close
to city parks.
- camera: body Canon 40D
Lens - Canon 600 f4 IS + 14x
PAC.AUTUMN.2009
Randy Kimura
received his BS
and MS in Electrical Engineering
from the University of Alberta.
From 1988 to
1993 he was
developing SCADA
applications and
communication
protocols. In 1993
he joined Harris
Controls (later
GE Energy SAS)
working as application software
developer, System
Engineering, Manager and Subject
Matter Expert on
Substation Automation. Randy is
a member of the
WPDA Conference
committee, IEC/
TC57 Working
Group 10 & 17,
and the DNP3. He
is a registered Professional Engineer
in the province of
Alberta, Canada.
Randy's passion
is wildlife photography, where he
spends a lot of his
time and money.