Photographing Haiti’s Disappearing Biodiversity

Photographing Haiti’s Disappearing Biodiversity

Ron Savage, Sierra Vista Images,

Leiocepalus schreibbersi Indigo Beach Club

Getting it right

Hawk Moth

1/250 at F 8 ISO 1250 – Had to pan with the moth as it flitted from flower to flower

Tips for Photography • Keep equipment covered to avoid dust • Charge up extra batteries, have an extra charger • Take a few shots when you arrive at a place to check out

light • Reduce the area you camera’s sensor reads from as sun

gets brighter • Stay under ISO 800 • Shoot largest possible JPEG, or RAW, for cropping • Bracket in non-uniform light conditions • Number you memory cards and batteries • Order extra lens caps, you will need them • Put hooks on your backpacks, in order not to lose stuff

Photographing Butterflies

• Good butterflies can be in your yard

• Usually active later

• Careful of wind

• Watch your shadow

• Stay low

• 125-400 ISO

• Macro lense best

• Often with flowers

• Red and yellow best

Butterflies in Action

Myscelia sp. Front View -1/200 at F 3.5, ISO 125

Fritillary Top View-1/800 at F 6.3, ISO 200

Butterflies Alighting on Flowers

Side View -1/800 at F 7.1, ISO 160

Bottom View – 1/500 at 5.6, ISO 200

Photographing Birds

• Have your biggest lense on your camera • 400-800 ISO •Manual focus often works best •Center weighted •Be quiet •Two photographers best •Focus on the photo, not ID •Backlighting often a problem •Steady yourself

Birds in the Bush

Lizard Cuckoo 1/400 at F 5, ISO 250, Canon 70-200 w/ 1.4 adapter

Hispaniolan Siskin 1/200 at F 5, ISO 250, Tamron 18-270

Birds in Flight

Juv. Blue Heron Side View -1/800 at F 7.1, ISO 200

Kestrel Bottom View -1/1600 at F 10, ISO 400

Shooting Big Game Le Selle Thrush, 1/800 at F 7.1, ISO 800, Canon 70-200 lens

Hispaniolan Spindalis 1/640 at F 5, ISO 800, Canon 70-200 lens

Shooting Hummers and Todies

Thick Billed Tody 1/320 at F 7.1, ISO 400, Canon 70-200

Antillean Mango 1/320 at F 7.1, ISO 400, Canon 70-200

Photographing Lizards

• Bigger is better • Acute sense of hearing and movement • Some like sun, some like shade • Often camauflaged • Many species • Feeding, fighting and mating • Many endangered

Rhinocereus iguana 1/640 at F 7.1, ISO 400, Canon 70-200

Lizards on Rocks

Lizards on Plants Anolis Cybotes

Anolis coelestinus 1/100 at F 6.3, ISO 640, Canon 100 macro

A Lizard in the Hand

Anolis cybotes, Stout Anole 1/800 at F 7.1, ISO 200

Celestus stenurus, Keeled Galliwasp 1/640 at F 8, ISO 200, T 18-270

Photographing Plants

• Sedentary • Predictable •Best no wind, diffuse sun • Flowers ephemeral • Different types of lighting • Attract wildlife • All shapes and sizes • Many threatened • Can be found in urban areas

Taro Leaf 1/150 at F 3.5, ISO 400, Tamron 18-50

Bromeliads and Agaves

Flowers

Datura flowers 1/320 at F 7.1, ISO 200, Tamron 18-270

Native Shrub 1/250 at F 4.5, ISO 400, Canon 70-200 lense

Big Trees

Mesquite 1/320 at F 8, ISO 200, Tamron 18-50

Forest canopy, 1/160 at F 6.3 ISO 1250, Bracketed to get the light right, late morning sun

Shooting Big Game

•No large mammals •Very few mammals

Night Photography

Moth Tarantula

Finding the Right Habitat

Semi-desert, Northwest Haiti

Forets de Pins, SE Haiti

What to do about people?

People in action Local Guides

What about science?

GPS Websites

• Inaturalist

• National Geographic

• Smithsonian

Identifying Species

Still Life Shots

Art Science

Once in a lifetime shot