"Hey Rick! What's your f-stop?" That's the question I get asked most on my photo workshops. I reply, with a smile, "My friend. What is your creative vision, what is your goal?" Those are the important question for photographers to ask themselves.

In this blog series I will share with you my goal and camera settings for some of my favorite recent photographs, which will be featured in my next (#37) book, Evolution of an Image (September 2016 publication).

Here goes.

Location: Maasia Mara, Kenya
Goals: Get an up-close-and personal photograph of some of the marsh lions on the move. Try to compose the scene so each animal's face is isolated (clearly visible), while at the same time get a shot of all the animals with their eyes open (which is not easy because lions blink a lot).

Tech Info:
Camera: Canon 5D Mark III
Lens: Canon 200-400mm IS with built-in 1.4x teleconver
Tripod & Ball Head: Really Right Stuff.
Camera settings:
• AI servo focus, to keep the lions in focus as they moved;
• High frame rate to increase my chances of getting a shot that shows all the lions with their eyes open;
• ISO 500 – due to the relatively low light in early morning, f/8 – for good depth-of-field, 1/320th second to stop the action of the moving animals.

I hope you can participate in one of my photo workshops, where no question is too basic or too simple.
2016 Workshops
2017 Workshops
2018 Workshops