About Photography by Ronan Donovan
Photographer’s Statement
Welcome to Photography by Ronan Donovan. I invite you to browse through the images found within this website. It is my hope these images will stand out as inspirational work depicting the profound beauty that exists in our world. Perhaps my images will inspire you to visit or seek out these wonders and view them through your own eyes. However you experience these images, it is my goal to evoke movement in you, to create a desire to explore, enjoy and conserve the natural beauty around us. Such movement is important and necessary in my own life and through this website I would like to share that with you.
About the Artist
Passion Becomes Work - Ronan has incorporated his photography into other experiences over the years and through them he has grown into a conservationist, educator, outdoorsman, and volunteer. Ronan’s work in conservation led him through the old growth forests of Yosemite National Park in California assisting a team of researchers studying spotted owls, through the badlands of eastern Montana surveying for various wildlife, and protecting whales around the world as a Marine Mammal Observer. Ronan’s commitment to conservation has taken him to Angola, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Vietnam, and Uganda where he has worked in various ways to promote better use of the environment and its resources. Ronan has volunteered his skills as a photographer and videographer to classrooms and non-profit organizations around the world. In Uganda he worked to promote the efforts of a non-profit, The Kasiisi Project, that sponsors primary schools in rural Uganda and provides scholarships to students unable to afford secondary school and beyond. Ronan assisted with promotional material for fundraising and compiled hundreds of powerful images as well as hours of video, which he edited into compelling pieces that aired on network television as well as throughout online venues.
Evolution of Photography - Ronan has been photographing wildlife, landscapes, travel locations, and people as a passion since 2006. Through his travels in more than 20 countries, Ronan realized the power of an image frozen forever. Initially Ronan’s subjects were wildlife and landscapes, but as he traveled over the years he gained an interest in photographing the unique lifestyles of humans as well. Photographing humans forced Ronan to find a respectful sense of boundaries when photographing individual people. When living and volunteering in rural Uganda Ronan experienced that some people genuinely feared and disliked cameras. At times adults and children would even run from his camera. Consequently, Ronan’s favorite images of people are captured in the most unobtrusive manner possible.
Candid images of humans and animals are Ronan’s preference. However, wildlife has proven to be infinitely more challenging to capture. Ronan’s wildlife subjects are, as the name implies, ‘wild-life.’ Ronan does not believe in photographing captive or game-farm animals since their daily behaviors are not that of free animals in their natural habitat. Capturing real candid images of wild animals requires a great deal of patience and awareness - patience to lie waiting for days in a camouflaged blind to capture an elusive animal and the awareness to know your subject’s behavior in order to be in the right place at the right time. To go unnoticed in the animal’s habitat is not easy. Ronan utilizes the reach of a long super telephoto lens to capture the intimate frame-filling portrait he strives for. Ronan also uses various techniques of concealment to blend in with the surroundings, i.e. floating blind for work on water, fixed blind for work on land, and various patterns on cloth for a quick and easy portable blind.
Technical Aspects
Equipment - Ronan began with a 35mm Canon SLR camera to photograph California spotted owls during an internship in 2006. He shot primarily slide film using Fuji Provia 400 for wildlife and Velvia 50 for landscapes. Ronan enjoyed immensely the time lapse between capturing an image on film and viewing that image through a projector. But it did not take long for Ronan to see the advances in digital photography outweighing the historic 35mm film venue. In 2007 Ronan purchased his first Digital Single-Lens Reflex camera, Canon’s 30D, and never looked back. For three years Ronan used a simple setup of the Canon 30D and 2 Canon L series lenses; the 17-40mm f/4.0 (primarily for landscapes) and the 100-400mm f/4.0-5.6 (primarily for wildlife). Ronan’s love for new experiences coupled with his desire to share such experiences with others leads him around the world, photographing the wildlife, landscapes and cultures he encounters.
Not everyone has the opportunity or patience to experience many of the stunning moments in the daily lives of our surrounding wildlife. Ronan has sought to bring such moments to others. In the spring of 2010, Ronan took his love for wildlife and the natural world to a new level with an entirely new photography system. Canon’s newly released 800mm f/5.6 L series lens is the perfect tool to accent Ronan’s desire to open the secretive world of our wild animals to others. In addition to this super telephoto prime lens Ronan added the Canon 7D camera as his primary wildlife workhorse due to the high frame rate per second, advanced autofocus functions, and the ability to switch from still photos to high definition video. Ronan has also expanded his landscape photography capabilities with the addition of Canon’s 5D Mark II with its full-sized digital sensor for true 35mm field of view through Canon’s L lenses and increased the ability to capture full high definition videos. This cutting edge photography system will enable Ronan to continue his desire to bring amazing wildlife, landscapes and cultures to others through his website, large fine art prints and through high definition video which can be viewed on the Blog by Ronan Donovan.
Digital Darkroom - There is often a great deal of discussion surrounding the perceived lack of full disclosure surrounding the post-processing or digital darkroom techniques utilized by professional photographers. This is in large part due to the fact that many people have not fully accepted or understand the digital medium and embraced its unparalleled freedom. Often when the public sees an amazing image there is much speculation as to ‘what the photographer did to the image in Photoshop’ rather than standing in awe of the work and technical skill it took to capture such an image. Photography has always been an art form and an artist with the tools at hand creates that art. Digital photography has taken the medium to unimaginable heights and through the Internet the art is brought easily into the homes of millions around the world. The digital darkroom is an integral part of digital photography and the necessary compliment to the evolving art form.
With that said, Ronan believes in true depictions of the natural world and the animals that inhabit its spaces. Ronan does not believe in adding animals or artifacts into other frames to create other compositions. Ronan does however embrace the ability to remove distracting artifacts from an image that may detract from the main subject. Examples include removing sensor dust, distracting spots or branches that may clutter the foreground or background.
Ronan’s digital darkroom techniques include exposure compensation, shadow and highlight recovery, noise reduction, controlled saturation, curves adjustments and focus blending for greater depth of field. The wildlife and landscapes that Ronan photographs exist in the natural world and Ronan would like to convey their beauty through his photography. You will not find heavily manipulated images of animals taken out of their photographed environments and placed into other environments nor will you find the colors of animals and landscapes altered beyond reality.
Compositions - Ronan’s Composition Gallery showcases some of the advanced post-processing techniques that have emerged only through digital photography. Such techniques include high dynamic range images, panoramas, image series, and a combination of high dynamic range panoramas. High dynamic range images are made up of at least 3 individual frames each taken at a different f-stop to control the highlights, shadows or mid-tones in a given scene.
High Dynamic Range (HDR) - The human eye can see roughly 20 f-stops of light (f-stops are the increment of light measured by cameras), but a camera sensor or film can only see 2-3 f-stops. HDR images attempt to capture an image as seen through the human eye. The high dynamic range technique involves taking multiple frames that are exposed for a given f-stop of light in the scene. So at the bare minimum, one frame exposed for the shadows, then one frame exposed for the highlights, and finally one frame exposed for the mid-tones. Those images are then layered in Photoshop or a separate high dynamic range program to balance out the varying degrees of light and dark to create an image close to what is seen by the human eye.
Personal Life
When Ronan is not traveling around the world, he is working and exploring in the wildest place in the lower 48 states – Montana. Ronan lives with his partner Caroline and their two dogs amongst the bison, grizzlies and spectacular mountains of the Western United States.
Photographer’s Statement
Welcome to Photography by Ronan Donovan. I invite you to browse through the images found within this website. It is my hope these images will stand out as inspirational work depicting the profound beauty that exists in our world. Perhaps my images will inspire you to visit or seek out these wonders and view them through your own eyes. However you experience these images, it is my goal to evoke movement in you, to create a desire to explore, enjoy and conserve the natural beauty around us. Such movement is important and necessary in my own life and through this website I would like to share that with you.
About the Artist
Passion Becomes Work - Ronan has incorporated his photography into other experiences over the years and through them he has grown into a conservationist, educator, outdoorsman, and volunteer. Ronan’s work in conservation led him through the old growth forests of Yosemite National Park in California assisting a team of researchers studying spotted owls, through the badlands of eastern Montana surveying for various wildlife, and protecting whales around the world as a Marine Mammal Observer. Ronan’s commitment to conservation has taken him to Angola, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Vietnam, and Uganda where he has worked in various ways to promote better use of the environment and its resources. Ronan has volunteered his skills as a photographer and videographer to classrooms and non-profit organizations around the world. In Uganda he worked to promote the efforts of a non-profit, The Kasiisi Project, that sponsors primary schools in rural Uganda and provides scholarships to students unable to afford secondary school and beyond. Ronan assisted with promotional material for fundraising and compiled hundreds of powerful images as well as hours of video, which he edited into compelling pieces that aired on network television as well as throughout online venues.
Evolution of Photography - Ronan has been photographing wildlife, landscapes, travel locations, and people as a passion since 2006. Through his travels in more than 20 countries, Ronan realized the power of an image frozen forever. Initially Ronan’s subjects were wildlife and landscapes, but as he traveled over the years he gained an interest in photographing the unique lifestyles of humans as well. Photographing humans forced Ronan to find a respectful sense of boundaries when photographing individual people. When living and volunteering in rural Uganda Ronan experienced that some people genuinely feared and disliked cameras. At times adults and children would even run from his camera. Consequently, Ronan’s favorite images of people are captured in the most unobtrusive manner possible.
Candid images of humans and animals are Ronan’s preference. However, wildlife has proven to be infinitely more challenging to capture. Ronan’s wildlife subjects are, as the name implies, ‘wild-life.’ Ronan does not believe in photographing captive or game-farm animals since their daily behaviors are not that of free animals in their natural habitat. Capturing real candid images of wild animals requires a great deal of patience and awareness - patience to lie waiting for days in a camouflaged blind to capture an elusive animal and the awareness to know your subject’s behavior in order to be in the right place at the right time. To go unnoticed in the animal’s habitat is not easy. Ronan utilizes the reach of a long super telephoto lens to capture the intimate frame-filling portrait he strives for. Ronan also uses various techniques of concealment to blend in with the surroundings, i.e. floating blind for work on water, fixed blind for work on land, and various patterns on cloth for a quick and easy portable blind.
Technical Aspects
Equipment - Ronan began with a 35mm Canon SLR camera to photograph California spotted owls during an internship in 2006. He shot primarily slide film using Fuji Provia 400 for wildlife and Velvia 50 for landscapes. Ronan enjoyed immensely the time lapse between capturing an image on film and viewing that image through a projector. But it did not take long for Ronan to see the advances in digital photography outweighing the historic 35mm film venue. In 2007 Ronan purchased his first Digital Single-Lens Reflex camera, Canon’s 30D, and never looked back. For three years Ronan used a simple setup of the Canon 30D and 2 Canon L series lenses; the 17-40mm f/4.0 (primarily for landscapes) and the 100-400mm f/4.0-5.6 (primarily for wildlife). Ronan’s love for new experiences coupled with his desire to share such experiences with others leads him around the world, photographing the wildlife, landscapes and cultures he encounters.
Not everyone has the opportunity or patience to experience many of the stunning moments in the daily lives of our surrounding wildlife. Ronan has sought to bring such moments to others. In the spring of 2010, Ronan took his love for wildlife and the natural world to a new level with an entirely new photography system. Canon’s newly released 800mm f/5.6 L series lens is the perfect tool to accent Ronan’s desire to open the secretive world of our wild animals to others. In addition to this super telephoto prime lens Ronan added the Canon 7D camera as his primary wildlife workhorse due to the high frame rate per second, advanced autofocus functions, and the ability to switch from still photos to high definition video. Ronan has also expanded his landscape photography capabilities with the addition of Canon’s 5D Mark II with its full-sized digital sensor for true 35mm field of view through Canon’s L lenses and increased the ability to capture full high definition videos. This cutting edge photography system will enable Ronan to continue his desire to bring amazing wildlife, landscapes and cultures to others through his website, large fine art prints and through high definition video which can be viewed on the Blog by Ronan Donovan.
Digital Darkroom - There is often a great deal of discussion surrounding the perceived lack of full disclosure surrounding the post-processing or digital darkroom techniques utilized by professional photographers. This is in large part due to the fact that many people have not fully accepted or understand the digital medium and embraced its unparalleled freedom. Often when the public sees an amazing image there is much speculation as to ‘what the photographer did to the image in Photoshop’ rather than standing in awe of the work and technical skill it took to capture such an image. Photography has always been an art form and an artist with the tools at hand creates that art. Digital photography has taken the medium to unimaginable heights and through the Internet the art is brought easily into the homes of millions around the world. The digital darkroom is an integral part of digital photography and the necessary compliment to the evolving art form.
With that said, Ronan believes in true depictions of the natural world and the animals that inhabit its spaces. Ronan does not believe in adding animals or artifacts into other frames to create other compositions. Ronan does however embrace the ability to remove distracting artifacts from an image that may detract from the main subject. Examples include removing sensor dust, distracting spots or branches that may clutter the foreground or background.
Ronan’s digital darkroom techniques include exposure compensation, shadow and highlight recovery, noise reduction, controlled saturation, curves adjustments and focus blending for greater depth of field. The wildlife and landscapes that Ronan photographs exist in the natural world and Ronan would like to convey their beauty through his photography. You will not find heavily manipulated images of animals taken out of their photographed environments and placed into other environments nor will you find the colors of animals and landscapes altered beyond reality.
Compositions - Ronan’s Composition Gallery showcases some of the advanced post-processing techniques that have emerged only through digital photography. Such techniques include high dynamic range images, panoramas, image series, and a combination of high dynamic range panoramas. High dynamic range images are made up of at least 3 individual frames each taken at a different f-stop to control the highlights, shadows or mid-tones in a given scene.
High Dynamic Range (HDR) - The human eye can see roughly 20 f-stops of light (f-stops are the increment of light measured by cameras), but a camera sensor or film can only see 2-3 f-stops. HDR images attempt to capture an image as seen through the human eye. The high dynamic range technique involves taking multiple frames that are exposed for a given f-stop of light in the scene. So at the bare minimum, one frame exposed for the shadows, then one frame exposed for the highlights, and finally one frame exposed for the mid-tones. Those images are then layered in Photoshop or a separate high dynamic range program to balance out the varying degrees of light and dark to create an image close to what is seen by the human eye.
Personal Life
When Ronan is not traveling around the world, he is working and exploring in the wildest place in the lower 48 states – Montana. Ronan lives with his partner Caroline and their two dogs amongst the bison, grizzlies and spectacular mountains of the Western United States.
© Ronan Donovan