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6 Tips For Photographing Shorebirds

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Sanderling / Photo by Steve Berardi
Sanderling / Photo by Steve Berardi
We’ve talked a lot about photographing birds here on PN: how to photograph them in flight, how to photograph perched birds, and even a few tips for photographing hummingbirds. But, we haven’t talked a whole lot about shorebirds specifically, so I thought it’d be good to share a few tips for photographing these types of birds:

#1 – Get down low to the ground

The single most important thing to do when photographing shorebirds is to get down to their level. This usually means lying down on the ground, so it’s helpful to bring a towel or something to lie down on. Photographing the birds at their eye level does two things: it makes the image more intimate and it usually results in a better background (because from this low angle, the background will usually be farther away). [Read more…] about 6 Tips For Photographing Shorebirds

How To Make the Jump To Manual Mode

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At first, manual mode can seem a little intimidating. Finding the right exposure just doesn’t seem as simple as finding the right f-number, does it? That’s probably why most photographers start with Aperture Priority mode before jumping to full manual.

But, shooting in manual will put you in complete control of the image making process. And luckily, there’s an easy way to make the jump to manual mode, while still treating it somewhat like aperture priority mode. Here’s how: [Read more…] about How To Make the Jump To Manual Mode

In Wildness Is the Preservation of the World (Book Review)

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In Wildness Is the Preservation of the World / Eliot PorterEliot Porter was a famous nature photographer, who gained widespread attention after publishing his great book, In Wildness Is the Preservation of the World, back in 1962. It’s still known as one of the most important nature photography books ever published, but until recently it was out of print.

Luckily, Ammo Books just started publishing this book again, and I was happy to accept a review copy to check out this new edition.

The book is much more than a simple collection of photographs. The photographs are organized by seasons of the year, and each photo is accompanied by a journal entry from Henry David Thoreau. [Read more…] about In Wildness Is the Preservation of the World (Book Review)

Do You Have a Photography New Years Resolution?

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Joshua Tree / Photo by Steve Berardi
Joshua Tree / Photo by Steve Berardi
So, today is the first day of 2013. Happy New Year!! It’s a great day to reflect on the previous year, and to build hopes and dreams for this great new year we have ahead of us.

Setting goals is a great way to motivate yourself to learn something new, or reach a major milestone in your pursuit of a bigger goal. They don’t necessarily have to be anything super big, like quitting your day job and making a living as a professional photographer. They could be as simple as getting one of your photos published in a local newspaper. [Read more…] about Do You Have a Photography New Years Resolution?

Top Posts of 2012

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Photo by Steve Berardi
Photo by Steve Berardi
With 2012 coming to a close soon, I thought it’d be good to look back at the top posts of the year:

  1. Free eBook on Wildflower Photography

  2. Three Ways To Recover Photos From a Corrupt Memory Card

  3. How to Win the Battle of Close-Up Photography

  4. Five Things Every Landscape Photographer Should Carry At All Times

  5. How To Reduce Noise In Your Close-Up Photos

  6. A Fun Way To Improve Your Wildflower Photography

  7. The Perfect Backpack For a Hiking Photographer

  8. Three Reasons to Avoid Relying on the Crop Tool

  9. Eight Tips For Photographing Silhouettes

  10. How to Switch Lenses On Your Camera

I hope you enjoyed all the articles at PhotoNaturalist this year! And, cheers to a very wonderful 2013 🙂 [Read more…] about Top Posts of 2012

How To Photograph Birds In Bad Light

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Photo by Vic Berardi
Photo by Vic Berardi
You’ve probably said it yourself and you’ve heard it said many times, “I decided to stay home today because the lighting was so awful.”

If you’re like many beginning bird photographers, then you check the weather forecast hoping it calls for sunny blue skies. But, then you get depressed when the forecast calls for “mostly cloudy skies” and a chance for rain or snow. You begin to wonder why you have all that expensive camera equipment!

But don’t fret too hard about it! Yes, it’s true that deep blue skies can be great for photographing birds in flight, but it’s actually cloudy skies that create the lighting situations for the most dynamic or dramatic photos, especially those of perched birds. [Read more…] about How To Photograph Birds In Bad Light