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Rethinking RAW vs JPEG

October 25, 2017 by Steve Berardi 24 Comments

Sunset in the PinesBack in 2009, I wrote an article about the pros and cons of shooting in RAW vs JPEG. My basic conclusion of the article was that it usually makes sense to shoot in RAW, except for wildlife when you need to shoot a lot of images in a burst.

Like many things in life, as I’ve learned more and gained more experience with photography, my thoughts on RAW vs JPEG have changed.

Now, I really appreciate the freedom you get with shooting in JPEG. What do I mean by that? Well, there’s two things about RAW files that have increasingly bothered me over the years: the filesizes are much bigger (especially as megapixel counts increase), and not all software supports the latest RAW formats. [Read more…] about Rethinking RAW vs JPEG

Filed Under: Philosophy, Tips Tagged With: compression, image, image format, jpeg, raw

New eBook – Nature Photography: Understanding the Camera

October 10, 2017 by Steve Berardi 4 Comments

Nature Photography - Understanding the Camera (eBook)Today, I’m very excited to announce the release of my new eBook, Nature Photography: Understanding the Camera. This eBook will teach you how to use your camera to photograph the wonderful moments you observe in nature. It covers all types of nature photography, including landscapes, wildlife, and close-ups.

I’ve been working on this eBook for years, and the reason it took me so long to write this book is that it was hard deciding what to include, what to leave out, and thinking of the best ways to explain some of the more complex aspects of the camera.

The concepts in this book apply to any kind of manual digital camera (any camera that allows you to change the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO), but many of the concepts apply to all types of cameras. The goal of the book is to give you complete creative control of your camera, without getting too technical. [Read more…] about New eBook – Nature Photography: Understanding the Camera

Filed Under: Tips Tagged With: camera, ebook, nature, photography

Questions to Guide Your Composition

October 4, 2017 by Steve Berardi 4 Comments

Trona PinnaclesComposition is all about creating pleasing images. It’s a difficult aspect of photography because there aren’t really any set-in-stone rules about it, and many aspects of composition are really about how you see the world uniquely from everyone else.

So although there aren’t any scripts you can follow that will always lead you to a good composition, I think there are some questions you can ask yourself that will help steer you in the right direction: [Read more…] about Questions to Guide Your Composition

Filed Under: Philosophy, Tips Tagged With: composition, perspective, vision

The Best Camera Strap For Nature Photographers

September 28, 2017 by Steve Berardi 9 Comments

Camera Strap For Nature PhotographersIn photography, all the gear talk usually revolves around cameras and lenses. The lonely camera strap never gets much attention.

But, the camera strap is pretty important in nature photography, because it needs to allow you quick access to your camera and needs to be comfortable (and strong enough) to support larger lenses that are common in nature photography.

I’ve tried all kinds of camera straps in the last ten years, and was never really satisfied with any of them until last year when I finally found the wonderful straps made by Peak Design.

There are a lot of things I love about their camera straps, but the one thing that really stands out to me is how freely they move. They’re made out of that same material as the seatbelts in your car, so the strap slides across your clothes super easily. This is great for nature photographers because we always need quick access to our camera in case we’re walking around and see a butterfly land on a flower (it won’t be there for long!). [Read more…] about The Best Camera Strap For Nature Photographers

Filed Under: Gear Reviews Tagged With: camera, gear, reviews, strap

Simple Adjustments For a Better Background

September 20, 2017 by Vic Berardi 6 Comments

dragonflyOne thing many of us forget to consider is the background in a photo. We focus (literally and figuratively) on the main subject and feel gratified that we can get the whole subject in the frame and it’s sharp and properly exposed. Let me show you an example of how easy it can be to make a significant difference in your photos. In this case, we’ll be talking about an application related to macro work and dragonfly photography.

When shooting macro we generally strive to get the best depth of field (DOF) we can get. The best and perhaps the easiest way to achieve this is by increasing our f-stop. When photographing a subject like a dragonfly, generally f/11 is a good place to start with f/16 being even better . . . sometimes that is. [Read more…] about Simple Adjustments For a Better Background

Filed Under: Close-Up, Macro, Tips, Wildflowers Tagged With: background, bokeh, close up, composition, depth of field, dragonfly, Macro

How Your Clothes Affect Your Nature Photos

September 13, 2017 by Steve Berardi 9 Comments

Western Fence Lizard / Photo by Steve BerardiYou probably already know that you can wear camouflage to help hide yourself from wildlife in order to get closer and photograph them, but there’s also other ways your clothes can affect your photos.

It turns out that something as simple as the color of the t-shirt you’re wearing can drastically affect how close you can get to your subject.

I read an interesting article last week about a scientist, Breanna Putman, who’s studying animal fear responses, and she recently published a paper about how the color of your t-shirt can affect how close you can approach a common lizard in southern California, the Western Fence Lizard (photo above). [Read more…] about How Your Clothes Affect Your Nature Photos

Filed Under: Close-Up, Tips, Wildlife Tagged With: camouflage, clothes, Wildlife

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