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Tips for photographing shorebirds

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Photo by Matthew Fletcher
Photo by Matthew Fletcher

Shorebirds can be both very rewarding and very challenging to photograph. To start with, their environment is often muddy, sandy, salty, or a combination of all three. Add to that, shorebirds are usually very timid and you rarely have much cover to hide behind, making for a very challenging subject.

But when you get home tired, with wet clothes and sand in your shoes, with a big cheesy grin on your face because you know you just got some great shots, you know it was all worthwhile.

Now, let’s take a look at some of the key aspects of taking photographs of shorebirds… [Read more…] about Tips for photographing shorebirds

The unbaited Northern Hawk Owl

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Photo by Mike McDowell
Photo by Mike McDowell

In a previous article, Vic Berardi discussed the ethics of baiting owls in order to get a good photograph. He explained how it’s important to keep nature natural, and how it’s possible to get great photos without baiting wild animals. It just takes patience, and knowledge.

Well, the photo above by Mike McDowell is proof that you can get a stunning photograph of a Northern Hawk Owl without baiting them. Mike also wrote an article on the subject, which is worth checking out!

Tips for composing waterfall photos

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Photo by Steve Berardi
Photo by Steve Berardi

Waterfalls are one of my favorite things to photograph. They’re so simple, yet so beautiful. It’s usually the immense contrast that attracts me to a waterfall–the color of the white water contrasting with dark rocks and green moss. Together, they create such a pleasing sight!

Some of the same principles of landscape photography apply to waterfall photos as well, but there are a few other things to keep in mind when composing waterfalls: [Read more…] about Tips for composing waterfall photos

How snow can help you get better bird photos

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Photo by Vic Berardi
Photo by Vic Berardi

Photography is all about light and the use of it. Photographing birds in winter brings a special kind of lighting not available during the rest of the year–reflective snow cover. Fresh fallen snow and bright sunlight offer both spectacular results as well as tricky exposure decisions.

Bird photography presents many challenges with the various plumages that are exhibited. Some birds are very pale underneath and some are very dark, creating exposure difficulties for the photographer. Do you expose for the sky but leave the undersides of the bird either overexposed or underexposed? The result of these decisions is many times a poorly exposed photograph. The front lighting that reflective snow cover brings can alleviate some of these decisions. [Read more…] about How snow can help you get better bird photos

How to isolate your subject from the background

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Photo by Matthew Fletcher
Photo by Matthew Fletcher

Isolating your subject can create a powerful image, but have you ever found yourself wondering how to keep your subject sharp while blurring the background? There are two simple keys to achieving this effect:

  • Get close to your subject, while maximizing the distance between your subject and the background
  • Use a large aperture (smaller f-number)

The larger aperture, e.g. f/4, will create a shallow depth of field, which means your subject will be sharp, but anything closer to, or further away from the camera will appear blurry (the opposite is true for smaller apertures, e.g. f/22, where you will have a greater depth of field and more of the image in focus). [Read more…] about How to isolate your subject from the background

How to resize your photos (the “sharp” way)

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Do you constantly find yourself resizing your photos to prepare them for the Internet? Maybe for posting them to a blog, emailing them to a friend, or adding them to your online photo gallery?

Surprisingly, photo resizing (or resampling) involves some very complex computer algorithms. There’s many ways to do it, and I won’t go into all the technical details here, but the bottom line is that the default resizing method in Photoshop isn’t the best one available.

If you change just one setting when resizing your photos, you can get much higher quality results that will even make your photos look sharper!
[Read more…] about How to resize your photos (the “sharp” way)