PhotoNaturalist - nature photography tips and tutorials

nature photography tips and tutorials

Articles by Steve Berardi

About Steve Berardi

Steve Berardi is a nature photographer, software engineer, and founder of PhotoNaturalist. You can usually find him hiking in the beautiful mountains and deserts of California. His photographs have been used by Nature Photographer Magazine, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Sierra Club. He's also written numerous articles for the Digital Photography School and PhotoYou Magazine.

Slow Down

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Photo by Steve BerardiIn today’s fast-paced world of instant gratification, it’s easy to get sucked in and join the rush. And although being in a rush can help you get a lot of things done, it also makes you miss out on truly experiencing moments. It’s like you moved so quickly that you were never really “there.”

Lately, I’ve really tried to slow down in a lot of areas in life in order to be more present and experience moments more fully. I’ve slowed down my normal hiking pace and I’ve been stopping more frequently to take a look around. As a result, I feel like I’ve seen many places more deeply and have seen things I wouldn’t have noticed at all if I was in a rush. [Read more…] about Slow Down

Learning From “Bad Photos”

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Photos by Steve BerardiIn teaching photography, a lot of attention is always paid to the “good photos” — pointing out what made the photo “good.” We don’t really hear much about the “bad photo” ever, but I think you can learn things from any photograph.

I’m putting “good” and “bad” in quotes here because, like I’ve said before, I don’t really think there are good and bad photos. I think it’s more of a personal choice about whether or not a photo triggers some feeling in you. So, in that sense, when I say “bad photo” here, what I really mean is a photo you took that you personally don’t like for some reason—it doesn’t say what you want it to say about your subject. [Read more…] about Learning From “Bad Photos”

Simplify

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Photo by Steve Berardi
Photo by Steve Berardi

The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity.” —Walt Whitman

One of the first lessons I learned when I got into photography is to simplify your composition. Decide what your subject is, and then compose your shot so it only includes your subject or things that support the subject (for example, natural lines that lead the viewer’s eyes to the subject).

A common problem is trying to include too much in one photo. This makes it hard for the viewer to figure out what the subject is, and how to navigate the image. You want to make it as easy as possible for the viewer.

So, here are some ways to simplify your composition: [Read more…] about Simplify

How To Show Depth In Close-Ups

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Photo by Steve Berardi
Photo by Steve Berardi
In a previous post, I talked about how to show depth in landscape photos. But depth isn’t just important for landscapes, it’s also something you might want to do in close-up photos because it makes your subject appear more three-dimensional.

So, how do you show depth in close-ups? Simple: just photograph your subject from an angle. This happens to be one way to show depth in landscapes too 🙂

For example, compare the photo at the beginning of this post with this one: [Read more…] about How To Show Depth In Close-Ups

Creative White Balance

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Photo by Steve Berardi
Photo by Steve Berardi
White balance is something that’s often overlooked in photography. It’s what controls the color temperature of your photos: an image with a red or orange tint is considered “warm” whereas an image with more bluish colors is considered “cold.” You can adjust the white balance to make an image warmer or colder.

It’s called “white” balance because it’s often thought of as the color temperature of the white colors in your image—so a “correct” white balance would be one where the natural whites in your image are actually white and don’t have a red or blue tint. But, it’s important to remember that the white balance affects the entire image, not just the white colors.

The camera is usually pretty good at guessing the correct or most natural-looking white balance, but sometimes it’s not, and other times it’s mostly correct but you might still want to adjust the color temperature to emphasize the feeling of a photograph. [Read more…] about Creative White Balance

Another Reason To Press the Shutter Button Halfway First

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Pressing the ButtonIn a previous article, I talked about a few things to keep in mind when pressing the shutter button. One thing I mentioned was to press the button halfway first, wait half a second or so, and then press it down the rest of the way. Doing this helps prevent the camera from shaking, which results in sharper photos.

After writing that article, I realized there’s another reason to press the button halfway first. With some lenses, the stabilization system isn’t always active. Sometimes it’s only activated by pressing the back-button autofocus and/or the shutter button. And, when the lens stabilization is first activated, sometimes there’s some noticeable jitter before the lens really stabilizes and is ready to take a sharp image. [Read more…] about Another Reason To Press the Shutter Button Halfway First