PhotoNaturalist - nature photography tips and tutorials

nature photography tips and tutorials

Articles by Steve Berardi

Flowers in Black and White

by 2 Comments

Photo by Steve BerardiWhen you think about photographing flowers, you probably think about capturing their vibrant colors and how they contrast against the landscape around them. Most things in nature have evolved to blend in with their environment, but flowers have evolved to stand out from the crowd by displaying some of the most wonderful colors found in nature.

So, the thought of creating black and white images of flowers might sound crazy. But, it’s a great way to draw the viewer’s attention to other aspects of the flower. By de-emphasizing color, you move that emphasis to other things.

For example, consider the black and white photo above of a Desert Sunflower and compare it with a few color images of the same type of flower: [Read more…] about Flowers in Black and White

Knowing Your Subject #1

by Leave a Comment

Photo by Steve BerardiKnowing your subject is important in nature photography because it helps you anticipate the perfect moment for a photograph or identify potential opportunities for a photo. You don’t have to be an expert on everything you photograph, but it helps to know a little and to continue learning more.

I’ve written about this topic in previous articles, but it’s such an important topic that I want to start a series of articles that go through specific examples of knowing your subject. So, here’s the first example 🙂 [Read more…] about Knowing Your Subject #1

Photograph What It Feels Like, Not What It Looks Like

by 1 Comment

Photo by Steve BerardiIn the past few months, I’ve written a lot about how to show more emotion in your photographs, and to think of your photos as a way of saying something specific about your subject. To think beyond things like “this flower is beautiful” and instead get to the core of what you want to express about your subject.

I recently stumbled upon a quote by photographer David Alan Harvey that I think really helps explain how to do this: “Don’t shoot what it looks like, shoot what it feels like.”*

In the beginning, we tend to photograph what everything looks like, and that makes perfect sense as we’re initially attracted to photography because we want to record all the beautiful things we see in nature. But, then somewhere along the way, we start wanting more from our photographs. Something to set them apart from other photos of the same subject. And, the secret to that is photographing what it feels like, instead of what it looks like. [Read more…] about Photograph What It Feels Like, Not What It Looks Like

How To Use Filters On Wide-Angle Lenses

by 3 Comments

Filters on Wide-Angle LensesFilters can be very useful in nature photography, especially for landscapes. They can do all kinds of things, like get rid of unwanted reflections, saturate or darken the sky, and help you get a longer shutter speed to show motion.

But, when you’re using filters on wide-angle lenses (anything at 40mm or less), there’s one thing you need to watch out for: vignetting (like in the photo above). This usually only happens at very wide angles and if you’re using more than one filter.

So, how do you avoid this problem? Your first thought might be to avoid those wider angles when using filters, but don’t let filters limit your creative freedom! Luckily, there are a few good solutions to this problem: [Read more…] about How To Use Filters On Wide-Angle Lenses

What Would Make It Better?

by 5 Comments

Photo by Steve BerardiOne of the habits that can lead to better photos is to ask yourself a very simple question after you take a photo: what would make it better?

Every time you take a photo, take some time to review it on your camera’s LCD, and look for ways you can make it better. It could be simple things like “wait until that flower stops moving in the air” or it could be more artistic stuff like “change my position so the image has more natural lines to guide the viewer through the frame.” Just look for something, anything.

And then, make that change you thought of, and repeat the process again: asking yourself “what would make this photo better?” Keep doing that until your answer is “nothing” or “I have no idea!” — but think hard about it! You don’t want to get home, review the photos on your computer and say to yourself, “oh no! I should’ve composed it like this instead.” [Read more…] about What Would Make It Better?

5 Things That Cause Blurry Photos

by 8 Comments

Photo by Steve BerardiI recently wrote an article about why sharpness isn’t always that important. I argued that relative sharpness is what really matters, and not so much absolute sharpness. As long as your subject is sharp relative to other parts of the photo, that should be enough to make it stand out.

I still strongly believe in that idea, but I also want to make clear that I’m not saying your photos should be “blurry” — there’s still a minimum level of sharpness you should strive for, unless you’re intentionally trying to make things look blurry (i.e. you want to show motion).

If you think some of your photos are too blurry, and you don’t want them to be blurry, then here are five things that could’ve caused the problem: [Read more…] about 5 Things That Cause Blurry Photos