PhotoNaturalist - nature photography tips and tutorials

nature photography tips and tutorials

Articles by Steve Berardi

Learn About the Mighty Mississippi River In a New Documentary from Nat Geo WILD

by 2 Comments

Photo Credit: © NGC / Whitney Beer-Kerr
This past weekend, I had an opportunity to watch a new mini-series from National Geographic: Wild Mississippi. I grew up just a few hours away from the Mississippi River, so it was nice to learn more about it.

The three part series will premiere on Nat Geo WILD this Sunday, February 12, at 8 PM ET.

Here’s a short summary of what you’ll learn in each episode: [Read more…] about Learn About the Mighty Mississippi River In a New Documentary from Nat Geo WILD

3 Ways To Prevent Posterization

by 18 Comments

Creosote (Larrea Tridentata) / Photo by Steve Berardi
Creosote (Larrea Tridentata) / Photo by Steve Berardi
One of the most annoying problems in digital photography is posterization (as seen in the photo above). It can turn your beautiful sunset photos into a jagged mess. But, luckily there are a few ways to prevent this ugly problem: [Read more…] about 3 Ways To Prevent Posterization

Amazing Photograph of the Earth

by 3 Comments

Today, NASA released an incredible “blue marble” image of the Earth. It was created by combining a bunch of smaller photos to create one massive 64-megapixel image (8,000×8,000 pixels).

You can check out the full resolution image by clicking here.

Awesome. [Read more…] about Amazing Photograph of the Earth

The Perfect Backpack For a Hiking Photographer

by 11 Comments

As nature photographers, we usually have to carry around a lot of gear with us. That gear can get pretty heavy, so it’s helpful to have a camera bag that fits all of your stuff AND is comfortable to wear. Well, a couple years ago I found what I consider the perfect backpack for a hiking photographer: the Lowepro Flipside 400AW.

Here’s a summary of what I like about the bag, and a few things I don’t like: [Read more…] about The Perfect Backpack For a Hiking Photographer

6 Tips For Photographing Sand Dunes

by 9 Comments

Photo by Steve Berardi
Photo by Steve Berardi
Sand dunes are some of the most visually stunning subjects you’ll find in the desert. In a land that’s dominated by sharp cactus and pointy rocks, dunes provide some relief with their smooth curves and soft sand. So, naturally they make good subjects for photographs. Here are a few tips for photographing them:

#1 – Watch where you walk

Avoid walking through the middle of dunes, since that’ll mess up those nice lines in the sand and ruin any opportunity to photograph the dune. Instead, walk around dunes, or only walk through dunes you know you don’t want to photograph. [Read more…] about 6 Tips For Photographing Sand Dunes

How to Switch Lenses on Your Camera

by 20 Comments

Photo by Andrew Magill (used under the CC-Attr license)
In a previous post, I talked about the importance of being careful when switching your camera lenses, in order to avoid dust from gathering on your camera’s sensor. But I didn’t elaborate much on how to switch your lenses, so here’s my method for switching camera lenses:

  1. Put your camera on a flat surface, so that the lens is pointing straight up
  2. Unlock the lens on your camera body, and turn the lens just a little bit so you can let go of the lens and it remains unlocked (but it’s still resting on the camera body)
  3. Remove the cap on the bottom of the new lens you want on your camera
  4. Hold the new lens in your right hand, and twist off the lens on your camera with your left hand
  5. Quickly mount the new lens with your right hand and lock it onto the camera
  6. Put the cap on the bottom of the old lens

[Read more…] about How to Switch Lenses on Your Camera