PhotoNaturalist - nature photography tips and tutorials
nature photography tips and tutorials
A couple of years ago someone I know, a writer of three published books and numerous articles, came across some of my flower photos. He looked at them intensely and said, “Wow, you must have a really good camera!”
I stared at him looking perplexed then smiled and said that I thought his writing was excellent and that he must have a “really good keyboard and computer!” He understood. [Read more…] about “Wow, you must have a really good camera!”
Although there are many lens choices for photographing birds, our discussion will focus on the medium length hand-holdable telephoto lenses. [Read more…] about How to get sharp photos of birds in flight
This plumage variation of Red-tailed Hawks, although not necessarily rare in
occurrence, is somewhat rare in opportunities to photograph. When I first saw the bird, it was perched in a tree directly above me. The lighting was perfect as you can see in this photo below: [Read more…] about How to get a perfect exposure of an albino Red-tailed Hawk in flight
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
A chill in the breeze, a beautiful prairie grassland, a retreating bank of dark clouds and a loneliness that’s hard to describe. Winter in the Dakotas? No, Indiana. Specifically southwestern Indiana where re-claimed surface mines are in abundance. And with them an array of wintering raptors that live virtually unnoticed.
Nestled between the small towns of Dugger and Pleasantville in Sullivan County, Indiana lies Hawthorne Mine. At first, one might suspect that this is an unlikely spot for wintering raptors but upon closer examination the careful eye of a hawk watcher will reveal a sizable wintering population of Rough-legged Hawks and Northern Harriers as well as Short-eared Owls. Also present to a lesser degree are Red-tailed Hawks, American Kestrels, Red-shouldered Hawks and Merlin.
This was our destination for New Years 2009, to explore and hopefully photograph the surroundings as well as any raptors that were present. [Read more…] about Photo Essay – Wintering Raptors in Indiana
Sometimes as nature photographers, our minds focus too much on getting a good photograph, instead of just enjoying nature and being there to capture some of the light we come across.
It’s important to keep nature natural, and I’ll tell you a story to help illustrate what I mean. It’s about the ethics of attracting animals by “baiting” them–feeding them in an effort to get them to come closer to you, so you can get a photograph. [Read more…] about What is a natural photograph?