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Introduction to Insect Macro Photography (Part II) – How to Approach Insects

February 24, 2014 by Huub de Waard 1 Comment

Photo by Huub de Ward / Portrait of the Common Yellow Dung-fly (Scathophaga stercoraria), sometimes called the golden dung fly:  Magnification 9, f/6.4, ISO 100 and 1/250 sec
Photo by Huub de Ward / Portrait of the Common Yellow Dung-fly (Scathophaga stercoraria), sometimes called the golden dung fly: Magnification 9, f/6.4, ISO 100 and 1/250 sec
This is part II of a guest post by Huub de Waard, an exceptional photographer who specializes in close-up shots of insects. After reading his post, be sure to check out more of his awesome photos at his website. And, if you’re also interested in writing a guest post here on PhotoNaturalist, please contact me, thanks! –Steve

Although most insects do not have orifices in their body for picking up sound vibrations, many use parts of their body, such as their wings, antennae, or special hairs, like TV antennae to detect vibrations in the environment or in the air. Any errant movement on your part could cause you to miss a shot, so be sure to tread carefully when approaching your subjects.

Your job is to make yourself appear non-threatening. The first thing you want to do is move very slowly. Look before you move, look at where you place your feet, look at where your equipment is, and most of all plan where you are going to put the front of your lens. Many potentially good shots have been ruined by the front of a lens bumping a branch or leaf where an insect was resting, causing it to flee. [Read more…] about Introduction to Insect Macro Photography (Part II) – How to Approach Insects

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: approaching, close, close up, insect, lens, Macro, micro, photography, small, up, vision

Happy Birthday to PN!

February 17, 2014 by Steve Berardi 4 Comments

Photo by Will Clayton (used under the CC license)
Photo by Will Clayton (used under the CC license)
Today, PhotoNaturalist celebrates its fifth birthday! We’re now halfway to a decade, woohoo!

It’s been an amazing five years. This blog has been one of the most rewarding projects of my life, and I’m looking forward to continuing its growth.

I want to send out a special thank you to everyone who’s helped spread the word about PhotoNaturalist. Social networking continues to be our biggest source of traffic, so if you’ve shared one of our posts with your friends, thank you for helping us grow 🙂

Thanks for reading these past five years! [Read more…] about Happy Birthday to PN!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: anniversary, birthday, five, happy, photonaturalist, pn, years

New Issue of Fotozaar Now Available!

February 10, 2014 by Steve Berardi Leave a Comment

Fotozaar - Issue 3Today I’m happy to announce that the third issue of Fotozaar is now available. It contains twenty incredible photographs from a wide variety of photographers, along with detailed explanations of how each image was made.

You may remember hearing about Fotozaar last year, when I released the first issue.

The idea for this series of ebooks was inspired by my strong belief that one of the best ways to learn something is by example. As Albert Einstein put it, “Learning by example isn’t the best way to learn. It’s the only way to learn.” [Read more…] about New Issue of Fotozaar Now Available!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ebook, example, fotozaar, issue, learn, magazine, Wildlife

Edward Weston: The Photographer

February 3, 2014 by Steve Berardi 9 Comments

Edward Weston once said that “Good composition is merely the strongest way of seeing.” I’ve always thought that was one of the best explanations of what photography is at it’s core: it’s really just about learning to see better.

Weston is widely known as one of the most influential American photographers. He primarily shot photos in the American West (especially California), and photographed a wide range of subjects (including landscapes, portraits, and still life).

I recently came across an excellent documentary about Weston and his approach to photography (thanks to Jim Goldstein for sharing!), so I thought it’d be great to share on PN. It’s a little dated (filmed in 1948), but there’s a lot of inspirational stuff in here:

Enjoy! 🙂 [Read more…] about Edward Weston: The Photographer

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: american, california, camera, documentary, edward, film, photographer, photography, west, weston

Why You Should Get Insurance For Your Gear

January 13, 2014 by Steve Berardi 8 Comments

Photo by Bryan Fenstermacher (used under the CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license)
Photo by Bryan Fenstermacher (used under the CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license)
Photography is an expensive hobby. You might’ve started with something small and inexpensive, like a point and shoot camera. But, then the passion was probably too much to control, so you moved onto a more manual camera, or even a DSLR. Then came all the fancy lenses and tripod. And, before you knew it, all your camera gear became more valuable than your car.

If that sounds anything like you, then it might be a good idea to consider getting insurance for all of your camera gear.

Insurance helps protect the large investment you’ve made in camera gear and it gives you “peace of mind” — so you don’t have to worry about your gear getting stolen, and instead you can just focus on taking photographs (pun intended, heh). [Read more…] about Why You Should Get Insurance For Your Gear

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: accident, camera, gear, homeowners, insurance, investment, lenses, peace of mind, protect, renters, robbery, steal, stolen

Happy Holidays!

December 17, 2013 by Steve Berardi 4 Comments

I’ll be taking the next couple of weeks off from writing, so I just wanted to wish you all a very happy holiday season. I hope you get some time to relax and spend some time with your family.

And, if you asked Santa for any camera gear this year, then I hope it shows up under the tree 😉

It’s been a great year for PhotoNaturalist. Our traffic continues to double each year, and we’re almost five years old now! [Read more…] about Happy Holidays!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

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