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Where to Keep Your Telephoto Lens

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The last time I went hiking on one of my favorite trails here in Southern California, I missed out on a really good photo opportunity. As I was driving out of the national forest at the end of the day, I spotted a Red-Tailed hawk perched in a nearby tree. The tree must’ve been just 30 feet or so away from my car.

So, I pulled over, and realized I had a problem: my camera and telephoto lens was in the trunk. That meant I’d have to get out of my car, open the trunk, get the camera, and finally try to fire off a few shots. Doing all that without scaring the hawk away would’ve been a miracle. I tried anyway, and sure enough, as soon as I got out of the car, the hawk took off. Oh well.

Although the hawks here in California usually don’t mind if I just roll down the window and fire off a few shots, they DO mind if I actually get out of the vehicle.

Looking back at that situation, I realize there’s a couple things I could’ve done. [Read more…] about Where to Keep Your Telephoto Lens

How to Photograph Hummingbirds in the Wild

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Black-chinned Hummingbird / Photo by Steve Berardi
Black-chinned Hummingbird (juvenile female) / Photo by Steve Berardi
Hummingbirds are amazing little birds: they’re the only birds that can fly backwards, and they’re the fastest animal on the planet (if you measure speed in body lengths per second, heh).

They’re fairly easy to photograph if you setup a feeder, but I prefer to photograph them in the wild, since my goal is to photograph truly wild moments. Sometimes that means waiting awhile for a hummingbird to show up at the perfect flower, but your patience pays off when you get that truly wild photo.

Anyway, here’s what I’ve learned so far about photographing hummingbirds in the wild: [Read more…] about How to Photograph Hummingbirds in the Wild

When NOT to Use a Battery Grip

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The battery grip is a great accessory for an SLR: not only does it allow you to plug in two batteries to your camera, but it also helps give you a much better grip on the camera, making it easier to handle.

But, there’s at least one situation where you should avoid using this great accessory: whenever you’re shooting handheld.

Yeah, yeah.. I know, “always use a tripod.” But, there are times when it’s just not possible to use a tripod, like when you’re trying to photograph birds in flight. In these situations, you’ll likely be changing camera positions pretty quickly. [Read more…] about When NOT to Use a Battery Grip

How to Photograph Grizzly Bears

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Grizzly Bear / Photo by Robert Berdan
Grizzly Bear / Photo by Robert Berdan
Note from Steve: Today Iʼm happy to publish our first guest post here at PhotoNaturalist. This post was written by Robert Berdan, of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Robert has a lot of experience with photographing mammals (something I pretty much have NO experience with!), so I was pleased to accept his post about photographing grizzly bears. After you finish reading, be sure to check out his great website for more articles and photos!

And, if youʼre also interested in writing a guest post, please feel free to contact me. Thanks!
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I will never forget the first time I encountered a Grizzly bear on the trail. I was walking with my friend Frank toward Siffleur Falls on the North Saskatchewan river just west of Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada.

The grizzly bear raised its large head to get a good look, sniffed and continued moving towards us. I remember saying to my friend, “F- F- F- F- Frank there is a grizzly bear coming towards us!” You are not supposed to stare into the eyes of a bear or run as either might trigger an attack. [Read more…] about How to Photograph Grizzly Bears

How to create intimate portraits of nature

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Bigelow's Monkeyflower / Photos by Steve Berardi
Bigelow's Monkeyflower / Photos by Steve Berardi
Which of the two photos above do you like better?

They were both taken of the same flower, with the same camera settings. The only difference between the two shots is the position of the camera.

I’ll take a wild guess that you like the first one more. And, I think this photo is better because it has more of an intimate and friendly feeling to it. [Read more…] about How to create intimate portraits of nature

3 Things That Affect Depth of Field

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Diagram by Jared C. Benedict (used under the CC-Attr-SA license)
Diagram by Jared C. Benedict (used under the CC-Attr-SA license)
I was planning to write about the three things that affect depth of field this week, but by pure coincidence (seriously!), I discovered this great blog post that Brian Auer wrote a few days ago:

Three Ways to Control Depth of Field

I’d highly recommend checking it out. Brian did a nice job of explaining the three things that affect depth of field (aperture, camera to subject distance, and focal length), including some sample images too.

There’s a few things I’d like to add though: [Read more…] about 3 Things That Affect Depth of Field