PhotoNaturalist - nature photography tips and tutorials

nature photography tips and tutorials

burst rate

How to Make Your Camera Shoot Faster

by 13 Comments

Shooting photos quickly is one of the keys to success for some types of nature photography, like photographing birds in flight, or any kind of wildlife photography.

As my dad illustrated in one of his articles, shooting just a few more frames per second can really make a difference in your success rate.

If you’re not maximizing the burst rate of your camera when you’re photographing a high-speed action, then you risk missing the shot where your subject is in the perfect pose.

So, here are a few ways to ensure your camera is shooting photos as quickly as possible: [Read more…] about How to Make Your Camera Shoot Faster

Keys to Getting Sharp Photos of Birds in Flight

by 10 Comments

Photo by Steve Berardi
Photo by Steve Berardi
Last year, my dad wrote a great post about how to get sharp photos of birds in flight. Since then, I’ve occasionally tried to photograph a hawk in flight, but never really dedicated a whole lot of time to it, so I was never able to get a sharp photo.

Well, a few weeks ago I went out to photograph bald eagles with my dad, and I came back with my first acceptably sharp photo of a bird in flight, yay! 🙂

So, I’d like to share what I think are the two biggest reasons I finally got a decent shot: [Read more…] about Keys to Getting Sharp Photos of Birds in Flight

RAW vs. JPEG: Who wins?

by 44 Comments

rawjpegIt seems to be one of the biggest debates in digital photography–what’s better: RAW or JPEG? Who wins?

Some pro photographers say JPEG: you should always know the perfect settings for a photo. And others say always shoot in RAW: it’s better quality and you have more power to change things later on.

Well, I think both formats have advantages and disadvantages, so rather than take one side for everything, I’ll run through some of the key differences between them, and then suggest when each format makes sense. [Read more…] about RAW vs. JPEG: Who wins?

How to get sharp photos of birds in flight

by 106 Comments

Photo by Vic Berardi
Photo by Vic Berardi
Trying to photograph birds in flight can be frustrating. It may seem like complete randomness at first, but there are actually a few techniques that will significantly increase your chances of getting a sharp photo, some of which are presented in this article.

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