PhotoNaturalist - nature photography tips and tutorials
nature photography tips and tutorials
To get these faster shutter speeds without sacrificing your desired depth of field, your only option is to use higher ISOs (making your camera’s sensor more sensitive).
Unfortunately, at these higher ISOs, sometimes you get some really ugly noise in the background.
Well, there just happens to be a great way to reduce this noise in Photoshop. Here’s how: [Read more…] about How To Reduce Noise In Your Close-Up Photos (using Photoshop)
Over the winter, I picked up several excellent flower photography books and a few showed some techniques for indoor photography. So, I thought, why not give this a try and see if I can apply what I learned to outdoor wildflower photography. I didn’t have any studio lighting, so I decided to experiment with what I already had. [Read more…] about A Fun Way To Improve Your Wildflower Photography
An out-of-focus background is essential to a good close-up photo, because it helps draw attention to your main subject.
But, it’s not always easy to get that nice background. Sometimes the background is just too close, or your subject has a lot of depth (forcing you to try a smaller aperture, which then puts more of the background in focus).
So, how do you deal with this constant battle? Well, here are a few ways: [Read more…] about How to Win the Battle of Close-up Photography
But, there’s always that list of “essential” items we bring on a hike, so here’s a little peek at what I carry in my bag when I know I’ll be doing some closeup photography:
Since you won’t always have the most ideal lighting conditions, it’s helpful to carry around some tools to help you control the light. A light diffuser will probably be the one you use the most, because they help balance the light on your subject. You can get a light diffuser at a camera store, or make your own out of a wire clothes hanger and a shower curtain. [Read more…] about 5 Essential Tools For Closeup Photography
In a previous post, I explained how you can use an extension tube to focus closer with your lens. Using one of these hollow tubes can help you fill the frame when doing close-up photography of things like flowers or butterflies.
Well, when you’re also using a teleconverter on your lens, it’s important to attach the extension tube in between the teleconverter and the lens (so, the teleconverter should be closest to the camera body). This is a little trick that I just learned from an article by Arthur Morris in the latest issue of Nature Photographer Magazine.
I was interested to find out just how much the order matters, so I did a few tests with my Canon 300mm f/4L (a lens that I love to use for close-up photos) and a 25mm extension tube. Here’s a table that summarizes my results: [Read more…] about How to Focus Closer When Using Teleconverters
For this very reason, sometimes it’s hard to find good subjects for macro shots. We just don’t normally look at things up close, and even when we do, it’s hard to see detail with the naked eye.
Sure, you could just pop on your macro lens and look everywhere, but it’s hard to see things through that tiny viewfinder. [Read more…] about How to find subjects for your macro shots