PhotoNaturalist - nature photography tips and tutorials
nature photography tips and tutorials
As nature photographers, we usually have to carry around a lot of gear with us. That gear can get pretty heavy, so it’s helpful to have a camera bag that fits all of your stuff AND is comfortable to wear. Well, a couple years ago I found what I consider the perfect backpack for a hiking photographer: the Lowepro Flipside 400AW.
Here’s a summary of what I like about the bag, and a few things I don’t like: [Read more…] about The Perfect Backpack For a Hiking Photographer
I hope you enjoyed all the articles at PhotoNaturalist this year! I’m looking forward to another great year of capturing natural light 🙂 [Read more…] about Top 10 PhotoNaturalist Posts of 2011
For example, one day earlier this fall, I set out to photograph one of my favorite fall wildflowers: the Fringed Gentian (Gentiana crinita). They’re generally found in open areas next to higher quality wetlands, and usually grow in clumps of a hundred or more flowering plants.
Photographing them can be challenging since their habit of growing in clumps can make it hard to isolate one or a few of them in an image. Nevertheless, the Fringed Gentian is a beautifully delicate wildflower that deserves the very best attention in depicting that very beauty and fragility. [Read more…] about Evolution of a Nature Photograph
After watching and photographing a lot of sunsets, it’s tempting to start thinking that you can look at the sky and predict how good a sunset will be a few hours before it happens.
You might see a bunch of thick and dark gray clouds up there, and think, “well, the sunset is gonna suck tonight, so I might as well just go home early.”
Or, you might even be in the middle of photographing a sunset and you think the colors just peaked, so you start packing up your stuff and walk towards your car or campsite.
But, then out of nowhere, the sky decides to explode with color again. Of course, you’re half way back to your car by now, so you quickly setup your camera, but before you can press the shutter button, the colors fade away again. And, this time they’re gone for good.
Sound familiar? [Read more…] about Never Give Up On a Sunset
As a software developer, one of the things I do every day is refactor code. I’ll write some code to solve a problem, test it out to make sure it works, and then I’ll take another look at the code and see if there’s a way to make it more clear or more efficient. Then, of course, I’ll test it again 😉
Writers do this too. First, they’ll write a basic draft of their story to cover the main ideas, and then they’ll read it over and over again to make the words flow better and to make their message stand out more.
But, what about photographers? Do you ever take a look at one of your photos and say something like, “wow, I really like this photo of mine, but I wish one thing was different”? It doesn’t have to be something big, it could even be something as simple as moving your camera one step to the left so a tree stands out more from the background. [Read more…] about Do You Refactor Your Photographs?
This is a guest post by Wes Gibson, who’s been reading PhotoNaturalist for a few years now, but has been a photographer for over 20 years. After reading his post, please be sure to check out his blog for more of his posts. And, if you’re also interested in writing a guest post here on PhotoNaturalist, please contact me, thanks! –Steve
One of the things that attracted me to the PhotoNaturalist blog a few years ago was Steve’s philosophy of being more than a nature photographer. How we should go beyond just making images of our environment. How we should expand our knowledge and learn more about what we photograph. How we should become photonaturalists.
And, while I have a bookshelf full of nature books that I routinely refer to, I have recently discovered something that propelled my journey in becoming a photonaturalist to the next level: I started donating my photographs to local nature organizations. [Read more…] about How to Drive Your Passion as a Photonaturalist to the Next Level