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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

Introduction to Insect Macro Photography (Part I)

February 17, 2014 by Huub de Waard 2 Comments

Photo by Huub de Waard / Portrait of a little fly: Magnification 8, f/8, ISO 100 and 1/250 sec
Photo by Huub de Waard / Portrait of a little fly: Magnification 8, f/8, ISO 100 and 1/250 sec

This is 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

One of the most popular books that I read during my childhood was Eric in the Land of the Insects, written by the Dutch author Godfried Bomans. In this humorous fantasy, nine-year-old Eric enters the landscape painting that hangs on his wall and he discovers a world of man-sized wasps, bees, butterflies and other insects that is stunningly similar to the world of humans. Once photography became a part of my life and I purchased the Canon extreme macro lens MP-E 65 mm f/2.8, which has combined with a 2x teleconverter a maximum magnification of 10:1, my world was populated with grasshoppers, spiders, snails, flies, dragonflies and butterflies—Eric’s world.

Magnification describes the relationship between the actual size of the subject and the size of its image on the sensor of the camera. Photographing a 3 cm (1.18 inch) long blue-tailed damselfly so that its image size is 1 cm (0.39 inch) on the sensor means that the magnification is 1/3 (1:3) life-size. Dividing the size of the subject’s image on the sensor by the actual size determines the magnification. At 1:1 life-size, the size of the subject on the sensor is as big as it is in real life. Macrophotography is restricted to magnifications in the order of 1:10 to 1:1 life-size. Microphotography is the extreme form of macrophotography, dedicated to the photography of small objects from life-size to modest enlargements of up to about 20. [Read more…] about Introduction to Insect Macro Photography (Part I)

Filed Under: Close-Up, Macro, Tips Tagged With: bellows, close, close up, distance, extension, focus, focusing distance, insect, Macro, micro, photography, teleconverter, tube

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

8 Tips and Tutorials For Winter Photography

December 10, 2013 by Steve Berardi Leave a Comment

Photo by Vic Berardi
Photo by Vic Berardi
With all this super cold and snowy weather we’re getting up here in the northern hemisphere, I thought it’d be good to put together a list of helpful tips and tutorials for winter photography 🙂

So, here are a few posts we’ve written about winter here at PhotoNaturalist, as well as some great articles from other blogs:

#1 – How to get a perfect exposure of a snow-covered landscape

If you try shooting a snowy landscape with autoexposure, then you’ll almost always end up with gray snow in your photos. So, this post gives you a few ways to avoid that common problem. [Read more…] about 8 Tips and Tutorials For Winter Photography

Filed Under: Tips Tagged With: cold, gray, landscape, photography, snow, Tips, tutorials, white, winter

Holiday Gift Ideas For Nature Photographers

December 2, 2013 by Steve Berardi Leave a Comment

Now that we’re in the holiday season, you might be thinking about what you can get for your photographer friends or family. Or, maybe you need some ideas for yourself 😉

Although most cameras and lenses are pretty expensive (and might be out of “gift” range), there’s a lot of other photography stuff that any nature photographer would probably love to receive: [Read more…] about Holiday Gift Ideas For Nature Photographers

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Gear Reviews Tagged With: books, camera, camo, christmas, gift, head, holiday, ideas, kwik, nature, photographers, photography, tripod, xmas

Things To Consider When Buying Used Camera Gear

October 30, 2013 by Amy Cobb 3 Comments

This is a guest post by Amy Cobb, from Photography Colleges
There are many reasons to opt for a pre-owned camera as opposed to a new one. The fact that a camera once had a relationship with another photographer doesn’t necessarily mean that it was misused, abused, or made defective—chances are, the previous owner is upgrading to a newer model, or coming to grips with the fact that film is becoming obsolete outside of art photography.

This is good news if you’re studying photography at your university and looking to play with film or a lightly-used DSLR that has no desire to take out additional student loans to cover a prohibitively pricey “book,” or if you’re a professional looking for an adequate backup camera.

While there’s different things to consider when evaluating used digital and film cameras, many of the basics are the same. Keep in mind that you should be extremely careful about purchasing a camera you can’t take a test shot with, and always at least ask for a warranty. [Read more…] about Things To Consider When Buying Used Camera Gear

Filed Under: Tips Tagged With: camera, digital, ebay, film, inspect, lens, nature, new, photography, used

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