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8 Tips For Photographing Sunsets

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Photo by Lindsey Graham
Photo by Lindsey Graham

Photographing the sunset is all about catching rich colors, interesting reflections, dazzling highlights, and dark silhouettes that emerge during this golden hour. As the day wanes, the color and light change minute by minute and elicit an enticing sense of addictive urgency.

The perfect shot is all about timing and the ever-changing combination of weather patterns, available light, and time of year ensure that every sunset is different. Be sure to stick around once the sun has vanished so you don’t miss a hue; but most importantly, take a minute to enjoy the show.

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How To Photograph Wildlife in Low Light

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Have you ever tried to capture that great wildlife shot in low light? It’s often not easy, is it? Such is the case of capturing this rare and endangered Barn Owl in a Missouri barn:

Barn Owl / Photo by Jim Braswell
Barn Owl / Photo by Jim Braswell

In Missouri, loss of habitat and farms, including barns where the Barn Owl prefers to live, have caused the Barn Owl to be placed on the state’s endangered list. In fact, the above owl is only the second Barn Owl I’ve heard of in the state over the past few years. Photographing it was a high priority on my list. And I certainly didn’t want to cause it undue stress by using flash photography. In cases like this, shooting in very low light may be the only alternative you have.

Let’s explore some of the factors of shooting in low light and look at some things we can do to help us capture a great image in low light: [Read more…] about How To Photograph Wildlife in Low Light

Which Photo Do You Like Better?

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Red Rock in Utah / Photos by Steve Berardi
Red Rock in Utah / Photos by Steve Berardi

Which of the two photos above do you like better? Why?

Both photos are very similar, but one was shot at sunrise and one was shot at sunset, so different parts of the red rock were lit up by the sun.

There’s no right or wrong answer here. The reason I’m asking the question is to get you thinking about composition, and specifically help you think about your own unique perspective of the world. [Read more…] about Which Photo Do You Like Better?

Introduction To The Types of Natural Light

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Mojave Desert at Sunset / Photo by Steve Berardi
Mojave Desert at Sunset / Photo by Steve Berardi
Light is something you have very little control over in nature photography, but it has a big effect on the look of your photographs so it’s important to understand how different lighting conditions will affect the look of your photograph.

Here’s a short intro to the different types of light you’ll experience, along with a few ideas of what to photograph in each type of light: [Read more…] about Introduction To The Types of Natural Light

PhotoPills – New App For Planning Landscape Images

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PhotoPills - ScreenshotOne of the great things about being a nature photographer in the digital age is that we have all these wonderful apps to help us plan our shots. And, now with the smartphone we can bring many of these apps along with us in the wilderness.

I’ve already talked about a few of these great apps, such as The Photographer’s Ephemeris (TPE) and Stellarium. But, I just discovered another one that can be extremely useful in planning landscape images: PhotoPills.

PhotoPills actually does a ton of stuff, but there’s one thing it does better than any other app I’ve seen: it can tell you exactly WHEN the sun/moon will rise over a distant mountain (or lake, tree, etc) as viewed from a specific location. [Read more…] about PhotoPills – New App For Planning Landscape Images

Three elements of a great landscape

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Photo by Steve Berardi
Photo by Steve Berardi

Landscapes are one of the most difficult subjects in nature photography. It’s always hard deciding what to include and what to leave out. And, it’s not easy translating a vast three dimensional space into a two dimensional photo.

Well, the next time you’re having trouble composing a landscape photograph, consider these three elements: [Read more…] about Three elements of a great landscape