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How three bananas can help improve your wildlife photography skills

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(c) iStockPhoto / Lucas Cornwell
(c) iStockPhoto / Lucas Cornwell
One of the hardest parts about photographing wildlife is learning how to use a long lens. There’s a lot of little things you have to get used to with that big lens.

One of those is simply learning how to quickly locate your subject in the viewfinder. With such a long lens (around 400mm or greater), you have such a small field of view that it becomes hard to locate your subject.

Being able to locate your subject quickly is important because you usually only have a second or two to take a shot. This is something I learned pretty quick when I went to photograph hawks with my dad a few weeks ago.

Well, I’ve thought of a little exercise that will help you get used to locating your subjects through that long lens–and it involves three bananas. And, don’t worry: I’m not gonna tell you to use the bananas as bait! [Read more…] about How three bananas can help improve your wildlife photography skills

Top 10 PhotoNaturalist posts of 2009

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With 2009 coming to a close last week, I thought it’d be good to take a look back at some of the most popular posts from the year. So, without further ado, here are the top 10 posts from 2009:

  1. 7 tips for getting sharper photographs
  2. 5 things every landscape photographer should carry at all times
  3. Three elements of a great landscape photograph
  4. How to resize your photos (the “sharp” way)
  5. 11 great resources for night photography
  6. What to photograph on an overcast day
  7. 7 great resources for winter photography
  8. How to get sharp photos of birds in flight
  9. 7 tips for photographing silhouettes
  10. Wow, you must have a really good camera!

I hope you had a great holiday season and a great year! And, cheers to a whole new year of capturing natural light 🙂 [Read more…] about Top 10 PhotoNaturalist posts of 2009

What went wrong with this dragonfly photo?

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Photo by Steve Berardi
Photo by Steve Berardi
In Bob Dylan’s great song, “Love Minus Zero/No Limit,” he proclaims,

“There’s no success like failure, and failure’s no success at all.”

It’s one of my favorite lines. I don’t always think failure is such a bad thing, because we learn so much more from failure, than we do success.

So, I’d like to try a new type of post here at PhotoNaturalist. I’ll start by sharing a recent photo I took that I don’t think came out very well. Then, I’ll explain why I don’t like it and why it “failed.” [Read more…] about What went wrong with this dragonfly photo?

How to use the “special” RGB Histogram

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IMG_0506fA few weeks ago, I explained how to use the histogram to get a better exposure. And although the default histogram will give you a general idea of an image’s exposure, there’s actually a special histogram that’ll tell you a lot more: the RGB histogram.

Here’s how it works:

If you understand the regular histogram, then the RGB histogram is simple: it shows you the histogram of each individual color channel (red, green, and blue).

The bad thing about the regular histogram is that it lumps all these color channels together, making it hard for you to see if you’re underexposing or overexposing a specific color channel. And, on some cameras, I’ve heard that the regular histogram only shows you the green channel. [Read more…] about How to use the “special” RGB Histogram

Book Review: Digital Landscape Photography by John and Barbara Gerlach

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Digital Landscape PhotographyI first discovered John and Barbara Gerlach about a year ago through Nature Photographer Magazine. I remember looking at their photos for the first time and just saying, “wow!” They seem to have mastered every type of nature photography: everything from wildlife to landscapes.

But, they’re not just amazing photographers, they’re also pretty awesome writers. I always look forward to their clear and useful articles in Nature Photographer Magazine. I’ve already shared a lot of what I’ve learned from them here on PhotoNaturalist, like how the Live Preview on your camera can help you take better photos.

So, when I heard about their new book, Digital Landscape Photography, I immediately ordered it on Amazon!

Well, I’ve had a chance to read it, and look through it again pretty thoroughly, so I thought I’d share my reaction to the book. [Read more…] about Book Review: Digital Landscape Photography by John and Barbara Gerlach

How to use the histogram to get a better exposure

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histogram-titleOne of the first things you probably want to know after taking a photo is whether or not you got your intended exposure.

You might be tempted to look at the preview on your LCD screen, but when you’re shooting photos outdoors in the sun, those previews can be very deceiving, making your photos look much brighter than they actually are.

So, how do you know if you got the right exposure? Well, one way is to use the histogram. [Read more…] about How to use the histogram to get a better exposure