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How To Photograph Birds In Bad Light

December 10, 2012 by Vic Berardi 19 Comments

Photo by Vic Berardi
Photo by Vic Berardi
You’ve probably said it yourself and you’ve heard it said many times, “I decided to stay home today because the lighting was so awful.”

If you’re like many beginning bird photographers, then you check the weather forecast hoping it calls for sunny blue skies. But, then you get depressed when the forecast calls for “mostly cloudy skies” and a chance for rain or snow. You begin to wonder why you have all that expensive camera equipment!

But don’t fret too hard about it! Yes, it’s true that deep blue skies can be great for photographing birds in flight, but it’s actually cloudy skies that create the lighting situations for the most dynamic or dramatic photos, especially those of perched birds. [Read more…] about How To Photograph Birds In Bad Light

Filed Under: Tips, Wildlife Tagged With: birds, clouds, cloudy, dark, exposure, flight, handheld, hawk, light, low, overcast, perched, tripod

The Benefits of a Good Tripod

December 3, 2012 by Steve Berardi 15 Comments

When you first start shopping for a tripod, you might be a little shocked by the price range: there’s some for $20 and then there’s others for hundreds of dollars.

So, what’s the deal with that huge price range? How could something so simple cost so much? Three metal legs for $500?

I’ll admit that when I first got a digital SLR, I went ahead and got one of those generic $20 tripods. I tried to use that thing once, and after watching my camera slowly slide down after I kept locking it in, I decided to invest in a good tripod.

The good part is that you don’t necessarily need to spend $500 on a tripod. There are some very good ones for about $150, and they’re monumentally better than those generic tripods.

Here are two of the biggest benefits you’ll experience with a “good” tripod: [Read more…] about The Benefits of a Good Tripod

Filed Under: Tips Tagged With: ballhead, benefits, camera, gitzo, head, manfrotto, sharp, stable, tripod

5 Things Every Landscape Photographer Should Carry At All Times

October 30, 2012 by Steve Berardi 44 Comments

With all those camera accessories available out there, it’s easy to become a gearhead, and lose sight of what’s really important: making photographs.

Although a lot of these accessories just add unnecessary weight to your backpack, there are at least five things that are extremely useful for a landscape photographer: [Read more…] about 5 Things Every Landscape Photographer Should Carry At All Times

Filed Under: Landscapes, Tips Tagged With: accessories, camera accessories, camera accessory, how to photograph landscapes, landscape photographers, landscape photography, nature photography, neutral density filter, photo filters, polarizing filter, tripod

Something That Should Be In Every Camera Bag

April 24, 2012 by Steve Berardi 21 Comments

In previous posts, I’ve talked about helpful accessories for your camera and tripod. But, I always seem to forget one item that almost always gets mentioned in the comments:

A garbage bag.

How could a garbage bag possibly help you with photography? Well, primarily the garbage bag is good for protecting your gear in case it starts raining.

Your camera bag may claim to be “waterproof” (note that water “proof” is different from water “resistant”), or maybe it has a built-in rain cover. But, those rain covers aren’t always big enough to cover your tripod too, so the garbage bag comes in handy when you’re carrying a tripod. [Read more…] about Something That Should Be In Every Camera Bag

Filed Under: Tips Tagged With: accessory, bag, camera, diffuser, garbage bag, light, protection, rain, subject, tripod, waterproof

Why You Shouldn’t Carry Too Much Gear

April 3, 2012 by Steve Berardi 16 Comments

Photo by Martin Taylor
Photo by Martin Taylor
A few weeks ago I had a horrible accident: I cracked the LCD screen cover on the back of my Canon 5D Mk II.

I was carrying two cameras at the time, and wanted to change lenses on my other camera, so I put the 5D on my tripod, and began switching lenses on my other camera. Then, about ten seconds later, my tripod fell backwards (with the 5D still on it), and there just happened to be a big rock where the 5D landed 😉

I sat there staring at my 5D on the ground for about five minutes, terrified of the damage I’d see when I picked up the camera. [Read more…] about Why You Shouldn’t Carry Too Much Gear

Filed Under: Tips Tagged With: 5d, accident, camera, carry, cover, creativity, equipment, force, gear, hiking, lcd, limit, Macro, repair, screen, tripod

The Perfect Backpack For a Hiking Photographer

January 16, 2012 by Steve Berardi 11 Comments

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

Filed Under: Gear Reviews Tagged With: 400aw, adorama, backpack, bag, bottle, camera, flipside, hike, hiker, hiking, lenses, lowepro, photo, photographer, tripod, water

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