PhotoNaturalist - nature photography tips and tutorials

nature photography tips and tutorials

wild

Evolution of a Nature Photograph

by 19 Comments

Fringed Gentian / Photo by Vic Berardi
Fringed Gentian / Photo by Vic Berardi
Sometimes when you come across a subject, you immediately know how to photograph it and create a pleasing image. But, other times (and perhaps, most of the time), it takes some thought and experimenting to find that image you’re looking for. You start off with a basic shot, and continue tweaking or evolving it, until you eventually obtain that image you set out to create.

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

How To Get Started With Animal Tracking

by 3 Comments

If you’re serious about wildlife photography, then it’s helpful to learn a little about animal tracking. Knowing where an animal typically hangs out or walks around can significantly increase your chances of being in the right place at the right time.

Learning how to accurately track animals can be a long process, but here are a few simple ways to get started: [Read more…] about How To Get Started With Animal Tracking

How to Photograph Wildflowers with Flash

by 11 Comments

Blue Lechenaultia (Lechenaultia biloba) / Photo by Rob Neave
Blue Lechenaultia (Lechenaultia biloba) / Photo by Rob Neave

Note from Steve: This is a guest post written by Rob Neave, of Perth, Western Australia. In this post he talks about an interesting technique for photographing wildflowers with flash.

As always, if youʼre also interested in writing a guest post, please feel free to contact me. Thanks!
________

My state of Western Australia is wildflower central for the known universe. For years, I was entranced by their potential as photographic subjects, but could not figure out how to do it. Eventually I bought a book called “Field Photography” by Alfred A Blaker, which showed me how to get decent shots of wildflowers.

Although the techniques presented in Blaker’s book were originally written for film photography, I have been able to also apply them to digital photography and ETTL flash.

The photo above is an example of what you’ll be able to do with these techniques. The flowers in the photo are Blue Lechenaultia. This image shows the detail and depth of field (DOF) we can get with these techniques. It was shot at f/32 and 1/200 with flash. [Read more…] about How to Photograph Wildflowers with Flash

How to Photograph Hummingbirds in the Wild

by 12 Comments

Black-chinned Hummingbird / Photo by Steve Berardi
Black-chinned Hummingbird (juvenile female) / Photo by Steve Berardi
Hummingbirds are amazing little birds: they’re the only birds that can fly backwards, and they’re the fastest animal on the planet (if you measure speed in body lengths per second, heh).

They’re fairly easy to photograph if you setup a feeder, but I prefer to photograph them in the wild, since my goal is to photograph truly wild moments. Sometimes that means waiting awhile for a hummingbird to show up at the perfect flower, but your patience pays off when you get that truly wild photo.

Anyway, here’s what I’ve learned so far about photographing hummingbirds in the wild: [Read more…] about How to Photograph Hummingbirds in the Wild

9 tips for photographing wildflowers with a point and shoot camera

by 5 Comments

Photo by Steve Berardi (shot with a Canon G10 point and shoot camera)
Although wildflowers are best photographed with an SLR camera, it’s still possible to take some pretty good shots with a plain old point and shoot camera. And, sometimes this may be the only camera you have with you at the time, either because you’re backpacking far into the wilderness and want to travel light, or maybe you haven’t made the jump to an SLR just yet.

The biggest problem you’ll run into with the point and shoot camera is the large depth of field you get from the super small sensor. This limits some of your options, but there’s a few ways to get around it, and as always, light also plays a huge role in the success of a photo.

So, here are a few tips for photographing wildflowers when you’re limited to a point and shoot camera: [Read more…] about 9 tips for photographing wildflowers with a point and shoot camera