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How to Find Good Locations For Fall Color

October 10, 2011 by Steve Berardi 11 Comments

Photo by Dick Rochester / Used under the CC-Attr license
Photo by Dick Rochester / Used under the CC-Attr license
Now that we’re almost in the middle of October, many of the trees in the US are bursting with color as their leaves fall off for the winter. Unfortunately, those colors don’t last long and sometimes they’re better in one area than they are in another, so it’s important to choose your locations carefully.

Luckily, there’s a great tool that can help you track seasonal changes like fall color: Flickr. Although it’s known for being a great website for sharing your photos, it can also be a great scouting tool. Here’s how: [Read more…] about How to Find Good Locations For Fall Color

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: autumn, cold, color, fall, flickr, leaf, leaves, location, north, research, scout, season, spring, tree, trees, wildflowers, winter

5 Essential Tools For Closeup Photography

August 3, 2011 by Steve Berardi 39 Comments

Tidy Tips / Photo by Steve Berardi
Photo by Steve Berardi
As nature photographers, we usually have to limit the amount of gear we carry (and that is certainly a good thing).

But, there’s always that list of “essential” items we bring on a hike, so here’s a little peek at what I carry in my bag when I know I’ll be doing some closeup photography:

#1 – Light Diffuser

Since you won’t always have the most ideal lighting conditions, it’s helpful to carry around some tools to help you control the light. A light diffuser will probably be the one you use the most, because they help balance the light on your subject. You can get a light diffuser at a camera store, or make your own out of a wire clothes hanger and a shower curtain. [Read more…] about 5 Essential Tools For Closeup Photography

Filed Under: Macro, Tips, Wildflowers Tagged With: balanced, bean bag, close, closeup, cloth, extension tube, flower, focus, light diffuser, Macro, photography, remote shutter, tripod, up, wildflowers

Quick Tip for Identifying Your Unknown Subjects

July 26, 2011 by Steve Berardi 7 Comments

Flame Skimmer (Libellula saturata)
Photo by Steve Berardi
One of the most rewarding parts of nature photography is learning how to identify your subjects. When we place a name on something, it somehow makes us feel more connected to it.

When you first meet someone new, the first thing you tell them is your name.

And, so naturally, when we photograph something we haven’t seen before, we immediately want to know what it is.

But, it’s not always easy to identify your subjects. Sure, you probably know all the common birds and insects of your area, but what if you’re hiking down a trail and see this amazing looking butterfly for the first time?

Well, there’s one thing you can do that’ll make it A LOT easier to identify that butterfly later: [Read more…] about Quick Tip for Identifying Your Unknown Subjects

Filed Under: Macro, Tips, Wildflowers Tagged With: birds, closeup, dragonflies, dragonfly, ebook, id, identification, identify, identifying, insect, Macro, photo, subject, unknown, what is, wildflowers

The Secret Ingredient to Good Nature Photos

June 7, 2011 by Steve Berardi 22 Comments

Do you ever wish you could add something to your nature photos that would just magically make them all super awesome and fantastic?

Well, guess what? You can!

That secret ingredient is patience. [Read more…] about The Secret Ingredient to Good Nature Photos

Filed Under: Landscapes, Tips, Wildflowers, Wildlife Tagged With: background, chaos, closeup, good, great, ingredient, landscape, nature, nature photography, patience, photos, secret, subject, wait, waiting, wildflowers, Wildlife

Learn by Example in my new eBook!

October 17, 2010 by Steve Berardi 16 Comments

Today, I’m happy to announce that my new eBook, Examples, is now available. It’s a collection of 23 of my images and the stories of how those images were made.

The idea was inspired by my firm belief that the best way to learn something is by example. As Albert Einstein put it, “Learning by example isn’t the best way to learn. It’s the only way to learn.”

I remember countless times back in school when I was struggling to understand something, but as soon as the teacher gave us an example or stepped through a problem detail by detail, I finally began to understand.

Examples help us pull concepts together and see how those concepts apply to actual problems. And, that’s my goal for this eBook. Throughout the book, you’ll find a number of links to blog posts I’ve written, or other helpful websites I’ve found that explain a concept I used to create an image. [Read more…] about Learn by Example in my new eBook!

Filed Under: Tips Tagged With: birds, camera, ebook, equipment, examples, filters, landscape, learn, magazine, nature, photography, settings, wildflowers, Wildlife

How to Photograph Wildflowers with Flash

October 4, 2010 by Rob Neave 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

Filed Under: Wildflowers Tagged With: alfred blaker, australia, ettl, field photography, flash, flower, Macro, photography, ring, technique, wild, wildflowers

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