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nature photography tips and tutorials

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4 Tips For Getting the Most Out of Your Tripod

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Tripods are one of the most important tools of nature photography. Not only do they help you get sharper images, but they also have a tendency to force you to consider your composition more carefully.

And, although they may seem like really simple pieces of equipment (especially when compared to your camera), there’s actually a few things you should keep in mind when using them in order to maximize their effectiveness: [Read more…] about 4 Tips For Getting the Most Out of Your Tripod

6 Tips For Photographing Sand Dunes

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Photo by Steve Berardi
Photo by Steve Berardi
Sand dunes are some of the most visually stunning subjects you’ll find in the desert. In a land that’s dominated by sharp cactus and pointy rocks, dunes provide some relief with their smooth curves and soft sand. So, naturally they make good subjects for photographs. Here are a few tips for photographing them:

#1 – Watch where you walk

Avoid walking through the middle of dunes, since that’ll mess up those nice lines in the sand and ruin any opportunity to photograph the dune. Instead, walk around dunes, or only walk through dunes you know you don’t want to photograph. [Read more…] about 6 Tips For Photographing Sand Dunes

How to Switch Lenses on Your Camera

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Photo by Andrew Magill (used under the CC-Attr license)
In a previous post, I talked about the importance of being careful when switching your camera lenses, in order to avoid dust from gathering on your camera’s sensor. But I didn’t elaborate much on how to switch your lenses, so here’s my method for switching camera lenses:

  1. Put your camera on a flat surface, so that the lens is pointing straight up
  2. Unlock the lens on your camera body, and turn the lens just a little bit so you can let go of the lens and it remains unlocked (but it’s still resting on the camera body)
  3. Remove the cap on the bottom of the new lens you want on your camera
  4. Hold the new lens in your right hand, and twist off the lens on your camera with your left hand
  5. Quickly mount the new lens with your right hand and lock it onto the camera
  6. Put the cap on the bottom of the old lens

[Read more…] about How to Switch Lenses on Your Camera

7 Tips For Photographing Landscapes In Extreme Wind

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Photo by Steve Berardi
Photo by Steve Berardi
I recently found myself on an extremely windy mountaintop trying to photograph a distant rock spire. The wind was blowing at 45 mph, with gusts over 60 mph!

I’m used to dealing with some light 15 mph winds when photographing wildflowers, but this 60 mph stuff was strong enough to start shaking my tripod. So, I had to think quickly about how to keep my camera still and come away with a sharp photo of the beautiful sunset that was approaching.

Here are a few things I came up with to ensure I got an acceptably sharp photo: [Read more…] about 7 Tips For Photographing Landscapes In Extreme Wind

7 tips for photographing waterfalls

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waterfall
Photo by Steve Berardi
Hiking trails to waterfalls always seem to be the most popular trails. There’s a good reason for this: as humans, we’re naturally drawn to water. It’s one of our most basic survival instincts. Not only do we love the sight of water, but we love the sound of water falling against rocks, and we love the feeling of cold water on a hot day.

So, naturally, waterfalls are also a popular subject to photograph! Here are a few tips for capturing them: [Read more…] about 7 tips for photographing waterfalls