WILDLIFE
Tip 1: Know your equipment when you go out searching for wildlife, make sure that you have the right lens on your camera. For beginners you may want to go with a 70-300mm lens, 300mm is the minimum that you will need for wildlife. I use a 100-400mm lens which when I put it on my 40D on it, it becomes a 640mm lens. Yes, this lens will cost you back about $1,300 dollars, but it is well worth the money. If you mainly do your shooting in National parks, or your backyard the animals will be less afraid of you and you will be able to approach them much closer.
Tip 2: Become knowledgeable about your subjects. Wildlife is just what the name says, wild animals rarely do what you want them to do when you want, so you learn to develop patience. For example, you may see a hawk sitting in a tree but when you begin to approach it, it takes off in the opposite direction. Take your time, one of these days you will get the shot that you want but it takes PATIENCE.
Tip 3: Study the composition and techniques, when you go out to photograph wildlife, it is natural to be standing. However most wildlife is smaller and or shorter then humans, so get down to their level. Focus on the eyes and make sure that they are sharp. Include the space around the animal to give it a sense of place. Watch the background. If the background is cluttered, it will distract from the main subject. Don’t rely on Photoshop to fix the image; if it is a bad image to begin with no amount of Photoshop will fix it.
Tip 4: Capture natural behavior. As you get more familiar with your equipment, try working on the harder images like birds landing or taking off. If you see a herd of wild mustangs running through a field, set your camera at a slower shutter speed to capture a creative blur in your images that will show movement.
Tip 5: Work with creative light. Getting up early in the morning may seem like a big hassle, but early morning is when most animals are the most active. Also the light from the sun is coming in at an angle and will light your subjects very nicely, giving a pop to the colors on the animals as well as the colors around them.
LANDSCAPES
Tip 1: Always, always use a tripod. Even if you think that you can hold the camera steady, you can’. For night time landscapes, use a cable release.
Tip 2: Study the scene as you are setting up, and look to see what pictures you can find inside the big picture. Remember the rule of thirds, it will make a big difference for your photography as a whole.
Tip 3: Look for leading lines that will lead the eyes to what your main subject is.
Tip 4: Experiment. Most landscape photographers use high mega pixel digital cameras when shooting landscapes. One of the nice things about digital is that we can see what we shot immediately after taking the picture. Now, we can make adjustments in the field instead of guessing about the right exposure and shutter speed. Paint with light, some of you have heard that statement and probably wondered what it meant. Without light there would be no photography. When you go out shooting landscapes set your camera for a longer exposure then you normally would. Move the camera up and down and from side to side. Play around with the exposure and see what setting gives you the kind of picture that you like. Remember photographing in this way will give your pictures a painted look.
Tip 5: Develop your own personalized style of photography. Study your photography at the end of a shoot and find out why some shots failed, and why others made it. In the future, you will be less likely to make those same mistakes again. Sure go ahead and look at the work of other photographers who have come before you, but do not try to copy them. Go out and scout around, find the best vantage point and photograph away.
CAMERAS
When you hear the words nature photography what comes to mind? Is it a small and delicate butterfly sucking nectar out of a flower, or is it one of the grand landscapes like El Capitan in Yosemite? Have you ever wanted to start photographing nature but thought to your self, I can’t afford those long lenses or big cameras that the pros use. Or maybe I can’t go to the Rockies or Yosemite. Let me give you a little secret. You don’t have to. If you have a little point and shoot, look around your backyard or the city park. There are always interesting patterns on leaves and tree bark. Now that it’s springtime daffodils will be blooming, wild flowers will also be coming up. Look for color and interesting patterns. Point and shoots are also great for macro shots. Get down on the ground and look for the little insects that you would normally brush away. Some of the best nature photography photographs that I have seen have been macros done with little point and shoots. So, you want to start shooting more nature photography and you want more options then your point and shoot has to offer. Canon and Nikon are two of the best brands on the market today. You have some options. To begin, we will start with Canon. You want to get into the Canon system, but you don’t want to fork out a lot of money. Then the Rebel XS with the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Canon EF-S IS lens, the IS stands for image stabilization. This is what you get with the Rebel XS 10.2MP DIGIC III processor, 3 frames per sec. and a large capacity battery. All for about $700 with a lens, the next camera in the Canon line up is the Rebel XSI you get the same lens as mentioned before the 18-55mm and DIGIC III processor enhanced live view a 3inch LCD screen for viewing those pictures better. You can get this kit for about $800 Nikon has a similar set-up if that is the way you choose to go. The Nikon D40 and D60 are similar in a lot of ways but differ in that the D40 has 6.1 MP the D60 has 10.2 both include an 18-55mm kit lens and both have a 2.5inch LCD screen. If you want to get a more advanced camera, then you have some options. With Canon you have the EOS 40D, which has a 10MP a 3-inch LCD live view, and it fires 6.5 frames per second. The second camera is the EOS 50D, it has a 15.1 MP 3inch LCD, live view along with 6.3 frames per second. If you want to know more about these cameras and the lenses that go with them, go to www.nikonusa.com and www.usa.canon.com.
In 2006 I attended Wilderness Wildlife Week in the Smokies. While there I attended a photography presentation by nature photographer Ken Jenkins. After I saw his photography, I new that I wanted to be a nature photographer. So I got a camera and some lenses and began my nature photography. Since then several other nature photographers have inspired me to expand and push the limits of my photography. As you take a walk out in nature you can’t help but be amazed at the many wonders of nature that God has made.
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