The world is a beautiful place, and being able to capture that beauty is a unique skill for photographers. Whether you’ve caught an amazing flock of birds flying off from a pond, or you’ve found an awesome scene of animals looking after their young, or an intense and exotic flower with perfect, natural lighting there’s much beauty in this world. If you want some help in capturing cool photos, though, I’ve got some great ideas for you below.
These will, in time, make it much easier for you to get the photo you want. So, what, you ask can make your nature photography even better?
Don’t expect greatness to appear obvious
The first thing you need to have when shooting nature photography is the speed of thought to take action. An amazing photo can just appear in front of you so you need to be ready to hit the shutter and get a shot of it. Many people miss the most amazing shots simply because they are not ready.
Keep your hands on your camera at all times. It’s the difference between getting a great shot or messing it up.
Have a variety of lenses
When you are shooting in nature, you need to have a good range of lenses to pick from. Make sure you bring a wide-angle lens when you are taking shots of landscapes. For more close-up shots, make sure you have a macro lens in the bag. For wildlife you’ll want to have a fast telephoto lens at your disposal.
This often goes a long way to making sure you can get the correct shot.
Make the most of filters
Photography filters are a very powerful tool when you use them right, and they can make a huge difference to your portfolio. With a filter, you can really make sure that your photo stands out. Make use of neutral density filters when taking landscape shots, and use polarizing filters to keep the sky from being too much of a focal point in a shot.
Filters are great for making sure the part of the picture that stands out is the part that you intended.
Use the foreground
Many people shooting in nature forget to make the most of the foreground. Foreground quality is an important part of making the photo a bit more impressive and ensure it stands out. Get more foreground shots, as many of us spend too long using the background as our main tool. A quality front and center foreground will make a huge difference to the image, giving it an obvious focal point that stands out.
Capturing movement
If you’re taking still life photos in nature, movement is a dynamic feature one can add to the shot to make it more interesting. For instance, I love taking waterfall photos as you can see from my gallery. And to make the water look soft and ethereal I use a slow shutter speed and a sturdy tripod. The same technique can be used to capture trees with blowing leaves and other combinations of moving and non-moving natural objects.
Consider the Light
If you’re walking through the forest or a field of flower or wherever you happen to be in nature, consider the light. Where is the sun and how is this impacting your natural subject? Sometimes I like to backlight flowers and plants with the sun. Sometimes I prefer different angles. When walking through a forest, I also looks for all of the interesting lighting patterns that emerge. Be ready with your camera and tripod as these pattern can change very rapidly.
Take the Road Less Travelled
It’s true that many of us take the easy path when photographing out in nature. There can be a “pack mentality” whether it’s on a nature trail or in an arboretum to take the same photos as everyone else.
Photographic satisfaction, at least for me, comes from doing something different than everyone else and trying to see something differently. Yogi Berra once said, “When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It.” I say, when you come to a fork in the road take the road less travelled.
To recap, nature photography is rewarding whether you’re selling your images to a magazine or posting them on Instagram for your friends and family to see. Hopefully, the above tips will help you make your images a bit more interesting and engaging.
