Photography is an art that requires passion, an eye for a detail, a camera, and a subject. Nature Photography is not about taking a picture of a leaf or a waterfall but it is about how detailed the picture is, how beautiful it looks, and what impressions it produces for the observer. It is never as easy as it seems and to take pictures of cascading waterfalls, meandering rivers and snow-clad mountains can require a lot more than a good camera and passion for photography.
Nature photography also known as landscape photography comprises of a number of elements, and how you bring these elements together to present a whole picture is fundamental to this art. A photographic composition includes visual elements comprising of a photographer's vision and the ability to see, identify, arrange, and frame a finished or complete image. This is definitely a distinct skill and if you think you have such a skill then landscape photography will be a great experience and career for you.
Let's look at some of the basic elements that will play a major role in defining the final picture. The first element is Scale. If you take into consideration images of nature then you will find that most of them differ by the scale of the scene captured. The three different categories to be kept in mind are:
1.Grand Scenery: This includes huge expanses of landscape
2.Intimate Scenery: This is one of the most elusive of all sceneries, as you will have to isolate a "scene within the scene" and keep only the important part.
3.Macro Scenery: This includes enlarging the elements, which are small in nature and cannot be noticed otherwise.
It is very important to examine and interpret each of these scenes distinctively to get the best picture. The important thing to understand is that you should not block your mind or vision to a particular scale you need to have an open mind so that you can add variations and use the opportunities to your advantage.
The second important element of nature photography is Raw Material and it is further composed of sub-elements like:
1. Light: Very important element, you need to identify and adjust its direction, color, and angle
2. Shape: It consists of the outline as well as the surface of different objects in a particular scene
3. Lines: There can be straight, and curved lines, which may be pointing out or in from the frame towards a given object
4. Textures and patterns
5. Colors and tones
6. Frame boundaries
The third important element that you need to work on is Complexity. In any landscape photograph there is an underlying concept that drives the composition of that particular image. The concept will help the viewer to understand the picture or image with various connotations, and help identify the relationship between them and the image. This is why an image should neither be too simple nor be too complex but at the same time, it should be complex enough for the viewer to delve deeper into the composition to find the hidden meaning ? to make him/her think.
The last element in Nature Photography is Perspective and it can be defined as the visual relationship between the scene portrayed and the point from where it is being viewed.
Once you have understood the importance and impact of various elements required of landscape photography, you would be able to create the magic that will hold the viewer spellbound.
Choosing a good subject for a wildlife photo is never difficult. The variety of characters in the animal kingdom provides a never-ending source of material. Even better, some of the best subjects can be found in the cities, even in our own backyards. You don't have to be an intrepid world traveller to enjoy a satisfying hobby as a wildlife photographer.
It can be a real challenge to capture a natural looking photo in a suburban setting. If you can eliminate any man-made distractions from your photo, you can create the illusion of an image captured in a totally natural environment.
A bad background can really spoil the impact of a good wildlife subject, but how do we avoid it? Of course these days there are plenty of people who would just edit it out using a computer, but (believe it or not) most people still prefer to rely on their camera skills rather than on software.
Here are some simple tips to help you eliminate a bad background from your wildlife photos.
The first thing to do is simply position yourelf to find the best angle to take your photo. Imagine you are trying to photograph a bird in a tree. From one angle, you might be able to see power lines or the roof of the house in the background. If you move to a better angle, you may be able to capture the green foliage of the tree as your background instead.
This may seem obvious, but one reason so many photos fail is because the photographer doesn't bother to make this small extra effort.
Secondly, you need to try to reduce the amount of background that is visible in your photo. This can be as simple as getting as close as possible to the subject and using your largest lens. This is a very easy technique. Moving closer ensures the subject fills as much of the frame as possible. Your largest lens (or the largest zoom on your lens) narrows the field of view in a photo so that the focus in on the subject, not on the surroundings.
The extra advantage of a telephoto lens is that it has a naturally small depth of field. This means while your subject is in focus, everything in front and behind is a blur. So not only does the telephoto lens reduce the amount of background that is visible in your photo; what you can see should be completely out of focus.
The final step to eliminate a distracting background is to open the aperture as wide as possible. This is simple photography theory; a wide aperture produces a narrow depth of field. So if you are already using a large lens, and you add a narrow aperture as well, you reduce your depth of field to its absolute minimum. Now you should be able to produce an almost three dimensional image, with your sharply focused subject emerging from a totally out-of-focus background.
As you can see from the simplicity of these guidelines, it is easy to reduce the distraction of an unattractive background. It doesn't take fancy equipment or a diploma in photography. All it takes is a little extra effort, and understanding how to use the camera you have.
Now consider all the situations where these tips can improve your photos. When taking photos at in your backyard, at the zoo or out in the street, you can use these simple methods to create the illusion that they were taken in the wild. Even if your background is not that ugly, it can provide a distraction from the main subject. By putting the background out of focus, it becomes a soft palette of colour that makes the subject really stand out.
Best of all, these are techniques you can try today - so happy snapping!
Both Seth Willis & Andrew Goodall are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Seth Willis has sinced written about articles on various topics from Entertainment Guide, Children and Hair Styles. Seth Willis is the webmaster for http://www.Starephotography.com he enjoys photography as well as painting and blues and Jazzguitar.Stare photography is an Online school for budding andseasoned photographers to enhance their skills or start a new career.. Seth Willis's top article generates over 1900 views. to your Favourites.
Andrew Goodall has sinced written about articles on various topics from Digital Photography, Photography and Digital Photography. If you found these tips helpful, Andrew Goodall has released two top-selling ebooks that have already helped thousands of new photographers learn the art and skills of nature photography. See Andrew's images and ebooks at. Andrew Goodall's top article generates over 40500 views. to your Favourites.