Have you ever been out to photograph a gorgeous sunset, just to
realize that you can’t, because your batteries are dead? Perhaps you’ve
come home and imported your images, and noticed that all of them are
unusable due to hundreds of dust spots?
Don’t worry. Most of us have experienced the exact same things.
Luckily, there are certain habits you can develop to avoid ever missing a
shot again. None of them are time consuming, so there’s really no
excuse not to implement them into your workflow.
Habit #1 – Charge your batteries
It might sound obvious that you should charge your batteries but you
would be surprised how often I meet people that are out in the field
without any battery power. In fact, I’m guessing you’ve experienced this
yourself (don’t worry, so have I, and most other photographers too).
About
a year ago I decided to take a seven hour drive to Åndalsnes in Norway,
known for its spectacular landscape, in particular the iconic Trollstigen road.
I had been there a few times before, but the weather was never ideal,
so I wanted to go back and capture at least one good image. When I
arrived at the scenic road and walked out to the viewpoint I managed to
take a handful of pictures before my battery died. Weird, I thought, but
no problem, I still have two spare batteries. Turned out both of them
where empty too. I guess you can imagine my frustration when I realized
that this entire trip was ruined because I had forgotten to charge my
batteries.
I managed to capture one decent image before my batteries died
I made it a habit after that incident to always charge my batteries
after I come home from a trip, or evening out photographing. I set my
batteries to charging even before I import my images, because I know if I
don’t do it right away I may forget.
Habit #2 – Clean your equipment
Cleaning your camera gear
is extremely important (especially for outdoor photographers) not only
to lengthen the life of your equipment but also to improve image
quality. I always get a bit upset when I view a beautiful image that is
broken due to hundreds of small (or a few huge) dust spots. This is so
unnecessarily, and easy to get rid of, so why let others believe you’re
not as talented as you actually are.
Honestly, you don’t need more than a cheap microfiber cloth to remove
dust and dirt from your lens or filters. Even though that is enough in
most cases (and something that should always be in your camera bag), I
do recommend purchasing a liquid lens cleaner too, as this helps get rid
of all smudges and especially salty spots.
After bad weather on Iceland my lens was filled with dust spots, as you can see here in Lightroom.
I’ve made it a habit to clean my equipment after each photo trip that
lasts more than a day. If I’m out photographing seascapes or in
windy/rainy conditions, I usually spend an extra minute afterwards
getting rid of the worst. Making this a habit will help save you a lot
of time in post-production using tools such as Lightroom’s Spot Removal.
If
you’re getting serious with your photography, and perhaps you have even
began selling a print or two, it’s even more important to get rid of
those nasty spots. Just imagine selling a large print, then seeing that
those small spots suddenly look large and take away the attention of the
image. Don’t make that mistake!
Habit #3 – Don’t leave before it’s over
My final habit is perhaps one of my most important advice for any outdoor photographer.
Don’t leave before it’s over!
An unexpected sunset this winter in Norway
This is a habit I had to learn the hard way. It happened many times
when I was an amateur photographer that I decided a sunrise or sunset
wouldn’t turn into anything good, because the weather looked a bit
shabby. Instead of staying at the location longer, I preferred to go
home and hope for better conditions next time. What happened as I was
driving back home? The sky turned red for just a few minutes.
Even though the conditions look a little dull it doesn’t mean that
you won’t have a few minutes of good light. Alright, in most cases it
doesn’t turn into something spectacular, but the times it does you will
wish you had stayed for that 10-20 minutes extra.
So,
remember this the next time you’re considering leaving early: it’s not
over before it’s over. Stay a little bit longer, and perhaps you will be
treated with great light that results in a portfolio worthy image. It’s
worth it!
Bird flying through a stormy sunset at Liencres, Cantabria.
Are you guilty of missing these 3 habits? Have you developed any
other habits, either in the field or when you’re back home? Let us know
by leaving a comment below! This week we are doing a series of articles to help you do nature photography. This is the first – watch for more coming soon!
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Thursday, April 30, 2020
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10 Ideas for Photographing Nature in your Backyard
Have you noticed how many photographers are fascinated with the
natural world? Even if we specialise in another genre, few of us can
resist a gorgeous flower, or a branch of autumn leaves.
One of the best things about photographing nature is that it is so
accessible. You needn’t travel far to find it, because it’s all
around you. You may take it for granted because you see it every day,
but your own backyard is treasure trove. Every hour of every day and
every season, bring something new.
Summer lavender: ISO 100, f/3.5, 1/200th
Backyard needn’t be taken literally here. If you don’t have a
backyard, you’ll find plenty of nature to photograph just by wandering
the streets or public parks and gardens. Tech details: All of the photographs in this article were shot on my Canon 5D Mark III. Unless otherwise stated, I have used my Canon macro 100mm f/2.8 lens. I have included details of ISO, aperture and shutter speed settings.
#1 – Flowers and leaves
Flowers and leaves are often the first things that come to mind when
we look for subjects in our own backyards. They offer an endless variety
of colours, shapes and textures for you to photograph. You could
create a collection based on a single colour scheme, or try to find as
many different leaf or flower shapes as possible.
Cymbidium orchid: ISO 640, f/4, 1/100th
Violet leaves: ISO 800, f/8, 1/30th
Geranium leaves: ISO 320, f/8, 1/40th
Experiment with different lighting and conditions. I love
backlighting for leaves and flowers, as it creates a luminous, almost
three-dimensional effect, and you can see details such as veins. Some
shapes look better with strong, directional light, and I love how
colours are enhanced in the wet.
Erlicheer daffodils BACKLIT: ISO 100, f/4, 1/640th
The same flower shot with the sun on my back: ISO 100, f/4, 1/800th
Backlighting a leaf reveals details you wouldn’t see if you lit it directly : ISO 100 f/4, 1/250th
Flowers are seasonal, and in
temperate zones, spring and summer offer the widest variety. There are
still flowers to be found in winter, although you may need to look
harder. Don’t forget that weeds, such as dandelions ,are also
beautiful! Autumn (fall) provides the greatest colour spectrum in
leaves.
Liquidamber leaves photographed en masse: ISO 640, f/4, 1/80th
A single leaf isolated against a dark background: ISO 640, f/4, 1/30sec
#2 – Fruit, berries and seed pods
When the summer flowers disappear, fruits and berries are nature’s
way of providing for birds and animals throughout the colder months.
Many berries and seed pods ripen towards the end of autumn, bringing
colour to the winter garden. Citrus trees bear fruit in winter, and
persimmon trees lose their leaves to reveal branches of shiny orange
fruits. Think also of acorns, pine cones, and nuts.
Kumquat: ISO 2500, f/4.5, 1/50 sec
ISO 800, f/8.0, 1/500th.
ISO 500, f/5.0, 1/1250th.
Orange rosehip: ISO 500, f/5.0, 1/160th
Bunches of red berries: ISO 500, f/5.0, 1/100th.
#3 – After the rain
Raindrops are fascinating through the lens. Try photographing them from various angles,
and in different lighting. When photographing a single droplet, or a
string of them, isolate them by keeping the background uncluttered. You
can do this by creating distance between the droplets and the
background, and using a wide aperture to ensure it is blurred. Notice
also how water sits in nice round droplets on some types of leaves, but
on others it disperses.
Arthrododium leaves after rain: ISO 800, f/4.5, 1/80 sec
Raindrops hang from the slats on the back of a garden chair: ISO 1000, f/4, 1/125 sec
ISO 640, f/4, 1/125 sec
ISO 1000, f/4, 1/125 sec
#4 – Mushrooms, toadstools and fungi
These are abundant in autumn and winter, but some species pop up
throughout the year after rain. Look in damp, mossy places, on the sides
of trees and log piles for them.
My personal favourites are the red toadstools with white speckles.
They are evocative of fairy tales and magic, and their colours are a
nature photographer’s dream!
Toadstool: ISO 1000, f/6.3, 1/250 sec
ISO 1000, f/6.3, 1/160 sec
Don’t ignore the tiny, dull-coloured mushrooms and fungi. The ones in
the photo below were growing in a crevice in the side of my herb
garden. You can see by the scale of the woodgrain how tiny they were.
From above, they were nondescript, but when I lay on the ground beneath
them and shot into the backlight, they became translucent and I could
see their delicate structure.
These tiny mushrooms were no bigger than the fingernail on my pinky finger! ISO 800, f/8, 1/160 sec
#5 – Look up . . . look down
We have a ginormous tree in our backyard. It was probably planted
when our house was first built in the 1920s, and its canopy is as big as
the footprint of the house. One of my favourite things to do in the
warmer months is to put a picnic rug on the lawn, and lie on my
back gazing up into its branches. It is free therapy!
Watching the leaves change from bright spring green through to darker
green in summer, the first blush of colour in autumn, through to rich
claret just before they drop, never ceases to delight me. I have
photographed it time and time again through the seasons. Even lying on
the ground with my 35mm lens, I can only capture a small portion of the
canopy.
Sigma 35mm Art lens, ISO 160 f/11, 1/60 sec
Sigma Art lens 35mm, ISO 160, f/11, 1/100 sec
If you are lucky enough to have trees in your garden, try standing or
lying directly underneath them and shooting up into the branches.
Notice how the light changes from early morning, throughout the day into
late afternoon and evening. Branches, whether they are naked or covered
with leaves, contrast beautifully against a blue sky. They are equally
stunning at sunrise and sunset, and on a moonlit night.
Sigma Art lens 35mm: ISO 200, f/11, 1/200
If you haven’t any trees, look for interesting cloud formations to
photograph. You can create a collection of skies to use as Photoshop
overlays, to add interest to other outdoor photos such as portraits.
Look for vertical cloud formations, fat white fluffy ones, and those
lovely soft colours around the edge of the clouds at dusk and dawn.
Down on the ground are a million microcosms in the moss, the lawn,
between the paving stones, and the fallen bark and leaves. You won’t see
them until you get down to ground level, so lie flat on your tummy and
peer into another world.
Macro world: the moss on a tree trunk. ISO 640, f/4, 1/40 sec
#6 – Black and white beauty
We tend to think of colour photography when we think of nature, but
don’t dismiss the idea of black and white. Nature provides sculptural
shapes and contrasting textures
that make great black and white subjects. If you have succulents or
cacti in your garden, they are often more interesting in black and white
than they are in colour (except on those rare occasions when they
flower). Ditto with white flowers against a dark background. Smooth
pebbles, rough bark, snail shells, acorns and pine cones all look
fabulous in black and white. Try strong, directional lighting, and a
high contrast edit.
When
I converted this file to B&W in Lightroom, I played with the
sliders in the HSL panel.
The photo on the left has the blue slider
pulled all the way down to -100 to darken the blue sky.
Your backyard is one of the best places to experiment with effects
and new techniques. Firstly, you become familiar with how things look at
various times of the day,
and throughout the seasons. Secondly, you don’t need to travel far, so
you can respond to anything on a whim. If you spot something amazing
while you’re sipping on your morning coffee, you needn’t even get out of
your pyjamas to capture it!
The subjects in the two photographs below are both visible from my desk. Every morning last summer, I noticed how this shaft of hazy sunlight
would hit the planting of succulents on the pedestal, so I knew exactly
what time to capture it at its best. Also sitting at my desk, I saw how
the sun caught this spray of orchids just after the rain, and I rushed
outside with my camera.
Canon 85mm lens, ISO 100, f/4, 1/800th.
Shot with sun flare and no lens hood: ISO 100, f/4, 1/1000 sec
For comparison, this is the same scene shot with a lens hood to cut flare: ISO 100, f/4, 1/320sec
#8 – Snails, bugs and spiders
For nine months of the year, there are a million creepy-crawlies in
my backyard. Butterflies, cicadas, crickets, praying mantis,
caterpillars, moths, bees, wasps and spiders (I could happily do without
the latter two). At the time of writing this article, it is winter in
Melbourne, so most bugs are hiding or dormant.
#9 – Birds and other wildlife
I’m going to preface this paragraph with honesty. Confession #1: photographing wildlife of any kind requires more patience and a longer telephoto lens than I possess. Confession #2: I have the greatest admiration for those who do it. I have a Pinterest board just for animal photos (you’ll
notice a clear bias towards squirrels) and on 500px I follow a number
of photographers, one of whom only photographs squirrels! Editor’s note: our own Will Nichols specializes in photographing squirrels.
The kinds of animals and birds you’re
likely to find in your backyard obviously depends on which part of the
world you live in, and how built-up your neighbourhood is. You
will know which kinds of critters visit your backyard, and what their
habits are. With that in mind, find a spot where you won’t be too
conspicuous, and be prepared to wait. If you’re using a long lens, you
might consider using a tripod or monopod to avoid camera shake. Have
your ISO and aperture all set to go, with a fast shutter speed to freeze
motion. If you have been watching the animal or bird’s behaviour over
several days or weeks, it may be possible to focus roughly on the area
you expect them to appear – for example, the birdbath. Also read: Guide to Attracting Critters to Your Garden for Backyard Wildlife Photography
#10 – Portraits in nature
Nature provides us with the perfect canvas for portraiture. Look
for a bank of flowers, a bed of autumn leaves, or just a green hedge –
the colours in nature never seem to clash.
When photographing children and pets in particular, I almost always
prefer an outdoor location over a studio. My eldest daughter usually
runs a mile when she sees the camera, but the chance to roll around with
the dog in these glorious leaves was clearly too much for her to
resist.
I love how the soft hues flatter her skin tone. If you are shooting
outdoors with lots of colours, such as flowers or autumn leaves, take care with your subject’s outfit. These portraits might been too busy if my daughter had been wearing a patterned outfit.
Not even teenage daughters can resist these leaves! ISO 320, f/4, 1/400 sec
ISO 320, f/4, 1/320 sec
Let’s hear from you!
So there you have it – plenty of inspiration to get outdoors and
photograph nature in your own backyard. It’s time to stop reading and
get out there with your camera. Please share your backyard nature
photographs in the comments below … especially if they involve
squirrels!
