Photographers can explore the natural world with its flora, fauna, ecosystems, and biological phenomena. Nature is a popular subject in photography, with its wide variety of patterns, animals and insects, water bodies, and geologic features. With the right tools and simple tips and tricks, anyone can take beautiful photos of the earth.
What is nature photography?
Nature photography is anything that captures the natural world as it exists. Imagine breathtaking views in national parks or a single flower growing out of a concrete jungle. Or even a beautifully landscaped front yard. Nature photography can have many different purposes, depending on who takes the photos. Others hike to hidden oases to capture the beauty of the place. Nature photography can be used to show different regions’ changing seasons and draw attention to environmental issues like ice caps melting or drought-stricken areas. To capture those National Geographic-style photos, you must have a sense of wonder and curiosity about the natural world.
What you’ll need
A DSLR camera with a wide-angle lens and zoom (about 50mm) is the best option for nature photography. However, you can also capture stunning images using a smartphone or regular camera. A tripod is a valuable addition to your arsenal, as it stabilizes the camera while you wait for the right critter to enter the frame. Tripods can also be used to take the same picture over time. They help create long exposures to capture things like cascading waterfalls, showing how weather affects the scene, or capturing growth and decay.
Large-Scale Subjects
Landscapes that are vast and impressive – flowering fields, mountain ranges, or endless deserts – are immediately striking. The terrain can range from flatlands to rocky cliffs and overgrown forests to burned hillsides. Nature can overwhelm novice photographers as they recognize the different colors, textures, and shapes. The photographer’s task is to make sense of a forest with tangled trees or a group of boulders jutting out of each other.
Compose your image using the Rule of Thirds when you focus your Wide-Angle Lens onto such expansive vistas. The Rule of Thirds composition technique helps photographers place points of interest on an invisible grid. When looking through the viewfinder or screen, envision two horizontal lines and two vertical lines; placing your subject along the points where these lines meet will, in theory, yield the most aesthetically-pleasing and balanced image. Grid camera mode is available on some cameras, which displays a 3×3 grid over the screen. This helps photographers get the perfect shot.
Small-Scale Subjects
Landscapes are the main focus of nature photography. But there’s also a whole world to discover that is devoted solely to the details. Photographing the minute details of the biosphere is possible with every rock, leaf, or petal. Your curiosity will lead you to places that seem unassuming. You’ll soon notice all sorts of exciting details if you are patient. In these situations, a tripod can be handy. You might find the perfect shot, but you may want to wait and see if any insects, birds, or other critters will scurry into or out.
Close-up images of nature can be made visually appealing by using graphic patterns.
