Category: Photo Tips
TRY IT IN BLACK AND WHITE
One of the things I always harp on in my seminars is that if something doesn’t add to an image it detracts from an image. Usually I am talking about the errant stick or hotspot in the background which when included within the frame distracts the viewer from the message of the photograph. But color…
PHOTOGRAPHING WILDFLOWERS Round-lobed Hepatica
One of the first spring wildflowers to grace the woods here in Michigan are the Round-lobed Hepatica. This beautiful little flower ranges in color from white to magenta to a deep rich purple-blue. They can be found growing in hardwood forests more often than not on south facing hillsides. They face south in order to…
ANTICIPATE THE ACTION
One of the things I really enjoy about photographing wildlife is “the chess game”. What I mean by that is when I am photographing an animal I am always thinking a few moves ahead. So I can be sure to be in the right place at the right time. I try to get in the animals…
FINDING FOX DENS
A late winter project that I like to do is to try and locate fox dens, which I can return to and photograph after the pups are born. This time of year the female fox is in a maternal state of mind. During the course of her daily travels she will often visit…
GETTING ORGANIZED PART 3
After I have edited and rated the images it is time to rename and color correct. I shoot Nikon so my camera names each file with DSC and a 4 digit number ie DSC_1234. Which for many people would work fine, but if you shoot much eventually you are going to hit DSC_9999 and roll…
Getting Organized Part 2
The next step is editing and rating. You should do both, ruthlessly! I do this in Adobe Bridge and will soon be switching over to Lightroom. Everyone should edit, the longer you shoot the more ruthless you become. But my rule is if I would not send it to my agent and I would never…
GETTING ORGANIZED
Happy New Year! If you are like many photographers it is very likely that one of your new year’s resolutions is to get your image files organized. So, for this next series of posts that is what I am going to write about. The fancy buzz word for this process is digital asset management…
SHOOTING SILHOUETTES 3
Including the sun in your compositions can add impact and punch to your images. (Warning, to avoid damaging your vision, only look at the sun through your camera when it is very low in the sky). If the sun is a major part of your composition you will need to be sure not to stop…
SHOOTING SILHOUETTES 2 Managing the Exposure
Because lighting can vary greatly in a silhouette setting the exposure can be a challenge. There are two ways that you can set your exposure for a silhouette. How you do this depends on your chosen shooting mode. The first option would be if you are shooting in either full auto, aperture priority, or shutter…
SHOOTING SILHOUETTES 1
Silhouettes can be among some of the more graphic images that an outdoor photographer can make. When you know what to look for and a few simple tricks, silhouettes can be easy images to create. Silhouettes occur when your subject is in front of a background that is much brighter that your subject. This situation…