Sunday, June 5, 2011

Nature Photography Tips

Nature is defined as the phenomena of the physical world collectively, including plants, animals, the landscape, and other features and products of the earth, as opposed to humans or human creations.

Nature is everywhere so it should be pretty easy to capture. 

I wanted to find some great nature shots so I drove to a wildlife refuge about 30 miles from my house to find it was closed due to extreme wildfire precautions. 

Although I was disappointed, I was able to find a few photo opportunities on the side of the road. 

These beautiful horses are near the entrance of the refuge.  I loved how they were all 3 different colors. 

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These horses were pretty cooperative.  I used my manual setting on my camera and took lots of photos.  The key is lots of photos because you never know when you will get the best shot with animals or humans.  My favorite horse shot is the 2nd to the last one because the horses are nuzzling each other. 

The closer you can get the better.  Once again the horses were very cooperative.  Walking in the stickers in my flip flops to get as close as possible was pure determination and dedication on my part. Smile A telephoto or zoom lens really helps.  My telephoto lens only goes to 200 so I am pretty limited. 

The closer you can get the better is also true with wild flowers.  I zoomed in on this beautiful purple weed flower that was amongst the sticker patches near the horses.

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Zooming in on one flower gives more focus and detail to the photo. 

While driving near the refuge on the road, I almost ran over this turkey.

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Trying to stay close to her was  hard as you can see she was running away from me.  I used my auto action setting for the turkey.  When I try to capture fast moving animals I usually resort to auto and use the sports setting so I won’t get a lot of movement blur in my photos.

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The best time for outdoor photography is the magical hour right after sunrise and right before sunset.  I went right before sunset to get these photos.  If you are trying to get wildlife shots the animals are more active in the mornings and evenings as well.  They usually hide during the day and the sun is very harsh in the middle of the day.

One of the most important things about nature photography is being there.  If you don’t get outside with your camera then you will miss out on all the beauty the world has to offer. 

Sitting in your own backyard quietly with your camera ready is a great place to capture nature.  I was able to get this bird with a crooked beak yesterday.

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And this weird fly looking insect.

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So you don’t have to go far.  Just out your back door.

Remember that a blog with beautiful photos is more appealing and the only way to get beautiful photography is to practice practice practice.

I challenge you to get out and practice your photography skills and take some nature shots and then join me for the monthly photo party.  I am looking forward to seeing what you capture.  Will it be a flower, the ocean, a lake, a squirrel, a zoo animal, etc. 

See ya June 14th

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at the nature photo party.

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Linking to

Outdoor Wednesday @ A Southern Daydreamer

Saturday Night Special @ Funky Junk Interiors

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