Nature photography

<p>My country has immense natural gift and I always enjoy watching this. Being close to the nature I always enjoy and can't move far from my nature. Being budding photographer I would like to shoot some photographs of nature. Please help me regarding time of shot, lens selection any other aspect that I should consider while shooting nature.</p>

<p>I think the most important thing is lighting. An hour or so before and after sunrise and sunset will give you some really dramatic lighting. However sunsets and sunrises are maybe overdone. Sure they look pretty and are an easy target but I think there is way more out there. You basically want some nice light to accentuate your subject.<br>

Harsh mid-noon light can be good for some things, want warm evening light at a lowish angle to pick up the shapes and textures of your subject...anything you think is appropriate for your subject.<br>

Preparation is a big part of landscape photography. You can't realistically expect to go out for a walk, see something and immediately set up and get an award winning shot. It happens but its not a common thing. You generally need to go out and scout for a subject and wait for the right lighting conditions before you take the shot.<br>

If you are doing animal photography then you need to be even more prepared and also learn about the animal you are photographing. Learn its behaviour so you know where to find it, how it will act and move. Again, preparation is the key.<br>

For the most part, the selection of subjects is a personal taste thing. No-one can tell you what to photograph and how. You sound like you already know what a beautiful scene is when you see one so start with that. Technique is learnt along the way.</p>

<p>Equipment-wise, you need a camera (obviously) and you will probably want something lighter rather than heavier. Landscape photography doesn't require much in terms of a camera. It just needs something which will let you set shutter speeds and apertures and do some basic metering.<br>

Lens choice is a personal thing and if you are completely new to photography, stay with the standard zoom lens for your camera. Use that for a bit and then decide what else you need from a lens. Kit zooms are cheap and are perfectly adequate for landscape.<br>

The other major piece of equipment is a tripod. You really want a tripod for landscapes. Get something that is sturdy enough to hold your camera but light enough for you to take with you on your outings. Don't skimp here because you will just end up buying another one.<br>

Other things that are nice to have are filters. A polariser will help to pop some colours and add more impact to your shot. This is something that can't be replicated in post processing. Once you get more advanced you can play with other filters like graduated NDs. These can really make your photo separate itself from being a snapshot.</p>

<p>There's way more to nature photography than what I just wrote but that should give you a little first step into what its all about. I really can't stress the importance of preparation though. Even with basic equipment, if you are prepared properly you can take some amazing photos.<br>

Good luck!</p>

<p>It's all about light - at its core, photography is about painting with light. The equipment you use is not as important as your knowledge of how to use light; as Chuk says, the hours right after sunrise and before sunset will generally give you the best light for nature photography. One thing I have learned in 45 years of photography is if you see a scene with the kind of lighting you want, capture the image NOW. Do not assume it will be there indefinitely; light can change in a matter of a few seconds and if you miss the shot you may never be able to duplicate the conditions again. I have on occasion tried to re-shoot things where the image was pretty good, but not quite as good as it could have been, and been unable to capture the image again because the original conditions were not able to be duplicated.</p>

<p>So study light! Learn about how it affects your shots, practice. Shoot the same scene in different lighting conditions and see how the image changes.</p>

<p>And also as Chuk says, get and use a tripod. The camera/lens is really a matter of personal choice; most all the modern cameras are technically capable of making good images.</p>

<p>Bikas - Chuk's and Ted's advice is all good. We may be able to be more specific if you're in a position to narrow "nature photography" down a bit.</p>

<ol>

<li>Are you thinking "sweeping natural vistas"? In which case, a wide angle and/or a tilt/shift may be useful, a polarizer or an ND grad may well be handy, tripods and very measured composures are the rule, a light camera that you can carry a long way often helps, and for ultimate quality you might eventually want to look at large format photography (but start with something smaller). You probably won't need to rely on low light or fast focus speed.</li>

<li>Are you thinking "big wildlife ranging across the wilderness" (or "large birds of prey in the distance")? (What <i>is</i> your country?) If so, you may eventually be looking at very large lenses, car mounts, decent autofocus, fast frame rates and low light performance.</li>

<li>Are you thinking "small garden birds"? If so, you might be looking at longish lenses and/or remote triggers, a hide, relatively stable settings, probably quite good light. shorter working distances, possibly very good autofocus.</li>

<li>Are you thinking "flowers and insects"? If so, you probably need to think in terms of macro lenses or adaptors, compact cameras can often do just as well as a DSLR, a tripod and a macro rail is probably going to help, you may well want remote flash guns and diffusers, and you're likely to be on manual focus.</li>

</ol>

<p>The equipment and technique advice for each of these differs significantly. For example, taking Nikon's dSLR range (with which I'm most familiar), I'd suggest - money no object and without really suggesting that this is where you should start - that a high end camera and lens for each of these would be:</p>

<ol>

<li>D800, Zeiss 21mm f/2.8 (or 14-24 f/2.8, or 24 f/3.5 TC)</li>

<li>D4, 600mm f/4 VR</li>

<li>D7000 or D300, 500 f/4 VR</li>

<li>D3200, Sigma 180mm f/2.8</li>

</ol>

<p>These are all very different systems. A good camera (and there aren't many bad cameras these days) will do a passable job for a number of tasks, but there is no one camera that's the best at everything. Unfortunately, we need to specialise. What kind of nature did you have in mind?</p>

<p>One other thing to think about is the shooting mode. I am lucky enough to live in a place where nature comes to us in our backyard - we have woods on our property and a large landscaped garden. So I leave my camera prepared for any opportunity: I leave my zoom lens (80-300mm) on it, set it in autofocus mode and also choose a fairly high ISO setting (typically > 1000) - as typically the creatures come out in the evening or early morning. I also leave it in an automatic shooting mode where the f stop and shutter speed are determined automatically. I usually shoot in complete manual mode and often do not use autofocus when I am shooting other things. However, having said that with these settings set as a default my camera is ready to go when wildlife appears - I just need to turn on the 'on' switch and take off lens cap. </p>