Getting Started with Nature Photography
You don’t need a fancy camera or a college degree in photography to take great photos. Everyone has the capability to capture the essence of their surroundings using his or her own tool box of a few photography tips.
According to Infographic, an online visual statistics generator, over half of college students in 2013 owned a smartphone. Although iPhones and Androids have been improving their photo capabilities, investing in a basic point-and-shoots, compact or DSLR will allow for more freedom when composing that image of Franklin Templeton at sunset. If a DSLR is out of your price range joining the Photography Club will allow you to rent them from the school.
The three important camera settings to learn are ISO, f-stop and shutter speed. These will determine the major properties that make up the photograph including lighting, focus, color and clarity. ISO is a camera’s image sensor that determines the level of sensitivity of your camera to available light. This will allow a photographer to shoot along the beach at dusk without having to wash out the subject with a bright flash. The flocks of Ibises do not take kindly to blinding lights. Unfortunately as ISO increases, the graininess or “noise” of the photo also increases, so there is some give-and-take.
F-stop determines the size of the iris (aperture) in the camera lens that allows a certain amount of light to enter. A high number f-stop such as f/18 corresponds with a smaller aperture resulting in less light accepted. A low f-stop such as f/3.5 results in a larger aperture resulting in more light accepted and a more shallow depth of field. Depth of field refers to the distance between the focused and unfocused points in the frame. Most beginner level DSLR’s like the Canon Rebel and Nikon D series will have an f-stop range of f/32 to f/3.5 depending on the lens. The flowers in the new butterfly garden can be a perfect place to work on using aperture. A close up flower in full focus with everything behind it blurred will require a low f-stop, whereas an overview of the garden will need a higher one.
Don Czech, a junior at Eckerd College and intern for the media services department enjoys taking photos with his GoPro Hero 3+ Black edition. “I think the most important part about taking an awesome photo is the composition. For me, it’s more about capturing an exciting subject than shooting something that supposedly has meaning or artsiness.” he said. Although Czech prefers videos over photographs he still sees the importance in taking stills.
As you may have guessed, shutter speed controls how long the shutter is opened. Allowing the shutter speed to be slow, for example 1/30 sec. will cause a higher exposure. In order to avoid having an over exposed image it is important to compensate by adjusting f-stop and ISO accordingly. Slow shutter speeds can be useful when trying to show the rushing water of a stream or the streaked lights produced by a car cruising on Dorm Drive. Fast shutter speeds are ideal for capturing fast instances like a dolphin breaching in the bay and anything that is moving rapidly where you can freeze the action. One way to prevent missing a shot is to turn on the rapid shutter setting in the camera’s menu. This allows multiple frames to be taken within one press of the shutter button.
Jim Miotke founder of BetterPhoto.com and author of “Better Photo Basics” recommends keeping your shutter speed at 1/the focal length of your lens if your are shooting a non-moving object, as long as you can control shutter speed and or aperture. Some cameras have the option of selecting a desired “scene” rather than having to manually choose your own settings. These automated features take generally liked settings to fit common subjects. Most camera scenes include macro mode, landscape mode, portrait mode, and sports mode.
In relation to nature photography macro mode is often denoted by a flower, so it is useful for any object that has detail and fits better in a shallow depth of field. If looking to shoot a small bug on a leaf this is likely the right scene mode to use. Landscape mode is best for wide open spaces, such as a field of flowers. To take landscapes to the next level, take a panorama by fusing multiple photographs across a distance allowing more to be featured in a single frame. Photoshop programs such as Adobe Elements, can perform this process for you automatically.
Nature photography can be a useful skill to have, especially as many students gear up to explore new places abroad during spring break trips or foreign exchange programs.There are also day trips offered by the student-run photography club like trips to Weeki Wachee and Skyway Fishing Pier State parks.“If you enjoy being outdoors, photography is the ultimate excuse to justify all that time breathing in fresh mountain air…It also encourages us to observe and engage with nature more deeply.” says Miotke.