In searching for a method to photograph insects that would appear on a pure white background with a distinct but not harsh shadow, a friend and I experimented to find the best technique. We tried a number of boxes with designs that are not nearly as user friendly and which produce less than idea...
Learning to see and understand light, its quality, quantity, and physical properties and how they relate to your subject and capture medium will allow you to take control of your imagery. Being aware of the lighting direction relative to the subject will allow you to choose a camera position tha...
I’m a big advocate of using a tripod for every image I possibly can. I believe that my compositions get better, I make exposure choices with more thought, and sharpness and image quality are greatly improved. Plus there are many types of images that are simply impossible to make without a...
The failure to understand the importance of how light angle and head angle relate to both subject-to-imaging sensor plane orientation (or to subject-to-film plane orientation) and to the quality of the final image ruins more bird photographs than all other artistic and design factors combined. I...
Why standards? Picture buyers can be excused a yawn or two when enthusiasts get going on the subject of digital standards—it can be a pretty dense subject, and is perhaps best left to the learned committees who deal with such things. Or is it?
Sunlight from behind a subject combined with fog can have a dramatic effect on photographs, often producing a rich, saturated setting of golden light. A low sun angle and presence of sufficient moisture in the air are the key ingredients for this effect.
by Tim Grey | June 1, 2005
Taking great pictures never loses its appeal, but every now and then you need to mix things up a bit. I don’t mean finding a hobby other than photography, but rather finding a new way to express your creativity with photography. Many photographers have used multiple exposure techniques to...
by Brian Zwiebel | May 1, 2005
Migrant warblers are among the most difficult avian subjects to photograph. They hide in the leaves, often in dark shadows, and flit about in the tops of tall trees. These very small birds rarely sit still for more than a second or two, chasing insects frantically. Five seconds with a cooperativ...
An outstanding image is one with visual and emotional impact. Composition, lighting, exposure, and selective focus all come together by our hands and in our eye to invoke a response (pleasant or not) whereby viewers are transcended from their worlds to the world we have put before them. If we re...
by Greg Downing | April 1, 2005
Having your images online can help you reach worldwide audiences, whether for the sole purpose of sharing your photos for enjoyment or as a marketing tool for your growing business of nature photography. Participation in an online nature photography community, such as NatureScapes.net, provides...
Canon’s professional camera bodies (the EOS 3, 1V, 1D, 1Ds, 1D Mark II and 1Ds Mark II) feature a 45-point Autofocus System. The 45 sensors are arrayed in a roughly elliptical pattern that is, of course, centered in the viewfinder. You can activate all 45 points by first pressing the focus...
by Greg Downing | January 1, 2005
Since the first day I picked up a camera and started photographing birds I felt compelled to create images that seem, and many times are, larger than life. I enjoy nothing more than capturing intimate portraits and close-ups of birds brimming with character and detail. Often it is only from this...
by Tim Grey | December 1, 2004
Sharpening is a critical part of a digital workflow aimed at producing the highest quality images possible. Having a good understanding of the use of Photoshop’s Unsharp Mask filter for sharpening your images will enable you to produce the best results possible.
Regardless of how things may initially appear to our eyes, in the natural world nothing is static. Wherever possible I always try to impart a sense of movement in my imagery. This can be accomplished with panning, zoom blurs, long exposures, implied motion or any combination therein.
An excerpt from “The Art of Bird Photography II”, a book in progress: When I was a fledgling photographer living in New York City, there were many local camera clubs with lots of members who enjoyed nature photography. In spite of the fact that I was extremely competitive in sports...
