Digital Landscape & Nature Photography For Dummies

In

Color

Doug Sahlin

Author of Digital SLR Settings

and Shortcuts For Dummies

• Use the right equipment, settings,

and lighting

• Get superior shots of birds, animals

in their native habitats, and flowers

• Capture exceptional views of

mountains, forests, and sunsets

IN FULL COLOR!

Learn to:

Digital Landscape &

Nature Photography

Making Everything Easier!™

Open the book and find:

• Things to consider when

shooting outdoors

• Flash techniques for natural

settings

• How to capture birds in flight

• Secrets of getting great shots

in inclement weather

• Where to find the animals

• Enhancing effects you can get

with Lensbaby

• Hints for photographing water

• How to get the shot while

protecting the environment

Doug Sahlin is both an accomplished photographer and a skilled tech writer.

He authored the popular Digital Photography Workbook For Dummies and

Digital SLR Settings and Shortcuts For Dummies and coauthored Nikon D5000

For Dummies. View Doug’s online gallery and blog at www.dougplusrox.com.

Photography/Techniques/Digital

$29.99 US / $35.99 CN / £21.99 UK

ISBN 978-1-118-06512-9

Go to Dummies.com®

for videos, step-by-step examples,

how-to articles, or to shop!

So you long to preserve the beauty of that sunset or capture

that hummingbird in flight? Photographing the natural world

is an art, and this book reveals its secrets. Whether you’re a

neophyte photographer or simply new to nature photography,

you’ll find what you need to know about equipment, exposure,

lighting, lenses, composition, and much more.

• The nature of your equipment — select the right camera, lenses, and

accessories for outdoor use

• Compose your masterpiece — explore the elements of good composition

and how to apply them creatively to nature photography

• Be prepared — anticipate changing weather conditions, protect your

equipment from the elements, and operate safely in the wild

• Focus on details — get specific guidance on photographing birds,

animals, wildflowers, insects, forests, rivers, mountains, and the ocean

• Make it even better — capture an incredible panorama with HDR

techniques

Learn how to photograph

the most spectacular

subject of all — nature

Nature Photography Nature Photography Digital Landscape & Digital Landscape &

Sahlin

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Cheat Sheets include

• Checklists

• Charts

• Common Instructions

• And Other Good Stuff!

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Digital Landscape &

Nature Photography

FOR

DUMmIES‰

01_9781118065129-ffirs.indd i 7/26/11 12:02 AM

01_9781118065129-ffirs.indd ii 7/26/11 12:02 AM

by Doug Sahlin

Digital Landscape &

Nature Photography

FOR

DUMmIES‰

01_9781118065129-ffirs.indd iii 7/26/11 12:02 AM

Digital Landscape & Nature Photography For Dummies®

Published by

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

111 River Street

Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774

www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

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6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

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LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTA￾TIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS

WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2011934632

ISBN: 978-1-118-06512-9 (pbk); 978-1-118-14628-6 (ebk); 978-1-118-14629-3 (ebk); 978-1-118-14630-9 (ebk)

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

01_9781118065129-ffirs.indd iv 7/26/11 12:02 AM

About the Author

Doug Sahlin is an author and photographer living in Venice, Florida. He is a profes￾sional photographer specializing in fi ne-art photography. He also photographs wed￾dings and events and writes books about computer applications like Adobe Acrobat

and Adobe Photoshop. Doug’s latest books have been about digital photography. In

the past years, he’s written Digital Photography Workbook For Dummies, Digital Portrait

Photography For Dummies, and Canon EOS 7D For Dummies. To fi nd out more about

Doug and see some of his work, check out www.dasdesigns.net.

01_9781118065129-ffirs.indd v 7/26/11 12:02 AM

01_9781118065129-ffirs.indd vi 7/26/11 12:02 AM

Dedication

Dedicated to Roxanne, the nicest girl on the face of the earth, the love of my life, and

one of the best photographers I know.

Author’s Acknowledgments

Thanks to Steve Hayes for bringing this project to fruition. Kudos to Nicole Sholly for

spearheading this project and making sure nothing slipped through the cracks. Many

thanks to Debbye Butler for making sure the text was letter perfect. A tip of the hat to

Ron Rockwell for posing insightful questions and making sure the work is technically

accurate.

Thanks to Margot Hutchison for working out the contractual end of the project. Thanks

to my friends, fellow authors, and fellow photographers for their never-ending support.

A tip of the paw to Niki and her little brother Micah for being great furballs and a never￾ending source of comic relief. Thanks to Ted and Karen for their friendship and support.

And many thanks to Roxanne, the best photographer I know and the nicest girl on the

face of the earth. I love you, “Nature Girl.”

01_9781118065129-ffirs.indd vii 7/26/11 12:02 AM

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments at http://dummies.custhelp.com. For other

comments, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S.

at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial

Project Editor: Nicole Sholly

Executive Editor: Steve Hayes

Copy Editor: Debbye Butler

Technical Editor: Ron Rockwell

Editorial Manager: Kevin Kirschner

Editorial Assistant: Amanda Graham

Sr. Editorial Assistant: Cherie Case

Composition Services

Senior Project Coordinator: Kristie Rees

Layout and Graphics: Joyce Haughey, Clint Lahnen,

Jill A. Proll, Erin Zeltner

Proofreaders: Laura Bowman, Jessica Kramer

Indexer: Christine Karpeles

Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies

Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher

Mary Bednarek, Executive Acquisitions Director

Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director

Publishing for Consumer Dummies

Kathy Nebenhaus, Vice President and Executive Publisher

Composition Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

01_9781118065129-ffirs.indd viii 7/26/11 12:02 AM

Contents at a Glance

Introduction ........................................................................1

Part I: Nature Photography and You .....................................7

Chapter 1: Nature and Digital Photography ............................................................................... 9

Chapter 2: Choosing Your Equipment ...................................................................................... 33

Chapter 3: Mastering Your Equipment ..................................................................................... 53

Part II: Honing Your Skills .................................................73

Chapter 4: Composing the Image ............................................................................................... 75

Chapter 5: Mastering Shadow and Light ................................................................................... 95

Chapter 6: Creativity and the Nature Photographer ............................................................. 121

Part III: Photographing Nature .........................................139

Chapter 7: Birds ......................................................................................................................... 141

Chapter 8: Animals .................................................................................................................... 165

Chapter 9: Flowers and Insects ................................................................................................ 185

Part IV: Photographing Landscapes ...................................210

Chapter 10: The Land, Rivers, and Oceans............................................................................. 213

Chapter 11: Sunrise and Sunset ............................................................................................... 243

Chapter 12: HDR Landscapes ................................................................................................... 261

Part V: The Part of Tens ...................................................272

Chapter 13: Ten (Plus One) Ways to Process and Share Your Images ............................... 275

Chapter 14: Ten Troubleshooting Techniques: What Would Ansel Do? ............................ 297

Chapter 15: Ten Landscape and Nature Images .................................................................... 307

Index ..............................................................................328

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02_9781118065129-ftoc.indd x 7/26/11 12:45 PM

Contents

Introduction .........................................................................1

About This Book .......................................................................................................... 1

Conventions Used in This Book ................................................................................. 1

What You Don’t Have to Read .................................................................................... 2

Foolish Assumptions ................................................................................................... 2

How This Book Is Organized ...................................................................................... 2

Part I: Nature Photography and You ............................................................... 3

Part II: Honing Your Skills ................................................................................. 3

Part III: Photographing Nature ......................................................................... 3

Part IV: Photographing Landscapes ................................................................ 4

Part V: The Part of Tens .................................................................................... 4

Icons Used in This Book ............................................................................................. 4

Where to Go from Here ............................................................................................... 5

Part I: Nature Photography and You ......................................7

Chapter 1: Nature and Digital Photography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Mastering Your Camera Controls ............................................................................ 10

Digital Photography 101 ........................................................................................... 12

Understanding exposure ................................................................................. 13

Understanding ISO ........................................................................................... 14

RAW versus JPEG ............................................................................................. 15

Understanding Depth of Field .................................................................................. 17

Controlling depth of fi eld with aperture ....................................................... 17

Depth of fi eld, focal lengths, and distance ................................................... 20

Photographing Objects in Motion ........................................................................... 21

Choosing the Right Focal Length for the Job ......................................................... 25

Photographing landscapes ............................................................................. 25

Photographing wildlife .................................................................................... 26

Macro photography ......................................................................................... 27

Understanding Auto-Focus Modes .......................................................................... 28

Choosing Auto-Focus Points .................................................................................... 28

Mastering Metering Modes ....................................................................................... 29

Delving into Drive Modes ......................................................................................... 30

Your Safety and the Safety

of the Environment ............................................................................................... 30

Chapter 2: Choosing Your Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Choosing the Perfect Nature Photography Camera .............................................. 33

Photographing nature with a digital SLR ...................................................... 34

Photographing nature with a point-and-shoot camera ............................... 37

The megapixel myth ........................................................................................ 38

Focal lengths and sensors that are not full frame ....................................... 38

What’s my focal length multiplier? ................................................................ 39

02_9781118065129-ftoc.indd xi 7/26/11 12:45 PM

Digital Landscape & Nature Photography For Dummies

Getting the Right Lenses for Your Camera ............................................................. 39

Prime versus zoom lenses .............................................................................. 40

Choosing lenses for wildlife photography .................................................... 40

Choosing a macro lens for close-up photography....................................... 41

Using specialty lenses ..................................................................................... 42

Accessorizing Your Camera ..................................................................................... 44

Choosing a camera bag ................................................................................... 44

Using fi lters ....................................................................................................... 46

Steadying the camera with a tripod .............................................................. 47

Protecting the camera ..................................................................................... 49

Getting a comfortable camera strap .............................................................. 49

Cleaning the camera ........................................................................................ 50

Choosing other accessories ........................................................................... 50

Choosing a Second Camera ...................................................................................... 51

Chapter 3: Mastering Your Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Dials and Buttons and Modes, Oh My! .................................................................... 53

Getting to know your camera ......................................................................... 54

Changing settings ............................................................................................. 54

Using your camera menu ................................................................................ 56

Changing lenses ............................................................................................... 56

Introducing Flash Photography ............................................................................... 57

About on-camera fl ash .................................................................................... 57

Using auxiliary fl ash ........................................................................................ 57

Choosing the Right Shooting Mode ......................................................................... 59

Controlling depth of fi eld with Aperture Priority mode ............................. 59

Photographing action with Shutter Priority mode ...................................... 60

Shooting a Blur-Free Picture .................................................................................... 60

Using Live View Mode ............................................................................................... 61

Reviewing Your Images ............................................................................................. 62

Using the LCD monitor .................................................................................... 62

Using the histogram ........................................................................................ 63

Banish the blinkies with exposure compensation ....................................... 66

Improvising Your Way to a Great Photo ................................................................. 66

Creating a makeshift refl ector ........................................................................ 66

Stabilizing the camera without a tripod........................................................ 67

Creating makeshift equipment ....................................................................... 67

Shooting Video with Your Digital Camera .............................................................. 68

Settings for shooting video with a digital SLR.............................................. 68

Tips for the aspiring videographer ................................................................ 69

Useful accessories for shooting video .......................................................... 70

Part II: Honing Your Skills ..................................................73

Chapter 4: Composing the Image. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Visualizing Your Image ............................................................................................. 75

Less is more ...................................................................................................... 76

Choosing a vantage point ............................................................................... 77

xii

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Table of Contents xiii

Defi ning the center of interest........................................................................ 81

Landscape or portrait ..................................................................................... 81

Using the Rules of Composition ............................................................................... 82

Using the Rule of Thirds ................................................................................. 82

Using light to compose your image ............................................................... 84

Using color to compose your image .............................................................. 86

Composing the image with lines and curves ................................................ 87

Composing images when using a wide-angle lens ....................................... 88

Placing the horizon line .................................................................................. 88

Using natural frames ....................................................................................... 89

Using shapes and patterns ............................................................................. 90

Using selective focus ....................................................................................... 91

Breaking the Rules ..................................................................................................... 91

Chapter 5: Mastering Shadow and Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Shooting at the Right Time of Day ........................................................................... 96

Capturing nature’s beauty during Golden Hour .......................................... 96

Photographing nature at high noon ............................................................ 101

Shooting on a Cloudy or Foggy Day ...................................................................... 104

Mastering nature’s softbox ........................................................................... 104

Shooting nature in the mist .......................................................................... 105

Photographing during Inclement Weather ........................................................... 107

Protecting yourself and your gear ............................................................... 108

Tips for rainy day photography ................................................................... 109

Augmenting Natural Light ...................................................................................... 110

Diffusing light ................................................................................................. 111

Refl ecting light toward your subject ........................................................... 111

Using fi ll fl ash ................................................................................................. 111

Dealing with backlit subjects ....................................................................... 112

Photographing Nature at Dusk .............................................................................. 114

Photographing Nature at Twilight and Beyond ................................................... 114

Tips for the twilight photographer .............................................................. 115

Photographing nature at night ..................................................................... 117

Chapter 6: Creativity and the Nature Photographer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Learning to See ........................................................................................................ 121

Feeding Your Muse for Inspiration ........................................................................ 123

Study the work of the masters ..................................................................... 123

Study the work of your peers ....................................................................... 126

Join an online community ............................................................................. 126

Developing Your Style ............................................................................................. 127

Convey a mood............................................................................................... 130

Choose a unique perspective ....................................................................... 130

Just Do It ................................................................................................................... 133

Go on an “artist’s date” ................................................................................. 133

Go commando ................................................................................................ 134

Go on a photo walkabout .............................................................................. 134

Self-assignments ............................................................................................. 136

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