Tips for capturing nature photography of all kinds.

Animals are not always willing subjects — even when they’re trained pets. Approach your shoot with a plan in mind and be prepared to work with your photos in post-processing. Sometimes you can’t find an original or interesting shot in the moment, but editing later can help you to turn a mundane photo into a great image. 

Understanding the basics of plant and flower photography.

Plants, when it comes to predictability, are the perfect subject. “The tricky thing is depth of field,” teacher and nature photographer Ben Long says. “When you’re getting close to a flower, your depth of field will be shallow, so you may not get all the details that you want in focus.” Bring a tripod with you so you can use longer exposures and smaller apertures to make your depth of field deeper. While you have more control over your subject with plant photography, you still have the elements to deal with. Don’t let a breeze ruin your long exposure. Try shielding your subject or bring clamps to hold the flower in place.

Davidson suggests shooting in aperture priority mode to give you more control over depth of field. Plants are an agreeable subject, but they’re also a very common subject. Rather than being intimidated by this, Davidson says this “allows you to play and try new things.” Push your creativity and find a unique way to make your image interesting.

Finding a different perspective on landscape photography.

Shooting landscapes is its own skill, but it also falls within the category of nature photography. To capture the best possible shot, landscape photographer Samuel Nute says, “Be patient for the conditions to line up and try to get a different spin on popular landscapes.” Outside of dealing with the weather, finding your voice and style is the most challenging part of landscape photography. 

If there’s one thing to keep in mind, it’s light. Dawn and dusk (also known as the golden hours) offer the perfect lighting conditions for great landscape imagery. This is also the time to capture beautiful sky photos. Carlson notes, “Sometimes the better sunset happens after the sun goes down. Depending on the clouds, the sky can explode with colour. Too many times I see people out shooting and when the sun goes down, they think it’s time to go.” Experience is the best teacher, so if you want to improve your landscape photography, just get outside and start shooting.
 

“Sometimes the better sunset happens after the sun goes down. Depending on the clouds, the sky can just explode with colour. Too many times I see people out shooting and when the sun goes down, they think it’s time to go.”
 

Packing the right gear is also essential. Wide-angle lenses are ideal for stunning landscape photographs. They allow you to capture a deeper depth of field than telephoto lenses, so your whole scene is in focus. As with any other kind of nature photography, the right gear makes all the difference, so be sure you’ve thought about which lenses to bring.

While nature is uncontrollable, learning to adapt to this fact lets you push your skills and find your inner adventurer. As long as you plan ahead and remember to check your exposures, the results will be rewarding.