outdoor photography

Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L It may surprise you that I believe Canon's 180mm macro lens to be the best macro lens for nature photography. After all, a few years ago, Canon released a new macro lens, the EF 100mm f/2.8L.  It's smaller, lighter, cheaper, auto-focuses faster, has a wider maximum aperture, and it even sports a new hybrid form of image stabilization. And, whatever differences there may be in image quality, they are probably imperceptible in real life situations. So why would I recommend the the 180mm f/3.5L over the 100mm f/2.8L? Well, I should concede that the 100mm f/2.8L is probably the better lens for some people.  Those needing IS will likely benefit from it; those who would also use this lens for portraits and other uses may also have good reason to opt for this lens over the 180mm f/3.5L.  But I'm concerned here with using this lens as a macro lens for nature and wildlife photography--flowers, insects, spiders and other small things in nature.  There...

Limpkin I set my f/stop to f/5.6 to put the bird and some of the flowers in focus, but I wanted to blur the background to obscure the trail and separate it from the bird One of the constant challenges faced by wildlife photographers is getting a pleasing background.  Photographers often covet finding a scene in which they can make the background completely blurred.  This is achieved by a combination of factors: Distance between the subject and background.  The more distance you can put between your subject and the background behind it, the more you can blur the background. Small f/stop.  By using a smaller f/stop (=wider aperture ) you can decrease the depth of field in your photograph, making it easier to blur the background. Focal Length of Lens .  The longer the focal length of the lens, the easier it is to make the background appear less cluttered, more uniform, and more blurry.  In other words, with a longer focal length lens, you can isol...

Orlando Wetlands Park I'm sure you've seen photographs on the internet where the horizon is just a little bit off.  The camera was just a little bit crooked, so the horizon slopes to the left or to the right.  Now let me be clear--there's no absolute rule that says the horizon has to be straight.  There are good reasons why you may choose to take a landscape photo at an odd angle.  But if you do, it should be clear that this was intentional on your part.  A slightly tilted horizon simply looks a little strange.  Now, if you happen to have photos with a tilted horizon, you can fix it easily in just about any imaging software program.  You can even do it after posting your image online with many sites.  However, I still believe you're better off shooting the picture horizontal the way you want it--that way you don't have to crop the edges of your image to get the horizon straight. Orlando Wetlands Park Now your camera can be level in two d...

Swamp Sparrow (hand-held with AF, selected center focusing point) As far a focusing points go, the general rule is "the more the merrier."  And of course, there's good reason why.  The more focusing points your camera has, the more your camera can choose from to make sure you get your subject in focus.  However, your camera can't think for you.  It doesn't know what you want in and out of focus, and so there are some situations where the camera simply cannot decide on the focusing points you want.  If you've taken enough photos, you've seen it happen.  The camera focused on the leaf in front of the butterfly or on the grass behind your daughter blowing the seeds off a dandelion. Your camera will show you what focusing points it has chosen before you take the picture.  On my camera, the focusing points light up in the viewfinder, so I can check to make sure the camera is focusing on what I want.  Checking your focus before shooting is a...

To make sure I had this in focus, I needed to make sure my viewfinder's diopter was set properly Not all photographer's eyes see and focus the same way; some are farsighted and some are nearsighted.  This can seriously affect your ability to see that your image is sharp in the viewfinder.  And it's hard to see through a viewfinder with glasses on.  Thankfully, the fine makers of digital cameras have included a diopter adjustment on most DSLRs that allow you to account for this. On most cameras, the adjustment dial is near the viewfinder; in some cases, it may be necessary to remove the rubber guard from the eyepiece.  If you haven't done that before, don't worry.  It's easy to get it on and off.  Check your camera manual to locate the diopter adjustment dial for your viewfinder.  Once you locate the dial, look through the viewfinder and autofocus on something nice and sharp.  Then adjust the dial until the focus points and the text displ...

Lily with Diffuser Natural light can be difficult at best.  When I'm photographing flowers on a sunny day, the lighting can be so harsh by 10am or so that I would pack up and go home if it weren't for diffusers.  These wonderful devices  can help extend my day as long as I want. A  diffuser  is simply a large, white translucent screen that blocks some of the light from the sun hitting your subject.  The light hitting your subject becomes much more even and pleasing with no harsh shadows or reflections to mess with your exposure.  You can use a white umbrella if you want. A reflector is simply a large reflective screen.  They can be silver, gold, white or even black.  These reflectors can be used to redirect light onto your subject.  A gold reflector is very useful if you would like to have warmer tones in your photograph. I bought a diffuser-reflector set that I use all the time for macro photography.  It has five reflecto...

Red-Shouldered Hawk (AI Focus AF) One Shot would work here until he decides to fly SLR cameras come equipped with four focusing modes, and all of them are very useful in different situations: One Shot (Canon)/AF-S (Nikon).  This is the standard focusing mode photographers use most of the time.  When you press the shutter half-way, the camera focuses one time and maintains that focus until you take a picture or take your finger off the shutter button.  This mode is perfect for stationary subjects or subjects that are moving but not closer or farther away from you. AI Servo (Canon)/AF-C (Nikon).   With this focusing mode, when you press the shutter half way, the camera focuses continuously on the subject.  It detects movement  in areas covered by the focus points (either all of them or the ones you've selected) and tries to maintain focus of that subject as it moves.  This is great for action and sports photography, especially when subjects ar...

Rose at Brookside Gardens (1/25sec, mirror lockup) Under most circumstances, having your camera  on a good tripod will allow you to take sharp pictures.  But when shooting with shutter speeds between 1/2sec and 1/60sec or so, the camera itself can cause a problem.  Your SLR camera is equipped with a mirror that allows you to see through the lens of your camera before you take your picture.  This mirror covers the sensor of your camera.  Whenever you trip your shutter, that mirror has to get out of the way of the sensor, so it slaps up against the top of your camera.  That action can cause vibrations in your camera.  For fast shutter speeds, the picture is taken before these vibrations can cause an issue.  For very slow shutter speeds, the camera is still long enough that these vibrations do not significantly effect the image.  But somewhere in the range of 1/2sec to 1/60sec (actual values will vary based on your camera, lens and tripod...

Palm Warbler, Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L Telephoto lenses allow you to get close to your subject without getting close to your subject.  In this post, I'm considering prime lenses 300mm or longer or zoom lenses that extend at least to 300mm. These lenses are designed for nature, wildlife and sports photographers.  There are many factors that can influence which lenses you'll buy but here are what I consider the 5 main factors. Focal Length.  The longer the focal length, the larger you can make the subject in your frame.  This means you have more of your pixels on your subject, and therefore more detail.  Of course, the longer the focal length, the larger and more expensive the lens.  For extremely long lenses (500mm and longer), it is impractical to hand-hold the lens. Sharpness .  This for most is the most important factor.  The sharper your lens, better image quality (IQ) you will have, and this will allow you to crop your image more or magnif...

Tree at Orlando Wetlands Park Wide angle zoom lenses can be a great addition to your lens arsenal.  On a full-frame camera , wide angle zooms usually begin around 15-16mm and continue to 35-40mm.  On an APS-C camera , wide angle zooms usually begin around 10-12mm and continue to 22-24mm.  APS-C cameras need wider lenses to give you the wide angle experience because the sensors are smaller than full-frame cameras.  Thankfully, both Nikon and Canon make lenses specifically designed for APS-C cameras, and both have great wide-angle zooms to choose from.  In fact, Nikon has two: Nikkor AF-S 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G DX ED Nikkor AF-S 12-24mm f/4 G DX ED Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM    Effects of Wide-Angle Lenses on Relative Sizes of foreground and background Make sure you read reviews of these lenses to make sure they are right for you.  Wide-angle zooms are fantastic because of the way they mess with your perception.  ...

Canon EF 17-85mm IS Lens Image stabilization is a wonderful technology that has recently been applied to a wide variety of lenses to help you get sharper images while hand-holding your camera. Canon calls this technology image stabilization (IS) and Nikon calls it vibration reduction (VR), but they both accomplish the same purpose.  They counteract the movements that occur when hand-holding your camera in order to stabilize the image and make it more sharp. Although results will vary by lens, IS/VR can generally give you sharp images at shutter speeds two stops slower than you could get hand-holding your camera. Now let me explain that what that means.  As a general rule of thumb most people hand-holding their camera (without IS) can get a high percentage of sharp pictures when shooting at a shutter speed equal to or faster than the inverse of the focal length of your lens.  In simpler terms, if you are shooting with a 100mm lens, you want a shutter speed of 1/...

Muddy Creek Falls Canon EF 17-85mm As we discussed in my previous post , the most important lens in your arsenal as you develop your photographic interests will be the mid-range zoom lens.  If you're using an APS-C sized sensor DSLR , this will be a zoom that begins around 15-18mm on the wide end and ends at the 55-135mm range on the telephoto end.  If you're using a full frame camera, the range will begin in around 24-28mm on the wide end and 135-200mm on the telephoto end. I recommend buying the best lens you can afford without going crazy.  Professional lenses are great, but you can get by with less, and good photographic practices can often cover up some weaknesses in lenses.  For instance, if you know your lens is not sharp at its widest angle shooting at its widest aperture, you can often "fix" this by stopping down.  So if your widest aperture  is f/3.5 at 17mm, try shooting at f/4 or f/5.6, or back up and zoom in a little.  Some lens wea...

Telephoto Lens (Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L) This is the first in a series of posts on lenses.  As I've said in a previous post, for most types of outdoor photography, your lenses are far more important than your camera.  Even entry level DSLR cameras today can take great photographs when attached to great lenses.  There are good reasons to buy professional cameras, but if you're on a budget and you have to choose whether to sink your money into lenses or cameras, I'll always choose a lens. With this post, I'm assuming 1) that you're on a budget and need to plan your lens-buying, and 2) that you don't already know a lot about lenses.  This post will cover the basics of how you can plan your lens-buying future. Let me start with the basics of different kinds of lenses available to you. Wide Angle Lens (Canon EF-S 10-22mm) Prime v. Zoom.  Prime lenses are lenses fixed on a single focal length.  If you buy a 50mm prime lens, you will only be...

Aya Sofya, Istanbul, Turkey A remote shutter release is simply a device that allows you to trip the shutter of your camera without touching the camera itself.  Mine attaches to the camera with a cable; others operate wirelessly.  These are the kinds of devices that many photographers consider too much of a hassle to bother with, but once you get into the habit of using them, they actually make your life as a photographer much easier.  There are two types of situations when using a remote shutter release can be extremely helpful to you. Blue Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey When you need your camera absolutely still.  Even when your camera is attached to a good tripod , pressing the shutter can move the camera ever so slightly, and at slower shutter speeds , this can be a problem.  I'm in the habit now of using a remote shutter release whenever I use my tripod.  I have the release in my hand, and when I have the exposure and composition I want, ...