Three Tips to Improve Your Nature Photography

Whether you use a phone, a point-and-shoot or high-end gear, these hints will elevate the beauty of your images.

By Roy Harryman
Publisher

If you love nature, chances are you have at least some affinity for photography.

Maybe it’s just a few quick clicks on your phone camera. Or maybe you have advanced gear. Either way, the beauty of the natural world is too joyous to keep to ourselves. We are wired to share it with others.

If you are even slightly serious about your images, then you want them to be good. That is, you want the photos to convey the beauty of your experience to others. Grainy, blurry and overexposed photos won’t do that. So what can you do? Do you have to invest hundreds or thousands of dollars to get good images? I’m delighted to emphatically say “No!”

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Nope. I’m not from National Geographic.
Let me be clear that I am not an expert at photography. I have had several good teachers and lots of opportunities to practice (and make mistakes). I do not own high-end, expensive gear. But, because of a need to be frugal, I have learned to make the most of what I have. You can too.

It’s not about the gear
Let’s start with this premise: We’re going to make the most of what we’ve got. Whether it’s an old or new phone, a point-and-shoot or a DSLR (attachable lens) camera, let’s wring everything we can from it. With that in mind, our focus will be on technique. Here’s a CliffsNotes-style overview of a few good photography habits.

Hocus pocus: We need focus
The challenge all of us face is sharing the view our naked eye sees through the images we capture. Let me just say it: It’s impossible. Our God-given sense of vision is multidimensional. When combined with our other senses, our experience of nature is nothing less than a multimedia event. This simply can’t be conveyed in a photo. However, we can get closer to the ideal by following a few pointers.

The first is that each photo needs a focal point. That is, something in the image should grab our eye. Ever look at a photo and wonder what you are supposed to be seeing? It lacked a focal point. It’s easy to miss this in our photography. After all, this place is beautiful! It ought to be self-evident! But it’s not. Before you shoot, identify the focal point. Your images will be markedly better because you do.

The image on the left is somewhat interesting, but lacks a clear focal point. Am I supposed to look at the poppies or the railroad signal device? The image on the right is cropped (with black and white) to highlight where the true focus of the image… — The image on the left is somewhat interesting, but lacks a clear focal point. Am I supposed to look at the poppies or the railroad signal device? The image on the right is cropped (with black and white) to highlight where the true focus of the image should be. To highlight the colorful poppies, this photo needed to focus more closely on the flowers and exclude more of the mundane background.

Light it up
Light is essential. But too much will blow out your photo (this is called overexposure). Too little will lead to blurred images and background noise in dark environments. If possible, choose your photo times strategically. The best times and conditions are:

Before, during and immediately following sunrise.
Before, during and immediately following sunset.
Overcast skies (really!).

Now, let’s expand on these ideals.

The temptation with sunrises and sunsets is to focus on the sun. Often, however, this results in overexposed shots. Instead of the beautiful picture our eyes see, our photo ends up with a burning, white hotspot. There are at least two solutions for this. One is to shoot before or after the sun peaks. In this way you can capture the ambient rays and colors that are so delightful without that searing white orb. In addition, instead of pointing at the sun, take photos of the world the sunrise or sunset is illuminating. For example, shoot away from the sun and toward the lake or horizon. The bouncing light rays result in fireworks of nature.

Counterintuitively, clear blue skies and 100% sun do not lend themselves to outdoor photography. Intense sun leads to overexposed photos and harsh shadows. Although we may bemoan overcast days, cloud cover eliminates most overexposure, allowing you to shoot virtually anything all day long.

Of course, we don’t always get to choose our conditions. In those circumstances we must make the most of the conditions we have.

Shooting into the sun often gets results like the top photo; you can get creative effects by positioning the sun behind objects (backlighting); you can also let the sun illuminate the environment it’s facing, as in the lower photos which point the c… — Shooting into the sun often gets results like the top photo; you can get creative effects by positioning the sun behind objects (backlighting); you can also let the sun illuminate the environment it’s facing, as in the lower photos which point the camera away from the sun.

Get a grip
Although we may think we’re holding still, our hands are always making tiny movements – especially when we are holding a phone or camera. Sometimes the motion seems undetectable. But closer inspection reveals motion blur that lessens the impact of our best pictures. Part of the solution is being aware of this tendency. The other part is to do something to stop the motion. Options include a tripod and monopod. Tripods range from small gadgets that are six inches tall to huge, heavy stands that are difficult to lug around. A monopod is a one-legged “tripod.” It’s like a cane that allows you to attach your phone or camera to the end. Whether your buy a tripod, monopod or anything at all depends on how important photo quality is to you.

If you’re attempting to shoot in low-light conditions, the need to anchor your camera becomes more critical. Darkness is a formidable challenge and shakiness exacerbates it.

If you have no stabilizing device or don’t want to mess with one, be mindful of the need to keep your hands steady. In a pinch, I’ve put my elbows on a rock or fence or pushed them firmly against my torso to minimize movement.

Tripods help steady the often unperceptible movements of our hands when we’re taking photos. Although motion is never a plus, its impact is more severe at night and in dark environments.

Phones vs. cameras
I am not a gearhead, so these are basic principles and I’m sure there are exceptions. However, most high-end smartphones take better photos than outdated or cheap point-and-shoot cameras. In general, smartphone cameras “make decisions” for the photographer, automatically adapting to environmental conditions. Older and cheaper point-and-shoot cameras usually don’t do this. An advanced camera, on the other hand, has may advantages.

So should you use a phone or a camera? It depends on your goal. If you want to snap a photo, post it and be done, then your phone will be more than adequate. But if you want to edit and enhance photos, you’ll need a camera that will capture high-resolution images. Earlier, we talked about wanting our photos to show others the beauty we see. This comes closer to reality with photo editing.

Often, quality comes down to pixels. These are the tiny dots that make up a photo. A DSLR (detachable lens) camera will capture at least five times more pixels than a phone. The DSLR also shoots in a format that is highly adaptable, allowing more freedom to edit and transform your images.

Although you can edit phone photos, the margin for change is narrow. There’s simply not enough information to work with.

On occasions when I don’t have a camera, I get by with a phone. But as someone who edits photos, the difference is striking. With a phone, you pretty much get what you get.

This example, taken at Pleasant Hill City Lake, shows the difference editing can make. Far from distorting or embellishing the original, the edited version brings the viewer closer to the naked eye view.

If you want to raise your game, you’ll also need to be committed to paying for, learning and using a program such as Photoshop. I’m sure there are free tools out there, but Photoshop is the standard.

A downside of DSLR cameras is they don’t think for themselves. You have to tell them what to do. Unlike phones, they don’t make decisions for you. If you love reading manuals and adjusting settings, then a DSLR may be for you. To me, these details are a nuisance, so I get by with what I must learn and don’t indulge in technical minutiae. In addition, there are endless possibilities and thousands of dollars you can spend on DSLR gear. That’s why I’m content with what I have.

Carpe diem!
There you have it. No matter what type of image-capturing technology you use, you can improve your photos and bring delight to others:

Mind the light
Find a focal point
Keep it steady

Then we can all enjoy that picture that’s worth 1,000 words.

Roy Harryman is the founder and publisher of Kansas City Hiker and Lee’s Summit Go. He loves photography, but must admit to practicing the “pray and spray” method.