June 15 has been christened Nature Photography Day. North American Nature Photographers Association, (NANPA) is promoting getting out in nature, making some photos and sharing them with the hashtag #NaturePhotographyDay. It’s a great idea anytime, but occasionally, it’s good to get a reminder and a boot in the butt to head out with your camera.
Looking for ideas?
If you aren’t sure what to photograph and share here are a few starters for you.
Just head out into the woods. There’s a plethora of subjects matter in the leaves. Photograph the way the light filters through the shimmering movement as the wind rustles the stillness. Leaves the shutter open for a longer period of time to see how that records. While you have a longer shutter speed how about some intentional camera movement (ICM)? ICM can blend colors, tones and light into some very interesting patterns.
Your local pond or wetlands can allow you to find wildlife such as ducks, Great Blue Herons and dragonflies. Get to your location and just sit. Drink in the ambiance and wait for the wildlife to get used to your presence and they will often go back to behavior that shows them to you. For example, when you see a dragonfly land. Focus you camera on that exact spot. They will often return over and over giving you more opportunities to get a great capture.
Your backyard garden can be a source of flowers if you can’t get away for long. For best results, have a scrim handy to defuse the light to have lovely soft shadow edge transitions instead of harsh sunlight. Here’s an article on working with a few extra tools such as a Whimberly Plamp, small scrim and tripod to make photographing much easier.
Visit any waterway, river, ocean or creek and see what you can find. Experiment with your exposures, play with you settings. Time exposure can add mystery to your liquid photo captures.
Long story short
Get out! Take your camera. Makes photos. And, share! Don’t forget to tag your posts with #NaturePhotographyDay!
Yours in Creative Photography,
Bob
