Creating Magnificent Wilderness Photographs
Good nature photography is counter intuitive. What you see is not what you get. There are so many areas that a photographer has to learn before they can start taking great photographs. Learning how to compose a picture using the shadow and highlights, as well as learning how relationships of color affect a photograph will all help you see the big picture more clearly.
When you understand the technical science of why you see what you are seeing, you will start taking better pictures. Most people do not realize shadows create a solid mass in photographs. If you are standing in a shadow you may not necessarily see it, but the camera will. Sometimes this affect can be mastered by standing in a cave and taking a picture of the outside world. The highlights will become more exposed revealing color and contrast.
Most people take pretty pictures that aren’t powerful. In order to get brilliant photographs you need to bring together elements that take the breath away. Try combining color with dark shadows and sharp edges. Capture the reds and oranges of sunset against a snowy pasture. When you are able to capture the unexpected you will achieve stunning photographs.
Contrary to popular thought, landscape photography is not sedentary. Most people think it is crouching and hiding in the woods and mountains, just you and your camera, but wilderness photography is far from this idea. Landscape photography is very participatory and requires you to get emotionally involved. Whether you are running, climbing a tree, or looking for animals you are participating. Get into what you are doing and when you see something worth capturing it will be much easier to photograph because you are in the moment. Don’t be afraid to find the essential nature you are trying to capture.
There are millions of visual cues in nature all you have to do is use them. By exploiting the visual cues nature gives us we are able to create striking photographs. Try capturing the rich green color of the grass or the contrast of the bright blue sky against a dark mountain. Wildlife and vegetation are also great subjects to photograph in the wild. When it is cloudy or overcast, like before rain, it is ideal for taking photographs of vegetation. The clouds create soft shadows and a cool light. If you want to capture something magnificent try capturing the obscure. Take pictures of tribal life, flowers, trees, and water. These are all great extreme visual attention getters. Try to use diagonals because horizontal and vertical lines are not very stimulating to the brain.
We see in color, but color is not real. Color is created by our brains and the system is very flexible. We can see many colors that a camera will never see. Film has a fixed response to colors and light so it is important to understand the physiological aspects of what is happening in a picture. Shadows create solid masses and highlights that are overexposed create bright whites that distort photographs. Colors we see are actually reflections of colors repeated in nature. Once you understand where the color is coming from you will instantly be able to take better pictures. Like in winter, at night out eyes may think we are seeing white snow beneath the moon, but realistically it is reflecting the blue color of the sky. Some people hate to see blue snow in their photographs, but it is in fact the true color at that moment and time, just as it can become crimson red at dusk.
The difference between a professional photographer and an amateur is that professionals take more bad pictures. We are not afraid to get involved to find our subject. We spend a lot of time working situations that have potential. An amateur is like a collector; they want to collect the national parks and all the animals and once they have them it’s on to the next, and the next. Once you have a saturation of the focus you have awareness for the subject that only develops with time spent.
Sometimes we return for days and weeks at a time to capture the image we are looking for. Don’t be afraid to get up close and personal; try it bolder and be powerful. The trick to taking great wilderness photography is to make the elements sing, and this doesn’t usually happen the first time. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes because always taking a perfect picture is boring.
