Photos by Vic Berardi
Whatʼs most important is perseverance and taking a second look at your subject. [read more…]
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Black-chinned Hummingbird (juvenile female) / Photo by Steve Berardi
They’re fairly easy to photograph if you setup a feeder, but I prefer to photograph them in the wild, since my goal is to photograph truly wild moments. Sometimes that means waiting awhile for a hummingbird to show up at the perfect flower, but your patience pays off when you get that truly wild photo.
Anyway, here’s what I’ve learned so far about photographing hummingbirds in the wild: [read more…]
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Desert Sunflower @ f5.6 / Photo by Steve Berardi
But, sometimes it’s necessary to sacrifice a little sharpness for a better composition.
As an example, consider the photo above of a Desert Sunflower in front of a patch of Desert Sand Verbena (see original size photo too). There are three reasons why the sunflower isn’t as sharp as it could have been:
- The wind was blowing pretty hard, and constantly swaying the flower
- The camera’s sensor was not parallel to the most important plane of the flower
- A pretty large aperture was used (f/5.6), which limited depth of field
Of course, the wind was out of my control, so all I could do for that was wait for the calmest moment possible. But, the other two were in my control. Why didn’t I address these problems? [read more…]
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The battery grip is a great accessory for an SLR: not only does it allow you to plug in two batteries to your camera, but it also helps give you a much better grip on the camera, making it easier to handle.
But, there’s at least one situation where you should avoid using this great accessory: whenever you’re shooting handheld.
Yeah, yeah.. I know, “always use a tripod.” But, there are times when it’s just not possible to use a tripod, like when you’re trying to photograph birds in flight. In these situations, you’ll likely be changing camera positions pretty quickly. [read more…]
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Today I’m happy to announce the release of a free eBook about photographing one of the most unique insects on the planet: dragonflies. The eBook was written by my father, Vic Berardi, who is an outstanding photographer of hawks, dragonflies, and wildflowers.
This 18-page eBook is not meant to be a complete guide on the subject of photographing dragonflies, but it includes many great tips for dealing with the unique challenges of dragonfly photography. You’ll get the most out of the book if you already have a basic understanding of how to use your camera (you’re familiar with the terms aperture, shutter speed, ISO, depth of field, etc). [read more…]
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