PhotoNaturalist » Landscapes

6 Tips For Photographing Sand Dunes

Steve Berardi — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 04:56:16 +0000

Photo by Steve Berardi

Sand dunes are some of the most visually stunning subjects you’ll find in the desert. In a land that’s dominated by sharp cactus and pointy rocks, dunes provide some relief with their smooth curves and soft sand. So, naturally they make good subjects for photographs. Here are a few tips for photographing them:

#1 – Watch where you walk

Avoid walking through the middle of dunes, since that’ll mess up those nice lines in the sand and ruin any opportunity to photograph the dune. Instead, walk around dunes, or only walk through dunes you know you don’t want to photograph.

#2 – Look for shadows

One of the most simple ways to add strength to a dune photo is to include strong contrast between a sunlit sand dune and the shadow behind it. The easiest way to do this is wait for sunrise or sunset when the sun is low on the horizon and casts long shadows. Then, just look for dunes that run North or South.

#3 – Look for layers

Photo by Steve Berardi

Many dune fields are surrounded by large mountain ranges (which actually help create the dunes), so you can also create some nice images by layering the dunes with mountains in the background. This works especially well when the mountains are much darker or lighter than the dunes (providing some nice contrast).

#4 – Avoid putting down your camera bag

Even on seemingly calm days, a lot of sand tends to move around in dune country. So, if you put down your camera bag on the sand, you’ll likely get sand in all the small crevices of your bag (and if your bag is open, the sand will likely end up on your camera or lenses). This is a real pain to clean, so hold your bag or hang it from your tripod when you’re taking stuff out.

#5 – Avoid the biggest dunes

When you first see a large field of sand dunes, you might think of always heading to the largest dunes in the field, but these don’t always make the best photographs. The biggest dunes are often the most visited, so they’ll likely have human footprints all over them. If you’re looking to photograph some undisturbed dunes, then head out towards the edges of the dune field.

#6 – Switch your lenses before venturing into the dunes

Last week, I talked about the importance of being careful when and where you change your camera lenses. With all the sand that’s constantly blowing around in dune country, it’s a good idea to avoid changing lenses out there. So, before you head out on a hike in the dunes, make your best guess about what lens you’ll be using out there and mount that lens on your camera.

What did I miss?

If you have another tip for photographing sand dunes, please share it with us by leaving a comment below. Thanks!

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About the Author: Steve Berardi is a naturalist, photographer, computer scientist, and founder of PhotoNaturalist. You can usually find him hiking in the beautiful mountains and deserts of Southern California.

Why You Should Keep Your Camera’s Clock Accurate

Steve Berardi — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 04:58:54 +0000

When I first get a camera, I always set the right date and time, but then I usually completely forget about it. A few daylight savings time changes go by, and of course I forget to update the time, so for half the year, my cameras are an hour off.

But, there’s also a few other problems: when I first set the clock, I’m usually pretty lazy about it (if a nearby clock says 7:34 PM, I’ll just set the camera to 7:30 PM). Also, a lot of digital clocks lose seconds over time, so with a camera that’s a few years old, my clock could be off by 5-10 minutes (plus any adjustments for daylight savings).

Why does this matter?

Well, with nature photography, you probably already know that timing is everything.

And, many times it’s helpful to review old photos and try to learn from them: trying to figure out what went wrong (or right!), and trying to learn more about how light works and changes throughout different conditions. So, knowing the exact time of the photo can be helpful (five minutes after sunrise is a lot different than 15 minutes after sunrise), it can help you recreate the scene and evaluate it.

Keeping your clocks accurate can be helpful in other situations too. For example, when I went out to photograph the Lunar Eclipse this past weekend, I had two cameras set up: one with a long telephoto lens to photograph the moon by itself, and another camera to just photograph the landscape. Later in post-processing, I wanted to combine two images that were taken at the same time (in order to have a big moon in the landscape image), which would have been a lot easier if both cameras were set to the same time.

So, I’ve decided to be more diligent with my camera’s clocks, and remember to keep them updated.

Where to get an accurate time

You’ll get the most accurate time from a GPS receiver, but timeanddate.com should be good enough for our purposes

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Why You Shouldn’t Rely on Auto White Balance

Steve Berardi — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 03:54:13 +0000

Photo by Steve Berardi

Don’t you love it when something is “automatic”? It’s just one less thing to worry about, right?

Well, as you probably already know, “automatic” doesn’t always work (especially when it comes to cameras). But, that’s what makes photography so fun

One of those automatic features of your camera that doesn’t always work is white balance.

What is white balance?

White balance refers to the “color temperature” of your photo.

Have you ever seen a photo that looks like it’s tinted red (warm) or blue (cold)?

Well, both problems are a result of improper white balance.

Most of the time, your camera is pretty good at determining the right temperature of your photograph, but sometimes it guesses wrong. This usually happens when a large part of your photo is the same color.

Example of improper white balance

Bad (too warm):

Photo by Steve Berardi

Good:

Photo by Steve Berardi

My camera’s auto white balance had trouble with this photo because the scene was mostly red (the warm light of the sunrise made those brown rocks a saturated shade of red).

How to avoid white balance problems

The best way to avoid white balance problems is to shoot in RAW. With RAW images, you can safely change the white balance later in post-processing without ANY loss of image quality.

With JPEGs, you can still adjust the white balance later, but you’ll sacrifice image quality.

If your camera can’t shoot in RAW format, or if you prefer to shoot in JPEG, then you can try using one of the white balance presets on your camera. Most cameras have presets for various lighting conditions such as shade, cloudy, sunrise/sunset, or indoor lighting.

For more on white balance, check out this great tutorial by Sean McHugh.

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Never Give Up On a Sunset

Steve Berardi — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 01:34:26 +0000

After watching and photographing a lot of sunsets, it’s tempting to start thinking that you can look at the sky and predict how good a sunset will be a few hours before it happens.

You might see a bunch of thick and dark gray clouds up there, and think, “well, the sunset is gonna suck tonight, so I might as well just go home early.”

Or, you might even be in the middle of photographing a sunset and you think the colors just peaked, so you start packing up your stuff and walk towards your car or campsite.

But, then out of nowhere, the sky decides to explode with color again. Of course, you’re half way back to your car by now, so you quickly setup your camera, but before you can press the shutter button, the colors fade away again. And, this time they’re gone for good.

Sound familiar?

Don’t worry, it’s happened to me lots of times But, today I’m making a vow to never give up on a sunset again, and I hope you will too. No matter how dark and gray the sky looks, there’s always hope left in a sunset.

Okay, maybe the one exception here is if it’s pouring rain outside or completely overcast 30 minutes before sunset.. then it’s probably safe to say it’s gonna be a dud

Sometimes there’s that tiny break in the clouds that you just can’t see–and it’s just sitting there waiting to produce some of the most incredible colors. You just have to be patient.

Mojave Desert / Photo by Steve Berardi

For example, after I shot the photo above in the Mojave Desert, the colors in the sky started to fade to a dull gray. So, after the sun finally set and the sky turned completely gray, I thought the show was over.

But, it wasn’t. About five minutes later, a bunch of clouds started to turn purple and pink, so I quickly setup my camera again and was able to capture this shot before the show finally ended:

Mojave Desert / Photo by Steve Berardi

Lesson learned: never give up on a sunset!

“You only get one sunrise and one sunset a day, and you only get so many days on the planet. A good photographer does the math and doesn’t waste either.”
–Galen Rowell

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Do You Refactor Your Photographs?

Steve Berardi — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 01:34:31 +0000

As a software developer, one of the things I do every day is refactor code. I’ll write some code to solve a problem, test it out to make sure it works, and then I’ll take another look at the code and see if there’s a way to make it more clear or more efficient. Then, of course, I’ll test it again

Writers do this too. First, they’ll write a basic draft of their story to cover the main ideas, and then they’ll read it over and over again to make the words flow better and to make their message stand out more.

But, what about photographers? Do you ever take a look at one of your photos and say something like, “wow, I really like this photo of mine, but I wish one thing was different”? It doesn’t have to be something big, it could even be something as simple as moving your camera one step to the left so a tree stands out more from the background.

You could say this is being too picky about your photographs, but I think it’s the key to growing as a photographer. Because, if you keep finding little faults in your photographs, then you’ll always be motivated to learn new things.

So, if you find a fault in one of your photos, then do some research to find out why it happened. And then try to make that photo again.

It might take a couple of tries to get that photo you ultimately envisioned, but don’t give up! The important part is that you’re learning something new with each new attempt, and you keep getting closer and closer to that image you want.

An example: the cholla cactus

Cholla Cactus / Photos by Steve Berardi

The cholla is my favorite cactus of the desert, and it happens to be one of the few cacti that I haven’t bumped into yet (which is great news, cause I think they look pretty painful).

But, I wasn’t too satisfied with my first attempt to photograph some cholla, which is pictured above on the left. I felt like the mountains in the background weren’t big enough in relation to the cactus, and I felt like there were too many cacti visible in the image. I wanted to isolate just one cactus against a nice background.

So, I went back to the same location and tried again. This time, I spent more time looking for an isolated cactus that was closer to those mountains (so the mountains would be bigger in the image).

My second attempt is pictured on the right (above). And, I was a lot more satisfied with this image because I think the cactus stands out more and the bigger mountains help add some balance to the image.

Some people still like the first image better, and that’s totally fine! What’s really important here is that you create the image you initially set out to create, even if it means multiple attempts.

Just remember that with every attempt, you’re getting closer and closer to that image you originally envisioned.

Have you already refactored your photos?

If you have a good story about how you refactored one of your photos, then please share it with us by leaving a comment below! Thanks!!

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How Perspective Affects Your Photos

Steve Berardi — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 02:01:05 +0000

Ansel Adams once said, “A good photograph is knowing where to stand.” But, before you know where to stand, it’s important to understand a few concepts about perspective.

I’ve written about perspective here on PhotoNaturalist a few times, but I’ve also written a couple posts about it over at the Digital Photography School (a great blog that covers all types of photography). And, one of those posts was just published today, so I thought it’d be good to put a list together of all the posts I’ve written about perspective:

Sometimes Close-ups Are Better From Far Away – with an example that shows how you get more control of your background if you move farther away from your subject.

Why You Need a Telephoto Lens for Landscape Photography – with an example that shows how you can manipulate the relative sizes of objects in your image, and how those different sizes communicate different feelings.

Understanding Perspective and Focal Length – a short introduction to perspective, and an overview of what types of lenses are generally used to capture different perspectives.

How to Create Intimate Portraits of Nature – with an example of how the height of your camera affects the feeling of your photos.

3 Reasons to Photograph Wildlife at Eye Level – how perspective affects the feeling and background of your wildlife portraits.

Sometimes the View is Better From Above – how the height of your camera affects the feeling you communicate in landscape photographs.

And, for even more information about how perspective affects your photos, I highly recommend reading the chapter “Basic Image Management” in Ansel Adams’ great book, The Camera.

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How to Photograph Landscapes With the Moon

Steve Berardi — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 03:00:49 +0000

Photo by Steve Berardi

Including the moon in a landscape can sometimes add a nice sense of balance or contrast to an image, like in the photo above (taken in the Colorado Desert of California).

But, photographing a landscape with the moon is a little tricky and requires some patience.

One of the problems is that the moon won’t always be where you want it to be. And, since the moon is so far away, sometimes it’s hard to get both your foreground AND the moon in sharp focus.

So, here are a few tips for dealing with these problems:

#1 – Wait until the moon is nearly full

The best time to photograph a landscape with the moon is when the moon is nearly full. During this time, the sun will rise as the moon is setting (and vice versa). This is perfect because the moon will then be low on the horizon during the golden hours of sunrise and sunset.

To photograph a landscape to the WEST, plan your shot for the day AFTER the full moon at sunrise. The moon will set as the sun rises.

To photograph a landscape to the EAST, plan your shot for the day BEFORE the full moon at sunset. The moon will rise as the sun sets.

You can also plan your shot for the DAY OF the full moon, but you’ll probably need to take two exposures then, since the moon will be a lot brighter than the landscape.

#2 – Concentrate on distant landscapes

The trick to getting a nice big moon in your image is to concentrate on distant landscapes and use a telephoto lens to frame your shot. This way, the moon will be fairly large in relation to the rest of your landscape. If you use a wide-angle lens, the moon will be just a tiny speck in your image!

#3 – Take two shots if you have a near foreground

To ensure both the foreground and the moon are in sharp focus, you may have to take a couple of shots. Focus the first shot on the landscape in front of you, and focus the second shot on the moon. You can combine these two exposures later in post-processing.

For a detailed explanation of why this is important, check out this previous post about a failed sand dune photo.

What did I miss?

If you have another tip for photographing landscapes with the moon, please share it with us by leaving a comment below. Thanks!

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3 Great Tripod Accessories

Steve Berardi — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 02:47:48 +0000

Sometimes it can be really annoying to get your tripod in the EXACT position you need it. Just when you think you’ve got it set, you lock in the ballhead, and realize your camera just moved down half an inch, which totally ruins your composition.

Well, luckily there are a few accessories that can help make your life easier: an L-bracket, a tripod collar, and a bubble level.

#1 – L-Bracket

The “L” bracket is a special kind of plate for your tripod head. It’s shaped like an “L” and allows you to put your camera in a vertical position, while still keeping it in the center of the three tripod legs (see photo above). With a standard plate, you have to tilt your camera to the side of the tripod if you want to shoot vertically.

It’s important to keep your camera in the center of those legs because that’s where the tripod can best support your camera. And, better support means sharper photos.

The L-bracket also gives you a few more inches of height when you’re shooting in portrait orientation. And, as I’m sure you know, a few inches can definitely matter in a composition.

L-brackets are really only helpful for shorter lenses though (less than 100mm), because longer lenses typically shift the camera’s center of gravity, so they require a special tripod collar (see item #2 below).

Not all tripod heads support L-Brackets, so check the website of your head’s manufacturer. And, the L-brackets are specific to each camera, so make sure you get one that fits!

#2 – Tripod Collar

Have you ever tried mounting your camera on your tripod with a big telephoto lens on it, and then noticed the camera shift down a few inches after locking in the ballhead?

It’s a common problem when using long telephoto lenses (200mm or longer), and it happens because with longer (and heavier) lenses attached to your camera, you’re shifting the camera’s center of gravity.

The best way to prevent this is to use a tripod collar made specifically for your lens. Sometimes these tripod collars come with a telephoto lens, but if you didn’t get one, check the manufacturer’s website. And, make sure you get one that’s made specifically for your lens, because different lenses are different sizes and have different centers of gravity.

#3 – Bubble Level

Your tripod will provide the strongest support when the weight of your camera is evenly distributed between all three legs. And, a bubble level will help tell you when your tripod is balanced like this.

On some tripods, these bubble levels are built-in, so look around for them first. But, if your tripod is missing one, then the manufacturer likely has one available as an accessory. (For example, my Gitzo tripod didn’t come with one built-in, but I got one for about $8 at B&H).

Getting your tripod completely level can definitely take awhile, so using a bubble-level is really only practical when you have time and when you need a really long exposure (like for night time photos).

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The Secret Ingredient to Good Nature Photos

Steve Berardi — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 23:33:32 +0000

Do you ever wish you could add something to your nature photos that would just magically make them all super awesome and fantastic?

Well, guess what? You can!

That secret ingredient is patience.

One of the hardest parts about photographing nature is that nature is filled with uncontrollable subjects.

That flower will grow where it feels like, not where you want it to grow (in front of a beautiful background).

That bird will perch where he or she feels like it, not where you want it to perch (in that perfect light).

That mountain is not moving–regardless of how much you want to put it in front of your favorite lake to create a nice reflection image.

So, the only way to deal with all this uncontrollable chaos is patience.

Here’s a few stories to help illustrate the importance of patience:

Bald Eagle in Flight

Photo by Steve Berardi

To get this photo of a bald eagle in flight, I had to stand in 5 degree weather for about two hours. Although there were a ton of eagles flying around, only occasionally did they fly close enough to photograph (filling at least 20% of the frame). I’d say for the two hours my dad and I were outside, I probably only had a minute or two of pressing the shutter. For the other 118 minutes, we just waited patiently for those birds to fly closer.

Silhouette of a Creosote Branch

Photo by Steve Berardi

To photograph this silhouette of a creosote bush, three things needed to happen: a good sunrise or sunset, low wind, and I needed to find a good branch to photograph.

In the desert, good sunrises and sunsets are pretty common, so that wasn’t much of a problem. But, it’s usually pretty windy, and these creosote bushes really like to bounce in the air (even on the calmest of days), so I had to wait awhile for that calm day.

Lastly, I needed to find a good branch to photograph: one that pointed almost straight up and didn’t bunch up a lot in any part. Creosote branches tend to grow more parallel to the ground, so it took some time to find a nice branch like this.

Chocolate Lily

Photo by Steve Berardi

To get this photo of a Chocolate Lily, I spent hours looking for a flower with a great background (one that was far away and contrasted well with the brown flowers). And, then once I found this specific flower, I waited patiently for about 30 minutes until a cloud came in to block the sun and help balance the light on the flower.

What about you?

If you have a similar story to share about how patience played a big role in one of your photos, please share it with us by leaving a comment below.

Please post a link to your photo too, if possible. Thanks!

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The Perfect Tripod For a Hiking Photographer

Steve Berardi — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:17:25 +0000

After the camera and lens, the tripod is the most important piece of camera gear you’ll own. In some of my favorite words from Scott Kelby, you should “become married to your tripod.”

Nothing will keep your camera more still than a tripod. If you want the sharpest photos possible, then you gotta use one whenever possible. Tripods have another benefit too though: they force you to slow down and think more about your composition.

But, carrying around a tripod can also be pretty annoying. They’re big, they’re heavy, and it usually takes a while to get it in the exact position you need it. So, it’s helpful to get a tripod that’s easy to setup and carry around.

Well, about a year ago, I finally found what I think is the perfect tripod for a hiking photographer: the Gitzo 1541T. Here are a few reasons why I like it so much:

It’s extremely lightweight. At just 2.1 lbs, it’s one of the lightest tripods out there, especially considering how high it can go (55 inches).

You can make quick height adjustments with the center post (which is about 10 inches long). The center post can also be removed to make the tripod get low to the ground.

You can make it more stable by hanging something (like a camera bag) from a hook on the center post. This really helps when you find yourself in some pretty windy conditions.

It packs easily in a suitcase. When folded completely down, it’s only 16 inches long (compared to an average of around 20 inches for other tripods).

It can get low to the ground. If you remove the center post, the tripod can stand just 7 inches from the ground, which is very helpful for photographing tiny flowers.

It’s quick to setup. The four sections of the tripod have twist locks instead of latches, which makes the tripod very quick to set up (you can unlock all the sections with just one twist).

You can individually adjust the angles of the legs, allowing you to completely stabilize your camera when the ground isn’t flat.

It can easily support medium telephoto lenses. The heaviest combination I’ve used with this tripod is a Canon 5D Mark II with a battery grip and a 300mm f/4 IS lens. And, the tripod supports it just fine (as long as I use the tripod collar for the lens). I probably wouldn’t put anything heavier on the tripod though. But, then again, I wouldn’t hike with anything heavier, so it works out well

It’s not insanely expensive. Surprisingly, this is actually one of Gitzo’s least expensive tripods. Sure, it’s more expensive than something like a Bogen, but it’s a lot more stable than most other tripods. When you try out a Gitzo for the first time, side-by-side with another brand like Bogen, you’ll know what I mean

There is one tiny thing missing from the tripod though, so I guess it’s not totally perfect.

It doesn’t come with a built-in bubble level, which tremendously helps you ensure the tripod is balanced. You can buy one for just $15 though that attaches to the bottom of the center post.

Other than that though, I think the 1541T is perfect for what it’s built for. Despite it having four sections, it’s still remarkably stable (I would stay away from their 5-section version though–that fifth section is almost pencil thin).

Recommended Ballhead: Really Right Stuff BH-30

So, Gitzo does have a version of the 1541T that comes with a ballhead, but their ballheads just look a little too weak to me, so personally, I just bought the tripod legs and then bought a Really Right Stuff ballhead separately.

I originally bought their BH-40, but that was before they came out with the BH-30 which is what I’d now recommend for the Gitzo 1541T. The BH-40 just seems a little too big for that tripod, and Really Right Stuff says the BH-30 can handle a 300mm f/4 lens, so I think it goes really well with the 1541T.

Really Right Stuff’s ballheads are definitely not cheap, but the difference between them and a less expensive Bogen head is night and day. Everything just operates so much smoother, and you’ll have less frustrating moments with an RRS ballhead. I promise!