tips and tutorials for digital nature photography
Black-throated Sparrow / Photo by Steve Berardi
Bird photography can be frustrating at times, and it may seem like you always need a longer lens, but with a little patience and a few little tricks, you’ll be coming home with good bird photos in no time. So, here are a few tips to get you started: [Read more...]
Photo by Steve Berardi
By the time you get out your camera, put on a longer lens and find the right exposure, that bird or dragonfly is probably in another zip code.
That’s why it’s a good idea to always keep your camera ready for action as you’re hiking down a trail. Always keep it by your side and ready to photograph a distant subject that may only be there for a second or two. Here are a few tips for making your camera ready to go: [Read more...]
Photo by Steve Berardi
Well, a few weeks ago I went out to photograph bald eagles with my dad, and I came back with my first acceptably sharp photo of a bird in flight, yay! 
So, I’d like to share what I think are the two biggest reasons I finally got a decent shot: [Read more...]
Sometimes autofocus can be really annoying: it’ll search and search for an object to focus on, and either never find it, or go through multiple cycles until it finally finds the right object to focus on. And by that time, you may have already missed the shot–especially if you’re photographing a quick moving subject like birds.
In previous posts, I’ve talked about a few ways you can get better control of your autofocus. But, there’s also a little switch on your lens that can help it focus faster. [Read more...]
Photo by Michael Pereckas / Used under the CC-Attr license
Anyway, I watched them film the scene for a few hours and actually learned a couple of things about photography: [Read more...]
Variegated Meadowhawk (female) / Photo by Steve Berardi
The photo above is a good example. The dragonfly is pretty bright, but the background is much darker. This strong contrast of brightness helps emphasize the edges, making the outline of the dragonfly appear much sharper.
This is actually how most sharpening algorithms work in post-processing software: by increasing the contrast of brightness between edges it makes those edges stand out more and appear sharper. That’s why oversharpened images have those ugly halos. [Read more...]
