16 Nature Photography Ideas (for Easy Inspiration) – digitalcameras.ie

Caught in a inventive rut? Searching for some nature images concepts to assist regain some inspiration? I’ve obtained you lined!

On this article, I share 16 inspirational concepts for nature images, with a give attention to topics you could find in your personal yard (or, no less than, close to your property!). The concepts are easy, however don’t let that idiot you; most of the finest nature pictures are taken with probably the most primary of topics.

(I additionally provide loads of nature photograph examples. That means, as you go alongside, you possibly can see the potential every concept gives!)

Let’s dive proper in, beginning with:

1. Flowers and leaves

In the event you’re on the lookout for the right yard nature images concept, then think about taking pictures flowers and leaves.

As you’re possible nicely conscious, flowers and leaves are all over the place, they usually provide an infinite number of colours, shapes, and textures so that you can {photograph}.

You would create a set of pictures primarily based on a single colour scheme, or you would experiment with totally different compositions by photographing as many alternative leaf or flower shapes as attainable.

And check out working with totally different lighting instructions. Head out within the night when the solar is low within the sky, then attempt to take some lovely backlit pictures that emphasize flower particulars and leaf veins:

Then modify your angle till you get some good entrance mild, which can assist describe the topic in all its glory:

Flowers are seasonal, and in temperate zones, spring and summer season provide the widest number of topics. There are nonetheless flowers to be present in winter, though it’s possible you’ll must look more durable. Don’t be afraid to {photograph} lifeless flowers, and don’t neglect that weeds, equivalent to dandelions, are additionally lovely!

As for leaves, you possibly can shoot them year-round, although autumn does present the very best colour spectrum.

2. Bushes

Bushes in any season are nice nature topics. That’s why I wish to {photograph} bushes year-round!

Bushes in spring can look lush, and when you could find, say, a magnolia tree in full bloom, the flowers are icing on the cake! However naked bushes in winter provide skeletal branches, which additionally make for excellent images. (I typically wish to convert these pictures to black and white, and actually increase that distinction, for a graphic impact.)

Lastly, I like to seize extra intimate images of bushes in autumn, displaying their full vary of colours. Right here, I typically seek for bushes which are properly organized, then shoot them from a distance with a telephoto lens. I additionally suggest getting up shut with a macro lens and creating a pleasant composition with the branches, particularly when you possibly can emphasize these autumn leaves!

3. Fruit, berries, and seed pods

When the summer season flowers disappear, fruits and berries are nature’s means of offering for birds and animals all through the colder months. And these topics can present loads of alternatives for photographers, too!

Many berries and seed pods ripen towards the tip of autumn, they usually can look nice when shot towards leafy backdrops.

And within the winter, you possibly can {photograph} crimson berries towards white snow. Be certain that to decide on your publicity rigorously as snow-filled scenes could cause issues for digital camera meters.

You may as well {photograph} acorns, pine cones, and nuts. I’d suggest taking pictures cloudy days, which can provide help to emphasize a lot of intricate particulars:

4. Water droplets

Photographers like to {photograph} raindrops on window panes, however do you know that it’s attainable to mix the great thing about raindrops with the plush, verdant hues of nature?

Merely wait till a rain storm ends, seize a macro lens (or your closest-focusing lens), and head outdoors. Get low to the bottom, and punctiliously observe leaves and grass for water droplets:

Be certain that to maintain the background uncluttered to keep away from drawing consideration away from the droplets. Attempt taking pictures with a wider aperture and adjusting your angle to create distance between the droplets and the background. Each of those methods will improve background blur, which can deemphasize distracting options and create a ravishing bokeh impact!

5. Reflections

Nature is stuffed with water, and whilst you can {photograph} water – or water droplets, as I talk about above! – by itself, you may also use it for its beautiful reflections! Everytime you discover nonetheless water of any kind – a pond, a lake, even a puddle – you possibly can depend on it to have some form of reflection, whether or not it’s close by bushes, mountains, reeds, or simply the sky.

I wish to play with my angle, as a result of getting down decrease to shoot the water from the aspect or getting up excessive so I’m virtually trying downward will give me utterly totally different topics.

I like to recommend coming again on totally different days and at totally different occasions, too, as a result of totally different skies – and totally different ranges of wind – offers you numerous results! Additionally, you possibly can play with incorporating solely the reflection, or you possibly can embrace the precise topic together with its reflection for a special look.

Mushrooms are ugly photograph topics, proper? Not essentially!

You see, whereas mushrooms may appear ugly at first look, when you spend time finding out them, you’ll discover loads of hidden magnificence price capturing.

You’ll usually want a macro lens – most mushrooms are tiny, in spite of everything! – and also you’ll must be ready to get down within the filth for the very best photos.

These mushrooms regarded boring, however once I flattened myself towards the bottom and located the suitable mild, they instantly grew to become fascinating:

When is the very best time to go mushroom looking? I’d suggest heading out in autumn and winter, although you may also discover good topics simply after a spring or summer season rain. Look in damp, mossy locations, on the perimeters of bushes, and in log piles.

My private favorites are the crimson toadstools with white speckles. They’re evocative of fairy tales and magic, and their colours are unbelievable:

7. Shoot up and down

Don’t simply {photograph} the character topics proper in entrance of you; as a substitute, go for a stroll within the woods, and be sure you spend loads of time trying up into the sky and down on the floor.

You may create lovely tree-canopy photos utilizing a wide-angle lens:

And you may have a lot of enjoyable simply mendacity on the bottom, taking pictures up on the branches. Bonus: It may be fairly stress-free!

Additionally, when photographing upward, discover how the sunshine modifications from early morning into late afternoon and night. Branches distinction fantastically towards a blue sky, and their look is in fixed flux relying on the lighting.

Clouds could make lovely topics, too. Search for vertical cloud formations, white fluffy clouds, and people pretty mushy colours across the fringe of the clouds at nightfall and daybreak.

You may as well flip your consideration downward. The bottom options 1,000,000 microcosms; look among the many moss, across the garden, between paving stones, and within the fallen bark and leaves. Lie flat in your abdomen and peer into one other world. And don’t neglect that close-up lens!

8. Sunrises and sunsets

Sure, it’s a bit cliche, however sunrises and sunsets are basic nature images topics, and you’ll shoot them from actually wherever, together with your yard.

After all, not all days provide equally beautiful sunrises and sunsets – the trick is to deliver out your digital camera on these days when you have got a mixture of solar and clouds. The clouds will add loads of colour, and in case you can be certain that the sky is partially clear, you possibly can typically stop the cloud cowl from ruining the sunshine present.

You may as well simply recurrently poke your head outdoors to test the standard of the dawn and/or sundown, then rush out along with your digital camera if issues are trying good. (Generally, the enjoyable is within the shock!)

9. Black and white magnificence

After we take into consideration nature images, we regularly think about shiny colours and beautiful sunsets…

…nevertheless it’s attainable to create lovely black and white nature images, so that you positively shouldn’t dismiss the concept.

Nature gives sculptural shapes and contrasting textures that make nice black and white topics. As an example, you possibly can {photograph} succulents and cacti in harsh mild, then watch as they grow to be inventive abstracts after a fast black and white conversion.

Clean pebbles, tough bark, snail shells, acorns, and pine cones all look fabulous in black and white, too. Search for intense, directional lighting, and don’t be afraid to push the distinction in enhancing:

10. Experiment with solar flare and haze

Nature photographers typically obsess over excellent approach, however the reality is which you can seize beautiful images by embracing, relatively than avoiding, points like solar flare and haze.

Merely discover topics which are backlit – equivalent to tree canopies in the midst of the day, or flowers at sundown – and seize some pictures. Every time you are taking a photograph, be sure you assessment it in your digital camera LCD to see whether or not you just like the impact (it may be fairly hit or miss, however over time, you’ll get higher at predicting your outcomes).

It could typically assist to place the solar within the body or simply outdoors of it. You may additionally attempt positioning the principle topic so the solar peeks out from behind its edges.

And for the strongest flare results, be sure that to take away your lens hood. That’s how I captured this picture:

11. The night time sky

Astrophotography has been gaining in reputation as of late, particularly since telephone producers have elevated smartphones’ night-sky images capabilities. I don’t actually suggest utilizing a smartphone for the highest-quality photos of the moon and stars, however you possibly can take this method in case you like!

Regardless, I at all times use a tripod for any such work – in any other case, the ensuing photos will probably be ineffective on account of digital camera shake – however in case you don’t personal a tripod, you may also stabilize your digital camera by putting it on a tough floor, equivalent to a desk and even the bottom.

I additionally encourage you to experiment with a wide range of compositions. As an example, in case you use an extended lens and crop out all the things however the sky, you’ll get one kind of shot. However in case you go wider and incorporate foreground components into your body, the photographs will look very totally different!

12. Snails, bugs, and spiders

This nature images concept is one which you can observe out of your yard (and even from inside your own home!).

Merely hunt round for spiders, ants, centipedes, bees, dragonflies, caterpillars, moths, butterflies, and snails. Then, once you discover them, get down low, get shut, and seize some wonderful pictures!

I’d suggest utilizing an extended lens; that means, you possibly can keep away from scaring the themes (and you’ll keep away from getting too shut your self!).

And for particularly inventive pictures, be sure that to mess around with totally different apertures and lighting results.

13. Wildlife

I’m going to be trustworthy:

In comparison with flower and leaf images, photographing wildlife is onerous.

For one, it requires specialised gear. The longer your lens, the higher – and 300mm is mostly thought of a wildlife images minimal.

Plus, it requires a whole lot of endurance. You may spend lengthy minutes and even hours ready for topics that by no means appear to look.

In the event you’re keen to place within the cash and energy, nonetheless, capturing wildlife may be a whole lot of enjoyable!

I’d suggest doing a little analysis into native wildlife hotspots. Then head out along with your longest lens through the early morning and late night. See what you could find.

Be sure you preserve your shutter pace quick sufficient to freeze any motion, and be sure you set your digital camera to its quickest burst mode setting.

14. Yard birds

Do you know which you can produce pro-level chook images out of your yard? It’s true! Simply arrange some feeders, recurrently add seed, and fairly quickly, you’ll have some birds stopping by.

You may add in some branches as “pure” perches, then {photograph} the birds out of your window – or, if you wish to get actually into it, you possibly can arrange a tent as a blind, wait a couple of days for the birds to get acclimated, then use it to seize frame-filling close-ups!

One fast chook images tip: Pay cautious consideration to the sunshine! In the event you can, shoot throughout golden hour, and place your self in order that your shadow is pointed on the chook to make sure loads of good element.

15. Native landscapes

Who says which you can’t do panorama images close to your property? Even in case you don’t occur to dwell in a picturesque location – and let’s face it, that’s true for many of us! – you don’t must journey far to create wonderful panorama pictures.

I wish to seize panorama images in close by parks, and so long as you could find some good woodland, wetland, or prairies close by, you are able to do the identical.

One trick right here is to make use of an extended lens. Whereas panorama images is mostly accomplished with wide-angle glass, in case you use a focal size within the 50-200mm vary, you may get in tight to give attention to the extra intimate pure colours and patterns, like bushes behind a ravishing pond, or cattails surrounded by falling snow.

And in case you can’t get any good pictures at first, persevere. The extra you get to know your native parks, the extra alternatives you’ll begin to see, and the higher your photos will end up!

16. Portraits in nature

Nature images doesn’t must function solely nature. It’s attainable to mix nature scenes and human topics for lovely photos:

Scout round for potential backgrounds. Search for a financial institution of flowers, a mattress of autumn leaves, or only a inexperienced hedge.

Then wait till the sunshine is true (a cloudy day is mostly secure!), take your topic to the situation, and do a enjoyable photoshoot!

Professional tip: In the event you plan to shoot in a location with a lot of colours, equivalent to flowers or autumn leaves, take note of your topic’s outfit. Choose easy clothes with out eye-catching patterns:

Nature images concepts: closing phrases

So there you have got it: Loads of concepts for lovely nature images, whether or not you wish to seize landscapes, wildlife, or close-ups.

So irrespective of the seasons, get outdoors along with your digital camera and take a look at an concept or two! See in case you can regain a few of that inventive spark. And on the very least, simply attempt to benefit from the course of.

Now over to you:

Which of those concepts do you intend to attempt first? Share your ideas within the feedback beneath!