Extreme Effects

f/2.4    ISO 16   1/1066s

f/2.4   ISO 16   1/123s

f/1.8    ISO 20   1/489s

f/2.4     ISO 16    1/165s   

Nature Photos vs. iPhone

11 Tips For Taking Beautiful iPhone Photos Of Nature

Considering I have chosen to participate in this photography class with just my iPhone I figured this article could be helpful with some ideas as we are getting more into this class. One thing that was mentioned was how since you always have your iPhone with you, you’ll never miss out on photographing the wildlife that you see everyday. That is one of the reasons I chose to do this class with just my iPhone. The following 11 tips are addressed below, along with a sentence or two that really helps relate the tip from an idea to a possibility.

1. Make The Most Of Your Natural Surroundings: Nature shots can come from anywhere!

2. Capture Different Seasons: The landscape around us can appear very different throughout the various times of the year. The changing of light, plants, and animals are each something that can be captured with your iPhone.

3. Shoot In The Best Light: When the sun is lower in the sky – either early in the morning or in the evening just before the sun sets. Referred to as the “golden hour” in photography is when the light is warmer and softer, making it easier to take great photos.

4. Get The Perfect Exposure: When you’ve framed your shot, tap the screen to lock in the focus, then swipe up or down to adjust the exposure. Make sure none of the highlights (bright areas of the image) are blown out (over-exposed), especially in the sky. This can not be fixed after the fact in editing!

5. Get Up Close: Your iPhone is quite capable of stunning close-up nature photography and flower photography.

6. Don’t Forget About Composition: "rule of thirds" The subject should be placed off-center, rather than in the middle of the frame. This is more pleasing to the eye.

7. Use The Sky As A Background : Shooting from a low angle allows the sky to be the background.

8. Create A Sense Of Depth: Use objects in the foreground to create a sense of depth.

9. Use Burst Mode For Moving Subjects : Burst Mode setting in the native camera app!! Allows for a greater chance of getting the perfect shot.

10. Be Patient: One must be will to wait, watch, or go where the subject of interest is.

11. Edit Carefully: Only use adjustments that will enhance the image. FILTERS and EFFECTS are less likely to add to the beauty of your scene and is more likely to ruin the photo.

What's better than some pictures of clouds?

For this weeks blog post I decided to look into some of the photos that I have taken. I noticed that most of my nature specific photos are keyed towards how the clouds look. So here are just a handful of what I've found...

Early Morning in the Fields - Growing up on a farm and ranch requires many early mornings so getting to the field before the sun was up resulted in many beautiful mornings. This is one of my favorite photos with how the clouds pick up the glow from the sun rise. 

Tracy Arm Fjord - Here is an image I took on a cruise around Alaska. I loved how the clouds reflected off the water as well as all the various blues throughout the image. 

Morning Hunt - This is a picture I took not caring anything else about the image except how the sunrise and the clouds looked together.

Lake Life - I loved how other than the small ripples in the water this late evening shot was the most calm the lake had been all day after being full of ski boats and fishermen. At the lake the mornings and evenings are the relevant to the calm before and after the storm. 

The Approach To Better Landscape Photos

Online Outdoor Magazine Article
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Above is the link for the article that is discussed in this post!

Taking pictures has always been something I enjoy to do although usually just on my IPhone, I'm always the one snapping pictures. I love taking picture but I really have never considered how to take pictures I just point and click. So as I read the article "The Approach To Better Landscape Photos" just in the introduction my mind was already questioning things when they were describing a very detailed landscape with mountains and rivers and such followed by the question, "Where do you point your camera?" My goal has always been to just try and get as much of a landscape, or mountains as I can in the picture so one can see everything, I have never considered that pointing the camera in a certain way may make my image more desirable.

I enjoyed reading Marc Muench's take on both the Previsualized Approach and the Discovery Approach. There are times when you are in a familiar place and you are already thinking of what and how the photo will look like before you even arrive, while the discovery approach is when the land in the moment is solely what determines the picture. I think this is great thought for me because in many of my images I am trying to recreate something that I have already seen and am usually disappointed because it did not turn out how it was "supposed" to look. When I should not be worried about how I think it should look instead I should be focusing on how in this moment the land, the light, and I see the photo working the best in that moment.

Andy Williams brings up a good point  when discussing the two different approaches, he says there is only one approach "and it is an amalgam of everything I know and everything I think I know about a place before I arrive, and everything I see and take in when I’m there." I really liked this take because it is taking what you know of a place, familiarity, and combing it with the present feeling and idea of a place and bringing them together. The total understanding on a landscape used to create a beautiful image.