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INDISPENSABLE20PHOTO
IAN PLANTTIPS
My mission, plain and simple, is to educate, inspire, and entertain others in the art of nature pho-
tography. To that end, I strive to make my books practical, informative, fun to read, and packed
with plenty of delicious eye candy. You won’t get any pompous, long-winded mumbo jumbo
from me—just tried and true, proven professional artistic techniques. And I won’t just give you
the how; I do my best to tell you about the why as well (which, in my opinion, is the most impor-
tant part). This eBook is intended to be a basic introduction to many important concepts, and
hopefully it will leave you wanting to learn more. Many of the ideas and photographs introduced
in this eBook are covered in greater depth in my other books; if you wish to delve a bit deeper, I
encourage you to check a few of them out.
Copyright Notice: © 2013 Ian Plant. All rights reserved. This eBook, and all of the photographs
and written text contained therein, are the intellectual property of the author and are protected by
U.S. and international copyright laws. You have been granted a limited license to use this eBook
for personal purposes only, and cannot reproduce or disseminate this product, in part or in
whole, without prior express written consent from the author.
Front Cover: “Winter Eyes”—Quebec, Canada.
Twenty photos. Twenty indispensable tips. Simple as that.
We all love beautiful sunrises and sunsets, so it
almost goes without saying that you should take
photos at these times—but I’ll go ahead and say it
anyway. When the skies light up with color, you
should be taking photos! Sunsets and sunrises are
usually most intense when partly to mostly cloudy
skies prevail; as long as there is a large enough gap
on the horizon where the sun is going up or down,
you’re likely to get some colorful light striking the
clouds, such as the case with the image to the left.
“Los Cuernos”—Torres del Paine National Park, Chile.
Quick Tip: A two- or three-stop graduated neutral
density filter can come in handy when shooting
sunrise or sunset, helping to balance bright skies
with relatively dark foregrounds.
1shoot stunning light
2I was getting lots of nasty lens flare from the setting sun, just outside the image frame. My solu-
tion? I decided to use the flare creatively. Selecting a small aperture (f/16), I created a radiating
burst of light framing the lone tree in the meadow. So, whenever a technical or artistic problem
arises, find a way to turn it to your advantage. “Light is Life”—Mt. Rainier National Park, USA.
turn obstacles into opportunities
It is important to wait for the moment
when your subject does something
interesting. Whether stretching its
wings, tilting its head, yawning, bit-
ing—or, as the case with this sea tur-
tle, surfacing for air—becoming a
master of the moment will greatly
improve your photos. Ideally, the
moment will tell a story about your
subject. It may take some waiting, but
when the right moment comes, you’ll
be glad you were patient. “Snorkel-
ing”—Gladden Spit and Silk Cayes
Marine Reserve, Belize.
3wait for the decisive moment
Nothing demands attention more than leading
elements. Leading lines in particular can be very
powerful, but leading elements can include other
shapes, or even a progression of objects from
foreground to background. Leading elements
encourage the viewer to travel deep into the
composition, creating a high level of visual
engagement. For the image to the right, I used a
strong leading line—formed by the reflection of the
sky in the water within a flooded slot canyon—to
direct the viewer’s eye from foreground to
background. “Into the West Away”—Glen Canyon
National Recreation Area, USA.
4 lead the eye
Quick Tip: Lines provide an obvious visual cue
pointing to what is important in an image. If you use
a leading line, make sure it points somewhere inter-
esting. If it points, for example, outside of the image
frame, then you’re not going to excite viewers, but
rather confuse them.
Although humans perceive the passage of time, artistic blurs and brush strokes. Long exposures
our cameras can record time in ways our eyes can help you capture a new perspective on real-
cannot see. Moving elements gradually lose ity, and show the world in an unexpected way.
distinctness and form, becoming abstract and “Moonscape”—Adirondack State Park, USA.
5go with the flow with long exposures
Nature has an infinite variety of cool and interesting
shapes—use them to your advantage! Look for swirls, circles,
triangles, curves, and other simple, powerful shapes to create
boldly graphic and visually engaging images—such as with
this curve created by the interaction of shadow and light.
“Shadows and Sand”—Death Valley National Park, USA.
6 focus on shapes
Reflections are a great way to add some extra style to
your nature images. Still water works best, although
rippled or moving water can create abstract reflec-
tions. In terms of composition, reflection images
often work well with a 50/50 split between the sub-
ject and its reflection; sometimes, however, other
variations make more sense. You might even want to
consider only photographing the reflection itself, to
add a hint of mystery to your image. For the image
to the left, I used a 50/50 split, but I made sure to
include elements in the water to help break the sym-
metry resulting from the composition. “Mirror
Image”—Rocky Mountain National Park, USA.
7make a statement with reflections
8Radiating diagonal lines leading from the image corners to the center can be very effective at
grabbing the viewer’s attention and holding their interest over time. The key to success, how-
ever, is to have areas of off-center interest, creating a visual tug-of-war between the center and
other parts of the composition. “The Devil’s Eye”—Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, USA.
draw attention to the center
The best photographs tell a story
about their subject—such as a
well-earned nap after a hard day
of monkey business. “Sunset
Slumber”—Tambopata National
Reserve, Peru.
9 tell a story
10use visual anchors
Visual anchors are bold, eye-catching elements
which help simplify an otherwise busy composi-
tion by attracting the viewer’s attention. The
visual anchor provides an obvious reference
point, and a place for the viewer to start their
visual journey. Other elements of the scene may
attract the eye, but the visual anchor will always
command attention. The best visual anchors actu-
ally serve to lead the eye deeper into the scene,
and then attract the eye back to the anchor, star-
ing the process over (and hopefully over)
again—the boulder in the foreground of the
image to the right is a good example. The effect is
a composition which captivates the viewer, mak-
ing it hard to tear their eyes away. “Virgin
Waters”—Chugach State Park, USA.
Flash is a vital, although often ignored, nature
photography accessory. Flash has multiple
uses: it can be used at low power to add an
attractive “catch light” to a wildlife subject’s
eyes, it can provide fill light for a subject in
shadow, or it can be used at night and during
twilight to create surreal images (such as the
one to the right). Start experimenting with
flash, and be on the lookout for interesting
ways to incorporate flash into your work
flow—it can open up many bold creative
opportunities. “Night Heron”—Blackwater
National Wildlife Refuge, USA.
11 light up the world with flash
Quick Tip: A “flash extender”—basically, a
lightweight, portable device which focuses
and concentrates the output of your flash
through a magnifying filter—can help you
illuminate distant subjects.
I’ve said this before, and I’ll likely say it over
and over again: bad weather makes great pho-
tographs, and can tell a story like nothing else.
For example, the heavy snowfall in this image
tells a story of the struggles animals face in
winter, even when that animal is a mighty bull
elk. Bad weather can lend mood, mystery, and
drama to an image. Use bad weather to your
advantage, and derive satisfaction from the
fact that while other photographers are hud-
dled over hot drinks at some overpriced coffee
shop, you’re out making great images! “Snow-
storm”—Yellowstone National Park, USA.
12 tell a story with weather
Exclude extraneous elements that confuse your
composition. Boil each subject down to its essence.
If something doesn’t add to an image, exclude it.
Here, the image needed just two elements: the
distant island and the menacing storm clouds
above. Anything less, and the image would have
appeared empty and static. Anything more, and
the drama of the moment would have been lost.
“Stormburst”—Great Salt Lake, USA.
13 keep it simple
“The eyes are the window to the soul”—this popu-
lar expression applies with double force to wildlife
photography. For many images, an animal’s eyes are
the most important part of the picture—the eyes tell
the story. By making the eyes the focus of your
images—and I mean this both literally and figura-
tively—you can greatly improve your wildlife pho-
tographs. Above all, make sure that the eyes are in
focus. Beyond that, pay close attention to what the
eyes are doing and the direction they are pointing.
For the image to the right, eye contact gives the
viewer a sense of being there right in front of the
bear. One can’t but help feel like they’re being
stalked with such hungry eyes upon them. “Stand-
off”—Lake Clark National Park, USA.
14 focus on the eyes
Quick Tip: Sometimes autofocus will try to lock on
to your subject’s ear, head, or nose instead of the
eyes. If you are having this problem, consider using
a smaller aperture (such as f/8) to give you enough
extra depth-of-field to ensure the eyes are in focus.
15frame for emphasis
Framing is an effective tool for creating depth in a photograph,
simplifying a composition, and focusing attention on important
elements of the scene. Examples of commonly used frames include
trees, natural arches, and old barn windows. Frames can also be
abstract, formed (for example) by areas of deep shadow or a con-
trasting color. “Desert Window”—Arches National Park, USA.
If you really want to wow viewers, get low and close
to interesting foreground elements with a wide-
angle lens. An “in-your-face” perspective can really
give viewers a sense of being there in the scene. Also,
the juxtaposition of nearby foreground elements
and more distant background elements creates an
illusion of perspective and scale, which helps
encourage the eye to wander through the image. For
the shot to the right, I got very close to the fore-
ground rocks with a wide angle lens (17mm). I
wanted to exaggerate their relative size and impor-
tance; by making the cobbles more prominent, they
are able to visually compete with the colorful sun-
rise and other elements in the background. “Even-
tide”—Acadia National Park, USA.
get low . . . get close . . . get in your face!16
17shoot twilightThe colors of twilight can be otherworldly. Moving elements (such as water and clouds) blur
during long exposures and a colorful, soft light bathes the landscape. Twilight photography
means shooting on the edge of light—which means long exposures. Adjust your ISO to
lengthen or shorten exposure times if necessary. “Ancient Portal”—Isle of Lewis, Scotland.
18 shoot backlight
Although some photographers live by the maxim
“shoot with the sun at your back,” I’m always on
the lookout for opportunities to do the exact oppo-
site. Backlighting presents some unique technical
challenges, but the results are well worth the
effort. Backlighting can often be dramatic, creat-
ing striking and graphic images which attract
attention from viewers. The impact of
backlighting can be especially powerful when the
subject is in the light and the background is in
shadow. Here, I photographed this bison rolling
around in backlit dust at sunset—with a very
evocative (some might say demonic) result. “The
Beast”—Yellowstone National Park, USA.
Quick Tip: Flare is a significant challenge when
working with backlit subjects. To prevent flare,
shade your lens with a lens hood or your hand.
This stops stray light from striking the glass.
19It is often (but not always) a good idea to fill the
frame with visual elements. I don’t mean that you
should try to stuff everything including the
kitchen sink into your composition, but you
should include a sufficient number of visual ele-
ments to nicely fill the frame. For example, for the
image to the right, there is an even distribution of
visual elements progressing from bottom to
top—no area of the image is left blank or empty.
Multiple visual elements help encourage the
viewer to wander through the composition, and
to study multiple areas of interest. Of course,
many compositions work with few elements and
plenty of empty space—but that is a lesson for
another day! “The Snake River”—Grand Teton
National Park, USA.
fill the frame
20
Strive to develop a style which is your very own. You don’t need to trek deep
into the wild to make great images—you just need the courage to try something
different. “The Far Side”—Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina.
get off the beaten path
About Ian PlantWorld-renowned professional nature photographer, writer, and
adventurer Ian Plant has been photographing our natural world for
almost twenty years. Ian is a frequent contributor and blogger for
Outdoor Photographer Magazine, a Contributing Editor to Popular
Photography Magazine, and a monthly columnist for Landscape
Photography Magazine. Corporate and conservation clients include the
Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Apple, The Humane Society, REI, Tamron,
National Parks Conservation Association, and Southern Environmental Law
Center. Ian is the photographer/author of several dozen print and
electronic format books, including Chesapeake: Bay of Light (which
received critical acclaim from leading newspapers including the
Washington Post and Washington Times), The Ultimate Guide to Digital
Nature Photography, and Visual Flow: Mastering the Art of Composition.
Ian’s work has also appeared in a number of other books, calendars, and
magazines worldwide.