June 22 - 4 Tips for Photographing Nature’s Less Spectacular Scenes
Jun 15, 2022
Just a quick note before getting into the topic. While there might not be time to receive a print for Father's Day, take dad on the website: Don Peterson Photography and let him pick one out as his present. You know that blank wall in his den, it just begs for a print. Use dad22 at checkout for a 22% discount. Now on to the topic.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of nature photography for me is spending a significant amount of time photographing intimate landscapes, which I define simply as usually but not necessarily smaller scenes, pulled together through interesting compositions or a focus on details, colors, and patterns. For my own photography, an intimate landscape subject can be as large as this photo of rocks in Lake Superior from 100 feet above or as small as tiny plants growing along the side of the road. But regardless of scale, what you really get into is the name of the game.
Aside from the resulting photographs, I find the calming experience of wandering around and photographing intimate landscapes to be particularly relaxing. As someone with a busy mind, I seek out these moments of intense yet contemplative focus because I might not experience them otherwise. I also find that working on intimate landscapes has honed my eye for composition.
I notice so many intriguing natural features that I don’t usually notice when working on grand landscapes. I also find that my appreciation of a landscape is enhanced when I spend time getting to know a place on a more personal level. Roaming around for some time, photographing all the details I can find, helps me understand the plants, geology, and other natural features of a place. I also appreciate variety that intimate landscapes bring to my portfolio, offering a more complete view of the places I visit and photograph.
When setting out to photograph intimate landscapes, one of the common struggles seems to start with finding subjects to photograph. Below, I share a few things that will be helpful in developing an eye for intimate landscapes and improving your results. Flowers are always a good place to start. You can express your creativity by the amount of blurring of the background.
#1 Slow Down Your Pace
Based on my own experience, I think a slowing down is essential when photographing nature’s smaller scenes. While the ability to react to pop up moments is also important, taking the time to study a landscape can be helpful in creating compelling photographs.For example, wandering around a place, with no timeline, allows time for exploration, experimentation, and an opportunity to identify features that are most interesting to your eye. By going slowly, you have the time to look for details that you might not otherwise notice.
You don’t always have to be really close up to see eye catching patterns as you can see with this driftwood on Lake Superior.
Another good thing to look for are for unusual patterns like this eddy downstream of a waterfall. It takes time to identify these kinds of subjects and then photograph them, so slowing down is critical to both finding and creating images of smaller scenes like these.
#2 Strive to Notice Details
While noticing details is an important skill for any nature photographer, I think it is an essential skill to develop for all types of landscape photos.
When out in nature with your camera, look around, and don’t forget up and down. Take time to consider what you are seeing in terms of subject matter and how it might be affected by things like weather or atmospheric conditions, light, and season. Not only is the contrast striking between this fungi and the moss covered log it sits on, but the shadows add significant dimension to the photo.
One of the early videos I viewed on photography encouraged an exercise that I find fitting for this discussion: Really work an area with your camera. Try to shoot a subject from at least six different viewpoints, and you can probably do more than that. The first few will probably be easy, but the subsequent photos will require you to try new things, experiment, and look for details that you might not have otherwise noticed. This came from the first video I purchased from National Geographic.
#3 Learn to Identify Abstract Forms
The photos I have included with this article all contain quite literal subjects – like trees, waves, badlands, and many other natural subjects.
The photos also demonstrate the abstract qualities of these same subjects, like curves, lines, repeating layers and, patterns. Noticing these qualities and help you create photos that are truly unique as with the patterns to the right. They won’t be there in a few minutes, but changed to different ones. A season’s first snow on leaf nude branches gives the impression of snow spaghetti in this photo.
#4 Don’t Be Afraid To Use Your Longer Lenses
One of the best ways to seek out nature’s smaller scenes is to deploy your longer lenses. Using a telephoto lens forces you to take in a narrow field of view, helping to isolate details of a grand scene. Using your telephoto lens to scan an area allows you to zero in on things that would just blend into the background when looking at the scene on a grander scale.
If you are a newer photographer who is trying to develop your photographic eye, this kind of practice with a lens can be very helpful in identifying subjects and compositions among a grand landscape.
#5 Include All Seasons
If you want to get into macro photography of snowflakes, they make stunning photos. However, I’ve found that keeping the snow flake from melting before I can get the shot is a challenge and no, I don’t take it inside. Even outside capturing a single flake on a background that you want, like a dark blue or black, has a limited life span. But don’t let that deter you. Snow and ice combine with the environment anywhere to produce magnificent photos. Getting down and close lets you see some of the intricate patterns that mother nature conjures up in the cold.
Conclusion
You can find photogenic opportunities everywhere. You need to work the scene. Try to find more than the obvious pic. Zoom in. Get to ground level. Be sure to look all around you. And most of all TAKE YOUR TIME. Enjoy! The idea for this came from the Capture Landscapes blog by Sarah Marino. I have rewritten most of it with my ideas and all the photos are from Don Peterson Photography.