INDISPENSABLE 20 PHOTO IAN PLANT TIPS
INDISPENSABLE20PHOTO
IAN PLANTTIPS
20 Indispensable Photo Tipsby Ian Plant
Copyright © 2013
All rights reserved. This book, and all of the photographs and written text contained therein, are the intellec-
tual property of the author and are protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. No part of this book
may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the prior written permission of the author.
Author: Ian Plant
Publisher: Dreamscapes
Editor: Chris Flack
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My mission is to educate, inspire, and entertain others in the art of nature photography. So I make my
books practical, informative, fun to read, and pack them with plenty of delicious eye candy.
This eBook introduces you to many important concepts in nature photography. The ideas in this eBook are
covered in greater depth on my blog and in other books and video tutorials for sale on my website; to
delve deeper into how to improve your photography, visit the or my .
Enjoy the book—you'll be taking better photos in no time!
Ian Plant
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Twenty photos. Twenty tips. Simple as that.
World-renowned professional nature photographer and writer Ian Plant 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. Ian’s work also appears in many other
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INDISPENSABLE20PHOTO
IAN PLANTTIPS
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 colorful light striking
the clouds, as is the case with the image to the left.
“Los Cuernos”—Torres del Paine National Park, Chile.
Canon 5DII, 45mm, polarizer filter, 2-stop graduated
neutral density filter, ISO 200, f/11, 0.4 seconds.
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 nasty lens flare from the setting sun just outside the image frame. My
solution? Use the flare creatively. Selecting a small aperture, I created a radiating burst
of light framing the lone tree in the meadow. Whenever a technical or artistic problem
arises, find a way to turn it to your advantage. “Light is Life”—Mt. Rainier National
Park, USA. Canon 5DII, 37mm, ISO 100, f/16, 0.4 seconds.
turn obstacles into opportunities
It is important to wait for the moment
when your subject does something
interesting; stretching its head, yawn-
ing, biting—or as is the case with this
sea turtle, 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. Canon Powershot
S100 with Fisheye Fix Underwater
Housing and Fix UWL-28 Fisheye Wet
Mount Conversion Lens, ISO 200, f/4,
1/320 second.
3wait for the decisive moment
Nothing demands our 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 fore-
ground to background. Leading elements encour-
age 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. Canon 5DIII, 14mm, ISO 100,
f/11, 2.5 seconds.
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
interesting. If it points, for example, outside of the
image frame, then you’re not going to excite view-
ers, but rather confuse them.
Although humans perceive the passage of time, help you capture a new perspective on reality,
cameras can record time in ways our eyes can- and show the world in an unexpected way.
not. Moving elements gradually lose distinct- “Moonscape”—Adirondack State Park, USA.
ness and form, becoming abstract and artistic Canon 1DsII, 12mm, ISO 100, f/11, 17 minutes.
blurs and brush strokes. Long exposures can
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, cir-
cles, triangles, curves, and other simple, powerful shapes to
create boldly graphic and visually engaging images—such
as this curve created by the interaction of shadow and light.
“Shadows and Sand”—Death Valley National Park, USA. Canon
5DII, 50mm, ISO 50, f/11, 1/15 second.
6 focus on shapes
Reflections are a great way to add some extra style
to your nature images. Still water often works best,
although rippled or moving water can create
abstract reflections. Reflection images often work
well with a 50/50 split between the subject and its
reflection; sometimes, however, other variations
make more sense. Consider photographing only
the reflection itself and add a hint of mystery. For
the image to the left, my position was such that the
reflection (at first glance, at least) doesn’t quite
seem to match the birds above, adding an eerie
quality to this photograph. “The Gathering”—Ding
Darling National Wildlife Refuge, USA. Canon 5DIII,
500mm, ISO 800, f/9, 1/500 second.
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 interest over time. The key to
success is to also 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. Canon 5DII, 14mm, polarizer filter, ISO 400, f/11, 0.5 seconds.
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. “The Politics
of Distraction”—Tambopata
National Reserve, Peru. Canon
5DIII, 500mm +1.4x, ISO 800, f/5.6,
1/200 second.
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 lead
the eye deeper into the scene, and then attract
the eye back to the anchor, staring 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, making it hard to tear
their eyes away. “Virgin Waters”—Chugach State
Park, USA. Canon 5DII, 21mm, polarizer filter, ISO
100, f/11, 0.8 seconds.
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 experi-
menting with flash, and look 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. Canon 20D,
500mm, flash, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/4 second.
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.
Don’t just zoom in tight—consider taking a wider
view to provide context and show your subjects
interacting with their environment. For this
image, I didn’t just want a picture of elephants;
rather, I wanted a picture that said “Africa.” So I
zoomed out to show the surrounding landscape,
including the characteristic tree on the left. The
result doesn’t just merely record a moment—it
tells a story as well. “The Spirit of Africa”—Etosha
National Park, Namibia. Canon 5DIII, 70mm, ISO
6400, f/2.8, 1/60 second.
12provide context
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 a
few elements: the floating icebergs in the foreground and the
radiating pattern of twilight clouds in the sky above. Any-
thing less, and the image would have appeared empty and
static. Anything more, and the impact of the moment would
have been lost. “Time Stands Still”—Jökulsárlón, Iceland. Canon
5DIII, 16mm, polarizer filter, 1-stop graduated neutral density
filter, ISO 400, f/8, 82 seconds.
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
figuratively—you can greatly improve your wild-
life photographs. 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 con-
tact 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. “Standoff”—Lake Clark National Park, USA.
Canon 5DII, 400mm, ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1/400 second.
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, try 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. Canon
5DII, 17mm, 10-stop neutral density filter, ISO 200, f/18, 30 seconds.
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 fore-
ground 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 foreground rocks with a wide
angle lens. I wanted to exaggerate their relative
size and importance; by making the cobbles more
prominent, they are able to visually compete with
the colorful sunrise and other elements in the
background. “Eventide”—Acadia National Park,
USA. Canon 5DIII, 17mm, 2-stop graduated neutral
density filter, polarizer filter, ISO 400, f/11, 5 seconds.
get low . . . get close . . . get in your face!16
17shoot twilightThe colors of twilight can be otherworldly. Moving elements (such as clouds and water)
blur during long exposures and a colorful, soft light bathes the landscape. Twilight
photography means shooting on the edge of light, requiring long exposures. Adjust
your ISO to lengthen or shorten exposure times if necessary. “Ancient Portal”—Isle of
Lewis, Scotland. Canon 5DIII, 17mm, polarizer filter, ISO 100, f/11, 30 seconds.
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 opposite. Backlighting presents some
unique technical challenges, but the results are
well worth the effort. Backlighting can often be
dramatic, creating striking and graphic images
which attract attention from viewers. The
impact of backlighting can be especially power-
ful when the subject is in the light and the back-
ground is in shadow. Here, I photographed this
bison rolling around in backlit dust at sun-
set—with a very evocative (some might say
demonic) result. “The Beast”—Yellowstone
National Park, USA. Canon 5DII, 500mm lens, ISO
400, f/5.6, 1/1250 second.
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
elements to nicely fill the frame. For example,
for the image to the right, there is an even distri-
bution 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.
Canon 5DIII, 61mm, 2-stop graduated neutral den-
sity filter, ISO 100, f/11, 1/30 second.
fill the frame
20You don’t need to trek deep into the wild to make
great images (although there is certainly nothing
wrong with doing so)—you just need the courage
to try something different. Don’t merely follow in
the tripod holes of the photographers who have
come before you. Strive to develop a style which
is your very own, and never be afraid to try new
places and subjects. Dare to dream big, and big
things will come to you. “Dawn Greeting”—Los
Glaciares National Park, Argentina. Canon 5DIII,
24mm, ISO 400, f/6.3, 1/640 second.
get off the beaten path
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