Post Your Best Nature Shots!

I recently got my first SLR camera; a Nikon D3000, I have been taking a photo's when I have time. Any thoughts and advice are welcome.


A picture of one of the gladiolus blooming in my backyard after a late shower


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I'll be honest I took this picture for my mother who loves bee's


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I took this picture are our city's nature preserve. I think this is one of the photo's I got off the path which I found out a day later I am apparently I am allergic to poison ivy. Spent the next 2 weeks itching like crazy. I like this photo because of all the different colors & textures on the cut tree trunk.


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Blue Ridge Parkway outside of Asheville, NC, using a rented Sigma 8-16 and my backup XS body to shoot at f/16 with less diffraction worries.


16mm, ISO 100, f/16, 1/80s.


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Hi Lancer,


Welcome to the Forums and Congratulations on your new DSLR!


I like the dew on the flower in the 1st shot. There is some noise in the green background of the 1st shot, that is not noticed in the 2nd shot. See how the green background is much cleaner and creamier in the 2nd shot. Some noise can easily be removed in post-processing. Maybe you could get rid of that shriveled up white leaf in the background of the 1st one (11 O'clock position). Also consider raising the exposure a very tiny amount in the 1st shot, but try not to blow out the whites. Also, keep practicing with DOF (apertures) and compositions. In the 1st shot, perhaps a narrower aperture to increase your DOF would draw the viewers eye deeper into the flower, but some of this is personal preference. You also need enough light to do this and since there is some noise in the photo, perhaps this wasn't an option for you.


Are you shooting in RAW or Jpeg? You may want to shoot in both formats in the beginning, this way you will have the RAW file to edit later on when you get more proficient. Play around with the different camera modes, Aperture priority for stills and Shutter Priority for Moving subjects is a good way to practice. Also learn how to adjust the ISO or try Auto ISO, if your camera has that.


If you are looking for additional feedback, then I would encourage you to list your lens, as well as the EXIF data for the shot. If you use a tripod then you could mention that too.


Nicely done! Good Luck and keep posting!


Rich

Beaver River Falls on the North Shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota.


http://www.trowski.com/files/2011-07..._5253-Edit.jpg


Canon 5DII with EF 16-35mm f/2.8L @ 35mm


First exposure - 1.3 sec @ f/16 ISO 50 with 4-stop ND


Second exposure - 1/20 sec @ f/8 ISO 100


Wind was pushing the trees around, so I had to make two exposures to capture the movement of the water and another to freeze the motion of the trees. I then blended the two in photoshop by layering the short exposure on top of the long exposure and used a pixel mask to reveal the silky water of the long exposure.

At thekingb,


At f/16 you actually have more difraction than something wider, such as f/8 or f/11. This scene doesn

Thanks John. Great point about the foreground. I figured my XS at 10mp could handle f/16 better than my 7D, but I guess it doesn

I

Diffraction is always there, you just don't see it or it's less obvious at lower resolutions. You don't have to use a wider aperture because of higher resolution, if you need the DOF then use it. If not use something that hits the sweet spot on your lens, generally around f/8-f/11. Diffractionbecomes much more obvious past f/16 even at lower resolutions.


John.

A few more pictures from my trip to see family in Idaho.


We spotted this young buck on the way into a favorite spot in central Idaho. 7D, 100-400L @ 400, 1/320, f/5.6, ISO 200


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A fire had passed through the forest several years ago: 7D, 15-85 @ 15 mm, 1/640, f/4.5, ISO 100, CPL


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In the distance you can see entire ridges that burned, and a few areas that were spared. Where I was standing also burned. 15 mm, 1/320, f/4.5, ISO 100 CPL


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Another day. A line of thunderstorms moved through. 7D, 15-85 @ 15 mm, 1/1250, f/4.5, ISO 100


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Thanks for viewing, Brant

Here is a couple of my latest


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