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Seasonal Shooting Tips

Lesson 10 from: How to Get Started in Nature Photography

John Greengo

Seasonal Shooting Tips

Lesson 10 from: How to Get Started in Nature Photography

John Greengo

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Lesson Info

10. Seasonal Shooting Tips

Next Lesson: Compositon

Lesson Info

Seasonal Shooting Tips

So different timing of the year when are you going to go out and shoot? And before I jump into this, you can go out any time and you can get great shots but there's different things that you need to be in the mindset of looking for in different seasons, spring time. All right, so you're foliage is going to be at its freshest it's going to look really good this time of year, especially after a good rain great time to go out, polarizer sze, because that color is so good you're going to get the best color possible using it at that time. Mornings are always going to be best just things are fresh, they kind of revitalized overnight, the winds come in and they blow the sand clean up all the footprints. It just makes things easier to shoot. This is time to get the macro lens out, so if you have a macro lands, this is a good time to be using it because those details are really fresh and they're looking good. So looking for these nice, clean leaves, you know, you come back to this two months la...

ter, it's got little bug bites on it and they're kind of starting to fall over in the spring time it's going to be at its best. Of course, this is when rivers and waterfalls are going to be at their peak. I went by this waterfall a month after this, and it was just a trickle, just a trickle and it's like, wow look really nice when I was here last month and so you've got to kind of keep these things in your mindset, when's it going to be at it at its best? As I say, keep that macro lens out because there's gonna be a lot of details, they're going to look really good. All right? We're on the last throes of summer here while we're recording this and some tips on shooting in summer is so there's certain times you could get to areas that you can't normally get to the other times a year. Either they're open or they're clear of snow and other things. Uh, although it's a very busy season and so try to avoid those weekends, this is when you're most likely going to get a lot of those big landscapes this's when they're available and often at their best. And if you like to do night time shooting, this is gonna be a great time because it's not freezing out so it's much easier to spend that time outside shooting time lapses or just doing star shots. Here at mount rainier national park, wildflowers are going to be blooming in summer. You can go in august and shoot these flowers, and so there that's when they're going to be at their best. This is when the trails are free of snow here in the cascades in the olympics and it's just easier to get to these more remote areas, and they are so very long days. This was taken at eight forty five at night, so I still you know, it was a half an hour away from having dinner and getting to bed, and so you can have some very long days in the summer, which is both good and bad working in the fall time. I need to do more work in the fall. So this is this is where my personal jobs to improve my fall photos. Obviously, we're gonna have some great colors in here, and if you get a nice little frost in the morning, who that could be really nice hit out after a good rain or a good frost is going to be a great time to see some details out there once again. We're having a lot of color, and this is where we want to use that polarizer again and if you're trying to hit that color. In my opinion, it's better to be a little earlier than to be a little late if you're late half believes they're off the tree doesn't look so good it's rather having at least some color in those trees while you're shooting him using the sun at low angles. This is when more people have gone back to school and they're not on vacation and there's fewer people out in the parks. It's easier to get teo, and in many cases, you're getting a little bit more interesting weather, and so you're you may end up with bad weather, but you have a good chance of hitting something interesting. At least I think one of my favorite new times to shoot is wintertime this a great time to try shooting black and white whole different genre, but it could look really good with blob with winter photographs, and so you want to get out there right after the snowfall, which means sometimes you need to get out there very early in the morning, before the tire tracks and footprints have covered things up. Be aware I'm a runner, and so I have sometimes when I go out, I think about what would I feel like, what closed I need if I'm running and I kind of forget when I'm taking pictures, I'm just standing around, and so you have to dress extra warm it's not like you're walking or your hiking or doing anything more. You're sometimes just standing there for an hour and think how cold you would be at twenty five degrees just standing there, and so you know, you're not going to shoot good pictures if you are uncomfortable and unhappy with where you are and what you're doing. So you gotta dress whatever necessary to feel comfortable. We have a question sure, your snow photography would you prefer the polarizer or like I prefer, like a neutral density? Uh probably be using the polarizer for sunny conditions neutral density might be split neutral density at sunrise and sunset. I wouldn't use a straight neutral density. I would explain all that, but we don't have time watch my fundamentals of digital photography. I go into that for all section, for the upcoming class, so I took a recent trip to yellowstone, which is a great place to go in the winner had a lot of fun shooting the trees and the snow, just a beautiful environment to be at once again, working with that son with a very low low on the horizon and the snow can just transform the landscape, it can just completely take something that you would never shoot in the summertime and make it a very interesting photograph in the wintertime.

Class Materials

bonus material with purchase

Nature and Landscape Course Notes

Ratings and Reviews

Danette Zak
 

I got this course for free thru View Bug and John Greengo is an amazing teacher. He explains nature photography with a sense of ease and he really makes you want to get out there and keep trying to get THE photo, that the day you go out there may not be the right day or right time, but to keep trying and you'll get it! He also encourages you to get out there to the same places other great photographers have been and make it your own, to get your own experiences. Yes, I recommend this course and any courses he instructs, I hope to take another one of his courses in the near future!

a Creativelive Student
 

Very instructive! And John Greengo is a great teacher. He knows very well how to go deeply without putting you in a difficult situation. I have followed almost all of his courses, and this one is one of the best! Don't hesitate if you are a beginner or even and advanced photographer interested in Nature photography.

Vilius Senkus
 

Perfect class, loved it. Short, concentrated, nice examples, pasionate speaker. Just want to grab my cam and go apply new knowledges.

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