Outdoor Photo Gear » Nature

Keep Your Eyes Open For Cool Stuff

Mike Moats — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:04:43 +0000

If you spend enough time out in mother nature, she will occasionally come up with some cool stuff. I’m always on the look out for those unique opportunity to capture something special.

I was shooting ice abstracts on Stony Creek Lake, and found this outline of a ducks head in the ice.

I saw this face, two eyes and a nose in a flowing river. Some say the nose could be a trunk of an elephant.

Know Your Subject

Steve Gettle — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:02:15 +0000

Whenever I am teaching nature photography one of the things I really emphasize is that, in order to be a better photographer, it really helps to be a better naturalist. The more you know about your subject the more likely you are to be able to predict its whereabouts and actions. The images you see here prove [...]

Introducing Wimberley

Chris Klapheke — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 17:16:58 +0000

In light of this country’s holiday weekend, we are proud to bring you products from our friends at Wimberley—a company whose products are made right here in the USA, and whose products set the bar for the highest standard worldwide. Photographers all over the world know and respect Wimberley products for being the pinnacle in their [...]

Five Ways Photography Changed My Life

Bret Edge — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 14:00:05 +0000

There was a time, many years ago, when my world revolved around being an outdoor athlete. I was a rock climber, trail runner, backpacker, mountain biker, long distance hiker, canyoneer, and kayaker. Sometimes I would combine them all when doing adventure races. I spent most of my free time training. I was obsessed with going far and getting there fast. I spent a lot of time in the outdoors, but it went by so quickly that I rarely had a moment to enjoy a sunset or notice the coyote yipping in the distance.

And then it happened. I fell in love with nature photography. I gave up adventure racing. I spent more time photographing and less time training. I stopped counting miles traveled each week and started counting rolls of film exposed. Everything just sort of slowed down.

Looking back I realize that photography has taught me some valuable lessons. I’ve learned that when you don’t train on a daily basis the size of your waistband increases. Actually, I’ll blame that on age. More importantly, I’ve learned a few things that are helpful to me as a member of the human race and I think they’ve made me a better husband, brother, friend and an all-around better person.

Treat Nature How You Want Nature To Treat You!

Scott Wyden — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 14:32:25 +0000

Pardon me, after my last nature walk along a public trail, I have a little rant!

As photographers we might tend to look, shoot and keep moving. It is very common for many people to do so. However, sometimes we need to step back and look at nature's situation. We need to think about what is happening. What we see in front of us. Be proactive.

The plastic garbage bag on the ground or in the tree. Can you grab it and throw it away? If you can then please take the effort. A simple plastic bag to us can be deadly to a tiny animal.

Maybe you're walking through the trail and see a tree that carved with names and shapes. That can be a great photograph! But don't carve in it yourself. I don't care if I sound like a "tree hugger". I am one! Some things we just shouldn't do.

There are many ways to phrase our relationship with nature:

Winter Ice Abstracts

Mike Moats — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 16:53:32 +0000

When December rolls in the cold weather here in the north I start getting excited to shoot abstracts in ice. The first ice is when these abstracts form. I find small streams in the woods where I live and follow the edges in search of this interesting artwork. It happens in the first ice formations at the edges of the streams. As the ice starts to thicken you lose the patterns. I shoot these using a longer focal length macro lens like the Tamron 180mm. You will be shooting from the bank and need the extra reach of the longer focal length. I shoot these in the highest f/stops to bring in all the details. Very cool stuff.