Sunday, August 24, 2008

Nature photography

Nature photography

Nature photography refers to a wide range of photography taken outdoors and devoted to displaying natural elements such as landscapes, wildlife, plants, and close-ups of natural scenes and textures. Nature photography tends to put a stronger emphasis on the aesthetic value of the photo than other photography genres, such as photojournalism and documentary photography.
Nature photographs are published in scientific, travel and cultural magazines such as National Geographic Magazine and Audubon Magazine or other more specific magazines such as Outdoor Photographer and Nature's Best Photography.

Landscape Photography

Landscape photography, also known as Landscape art, is a genre meant to show the beauty of the natural world. Most landscape photographers strive to show as little human activity as possible, ideally none, in their photos. Instead, the subjects are landforms, weather, and ambient light.
Waterfalls are especially popular, as are mountain vistas. These often call for neutral density or polarizing filters.
Landscapes are most often created with a wide angle lens (24 mm and 35 mm are especially popular) and a tripod. Small apertures (f/11 to f/22) are used to maximize depth of field. Many photographers use medium or large format systems to record as much detail as possible, although the vast majority of landscapes shot today are from digital SLRs and compact cameras.
Landscape photography has become a valuable tool to inspire environmental stewardship. Capturing the beauty of unspoiled places serves to bring dwindling wilderness areas into the public eye. Many noted landscape photographers provide images to environmental protection organizations. Noted organizations use professional and amateur photographers' work to further the preservation cause.

Wildlife Photography

Wildlife photography is devoted to capturing interesting animals in action, such as eating, fighting, or in flight. Although usually shot in the wild, game farms are also a frequent location for wildlife photography.
The techniques of wildlife photography differ greatly from those used in landscape photography. For example, in wildlife photography wide apertures are used to achieve a fast shutter speed, freeze the subject's motion, and blur the backgrounds, while landscape photographers prefer small apertures. Wildlife is also usually shot with long telephoto lenses from a great distance; the use of such telephoto lenses frequently necessitates the use of a tripod (since the longer the lens, the harder it is to handhold). Many wildlife photographers use blinds or camouflage.

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