الطبيعة .. كيف تلتقط أجمل الصور .. كتاب التصوير الضوئي

Nature.. How to take the most beautiful pictures.. Photography book

Nature

Wherever you look, you encounter a scene from natural life, so there is an abundant amount of possible pictures, whether in the city or in the countryside. All the scenes you take represent nature in one way or another, especially in a rural scene where the land, sky and water are the most important elements. But the phrase (nature photography) has a more specific meaning: the photography of animals and plants. The photographic machine contributes to making us feel strongly all the manifestations of natural life. By observing the effects of erosion on rocks and sand, by observing the twisted grasses and the leaves of miniature trees, we feel the passing of time, imprinted on every page of the great book of nature. We do not need to go far to find natural subjects: even the big cities retain their share of natural life - trees, flowers, plants, birds, small animals - not to mention zoos and botanical gardens. The concept of rhythm is inseparable from nature photography, a regular and clear rhythm with sometimes stronger touches. Most plants, for example, represent a balance between lines, surfaces, textures and colors, but there is a different balance for each of these plants. If you feel the natural rhythm in your subject, you have an idea of ​​​​the way in which your image should be composed: the thorn has an aggressive and sharp rhythm, while the willow has a gentle and fluid rhythm. The return of the material is very important: think of the difference between the bark and leaves of a tree and the fur and scales of a cat. Fish. Look at nature with the eye of the whole and remember that the part is more expressive than the whole.

When photographing animals, your technique for taking pictures is determined by the behaviour of the animals. Many animals are afraid, which prompts you to use fast film and a long-focal lens with a fast shutter speed. A camera that makes your picture silent will avoid frightening the animals and arousing their attention. The best way to photograph predators and birds is to use a trap, a type of tent, which you will find a full description of on pages 148 and 149. Photographing wild animals requires perseverance and patience. Note that there are many occasions when you can take animal scenes without using a trap and without long waiting times and long and tiring travel: there are many things in zoos. In addition, most people have a pet that makes excellent subjects for photography because it is not afraid of the camera. Animal behaviour is unpredictable, and failure is often frequent in this field, which is another reason to appreciate and evaluate a completely successful picture.

Take advantage of special conditions

If you cannot remove the barrier of the cage, it is better to include this element in the composition of your picture. Patience is required to capture a beautiful impression and good expression of the animal while maintaining a clean and clear whole. In order not to provoke its caution or fear, move away from it and use a long focal length to work from a distance.

Leicaflex telephoto lens 1/250 sec aperture 16 Ford HP4

Exploiting the depth of field

This deer was in a garden surrounded by walls. Using a focal length of 500 mm, I excluded the barrier by stopping two meters away from it and focusing on the animal that was twenty meters away from me. Thus, the barrier is nothing but a filter with little transmission and is not disturbing. You feel that this scene was taken in nature. A large aperture (relative to the focal length) to limit the depth of field to the minimum possible. If I changed the aperture to 11/F, the barrier would have appeared and the last or back surface would have appeared as well.

Leicaflex 1/500 sec 5.6 sec 1/4

Large Surface Limits

The problem with most captive animals is that they are always behind bars, a fence or a glass panel. You can overcome this by getting the camera as close as possible to the barrier as I did with the fence in front of the rabbit. The rings become more and more visible as you move away from the back surface. If you could take the picture with the camera exactly parallel to the fence with a large aperture for the screen, the mesh would disappear.

Hasselblad 1/125 sec 8 sec 1/4

Using a Small Aperture

Another way to avoid the fence image is to make a small aperture for the screen and take the picture through one of the rings, provided the subject is at a suitable distance. I used a long-focal lens with an aperture of f/11 to take this

hornbill in a zoo.

Leicaflex 1/60 sec 11 sec 1/4

Large Aperture