تنوع الأشكال الطبيعية .. الطبيعة .. كيف تلتقط أجمل الصور .. كتاب التصوير الضوئي

Diversity of natural forms .. Nature .. How to take the most beautiful pictures .. Photography book

Nature

Diversity of natural forms

Some people devote their lives to studying the diversity of beetle species or studying one species of flower. It must be said that these fields are very broad and that the photographer has a subject of study that he will never be able to fully discover. Photographing nature is an attractive activity because it is never the same at different times. Try to understand why the scene of each tree and each leaf changes according to the point of view and the light.

With his choice and his feeling, the photographer shows the beauty of nature and invites the viewer to share it with him: Take, for example, the diversity of compositions and drawings. You will find beautiful examples in the contrasting faces of poisonous and edible mushrooms seen from below, in the shells of a pine cone, in an ear of wheat and its contrast between shiny grains and hard ribs, flat and protruding leaves and a woody stem.

On the beach, erosion and corrosion leave drawings in the sand and carve rocks. Dry clay cracks into a thousand intertwining lines, and fuchsias, mosses and algae create a beautiful contrast with rocks. There are intricate designs that adorn minerals, fossils and shells. Pebbles just a few centimetres below the water change shape by refraction and their smooth surface is composed of reflections in the sun.

To photograph objects underwater, you must adopt a vertical point of view to reduce surface reflections. Wood floating on the surface of the water often has enormous and striking shapes, as do tree trunks washed by the waves.

All trees have natural beauty, whether they are young and tender or majestic and magnificent, over a hundred years old. But each tree offers special qualities: the shape of the leaf, the structure of the bark and the general colour. In winter, when the trees are bare and their shadows fall towards the grey sky, they create intertwining lines. Alternatively, you can focus on a single part and detail, for example, a transparent leaf that lets the light filter through its soft veins.

When photographing cultivated flowers, choose a perfect flower without defects. As for wild nature, sometimes minor defects add importance and realism to the image. This realism is what will give value to your photos.

Light that reveals details A wonderful ventral model of a parasitic fungus on an apple tree. The image was taken with the help of reflectors to give additional details in the shadows.

Hasselblad Long Burn Lens and Blower 1/30 sec 5.6 Ectachrom HS

- Underwater Nature

Corals on the reefs of the Great Barrier Reef of Australia
The use of a box with a glass bottom is the only method used to photograph underwater without a specially equipped device. For images taken from the surface of the water, you can reduce reflections by using a black umbrella that acts as a screen.

Leicaflex 1/30 sec 5.6 Ectachrom HS 30

- Contrast between drawing and composition

Rocks covered with blackberries at night.
Leicaflex 1/250 sec 8 Ectachrome HS

- Abstract natural forms

The lines, texture, gradient colours and intense shadows reveal the woody nature of these bamboo rods. Leica M2
1/125 sec 16 Ectachrome EX

- Environment and season

Epping Forest near London in autumn. The image was taken in the early morning when the soft diffused light reveals the tree trunks and their twisted roots. The calibre on the gnarled tree on the first level suggests the age of this beech forest.

Leicaflex 1/125 sec 8 Ectachrome EX

- Selecting part of the group

The angle of light, the intensity of shadows and the contrast of colours set this red maple tree on fire. Pointing the instrument at a specific surface reveals the beauty of the tree even more strikingly than if the whole was framed.
Leicaflex 1/125 sec 11 Ectachrome HS