Becoming a good nature photographer is more than just stepping out the back door and shooting at what you see. It not only takes the right equipment, but it takes the ability to look beyond what a subject is suppose to look like and think about what it might look like.
Ralph Cevenger is a photographer who is also an instructor. His book, Photographing Nature reflects his nature photography course at the Books institute. This isn't a book about Photoshop or DSLR's, but rather it is a book about how to create images of nature that you will be proud of displaying. It is about learning how to do things differently than you do now. This book is 240 pages and is divided into 14 chapters.
Chapter One, "Play Nice," covers how to interact with nature in a positive, non-invasive manor. This covers ethics, equipment, and how to become part of the greater environment solution. Chapter Two, "You Need More Stuff?" examines the fact that with nature photography you do need the right stuff to get many shots. Chances are that you would happier shooting the grizzly bear with 400mm telephoto than with the 50mm portrait lens. Here you will examine the kind of equipment that is needed for nature photography.
Chapter Three, "It's All About the Light," looks at the qualities of light, light enhancing equipment like reflectors and diffusers, and types of lighting. Chapter Four, "Not Everything's Black-and-White," describes the colors of nature and the colors of light. You will look at white balance and its affect on color as well as how lighting can influence color.
Chapter Five, "Flash! And You're in Control," shows you how to use your flash to reflect what you saw, not just what is there. In this chapter you will look at how to use your light to enhance natures light to bring out more in your images. Chapter Six, "Wet-belly Photography," is about getting down to earth in your photography and photographing the many small things that are under foot. These include flowers, bugs, and other small creatures.
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