Capturing the Beauty of Nature

Photographers have long enjoyed documenting nature’s exquisite beauty through photography, from panoramic landscapes to close-up shots of flowers and other flora. Photographing nature helps capture memories, celebrate its breathtaking splendor, and share stories about Mother Earth’s biological complexity.

Mastering nature photography takes an eye for detail. Like any type of photography, nature photography requires being familiar with your equipment and using ideal lighting conditions for each shot. Artificial light should always be preferred over natural sunlight if possible – the optimal time being an hour or so prior and post sunrise and sunset when there’s soft golden light that diffuses light rather than casting harsh shadows on subjects.

Sometimes it pays to use a longer shutter speed in order to capture nature at its finest. Running water, wind-blown trees or birds in flight all present unique photo ops that may benefit from using a slower shutter. A slower shutter can produce stunning results.

Add dimension and interest to your images by employing elements of symmetry. Young photographers often discover that arranging their subjects so as to achieve balance enhances the appeal of their photographs – this technique is known as “rule of thirds”, and can be particularly effective when photographing nature scenes.

Some photographers take beauty a step further by employing the concept of wabi-sabi, which refers to nature’s imperfections and impermanence. Alessandra D’Innella shows this concept beautifully in her image “Fallen from Paradise”, by arranging fallen leaves as sculptures to emphasize their imperfect forms yet reveal their beauty in all their imperfect forms.