Used for shooting small subjects, macro photography makes small objects appear larger than life. Generally, a lens within the range of 70 to 200mm f/2.8 is preferred for forest photography, as that combination best re-creates the way our brain visually processes object-to-background relationships. Use a telephoto lens longer than 50mm to produce the best forest images possible with less background blur. This lens’s physical length is shorter than the focal length, which creates a magnifying, zoom-like effect. Most of the time, the 16mm to 55mm works pretty well in those kinds of situations,” says Davidson. “I’ll always bring some sort of wide-angle lens. Wide-angles allow more of a scene to be photographed without moving farther from the subject.
You don’t want to be in a situation where some good light is happening, but you don’t know the settings of your camera,” Davidson says.Ī staple of landscape photography, this lens has a significantly smaller focal length than a standard lens. “The first thing you need to do is get familiar with the camera you bought. Shoot with RAW images to make your edits easier in post-processing.
#Forest backdrops for photography manual#
Practice in manual mode, try out different ISO settings, and more to learn what you like. Get familiar with all aspects of your camera and camera settings before you start to shoot. You’ll need certain gear to capture wooded areas in all their glory.
If you don’t have the right light, fog and mist work well to give your pictures an authentic feel.Įquipment you need for forest photography. Light can enhance the sense of depth, but remember that it can blow out images too. You can even use the dark shadows made from sunrays as leading lines. Use leading lines, created by natural paths and fallen trees, to set your scene and direct the viewer’s attention to your main subject in the right circumstances. Shoot up at branches in the canopy of the forest to capture a bigger-than-life feeling. Find a fascinating stream or unique tree trunk that can be the focal point of your photo. The forest is the visually noisy hub of an ecosystem, so spot segments of interest within it. While a landscape can look beautiful in its own right, try and find an element in your forest that sets your scene apart. Take advantage of the warm, diffused light it provides for beautiful forest images. To achieve the best results, return at a different time of day, like early morning or around sunset (called the golden hour) when the sun is low in the sky. Plus, sunny days can make a potentially chaotic scene in the trees with bright beams of sunlight and dark shadows leading to too high a contrast in your forest photos. Unlike some scenes that look best on a sunny morning, forest pictures work nicely when it’s gray, cloudy, or even rainy, as it can streamline the scene and add a more intimate, personal feel. If you can’t get out for a longer research hike, you can find inspiration from landscape photos on social media or via the Discover feed of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.įorest photography is different from other landscape photography in that forests are far more forgiving when it comes to light. Go beyond your local woods and visit a national park for a fresh perspective and more subjects to capture. If you capture an image during the summer, return to that location to take pictures of the autumn leaves. Explore unfamiliar areas of the forest to get a fresh perspective on your photos. “I’ll take a mental note and often return under different lighting conditions.”ĭon’t be afraid to get off the beaten path, literally and figuratively. “A lot of scouting is just going out for a hike and remembering, ‘This location has potential,’” says photographer Patricia Davidson. If you can, drop a pin via a GPS app to help you find those exact locations again. Highlight areas that have interesting compositions for reference. Take notes of the weather conditions, lighting (at different times of day), wildlife, and anything else that might factor in to your forest pictures. If you want to create a stunning forest image and find serenity within the scenic anarchy, follow these forest photography tips to plant a seed of inspiration for your next project.īefore you go out and shoot, research and - if possible - visit the location you want to shoot. They are made up of different elements that can be hard to capture, from sticks to stumps and rocks, leaves, rivers, and moss. It may seem simple, but it’s a unique and challenging type of photography to learn and master.įorests are considered visually messy. A subset of both landscape photography and nature photography, forest photography is, as it sounds, pictures of wooded areas.