There’s something incredibly artistic and intriguing about black and white photographs. When taken correctly, these pictures often carry intensity, focus, and an almost otherworldly beauty. Black and white photographs can convey silence and thoughtfulness, which makes them very appealing. However, it’s important to use the right techniques when you take these images.

#1 Focus on Contrast

Dramatic black and white photographs have a stark contrast between the blacks and whites. Many photographers deliberately set black and white areas of the photograph at 100%, which creates a sharp contrast in the picture. That’s what catches the audience’s attention immediately when they look at that picture. It also increases the drama and intensity of the image, creating more impact.

It’s also important to keep both the white space and the black space in the picture completely clean, with only the subtle gradient that showcases the real texture of the subject being photographed. You can achieve all of this through careful editing.

#2 Exposure

Every photographer must understand how to handle exposure. If you know when to overexpose or underexpose, you’ll be able to highlight features and bright out subtleties. Exposure is a key ingredient in black and white photography because you deal with lights and shadows and not colours. If you set your camera to overexpose, the bright areas in frame will appear cleaner and more vivid.

For example, an overexposed picture of the sea in bright sunlight will remove most of the texture of the sea surface but emphasise the play of sunlight on it. If you underexpose the same scene, the texture of the sea will stand out and add dimension but underexposure will take away some of the brightness.

#3 Balance is Important

Balance is an important aspect of any photograph because you want to maintain flow and ensure there’s harmony in the picture. Of course, some professionals deliberately create disharmony in an image to disturb the viewer and illicit strong feelings. However, that only works for specific subjects. In most pictures, you need to maintain a good balance between the dark and light.

Balance doesn’t mean that the dark and light should be present in equal amounts. They should play off each other well to create a dramatic shot. For example, a small dusting of bright stars against a pitch black sky can be stunning if the balance between the stars and sky is just right.

If the blackness overwhelms the stars completely and they appear to be just a few white spots, the picture will be uninspiring. However, if the balance between the two is just right and the cluster of stars is illuminated well enough, their brightness will emphasise the intense darkness of the sky while the darkness will highlight their glow.

#4 Shapes and Textures

Colours add dimension and depth to a picture. Without them, you need to create depth and dimension with textures and shapes. If you don’t do this, the picture will look flat and lifeless, so it won’t appeal to anyone. When you compose the frame of the shot, take some time to understand the scenery and determine what can be used to lead the audience’s eye and become the focus. The intension is to create flow and movement in the photograph so it looks alive instead of being bland.

If you have a passion for African wildlife, nature or travel photography and would love to go on a specialised small-number, professional African photo safari, please get in touch with Michael Snedic at WildNature Photo Expeditions. You can call him on 0408 941 965 or fill in this Contact Form and he will get back to you ASAP.

Taking pictures out in the rain can be quite difficult and requires a considerable amount of skill and effort. Rain makes things even more difficult, even though it adds an element of beauty and challenge to your photographs. It can be very exciting to take pictures of wildlife and landscapes in the rain because the resultant pictures are often unique in their own way. Unfortunately, if your camera isn’t fully weather-sealed, rain can also damage your sensitive camera equipment and render it useless. I recommend that you consider the following tips to ensure your equipment is safe and dry.

#1 Protect Yourself First

Before you purchase products that will help you protect your camera, get some waterproof clothing to protect yourself from the rain. There are many manufacturers that provide clothes specifically designed for nature photographers. This rain gear (such as breathable Gortex) can be a little pricey but its worth the splurge, as it keeps you warm and comfortable.

#2 Rain Sleeves

Rain sleeves are simple and effective. Most of these sleeves come in universal sizes so they are able to accommodate lenses of all size. The rain sleeve closes around the viewfinder and has drawstrings to ensure that the sleeve protects the camera from the rain.

#3 Storm Jacket Cover

Portability is always a big concern for wildlife/landscape photographers because they can’t always lug around heavy rain gear. The storm jacket cover is an ideal solution for that because it can fit into a small-sized holder and is made from water-repellent fabric. You can remove this from the small case and place it on your camera in no time, which ensures that your camera isn’t exposed to moisture for too long.

#4 Carry Cleaning Equipment

It’s important to remove any moisture from your camera equipment as quickly as you can. A good cleaning kit will help you remove any drops of water or excess moisture from the surface quickly. Moisture can ruin the picture quality, especially if it’s present in and around the lens. Use the soft cloth from the kit to wipe off the moisture and drops of rain during your shoot.

#5 Keep an Eye on the Weather Conditions

Moisture and water has a way of seeping through the cracks and crevasses so sometimes the rain jackets/sleeves and umbrellas just aren’t enough. You should keep an eye on the weather report to determine to know what kind of conditions you can expect during your shoot. If the weather report warns of heavy showers or storms, it would be a good idea to stay indoors and cancel the day’s excursion. No amount of protection and rain gear will keep your camera completely moisture-free during a heavy rainstorm, so it’s better to be safe than sorry in this case!

If you have a passion for African wildlife, nature or travel photography and would love to go on a specialised small-number, professional African photo safari, please get in touch with Michael Snedic at WildNature Photo Expeditions. You can call him on 0408 941 965 or fill in this Contact Form and he will get back to you ASAP.

Macro photography allows you to capture images with minute detail. In this type of photography, every pattern and texture stands out and captures your attention immediately. While great macro pictures can be stunning to look at, they require some practice and skill. Below are some tips that photographers can use to help them achieve great macro photographs.

#1 Equipment

Owning some decent equipment will help you to capture great macro images. Here are a few suggestions:

• A macro lens that has a focal length of anywhere between 50mm to 200mm. The longer the focal length, the further away you can be from
• A sturdy, good-quality tripod to keep your camera and lens steady. Carbon fibre tripods are often sturdy but not as heavy as metal ones
• A remote or cable release to minimise camera movement. Camera shake can cause movement that can cause blurry images.
• A macro clamp, if you intend to shoot pictures of flowers and leaves. It will keep the subject steady and can be clamped on your tripod leg.
• A macro flash or LED ring light, to help you add light when hand-holding and shooting an narrow apertures (i.e. f16 or f22)

#2 Learn How to Focus

How you focus can alter the picture completely and highlight different elements of the subject. If you focus properly, you’ll be able to capture exquisite details and textures in your photograph. I try and use manual focus for all of my macro shots, especially when using a tripod. Manual focus can take a bit of practise but well worth the effort.

When hand-holding your camera, auto focus is recommended, especially for moving subjects.

#3 Depth of Field

This is one of the most important aspects of macro photography. You need to decide which parts of the subject you want to highlight and focus on. This would allow you to choose what you want to blur and what you want to bring into focus. For example, if you want to take a picture of bees hovering around a flower, you need to decide whether you want to focus on the bee or the flower.

By manipulating the depth of field, you can focus on the bee and make the flower, or any other background, relatively indistinct. The background will still be there and you’ll still see the entire picture, but the focus would be on the texture, colouring, and movement of the bee.

#4 The Importance of Aperture

Depending on what aperture you use, you can completely change the look of your macro photo. Smaller aperture settings will give you more depth of field while larger settings will give you smaller depth of field.

You can control aperture by choosing the Aperture Priority mode on your camera. The device will still adjust for exposure automatically in this mode. If you want control over exposure, use exposure compensation when using Aperture Priority. Alternatively, use manual mode for full control of your aperture and exposure.

Try to take multiple pictures from different angles during your photography session. Often it’s the angle you don’t expect that turns out to be the best composition.

If you have a passion for African wildlife, nature or travel photography and would love to go on a specialised small-number, professional African photo safari, please get in touch with Michael Snedic at WildNature Photo Expeditions. You can call him on 0408 941 965 or fill in this Contact Form and he will get back to you ASAP.

Photography has become a very popular hobby, particularly in these past few years, mainly because of sophisticated digital cameras. Amateur photographers can now take interesting shots because most camera settings make it easier to get decent results. However, there are times when the overall quality of the pictures that people take aren’t always as good as people want them to be, and this is especially true of wildlife photography. If you want to get the best photographs on your wildlife photo tour, these are the things you should take into consideration:

#1 Get Comfortable with Your Camera

Professional photographers handle their cameras almost instinctively. They’re completely in tune with their equipment and are familiar with all the settings and strengths of the device. This allows them to focus on their subject instead of their camera settings and it can help them take some wonderful shots. Before you go on a photo tour, take some time to familiarise yourself with the settings and characteristics of the camera. Here are some tips worth thinking about:

• The minimum shutter speed required for hand-holding larger lenses (it is generally recommended to have a shutter speed equal to, or higher, than your focal length)
• Different focus modes needed for different situations. For example, the continuous focus mode is required for capturing birds-in-flight and other movement.
• The extent to which you can push the ISO settings before ‘noise’ creeps in. This will depend on the camera you own, as each sensor will show up noise at different ISO settings

#2 Follow Instincts But Also Consider the Rules

One of the most important photography rules is the rule-of-thirds. Using this rule, you need to visualise a grid of three by three and position your subject accordingly in the optimal position. Such photography rules come from the keen observations of experienced photographers who have noticed that certain actions and ways to position the subject leads to the more impressive results in many cases. Most photographers will eventually develop the right instinct and compose shots well, but it does require practice.

However, if you look through your viewfinder and see the perfect shot, don’t focus on the rules. Press the shutter button fast! Sometimes these instinctive pictures are the ones that turn out the best.

#3 Try to Include Two or More Subjects

There are many pictures out there that focus on one animal and capture all their details. This is quite okay, however, there’s something unique and interesting about pictures that showcase animal interaction and socialisation. For example, a single hippo yawning will make for a great picture but if zoom out a little and pull back, you might capture the image of its young as well, as with the featured image.

Animal interaction brings playfulness, intrigue, and mystery to a picture. A person looking at it will often wonder what the animals where thinking at that point. Interaction adds a human element to the pictures that make them more endearing.

If you have a passion for African wildlife, nature or travel photography and would love to go on a specialised small-number, professional African photo safari, please get in touch with Michael Snedic at WildNature Photo Expeditions. You can call him on 0408 941 965 or fill in this Contact Form and he will get back to you ASAP.

A teleconverter is a magnifying secondary lens that you can place between the body of your camera and the existing compatible lens. It’s also called an extender and is used to increase the focal length of the primary lens. It’s often used in wildlife photography to capture images of distant subjects with great detail and clarity. One teleconverter can work with multiple lenses and extend their focus length and capacity. So, should you use a teleconverter? They have their advantages and disadvantages and some of these are listed below:

Expense

Teleconverters are relatively inexpensive and are a more affordable alternative to buying multiple lenses of different focal lengths. A good quality teleconverter combined with a high-quality prime lens will capture stunning images and great detail. You don’t have to purchase several expensive prime lenses to get the best focal length range in your photography kit.

For example, you can extend the range of a 300mm f/2.8G prime lens to 420mm f/4, using a 1.4x or 600mm f/5.6 using a 2x teleconverter. There would be a very minimal impact on the performance of the primary lens, but you’ll save a considerable amount of money. I personally use a Nikon 300mm f2.8 lens (VRII) with a 2x Nikon teleconverter (TCIII) and find the sharpness of the resulting images quite amazing.

Disadvantages

Teleconverters have some disadvantages as well, so you should consider them carefully before you purchase these extenders for your kit. Here are some of those disadvantages:

#1 Compatibility

Teleconverters from one brand might not work well with primary lenses from other brands. For example, some Nikon or Canon teleconverters won’t work well with other-brand lenses. You need to check the websites to determine whether the teleconverter will work with your existing camera equipment and lenses. You can easily find the information online but if you’re still uncertain, you can consult with a pro at a camera store and ask them for the best teleconverter/lens combinations.

#2 Sharpness

In some cases, you may sacrifice some image quality as teleconverters can decrease the overall sharpness of the primary lens. The teleconverter may also magnify any lens aberrations and reduce the accuracy and speed of your camera’s autofocus.

#3 Inexpensive Lenses

Teleconverters magnify any flaws in the lenses and compromise the image quality accordingly. If you have a great prime lens, you don’t have to worry about the overall image quality because the compromise would be minimal. However, if you have cheaper lenses, your image quality will be compromised.

If you have a passion for African wildlife, nature or travel photography and would love to go on a specialised small-number, professional African photo safari, please get in touch with Michael Snedic at WildNature Photo Expeditions. You can call him on 0408 941 965 or fill in this Contact Form and he will get back to you ASAP.

Many amateur photographers are intimidated by backlighting because they’re taught to always shoot with the light above or ‘behind’ the photographer. You want the light to fall on the subject from the same direction as the camera to capture details and the full beauty of the subject. Backlight is when the light source is behind the subject and is moving in the direction of the camera.

You need to take the picture carefully because backlighting can easily overwhelm a subject and cause overexposure. Listed below are some tips that can help you take excellent photographs with backlighting:

#1 All Forms of Light Can Be Used For Backlighting

Backlit pictures look great when they’re taken in natural light but this doesn’t mean they can’t be taken with artificial light. In fact, some wildlife photographers have taken stunning shots with a large spotlight or halogen light in the background to provide the right effect. Artificial light comes into play during the night and can create an interesting contrast of darkness and brightness. The quality of the picture relies on the strength of the source of light. That’s one of the reasons why natural sunlight also works so well and is used so often by professional photographers.

#2 The Angle of Light Matters

During the daytime, when the sun is high in the sky, the entire landscape will be filled with light. In such circumstances, it’s easy to forget just how important the angle of light is. You need to consider how sunlight falls on the subject when you take pictures because that would affect how backlighting shows on your pictures. For example, if the sun is high in the sky, the angle of light faces downwards and would create a top lit as well as a backlit effect. However, if the sun is lower and closer to the horizon, the angle of light would be nearly parallel to the ground, which would create better backlighting conditions.

#3 Consider What Kind of Effect You Want

Backlighting can help you take a versatile range of pictures based on how you position and set the camera. You can capture an amazing amount of detail and still take advantage of the rim-like effect of backlighting if you have enough ambient light. The brightness of ambient light would ensure your subject isn’t overwhelmed by the backlighting and cast in shadow. However, if you do want that silhouetted effect, you can take pictures when the ambient light isn’t as bright as the backlight. This is usually during the golden hours of dawn and dusk.

#4 Exposure is Important

Exposure is the most important factor in backlight photography because it determines just how your camera perceives light. In good conditions with ample ambient light, Evaluative/Matrix/Pattern metering works well. However, if the conditions are less than ideal and there’s a higher contrast between shadows and light, you’ll need different metering settings like spot metering.

You can meter on the dark area and maintain detail in the shadows created by the light and still have the white highlights. This would allow you to capture details like texture, colour, and depth. You can also focus on the bright portion of the frame and let the light overwhelm the subject to create the mysterious-looking silhouette effect. Exposure would determine just how backlighting is utilised in a picture.

If you have a passion for African wildlife, nature or travel photography and would love to go on a specialised small-number, professional African photo safari, please get in touch with Michael Snedic at WildNature Photo Expeditions. You can call him on 0408 941 965 or fill in this Contact Form and he will get back to you ASAP.