Nature Photography How To

This tutorial with five pro tips for capturing eye-catching nature and wildlife images is different than others we've featured in the past, thanks to the thoughtful and contemplative style of professional photographer Kevin Nordstrom. You'll follow him explore the shore of a lake while capturing amazing photos of birds, turtles, wildflower and more.

Nordstrom isn't one of those shooters who sets the camera to high-speed continuous mode and jams down on the shutter release—hoping to grab a decent image or two as he fires away.  Rather, Nordstrom takes a more methodical approach in today's chaotic world. He prefers quality to quantity and as a result his "batting average" is really high.

The essence of the eight-minute tutorial is this: "Nature and wildlife photography is about much more than the gear. It's the experience of using your senses to see, touch, hear, and smell, while listening to what nature is trying to teach us during the photography process." In other words, slow down and learn to concentrate on the art rather than on the gear.

In short, the handful of tips that Nordstrom provides will both simplify your nature and wildlife photography and improve your work. The advantage of shooting at a slower pace makes it far easier to identify the best opportunities at every location, and you'll be more "intentional" about the images you make. You'll also discover than your enjoyment of the great outdoors will increase by leaps and bounds and the photos you capture will be far more meaningful.

This methodical approach also enables you to be more thoughtful about the camera settings you choose and the manner in which you frame a scene. Another suggestion is to embrace both your superpowers and flaws as a photographer. Or as Nordstrom puts it, "your superpower is not your camera or lens, it's your ability to understand what you're looking at and what you're feeling along a river, on a mountain, in a valley, or even at a local duck pond."

Apart from these rather philosophical considerations there are also practical suggestions for experimenting with Nordstrom's approach, and we're pretty sure your enjoyment of photography will increase as much as the quality of the images you make.

If you're more interested in f/stops shutter speeds, and other technical matters, Nordstrom's instructional YouTube channel has plenty of that too.

In that regard, don't miss the tutorial we posted from another accomplished outdoor shooter who demonstrates an easy Lightroom technique for transforming a dull landscape photograph into a dreamy eye-popping masterpiece