Nature Photography How To

While most photographers are packing their gear away for winter, an increasing number are finding winter to be their favorite season for photography. Photographers willing to brave the cold often find popular locations deserted, dramatic light, and fresh snow that makes scenes come alive. Whether it’s a once-in-a-lifetime trip to a destination like Yellowstone, Alaska, or Yosemite, or something closer to home, winter is a great time to get to know these locations in a much more intimate way and at slower pace. Here are nine reasons why winter is the best season to go out and shoot.

Millions of people from across the globe visit Yosemite every year, many of whom are photographers eager to capture the natural splendors that California’s national park has to offer. And when the stars align for two weeks in February to light up Horsetail Fall, a spectacular event occurs, making the water look like lava flowing from a volcano.

You’ve no doubt marveled at the beauty of starlit skies, and scenes with the sparking Milky Way are among the best. Many photographers pass up these great opportunities, thinking that astrophotography is beyond their skills.

Photoshop offers such a broad array of capabilities that there are often several ways to accomplish the same task—some more complicated and than others. And often the best way to use a particular tool is just as easy and effective as doing things wrong.

How often have you changed lenses when shooting in the field or switched subject matter, say from a landscape scene to a macro or wildlife photo? If you're like most photographers you do so frequently, which is why the tutorial below is a real game changer.  

If you're one of those photographers who uses the same metering mode for every photo you shoot you're making a big mistake that we hope to correct with this very helpful guide from C4 Photo Safaris—an instructional site full of helpful tips for shooters of all skill levels.

We love photographer Mark Smith’s wildlife videos not only because they capture nature in action with rich detail, but they also tell a story that’s highly educational. In the below clip, Smith uses the Nikon D850 and D500 DSLRs to record the life or hummingbirds feeding on nectar from thistle plants.