Taking Better Outdoor Photographs

One thing I get asked a lot is "How come your pictures pop and mine don't?" The answer is quite simple, but like any hobby, it just takes practice. It's not about the camera or the equipment, it's all in how you take the picture. You'll only need the newest and greatest digital camera if you've managed to master everything below it while also looking for the challenge of learning how to bring even more control into your photos. If you wanted to learn to play the guitar you wouldn't go out and buy a Les Paul and start studying blues scales right away. You'd start with a basic guitar and learn the basic chords: C, G and D. Once you started to feel comfortable with those you would begin to branch out to a few other chords until slowly but surely, you could perform a few covers of some radio hits and maybe even write a few of your own songs. It's no different with photography. In my case I started with a Kodak 2.0 megapixel point-and-shoot that I got for Christmas in 2000. When I felt that I wasn't getting the full control I wanted of my photos, I bought a Canon 300D Digital Rebel in 2004. That provided quite a challenge for a while and it wasn't until late 2006 that I was really comfortable with that and discovered there was more I could do with my photos if I had something that truly opened up all the doors for me. I found a good deal on a Canon EOS 5D, and set out into the world of photography to give it my all in making a name for myself.

The first step in a good photo is a rule that goes with any art piece, the rule of thirds. You've probably heard of it and may even have a hard time remembering it when you've actually got the camera in front of you ready to shoot. For those that haven't heard of it, the rule of thirds is a basic rule of composition that breaks up your potential shot into nine pieces, all evenly divided into thirds. Rather than trying to visualize the potential image in thirds, the easiest thing to remember is simply to not put your main subject in the dead center. If your main subject lies dead in the center of the photo, it leaves the eye without anything to carry it around the rest of the photo. Placing it off-center, or on one of the thirds' intersections, creates movement and more potential for your eye to wander around the photo, and thus, an aesthetically pleasing image.

The previous section can be helped out tremendously by another very simple step. Instead of holding the camera out in front of your face, try kneeling down to get something in the foreground. If you're taking a photo of a large landscape you'll create much more depth if you find an object, such as a plant or a fallen branch, to place in the foreground with that great landscape in the background. What you'll find by putting this rule into place is that you'll have a much deeper photo rather than a flat snapshot of great, wide open space. Another key point to remember when shooting landscapes that applies to both this rule and the former is always try to avoid putting the horizon in the vertical center. It winds up cutting your image in half and there's typically not enough in the scene to bind the two together. What you wind up with is an image that almost looks like it's two seperate images; one of a sky and one of a landscape, simply stacked together. To avoid this, crop out more of the sky by focusing on that foreground object. If you're in a situation where the sky has to be included because of perhaps some interesting cloud formations, try cropping out more of the ground by getting lower and finding a plant, for example, that sticks out into the sky. If you follow this rule, you'll find the first rule just happens to fall into place automatically.

While on vacation in Alaska in 2006, I picked up the book, Photography Outdoors: A Field Guide for Travel and Adventure Photographers. I unfortunately didn't start reading it until after I got back from my vacation. It offers a huge resource that expands on the tips I've provided in plain english and other tips for other types of settings, such as night shots. I was even able to see an improved difference in my photos after I read it. Lastly, it includes the final rule I'll provide that I read in it that helped me out immensely. To put it plainly, if you're shooting a large landscape, shoot vertically, if you're trying to tell a story, shoot horizontally. You'll capture much more depth and mountain majesties by shooting vertically, and by shooting horizontally you'll be subconciously instructing people to "read" your photo as they've been taught: from left to right.

As I first stated, you don't need the best equipment to take a good photo. You only need to follow a few simple rules. Try to practice all, or even just one of them and you'll be amazed at how much more depth and content begins to speak from your photos. Once you put them to the test, you'll see if you really want to graduate to something higher further down the road.

Desert Photography

Photographing the desert southwest can be tricky. If you follow the basic rules, however, the difference in creating a simple, but elegant photo can be astounding. As always, the basic rules still apply, but if there's one rule that applies more than any others, it's to avoid shooting in the middle of the day. Ignore it, and your photos will turn out as flat as the desert landscape in front of you. Take a look at some of your favorite professional desert shots and pay special attention to the lighting. You'll notice long extended shadows and a warm light reaching in the photo.

The thing that you really want to keep in mind while out in the desert is that you're taking a 3D space and converting it to 2D. This holds true no matter how expensive the camera is - it's just the nature of photography. What makes understanding that transition difficult sometimes is because when you see it with your own eyes, you've got two different eyes creating the depth. The camera, however, only has one and it'll show once you're back on the computer or when you're looking at the print. Where'd all the depth go? It got compressed into that one eye that the camera has. Now add into it the fact that the sun was overhead and all the shadows were going straight down, and you're left with a shadowless, shallow photo that becomes hard to appreciate.

A few simple steps though, can easily fix this. First, wait until the sun is at a different angle than overhead. You'll hear people say it over and over again: a couple of hours around sunrise and a couple of hours around sunset are the peak times to be doing photography. The sun is at a position where it can illuminate the colors hidden in nature, while at the same time casting long shadows that add drama and more interesting compositions. Take another look at those desert photos. You can now see how they were able to capture that drama. Photography in general is all about lighting. Take advantage of that and the impact your photos have will skyrocket.

The next step is another simple one, but for some, may require a bit of effort. Never just get out of your car and stand there and take a picture. The same goes for a desert hike or walk. In order to add a unique perspective, climb up a nearby hill, or get down to a coyote's, or even a lizard's perspective. Either of those will give you a different point of view that people can be more interested in because both angles can give you a bigger sense of depth that a standard person's height cannot. For a little extra impact, try placing an object in the foreground of your landscape. If you're down on the ground, this should be pretty easy. For example, if you've got a baby cactus in front of you, make sure you've got the whole thing in your image. Don't crop it out as the closest object to the camera will be the main attraction in the photo. If you've climbed up a hill, try finding a plant or an interesting rock to put into the foreground. People typically make the best foreground objects though because it not only gives a good sense of scale, but also gives the viewer something to relate to. So if you're with a friend, put him or her into the foreground of your photo and put that dramatic landscape behind them.

Using these simple techniques, you'll be amazed at how much your photos will pop!

Now are there exceptions to the rule? Absolutely. There always are. The biggest exception to shooting in the middle of the day in the desert is on an overcast day. Take for example, the above panorama. I had actually shot a very similar photo in the middle of the day on a clear day that wasn't nearly as interesting as this one. It was as simple as a change in the weather that created a much more dramatic landscape. On overcast days you can throw all the rules about lighting out the window. With the clouds blocking out the sun you're in a completely different type of light. Rather than the sun beaming down overhead creating harsh shadows, it's now penetrating through the clouds just enough to create a soft light on everything practically eliminating harsh shadows. The added bonus in this type of environment is you'll frequently get sunbeams shining through the clouds which creates a whole new type of drama in itself. A lot of times these are caught best in the middle of the day. Unfortunately, with roughly 300 days of sunshine a year, don't plan on catching one of those overcast days in the desert.

Another exception is in extraordinary rock formations, such as a slot canyon in this case. Only in the middle of the day will you see beams of sunlight shining through the top. These beams not only create unique experiences, but also help illuminate the rocks into different colors that would otherwise appear dull.

Generally speaking though, if you're planning a typical day out in the desert, it's best to keep in mind those first two rules. Follow them even loosely, and you'll be pleasantly surprised at what you're capable of.