Take the perfect photos in fall, winter, spring and summer with these outdoor photography tips. Just snap your camera and get ready to go outside, to catch amazing moments of the seasons.
Fall Outdoor Photography Tips
The best time of day to take beautiful fall pictures is in the morning when the sun is rising and in the evening when the sun is slowly setting. There will be great light, which intensifies all the colors like brown, orange and red. The sunbeams which shine through the branches, are hard to catch in a non blurry shot, but try to use a tripod. If you don't have a tripod, put your camera on a steady platform such as three bottles and a book or something similar that will prevent your camera from moving.
Close-ups of leaves are very special. You can use a macro lens for this, or if you don't have one, just switch your camera into the macro mode. This works, too. Don't hesitate to get a little dirty. Try to get down on the ground and take a close-up of the leaves on the ground; the perspective will be amazing. The leaves you focus on will be sharp and the background will appear blurry. If it's too windy or wet outside, just collect a variety of leaves of every type and color, let them dry at home and then take a close-up. Stick the leaves onto a window, so you have the sky or trees in the background and take the picture.
Another great idea for your SmileBooks Photo Book:
Focus on a single standing tree and take photos from the same position every few days, at the same time of day with the same camera settings, for about a month or longer. Watch how fast the tree transforms during this time and place these photos on every single page in your Photo Book. You can do the same with the woods near you and watch how fast the leaves fall, when winter is coming closer and closer.
Winter Outdoor Photography Tips
If you have a macro lens, you can try to get a real cool close-up of one of the snowflakes sticking to your window. If you don't have a macro lens, switch your camera into the macro mode. You should be able to choose it in your camera settings. If you go real close you should be able to see the very tiny snow crystals the snowflakes are made of.
When you get up in the morning and see fresh fallen snow, don't jump in there yet. Take the time to write messages in the snow with your finger or a branch, for example "Winter Wonderland". Take pictures of whatever you write. These photos would be a perfect background image for your SmileBooks Photo Book or even to use as a cover image.
In winter you can take beautiful, amazing pictures at night. Wait for a night when the moon is shining very bright. If there is snow on the ground it will reflect the moonlight and the darkness will appear even brighter. Take perfect shots of trees with the moon shining in the background. The silhouettes of the trees will be breathtaking.
Don't forget the fun everyone has during the winter. Take photos of people ice skating on the lake, children making snow angels, horses running through the snow and of course, take photos of your family and friends celebrating the holidays. Drive through your neighborhood and look for beautiful houses and gardens adorned with hundreds of holiday lights and decorations.
Spring Outdoor Photography Tips
This time of the year, the birds come back from south. Use the longest lens you have to get the bird in full frame. Use a fast shutter speed of at least 1/500 seconds.
Normally the rain is a very good friend of spring time. So why not use it to your advantage? Take photos of the reflections in the puddles. Take a photo of your own reflection or the reflection of the trees or houses on the other side of the puddle. Just change the camera angle and every shot will show different views.
Photograph the sky and the clouds. Experiment with black and white photography. You can either take color photos and change them into black and white on your PC with any photo program or look in the settings of your camera. Usually you can choose between color, black and white and sometimes even sepia options for your photos. The dark rain clouds will appear even darker on a black and white image and there will be many dramatic gray shades.
Flowers bloom slowly in spring. Choose one single flower bud in your backyard or somewhere outside in the woods or in the park and take one photo of the same flower every single day from the same view. Watch how it transforms and opens more day by day until it's fully open and shows its colors.
In spring, all kind of animals emerge from their deep winter sleep. Normally they're very hungry and busy searching for food. Even the animals that don't hibernate are hungry because food is hard to find in the cold months. They are very active and when you are quiet and careful and have your camera ready, you could be able to take a shot of a squirrel or a raccoon digging in the earth or climbing on the trees to find food.
Summer Outdoor Photography Tips
When the sun is shining high and you want to take a beautiful portrait of someone, you may see that the person you want to photograph squints his eyes and has a pained facial expression. Just tell your model to close his eyes and open them at the count of 3. You shoot the photo at the count of 4 when the model's eyes are still wide open. That's how easy it is.
The sun will always create dark shadows, especially under your subject's eyes or chin. To minimize this, you can use a diffuser for your camera. You can buy them in almost any camera shop. Diffusers reduce glare and harsh shadows. If you don't have a diffuser you can have a friend assist you by holding a white bed sheet or shower curtain between the sun and your subject. This will reduce the glare of the sun light. Or you can just wait till the "golden hour." Golden hour is the day's first and last hour of sunlight, right after sunrise and just before sunset. At these times of the day, the sun’s rays fall at more of an angle, creating longer and softer shadows, and warmer, gentler light.
In summertime you will often have the chance to catch a rainbow. They normally appear when it's raining and the sun is shining at the same time. Look towards the gray rain clouds and most of the time a full-colored rainbow will show its amazing colors. Try to catch a photo of it.
