How To Take Close Up Photos of Nature

Nature Photography  •  Photography Tips

For those of you interested in macro or nature photography, it’s worth your time to check out the video below which chronicles the work of award wining photographer, Barbara Leven and her series of nature photographs, Enchanted Earth. The video, filmed at photography superstore, B&H, features Leven herself as she shares with viewers some of her best work and, as an added bonus, describes the process she took behind making the photographs. There’s certainly a lot to be learned from the seminar, so you may want to block out an hour of your time to watch it, which you can do right here:

The majority of the photographs shown are flowers and other assorted plant life, however, many of the tips she shares can easily be transferred over to photographing wildlife as well. Leven has been using and studying Photoshop for over 20 years and her presentation delivers us an in-depth look at all sorts of useful tricks and creative editing techniques.

Well aware that good photography doesn’t happen in Photoshop, Leven also imparts a wealth of details about her thought process and how she has trained her eye to compose a photograph. At one point, she shows us a photograph of a wilting flower to prove how vital and enriching thinking outside of the box can be.

“I like to photograph the whole life cycle. It’s not just the instant of maturity when the flower is absolutely perfect. I like to photograph the beginning, the seeds, the buds, the perfection, and the decline as well.”

As a very devoted Nikon user, Leven takes us on a walk through of her camera back as she describes the equipment she has found to work best for her throughout her 30 years working in photography. Yes, equipment is very much a matter of personal preference, but her outspoken devotion to Nikon and Tamron is nearly enough to convince us all that it’s the only way to go.

For Further Training in Macro Photography:

Check out Up Close: A Guide to Up Close and Macro Photography by Andrew Gibson. It is an in-depth guidebook for photographers who want to create fresh and stunning photographs of things often overlooked.

It can be found here: Up Close: A Guide to Up Close and Macro Photography