We’re all familiar with National Geographic, if not captivated by its endless amount of gorgeous photography. The magazine, which allows no editing of the photographs it uses, has set high standards for nature photographers everywhere. Being able to capture an image worthy of National Geographic takes quite a bit of talent and, as Michael Melford explains in the following video, a little bit of luck. Melford, a seasoned nature photographer, has shot for National Geographic as well as many other popular publications. If you can spare an hour and half of your time, Melford shares some of his photographs, insight, and tips that might get you one step further to becoming published yourself:
Inside of Melford’s camera bag:
- Nikon D800
- Nikon D800e
- 16-35mm Wide Angle Lens (his primary)
- 105mm Nikon Macro
- 24-120mm Wide Angle Zoom
- 70-200mm Telephoto Zoom
- polarizing filters
- spare batteries
“16-35mm wide angle, this is my normal lens. I probably use it more than I should. Foreground, middleground, background, landscapes. Couple of examples, I like to get something close to me in the foreground and let your eye carry on.”
“I only use two filters. To me, if you learn nothing else, you’ll learn to go out and buy a polarizing filter for your camera.”
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So good! And what beautiful photographs!
So interesting and inspirational – some of the photos were so beautiful I had a lump in my throat! Such a down to earth, nice bloke too. Will be out tomorrow practising with my polariser!
These B&H tutorials/lectures are excellent. Please keep them coming!
Impressive work, definitely the inspiration I was missing.
These B&H lectures are always interesting to watch.
Tim It is possible I may have read a second post however your 1st comment may steer others such as my self in a new direction that wasn’t attend to be. Either way his photography is quite good don’t you agree!
Chris…It wasn’t in the original post. Micheal may have forgotten to add it in the list and saw my correction and made the correction before you read the article
I was totally inspired. He does what I’ve always said that I wanted to do. I enjoyed every second of the video and will watch it again. Excellent!
@TimR He did list it. It is the third item down.
@TimR – EXACTLY what I was thinking!
“16-35mm wide angle, this is my normal lens” … If this is Micheal’s normal lens, why didn’t he list it in his camera bag?