Recent Nature Articles

'Photographing The World 3' Behind the Scenes Episodes 5 and 6

Our behind-the-scenes series on the creation our photography tutorial "Photographing The World 3" continues today with Episodes 5 and 6. In these episodes, we continue to struggle to film a usable lesson in Pietrapertosa, Italy.

Meet The Octographer: The World's First Octopus Photographer

As if you didn't already have enough competition as a photographer it now seems the animal kingdom is trying to get a piece of our pie. In New Zealand there is an Octopus named Rambo, trained and equipped by Sony, to do your job. World, meet the first Octographer.

Tyler Stableford's New Short Film "Shattered" + Behind The Scenes

"I've shared a rope with 19 people who have died." The haunting voiceover in Tyler Stableford's latest short film "Shattered" really drives the drama, while introspective conjecture and nail-biting visuals keep you on the edge of your seat. Tyler also has released a 3-part behind the scenes video series on the making of this film, which used the Canon 1DX. See the full post for all 3 videos.

Why You Should Photograph Birds From a Floating Hide

Getting close to birds is forever a problem, the closer you get the more likely it is that the birds will notice you and fly away. However, a floating hide can transform your ability to get up close and personal with birds on the water.

'More Than Just Parks' Aims To Create Short Films From All 59 National Parks

Brothers Will Pattiz and Jim Pattiz are on a mission to spread greater awareness to the treasures that reside within America’s National Parks through visually stunning imagery. The first results of which are 3 short films, with a staggering 49 more in the works. I interviewed half of the Pattiz brothers, Will, and learned a bit more about how they got involved in such an ambitious undertaking.

It's All in the Details: Think Big, Look Small

As photographers we tend to always look for the big sweeping image; one that says as much as possible. But sometimes it's the little things that say a lot. In the context of storytelling, the detail shot is often overlooked for its power and simplicity.

How BBC Films Animals At Night

The animal kingdom does most of its activities at dawn or at dusk, and many only hunt when they can hide in the darkness that the nighttime brings. This video showcases how BBC went about capturing the animals using artificial light at first, and how they do it now using infra-red and thermal cameras.

Exploring the Unknown: Thoughts of an Aerial Photographer

Flying a drone is a feeling that can be hard to describe. However, the photos and videos people are able to achieve using these tools are absolutely amazing and can have people staring at their screens for quite a while.

The Biggest Obstacle in Winter Is Yourself

Photographing in a winter wonderland offers us so many advantages, as all the distracting elements on the ground get hidden by snow. But then there comes the photographer, who wants to get out the best possible photograph. And exactly this leads to one of the problems.

A Photographer's Guide to Exploring Tasmania's Wilderness

For the last 10 years I have been regularly visiting this remote and pristine island state. Tasmania is about a 1.5 hour flight from Sydney to the city of Launceston. The diverse choice of landscapes and close proximity by car make this a unique and accessible environment still largely untouched. Around 40 percent of Tasmania is protected National Parks and Reserves. If you are looking to get off the grid and discover a magical wilderness, this place is filled with adventure and convict history. Here are some of my favorite spots to photograph in spring or autumn. I have also added a few other locations as side trips that are also worth a look.

The Beautiful Results of an Underwater Photographer and MIT Physicist Working Together

Keith Ellenbogen is an underwater photographer whose work centers on marine conservation, while Allan Adams is a theoretical physicist whose work revolves around fluid dynamics inside black holes. When they met at a party in 2013, they realized they could combine their talents to produce gorgeous video of some of nature's most interesting marine life.

Photographers Rejoice, Winter Is Coming

“A picture is worth a thousand words”, so goes the idiom.They can recall memories so profound; the song on the radio, the light in the room, or the laughter that surrounded you.They can make you feel the joy that was in your heart all over again in an instant. If I close my eyes, I can transport to the very spot where I felt truly alive. I can recall the smile spread across my face when I took a moment to look at the image I had just captured. I’m enthralled with my memories and photos as much as I was the day I was there. As I gazed down Tunnel View at Yosemite National Park, I truly found my paradise.

Photography at 40,000 Feet

Cruising in an airplane high above Earth you sometimes get to see places that are nearly impossible to reach, or even view, from the ground. Taking photos of those sights is not only fun but it can serve as a memory that you were sort of there in the first place. If you like geography, geology, or history in general it can also be an excellent reference so that you can investigate the area further once you’re back on terra firma.

Fstoppers Review of the Shimoda Explore 60 Adventure Photography Backpack

I’d like to introduce you to the Shimoda Adventure Camera bags, specifically, the Explore 60. It’s a backpack that’s built for outdoor adventure photographers and filmmakers, and has options for 60L and 40L versions. Never heard of it? Well, I’m sure you have used or seen some of the gear that Shimoda’s lead designer has previously worked on. I’ll tell you about this and more in my full review.

International Earth & Sky Photo Contest Winners Announced

Winners of the 4th International Earth and Sky Photo Contest, hosted by The World at Night (TWAN), were announced this week with some awe inspiring photographs.

TWAN is an international effort to photograph nightscape and time-lapse videos of the world’s landmarks. According to TWAN's website "The contest was founded by TWAN and Dark Skies Awareness project in 2008 as a regional

[BTS] Tyler Stableford Demos The Canon 1DX And 600-EX-RT Speedlite

Canon Explorer of Light Tyler Stableford is making it into yet another post on Fstoppers. This time, he was out on a shoot testing the capabilities of the new Canon 1DX DSLR and the 600 EX RT (currently available for pre-order) by shooting some action shots of alpinist Steve House working with some ice climbing gear. In this video, Tyler shows us how he is using the Speedlite to get the look he wants, while having some fun with the new 1DX.

Sean White's Incredible Six Year, Seven Continent Time-lapse

Most of us have seen some masterful camerawork when it comes to breathtaking time-lapses. Sean White sets a new precedent with this creation by gathering images from a total of 24 countries on all seven continents over the course of six years. The project was funded by Art Wolfe.

Planning for That Shoot in the Mountains

Since the beginning of time, humans have been drawn to the mountains. Naturally, if you’re a photographer and have a taste for adventure, the mountains seem like the best place to go shoot. Dramatic landscapes, beautiful colors, and natural majesty of the great outdoors is the perfect recipe for compelling imagery. However, we must prepare properly and to be aware of the dangers in these places because a mistake in the mountains could be fatal. If you take the time to research and know the variables that Mother Nature presents there is no reason your shoot won’t go as planned.

Finding the Perfect Shot in the Desert

Landscape photographers get up early and stay out late. It's all about the light with sunrise and sunset being the ideal times of day to capture images. Thomas Heaton's latest video takes us to the Namib Desert as we watch him search for the perfect shot of the dunes at dawn and dusk.

Making Films And Photographs Of Africa's Wildlife For 30 Years

In a recent 60 Minutes special, CBS Reporter Lara Logan spent time with Dereck and Beverly Joubert in Southern Africa. The Jouberts have been shooting images and video of the wildlife there, for over 30 years. They have produced countless amazing images and have even created documentary films from the content they captured. Embedded video inside.

Beating the Winter Doldrums: Creating Beautiful Winter Images Without Any Snow

Creating landscape images in wintertime is always a unique challenge filled with its own obstacles and rewards. Chasing after that one composition that you've been dying to capture, trying to get out and capture that crisp winter scene before any of the snow becomes filled with the footprints of other photographers and adventures, and simply having the opportunity to see familiar views in a completely different season is something that many photographers look forward to.

A Beginner's Guide to Capturing Winter Nature Photos

A winter frost can give the most amazing nature photos, from dewy spider webs to seemingly diamond-encrusted berries. Find out how to capture those frosty shots with this method that can help you get great shots every time.

Surfing Video Goes Super Slow Motion

Lately there has been a trend of showing super slow motion videos slowed beyond the native frames per second the original footage was shot on. We love the results of Twixter but nothing can compare to seeing the real thing especially when combined with an extreme sport. The BBC has a great DVD on the South Pacific which features some amazing underwater slomo camera work of waves crashin, and this short surfing clip was the highlight for me. Rudi Diesel shot this on a Typhoon HD4 which at the time could do 500fps at 7 seconds or 1000fps at 3.5 seconds. If you enjoy this segment, check out a longer clip from the documentary in the second clip below.
Chris Jordan Films Birds Filled With Plastic

I know many photographers ask themselves, "How can I use my artistic talent to give back to my community in some profound way?" Bringing awareness to a great social or ethical cause can be difficult when our culture is so bombarded with crazy images everyday. Photographer Chris Jordan, author of In Katrina's Wake, recently discovered baby albatross birds who were dying in a very unusual way. Birds inhabiting Midway Island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean have been found dead in huge numbers. The cause of death appears to be from parent birds mistakenly eating plastic garbage found floating in the ocean and washing up on shore. These images are quite gruesome, and it is almost hard to believe they are real. Through this Midway Project, Chris hopes to bring awareness to the ecological problems not often seen at these remote locations. Head over to the Midway Journey's website for more videos about this cause as well as more photography.
Super Telephoto Video With RED's New Canon Lens Mount

There is no doubt that the RED's Epic video camera produces some of the most crisp and surreal footage you are likely to see at a reasonably "budget" price point. Up until now, the only lenses you could use with the Epic had to have the PL lens mount found on cine lenses. Recently, photographer turned videographer Vincent Laforet was able to demo the new Canon lens adapter which allows the RED cameras to use most of the EOS mountable lenses. In the video below, Vincent shows what the RED/Canon combo can do out in the field. One particularly interesting combo is the Canon 600mm f/4 L lens mounted with the 2x Canon Teleconverter. Some estimates give this combo a 35mm equivalent of 3400mm with the crop factor but I think it's actually a bit less than that (the RED should have around a 1.2x crop factor depending on the file output). Either way, the footage is pretty amazing and super exciting if you dream of using RED gear down the road with your existing Canon lenses. Any idea how he shot the video in low light? Looks like the lens would be at least at f8 which is almost unusable in anything but bright light.

One Degree from Vincent Laforet on Vimeo.

Contest-Winning Featured Photographer: Jeremy Vesely

We've been partnering with our pals at Viewbug to offer you guys great contests weekly, and one of those contests we run on a monthly basis gives you the chance to be featured here! The first winner of such a contest is Jeremy Vesely with his image "Three Brothers at Sunrise" which was also our photo of the day earlier this week.

[BTS Video] Victorinox Fragrances's 360 Degree Underwater Ad Campaign

Now this is clever. Victorinox makes a few fragrances and wanted to create an interactive video that shows just how fresh their perfume makes you feel. So they sent a crew up to Cauma Lake in Flims/Laax, Switzerland to film a 360 degree video UNDERWATER! To capture 360 video footage they used the new Yellowbird camera which works a lot like the Google streetview car. After watching the behind the scenes video, click the full post to see the final interactive campaign and you yourself can smell like a clean lake from Switzerland.
Fall Landscapes and Changing Your Mindset

Landscape photography is just as much about creating a plan as it is about being able to change that plan when what you are hoping for simply won’t work. Here’s a simple reminder to get out of your own way when creating art in the field.

How To Film A Rock Climber From Every Angle

Videographer Jeff Newton is most well known for his work shooting war zones. When he wasn't being shot at Jeff decided to take up climbing as a hobby and through that heard of free climber Alex Honnold. After meeting Alex, Jeff was hired to film one of his giant free climbs. In the quick video below Jeff takes us through his setup for his segment for 60 Minutes in which he filmed Honnold climbing without any sort of safety gear on a massive rock face. The setup alone took 2 days and a huge crew of people to pull off.
Why One Photograper Teaches Photography for Better Mental Health

Billions of people around the world are self-isolating to slow the spread of Coronavirus. However, it's not just our physical wellbeing at risk, but also our mental health. Stu McKenzie has pioneered a new project to help veterans with PTSD, which could also help those suffering from anxiety and depression during the quarantine.

[Timelapse] Tom Lowe's Newest TimeScapes Trailer Is Timelapse At Its Best

We first featured film maker and timelapse master Tom Lowe almost 2 years ago. This week he released another mind blowing trailer for his documentary TimeScapes (pre order your copy here). Tom's vision was to give viewers a modern look at the American Midwest in all of its glory, and it to say it's glorious is an understatement! Shot primarily on Canon 5d MKIIs and RED Epics (with some of the best cine lenses available), TimeScapes has to be the best timelapse videos I've ever seen. This project has taken Tom over 2 years to film so you know the final release is going to be great to watch especially in ultra HD. Head over to Tom's Vimeo page for more details on how this was shot, and also check out our original post to see some BTS on how Tom creates these breathtaking images.
Bob Poole Films the Most Amazing Moment of His Life

Bob Poole is a DP (Director of Photography for you still shooters) who often works for National Geographic. While filming researcher Jake Wall who is studying the migration of African elephants, Bob and his team came across one of the most amazing things I've ever seen capture on video. You gotta watch this video to believe it but Bob was trapped in a sand storm in Mail for 4 hours while the sun was all but completely blocked by the flying debris. It always amazes me when I see photographers or videographers capture nature at it's best.
How To Photograph/Film A First Descent

Many photographers claim that they will never shoot a wedding because there is too much pressure. If you miss some of the key moments, you will never get another chance. I agree with this to an extent but at least weddings have hundreds of "moments" over the course of a day. If I miss a couple, it's usually not a big deal. A first descent is another story though. In the video below, Lucas Gilman shows us all of the work that goes into capturing just 5-10 seconds. When it comes to something like this, there is absolutely no room for error.
A Time Lapse Shot Of 3 Locations At The Same Time

Everyone likes a good time lapse right? Well Philip Bloom just created one but it has a unique twist. Bloom's video was created with 3 cameras shooting simultaneously outside of his hotel window. He shot with a 5DMII, T2i, and T3i all shooting towards different areas of the landscape at different focal lengths. Check out the full post to see the finished product.
Awake - A Timelapse of The Northern Lights by Alexis Coram

Last year Alexis Coram's Technicolor Alaska - a mesmerizing time lapse film of the Northern Lights - was shared on Fstoppers along with being showcased in National Geographic's Short Film Showcase of the year. This year, Coram has created a new masterpiece, "Awake." Coram traveled back to Alaska this past February for a long weekend in hopes to catch another glimpse of the Northern Lights.

How NASA Photoshopped A Galaxy

Did you know that every time you look at one of those amazing images captured by Hubble cameras you are actually looking at a composite image made up by as many as 1400 still shots? Did you also know that the colors you are seeing in those images are completely faked and added by scientists in order to show off specific details within the scene? This interesting timelapse video released by NASA shows exactly how they create their images by combining thousands of black and white RAW files from 3 Hubble cameras. Let me remind you, just because you see a lot of photoshopping in this video doesn't mean the final images are not real or falsely rendered. The technology needed to produce images this detailed requires combining multiple images and adding colors not normally seen by a human eye or even the most expensive cameras created.
Shoot Moving Time Lapse With DriveCam

Moving time lapse videos are becoming more and more popular these days. Check out the video below to see Patryk Kizny take the DriveCam Slider for a test.

Autumn. A short timelapse film from Patryk Kizny on Vimeo.

The Dark Side Of The Lens

I remember seeing this video a long time ago and really enjoyed it. Maybe we thought it was not educational enough to post it but after watching it again I think it's worth sharing. For those of you who have not already seen this short story, the Dark Side Of The Lens is a poetic journey into mind of surf photographer Mickey Smith. The cinematography is outstanding and the locations are breathtaking. It's this sort of presentation that truly makes me appreciate what we all do as artists.
Are White Rainbows Possible?

Much of landscape photography is being in the right place at the right time. Some photographers know these places and times based on their extensive experience. The more knowledge you have, the better the chances that you'll be in that right place at the right time.

More Tips for Capturing Great Wintry Nature Photos

Take your winter nature shots to the next level with these techniques that guarantee incredible results. Follow along for an in-depth guide to the best settings and kit to use and up your photo game.

Great Tips on How to Get Perfect Panning Shots of Wildlife

While we often want to freeze birds and animals using fast shutter speeds to capture crisp images, sometimes we might want to create a sense of the creature’s movement by panning the camera. This short video explains how to set up your camera to get dramatic, motion-blurred shots while keeping the subject sharp.

How I Got the Shot: Stuck at Home Edition

Everyone is dealing with this new normal in different ways. A lot of people have been finding all sorts of creative ways to keep themselves busy. Not wanting to be outdone, photographers all over have been sharing amazing and humorous photos often shot within their homes.

Behind the Image: Prepare for the Unexpected

In my last "Behind the Image" article I talked about looking where other photographers aren't. This week I'd like to talk about the importance of being ready for just about anything — particularly when it comes to wildlife photography, as well as how images can impact our behaviors.