Nature Photography

The third and final sunrise in this series was by far the easiest to pull off and the most successful. Once again our setting is on a family vacation, except this time it featured Grandparents. Close your eyes (after the sentence of course) and imagine yourself alone about to enjoy a sunrise all to yourself on a beautiful beach in Cape Cod, MA.

As shutter speed is the limiting factor in taking pictures of the night sky, we often seek out more expensive lenses that open up that bit more or check Fstoppers if there’s a new low-light, high-ISO king of cameras on the horizon. But what if I told you that there’s a device you can use today, with the camera and lens you already have, that has the potential to capture places that are light years away from Earth?

For me, capturing a sunrise often coincides with a vacation. During the month of February 2015 temperatures were insanely cold. Memories of a fun-filled fall were long forgotten and cabin fever was starting to spread through the household. Worry not though, Groupon came to the rescue with a reasonable two-day pass for an indoor water park about ten minutes away in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. The wife bought the deal, and I took Thursday and Friday off work. To Canada we go!

One of my goals as I started taking photography more and more seriously was to shoot a sunrise. Although it seems easy enough to just "get up early and bring a camera," I've found more often than not if you aren't prepped, you'll sleep in. Join me in a walk through three of my successful sunrise shots!

I am not an early bird but living in Sydney, Australia on the east coast leaves me no choice but to get up early once in a while for a dawn to sunrise shoot. The coffee and breakfast at a beach cafe make it worth getting up at the sparrow's fart (Australian slang for very early). I've been shooting seascapes for over 10 years and I have always found it to be one of the most rewarding and challenging of photographic subjects. No two seascapes are the same and once you add variable weather and sea conditions to the mix there are endless opportunities for photographers willing to get their feet wet, so to speak! I am still learning everyday how to stay dry and not get washed away.

While thousands of adventurers and photographers explore the far reaches of our planet forever looking for that next great vista, Marcus DeSieno spends hours scouring over 10,000 traffic and weather cams quietly watching some of the world's most remote and beautiful places. "I’ve watched the sun set over the Grand Canyon, seen waves crashing into Hawaii, watched storms passing over [the Swiss Alps],” DeSieno told Wired. “It’s all from the comfort of my desk chair.”

How did technology make "Planet Earth" so much more cinematic? If we go back to how it was done back in the day and compare it to the technology we have today, it's quite a leap. Back in the day 35mm was the broadcast standard. The 35mm cameras were bulky and heavy, they were perfect for studio and not for the shots that they needed. In the filming circles and the BBC insiders saw 16mm film as being for amateurs. But, thanks to David Attenborough first taking his 16mm camera out to shoot abroad and coming back with footage of animals never filmed before, it changed opinions. This made the program that later became one of the best wildlife documentaries of all time.

Filmmaker Walter Stoehr just released his newest project, "Horrible Prospects." It's a timely short with all that is going on in our world; with a new president in the U.S., there is much that is unknown for the future. But what goes bump in the night is actually more scary than you might think.

YLE, a Finnish Broadcasting company, were on a mission to attract a younger audience. They needed to make a change to their strategy and get some new programs produced. They knew these shows had to tell stories that were going to speak to a younger audience. Stories that would captivate the senses - and get people excited about the outdoors, to travel and explore.

A new upcoming BBC four-part series titled "Spy in the Wild" uses 34 realistic animatronic creatures, equipped with UHD cameras to observe wildlife activity from closer than ever before. The myriad of undercover animals were placed all over our planet, from deserts, to rainforests, as well as the polar regions. With the intention to record real animal emotions, display their similarities with humans, and acknowledge the links between all living things on earth. The topics discussed for each of the four episodes include love, friendships, mischief, and intelligence.

Lisa is not a professional photographer. She started taking photos and learned about photography because she started watching birds and wanted a way to document it. She’s originally from Germany and moved to the US with her American husband. She lives in Michigan now, and although the landscape and weather is similar to what she experienced in Germany, the wildlife, especially the birds, differ quite a lot.

Photography has a different meaning to almost every photographer. We may learn from one another but it is our style and vision that makes us unique to the the others out there. In this video, Paul Zizka travels out to Greenland to photograph the beauty of the "big white island," a place that not many get to see.

When life serves you lemons, make lemonade. At least that’s what I was always told when I was younger. Now as a professional photographer, I’m sometimes dealt lemons in terms of weather conditions. How do you make lemonade out of less than perfect weather so it benefits your set?

The London Natural History Museum is about to close entries for the 53rd Wildlife Photographer of the Year, and you can choose your own favorite right now.

A Scottish photographer has captured a rare photo of what is being nicknamed a "Fog Bow" (or fog rainbow!) over the snow-covered moors. Melvin Nicholson took the photo whilst out walking through Rannoch Moor, Scotland.

London-based photographer Harry Skeggs began his love affair with traveling at the age of 17 with what he describes as a "rubbish little camera." He says it was his disappointment with the quality of the images that pushed him to seek out better. Here, we take a look at some of his finest wildlife images from around the world.

If you’ve ever wondered how the heck to photograph, much less create, a time-lapse of the Milky Way; this video by Rhino Camera Gear explains the process in great detail.

The sequel to the BBC-produced nature documentary series, "Planet Earth II," released a few clips into the wild recently to promote its U.S. release in January. You may have noticed one of these scenes making the rounds on social media in the last few days, which was a masterfully edited clip that features snakes chasing an iguana. If you were curious how they filmed some of this material, there are a few behind-the-scenes clips out that show how it was done.

After changing careers from 12 years in the scientific field into the photography industry, I often wondered about merging the two together; science and art. I started shooting underwater photography a few years back in hopes of bringing a new light on the waters with my background. So when I came across the work of Christine Beggs and Brett Stanley I was intrigued to learn about their collaborations. They have created a way to bring critical issues of the oceans to light with their underwater art work.

As a full time roadtripper, I am constantly in search of amazing landscapes with the hopes of adding a unique take on what is most likely an over-photographed scene already. There are several ways to do this, but I am going to suggest one which is rarely discussed but hard to overlook in today’s social media outlets: the human element.

The competition for the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards is now closed, but you can have a look at the numerous entries which photographers have submitted. And I must warn you, these are photos of the derpiest animals you have ever seen!

We know that if something is narrated by David Attenborough, it's going to be special. And to make it even more of a go-see, the original score is produced by award-winning Hans Zimmer who gave us the score to Lion King, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Inception to name a few. BBC used the latest filming technologies to get up close and personal to these creatures we seldom see or think about as being part of this eco-system on Earth.

Affectionately known as the Land of Fire and Ice, Iceland has become a widely popular photography hotspot. It seems like everywhere you turn, there are photographers and videographers talking, fantasizing, planning, and shooting all things Iceland. But what's with all the fuss? For those who have yet to pack their photo gear and travel to the island, the recently released short film, "Ice and Fire," shows what you are missing and continues to kindle Iceland's "photo rush."

Over the past few years, the team at SmokyMountains.com have created a map showing time predictions for peak fall colors in the United States. The 2016 version of this interactive map is now live just in time to make those camping reservations or other travel plans to get the best photos of the season.

Everywhere in Europe, heathers are looking positively vibrant. I trust that it's a worldwide phenomenon along the northern hemisphere. They’re also blooming three weeks sooner than past years; a result of an early Indian summer, due to the changing climate. Ostensibly, purple heather is a magnificent subject in landscape photography, but there are many more things you can capture in what is arguably the best season for photography. So let’s get you ready to capture this herald of autumn.

The filmmakers of “The Muir Project,” known for their first documentary, “Mile… Mile and a Half,” have just released their latest film, “Noatak: Return to the Arctic.” I interviewed Director Ric Serena who told me about the production challenges his team faced when working on a remote river deep in Alaska and why they chose to go with the Canon 1DC as their camera of choice.

This Cinemagraph time-lapse was made using only 12 JPEG images. The software allows photographers to create motion within a static photograph. You need to upload each image to the website, and then you design the movement within each image. Once you get a moving image "flowing" you can render it out and import it into Adobe Premiere Pro to create the final time-lapse.

Macro photography make the unseen visible. It gives our eyes that extra zoom to get in close and see the detail we usually just take for granted. From the eyes of a fly to the droplet on a leaf, you most likely have seen some great macro photography. These macro lenses are generally of superb glass which gives sharp images that contain a lot of detail. There is a range of lenses for Canon and Nikon camera systems.

It's difficult to denounce nature photography, especially when the shots look this good. The hours that Konsta Punkka has put into his photography are not to be sniffed at, but is it unfair if the animals are fed in order to achieve the look?

Foster Visuals, known for the nationally-awarded "Legacy Project," recently teamed up with DJI to tell the story of Heraldo Riel, a gaucho in Patagonia, Chile. Like his father before him, Riel became a Gaucho at the age of nine. To be a Gaucho means to be kind and caring for all living things. Using a combination of equipment, including the DJI Osmo, Ronin, and Inspire 1, Brent Foster and his team tell Riel's story and captures the intense beauty and solitude of the remote section of Patagonia in which Riel lives.

If you find water calming, this is for you. "4K Fjordlapse Norway" explores the country's beautiful fjords formed in glaciated valleys, showing off their elegant and tranquil nature.

"Vorticity" is a local measure of the tendency of a fluid to rotate. It serves as the perfect title for this six-minute time-lapse that was 20,000 miles and 60,000 frames in the making.

Horses have been the subject of many powerful images throughout time. They lend a magnificent presence to any photographers portfolio. Boudoir photography has been inspired by the story Lady Godiva and her nude ride on her horse for the people of Coventry.

The Internet and mass proliferation of capable devices has allowed almost anyone to broadcast live video. Many have taken advantage of it in the form of things like Periscope and Facebook Live, using it to broadcast behind the scenes footage and discuss trending topics, but Explore has used it for a rather neat purpose.

Going from A-list celebrity headshots in Hollywood to swimming with sharks in South Africa in 72 hours, photographer Michael Muller seems to balance his commercial work with his personal work quite well. In this behind-the-scenes video, we get to come along with Muller as he attempts to capture a great white shark breaching the water — while being lit by strobes.