Nature Photography How To

As adventurous as it may be, I am not a professional nature or travel photographer circumnavigating the globe in search of new and exotic destinations—maybe in my next lifetime. The nice thing about visiting new destinations is that you’re exposed to new subject matter to keep you thoroughly engaged and fired up from a photographer’s perspective.

Last month we shared several of our favorite entries in the 2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year competition, and now that the spectacular winners have been chosen, we thought we’d feature a few of the First and Second Place Winners.

Autumn is our favorite time of year for nature photography, and scenes of colorful reflections on a lake, stream, or pond offer abundant opportunities for capturing spectacular landscape photos.

Cuban-born photographer Abelardo Morell has been making and using walk-in camera obscuras for the past 15 years with the goal of capturing the outside world in interesting and unique ways. His latest effort is essentially a giant pinhole camera that collapses and folds up like any large tent. Morrell took the above image of the Old Faithful geyser at Yellowstone National Park.

Photographer Tina Tormanen lives and works in the magical Lapland region of Northernmost Finland, and her images of this winter wonderland under the Aurora Borealis are absolutely breathtaking. 

Mandy Lea is an American freelance photographer with a love of the great outdoors. She’s also a nomad of sorts, living and traveling in a stylish teardrop trailer as she searches for the majestic sights our country has to offer.

Time-lapse videos are all the rage these days, and infrared photography is becoming more and more popular too. But when’s the last time you watched a time-lapse created with infrared-converted DSLRs? If your answer is “never,” take a look at the video below.