Nature Photography How To

Today's tutorial from nature photographer Jan Wegener falls into the category of "I wished I had known about all this sooner." But now is better than never—especially when you can take advantages of the mistakes made early on by an accomplished pro so you don't make them yourself.

Wegener is longtime Australia-based pro specializing in nature imagery who says, "I love helping others in their quest to capture and edit stunning bird photos and find the right gear for the job." As always, the recommendations in this video are appropriate for just about any subjects in the field.

Our takeaway from this norm-challenging episode is pretty simple: Don't believe everything you've heard in the past—at least until you spend 15 minutes hearing what Wegener has to say. It's all about being more circumspect about common notions that may compromise the photographic process and the quality of every image you make.

Wegener begins by demonstrating why the Auto White Balance setting can be a counterproductive choice, and why he typically turns it off on his cameras. His reason is this: "Cameras can be confused by everchanging light that is sometimes cool and other times very warm. Hence, "If we use Auto White Balance we may end up with photos that look nothing like what we saw through the viewfinder and make the editing process very difficult."

He also explains why setting White Balance manually and shooting in Manual Exposure mode is often a great combination for achieving optimum control and photos that are easy to process. Wegener reveals that once he made the switch from always using Aperture Priority he became "a better and more conscious photographer." And you can do the same by following his advice.

Wegener continues his assault on conventional wisdom with other myth-busting notions like "low is not the way to go," the value of editing tweaks, and the idea that you can't get close enough. You'll also learn why he discounts the value of camouflage gear and other things you may do that are of questionable value.

There's much more to learn for boosting your outdoor photography skills by exploring the many how-to videos on Wegener's instructional YouTube channel.

And speaking of switching up your settings and techniques, don't miss an earlier tutorial we shared from another accomplished pro who demonstrates a handful of mistakes made by inexperienced nature and wildlife photographers and how you can capture more compelling images by avoiding them from now on.