Nature Photography How To

Macro photography provides a year-round opportunity for shooting stunning images, whether you subjects are budding flowers in the spring, insects during summer, or fascinating snowflakes in winter. If you've been disappointed with closeups in the past, this quick video  from the Wildlife with Rich channel will significantly boost your results.

Rich is a professional wildlife shooter who's also known for enchanting nature imagery and quick tutorials that demonstrate no-nonsense techniques that anyone can emulate. He kicks off today's episode by saying, "In this video we will be taking a simple composition of a mushroom and looking at tips you can enhance all of your macro photos."

These simple methods work wonders for all types of macro photography, and the discussion includes dealing with foregrounds and backgrounds properly to isolate and accentuate the subject, and how to choose the most effective camera angles and vantage points for more compelling compositions.

You'll also learn a bit about the right gear for the job and see how to enhance contrast by using light to maximum advantage. The solitary mushroom that Rich found on the forest floor is about as simple a subject as can be. But watch how his three simple tricks transform the striking images he makes in barely three minutes.

His first goal is to improve the flat scene by introducing more contrast, and this involves maximizing both the foreground and background in the frame. The challenge is this: "The subject and background are the same color, and there's not a lot of subject separation between them" to grab the eye.

Watch how quickly things change as Rich merely takes a couple steps to the right. This creates more depth and dimension because the prominent log is no longer directly behind the mushroom—and the subject is now slightly further away. With this simple shift, the background now takes on a blurry appearance that he accentuates further as the lesson proceeds.

The next step in the process is drawing attention the beige mushroom by throwing a bit of color contrast into the background, and Rich does this by strategically placing a few vibrant yellow/orange beech leaves in the frame. And now the mushroom begins to "pop." He then takes a similar approach to separate his subject from the foreground with equally impressive results.

The episode concludes with Rich demonstrating how to use a cheap, pocket-sized LED light that throws just enough light into the frame to enhance contrast for a perfect effect. And since it's a constant source of illumination, rather than a flash, there are no complex settings to worry about, and you can move the little light around until you see exactly what you want.

There much more to learn on the Wildlife with Rich YouTube channel. And for an essential solution to a different type of fungus, be sure to watch the tutorial we posted recently, demonstrating a safe and sure method for removing image-killing fungus from contaminated lenses.