Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

 
 

Landscape Photography Tips

1. Use a tripod when it is possible. 2. Maximize Depth of Field. 3. Look for a focal point in the picture, 4. Foreground objects are more interesting, 5. Consider the sky and horizon, 6. Figure out the horizontal, vertical or diagonal Lines, 7. Capture dynamic movement, such as sea waves. 8. Considering the weather, any interesting light and clouds. 9. Shot at the Golden Hours (sunrise and sunset moment). 10. Change the viewpoint where you take a shot. 11. Take extra sharp landscape photos with focus stacking technique.

 

Night Photography Tips

1. use wind resistant tripod. 2. Headlamp with a red LED. 3. Light painting flashlight. 4. Turn to M. mode or Bulb mode in order to use long exposure. 5. Using wider-aperture prime lens, such as Canon 24mm f/1.4. 6. Set manual focus at infinity point on lens. 7. Remove UV filter to avoid unwanted light reflections. 8. cover your viewfinder in long exposure. 9. Set mirror lockup. 10. shooting at or above ISO 800. 11. Set aperture to f/5.6 will get clear image, f/11 will achieve star shinning effect, f/1.4 or 2.8 will create bokeh effect. 12. self-timer or cable release should be used. 13. create a “dark frame” and subtracting the noise from the photo with Photoshop.

HDR Photography Tips

HDR stands for ‘high dynamic range’, it is often used during sunrise or sunset moment, and shooting architecture or man-made objects at middle of the day.
Tips: 1. Shoot in raw format. 2. Choose aperture priority mode. 3. Set camera metering to evaluative. 4. Five brackets -2, -1, 0, +1, +2 works great for most situations. 5. Avoid portraiture, HDR will bring out less shadow but more details of wrinkles, pores, and blemishes. 6. Don’t take moving objects in a picture, especially shooting at windy condition.

 

Macro Photography Tips

1. Use macro Lens attachments. 2. Give some water spray on flowers or leaves. 3. Use closer zoom focus with tubes or extension tubes. 4. Shooting at lens’s maximum aperture, such as f/1.4 and close to the subject in order to create very narrow depth of field and get nice blur effect. 5. In case neccessary, using focus stacking technique to get whole the object in focus. 6. Choosing right patterns. 7. Kill the ambient light with high-speed sync. 8. Use a Third Hand. 9. Backlighting macro subjects can create a stunning effect. 10. Move the object not the Camera when doing multi focus shooting. 11. Post processing software for focus stacking such as HeliconFocus.

 
 

Insel Mainau Garden

This flower picture was shot at Insel Mainau Garden located at Nainau island in Lake Constance (on the south shore of the Überlinger See near the city of Konstanz). This beautiful garden island is a model of excellent environmental practices.
The island belongs to the Lennart Bernadotte-Stiftung (English: the Lennart Bernadotte Foundation), an entity created by Prince Lennart, Count Bernadotte af Wisborg, formerly a Prince of Sweden and Duke of Småland. It is one of the main tourist attractions of Lake Constance. Beside flowers there is a park landscape with views on the lake. There is also a greenhouse with tropical climate and thousands and ofbutterflies.

Also tulips here present a charming and colourful display in Mainau’s spring flowerbeds, the romantic peonies blossom next to the Italian-style floral water cascade.

Interesting parts of the park: botanical stroll, rose garden, fountain arena, Italian floral – water staircase, herb garden, arboretum, butterfly house, scent garden.

 
 

Beautiful Herbal Flowers

Lotus
Amomi cardamomi flos
Oenothera biennis flos
Carthamus flos
 

Explore Nature and Get Inspiration

 

Photographer Z.G. Yang

Nature Photography

Photography has long been one of my passions. Nature Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving nature. What you have caught on camera is an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still. It remembers and cherishes that moment, long after you have forgotten everything.

Nature Photography

Portrait Photography

Q and A

What kind of camera equipment do you use?

 

I currently use a Canon EOS 5D Mark III and 7D digital body and a variety of Canon lenses: EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II, EF 17-40mm f/4.0L IS, 35mm f/1.4L, EF 100mm F2.8 L IS, EF 70-200mm f/4.0L IS, and Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 DX. Canon 7D is more often used for sport and time lapse shooting while 5D is more for landscape and HDR photography.

 

Did you put your web site together on your own?

 

After studying and exercising the website building technology on my localhost computer, I created the detailed design concept, and built up my photography website with ePix theme.

 

How did you learn your craft?

 

My photography skills has been gained through means other than official learning programs. In 2009 I was interested and inspired by many amazing photos taken by nature photographers, and began to study photography magazines, books, tutorial films from Youtube and Vimeo. At meantime I bought first semiprofessional camera Canon 7D and did a lot of experiments at home and outdoor. Last year I bought Canon 5 D mark III and use both these cameras and lenses to create my own photography.