The BetterPhoto Guide to Digital Nature Photography

by Jim Miotke

From the tiniest ladybug to a towering glacier, from a horse running in a field to a leaf falling slowly from a tree, nature subjects offer some of the greatest challenges and the greatest rewards to photographers. In the BetterPhoto tradition, here’s a complete photo course in a book. Hands-on lessons cover every aspect of digital nature photography, from buying the right camera for close-ups, landscapes, and movement, to understanding how the camera works, to taking great pictures. Author Jim Miotke uses straightforward text and inspiring yet informative photos to show the best ways to approach nature photography. Everything a beginner or intermediate photographer needs to know is here, including a buyer’s guide, full information on camera features, file formats and settings, exposure, low-light photography, filters and white balance, composition and lens choice, creative ideas, manipulating, and printing, along with a glossary and list of useful websites. The Better Photo Guide to Digital Nature Photography helps photographers everywhere get great photos in the great outdoors.

Genres: Photography

224 pages, Paperback

First published November 22, 2006

About the author

Jim Miotke is a bestselling author, founder of BetterPhoto.com, and a Christian Scientist.

JIm loves being a dad, practicing Kung Fu with his kids and his friend Shifu, learning the piano and guitar, and of course reading.

His is “treat-giver” to his three adorable dogs.

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Librarian note: There is more than one author in the database by this name. See other authors with similar names.

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were so many things to love about this book, I'm almost not sure where to start. I suppose what jumped out at me the most was how practical the advice was. There are checklists of the most important things to remember from each section; little boxes with advice on practical concerns such as bringing camera gear out into the elements; and "assignment" sections that suggest ways to practice new techniques right away. I was most excited about the assignments so I was especially pleased that these were all included in the index, making them easy to refer back to.

This brings me to the second great thing about this book... the organization. First there are sections on three of the basics of photography: lighting, composition, and exposure. Each of these sections included some general guidelines (the rule of thirds or complementary colors for example). While you might be thinking that you know these already, I did too and I still found these sections extremely useful. The author gives beautiful, clear examples of each technique in use. He also expands on these guidelines with suggestions I hadn't heard before (using the rule of thirds by choosing either your foreground or the sky to take up two-thirds of the picture, for example). And finally, he wraps up each section with examples of times when breaking the rules is the right thing to do.

After the three basic sections, there are sections devoted specifically to landscapes, macro photograph, and wildlife. Each of these sections includes more specific advice in each of the basic categories, even giving camera settings the author most often uses for these types of photography. Personally, what I most took away from this book was the need for planning photography expeditions and picking one subject to devote a lot of time to. I tend to squeeze photography in where ever I am and whenever I have time for it. Taking this author's advice to heart, I think I could really benefit from some more thoughtful photography. For other photographers, while you might need this book less than I did, I strongly suspect that anyone other than a professional photographer would take away something new from reading this book. Highly recommended.

This review first published at Doing Dewey.

[Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miotke is a professional photographer who seems to actually enjoy taking photographs. His enthusiasm is evident throughout The BetterPhoto Guide to Digital Nature Photography. He also understands that most of his readers do not have unlimited time or equipment budget.

The three themes running through this book are lighting, composition, and digital exposure; LCD for short. The first part of the book covers those three areas at an appropriate level of technical depth for a beginning photographer, or a beginning photographer who wants to improve his skills. The latter two-thirds of the book consists of basically case studies, showing mostly top-notch photographs and talking about the LCD principles applied.

If I had to own just one book about nature photography, this would be it.

[Garrett Alley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got quite a few neat tricks from this book, but the best thing I got out of it was inspiration. I read the book just a few pages at a time, rushing outside to try out the various techniques and tips. I also noticed that much of what I learned stuck...

I'm far from being a pro photographer, but reading this book definitely nudged me in that direction.

[Tomek · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good reference. Some of it is fairly repetitive and many of the tips are fairly self-evidence but a good reinforcement of basic composition and exposure, as well as useful ideas for creative photos.

[Esther · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written with examples and discussion. I tried some new techniques by blurring the background and moving closer to the subject. Use the rule of thirds or fill the frame with the subject. However any rule can be broken in photography.

[Phuong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book from the founder of Betterphoto.com. Good instructions without getting too technical.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, but over-priced.

[Hapzydeco · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must buy for all who want their nature images to jump from the digital camera to their blog.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice mix of macro and landscape advice. Clear directions and good pictures to illustrate the technique.

[Islandgirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelent, very informative and helpful!