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Ideas for Photographing Nature in Your Backyard

Ideas for Photographing Nature in Your Backyard

Have you been missing out on a lot of your nature photography because you are unable to travel? Don’t let that stop you from capturing incredible shots of nature photography. There is really no need to book a flight or even travel for hundreds of miles in your car to photograph nature. Use these ideas, some simple and some creative, to capture beautiful images of nature in your backyard.

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Create a Nature Sanctuary
If you find the variety of wildlife or plants in your backyard is limited, there are a few things you can do to increase the wildlife traffic and vegetation. Start by creating your own wildlife habitat. There are some easy ways to bring wildlife to your backyard. Make your backyard more inviting to the birds by setting up a bird feeder. Once the birds discover your feeder, the photo opportunities will be endless. Take some practice shots once you set up the bird feeder to check out lighting. You want to make sure you can also conceal yourself so you don’t disturb the birds and frighten them away. Using a zoom lens like the Sigma Lens from Beachcamera.com will help you when photographing nature at the far end of your backyard as you enjoy a cup of coffee from your back porch! Want to try your hand at some macro photography with your macro lens? To attract butterflies, bees, ladybugs and other insects that will be perfect for experimenting with photographing nature with a macro lens, plant a variety of pollinator-friendly plants. These flowers will also make great subject matter for your macro lens! You can also plant nut and fruit–bearing plants to appeal to a variety of birds and mammals. Don’t want to wait on your plants to grow to start photographing nature? There are plenty of animal-friendly treats you can simply toss out into your yard to attract a variety of animals when photographing nature. A handful of shelled peanuts will bring in the squirrels, crows and blue jays. Many species find sunflower seeds irresistible like cardinals and finches. Corn will attract some mammals to capture with your camera when photographing nature. Squirrels, raccoons, opossums, rabbits, deer and (for the brave) skunks!

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Varied Angles
When photographing nature in your backyard, you have the perfect opportunity to try shooting from a variety of angles. When photographing flowers, instead of shooting from the top or side of the flowers, try getting down low and shoot upward. Don’t forget to look under the petals and leaves. You may be surprised to find another photography opportunity lying in wait. A ladybug, praying mantis or honeybee will make a nice addition to your flower photography. Filling the frame with with the entire flower is nice. But try some other composition tricks when positioning your camera. Do you have some nice tall oak trees or redwoods in your backyard? You will want to take advantage of the photographic opportunities these majestic beauties afford. Don not waste this opportunity by photographing these natural wonders straight on. Instead lie on your back and shoot upwards with your Canon DSLR from Beachcamera.com. This will add great depth of field to your nature photography. Don’t forget to search the top of the trees while you are there. You may luck into finding a hawk or other bird looking back at you to add to your nature photography.

After the Storm
Photographing nature can go beyond capturing images of animal and plant life. Rain is a part of nature, and can be fun and exciting to photograph. You can get creative when photographing raindrops by capturing them from different angles and under different lighting conditions. When using a wide aperture to ensure the background is blurred, create distance between a single droplet and an uncluttered background. When using your Nikon D850 DSLR to capture raindrops resting on leaves, you will see that the water sits differently on different types of petals and leaves. You will find nice round droplets on some types of leaves. On some plants the drops will disperse creating a variety of photo opportunities. A nice summer or autumn rain will open up another chance for nature photography. Watch for mushrooms, toadstools and fungi to pop up in damp places after the rain. When photographing nature, check out the sides of trees in your backyard and in crevices in your garden for these beautiful photo opps. 

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Never think that photographing nature is inaccessible. If you are creative and take the time, photographing nature in your backyard is definitely a possibility.

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