Photographing starts with good preparation, especially in nature photography. Think about what you want to photograph and where you have the biggest chance to see your chosen subject. But, don’t close your eyes to all the other beautiful things you run into. Be aware of everything, because in nature photography, you never know what you might see.

The best times to photograph are usually at sunrise and at sunset. The light is the best at these times. There is a preference goes out to sunrise, because apart from the beautiful light, it is also pretty quiet. Most people are still asleep, so you have no disturbance from people walking, no visitors or tourist in the game reserves or anywhere in fact… Get up early, especially in the summer. Make sure that you are at your destination before sunrise.

Is your material ready? Choose the right set up beforehand, test and make sure that, when you have to act fast, you will be ready. It would be annoying if a beautiful fox crosses your path and you have to choose the right set up on your camera.

Do your research!

Before you plan on making a photo of a specific animal, find out something about their behavior, habitat and eating habits. This will enlarge your chance of success, you won’t make unnecessary mistakes and you won’t look in the wrong spot. Emigrating geese have to eat for a whole day to refill their energy from flying. So, don’t come too close.

Walking, steady spot or driving a car?

Plan in advance what you intend to do. Walking is a good way to see several spots and this also increases the chance of a sighting. But it is also tiring. Especially with a backpack filled with equipment on your back and a 500 mm lens on your shoulder! Be quiet, wear inconspicuous clothes and don’t walk with the wind. Otherwise animals can smell you from miles away.

Choosing a steady spot takes a bit more preparation. It only makes sense if you pick a spot where your subject will actually show itself. Knowing where to go is essential. A tent to hide out is also necessary. You can purchase a photo "hide" in several sizes and colours in professional shops.

To photograph from the car usually gives good results. Animals are usually used to cars and don’t see them as a direct threat. Usually they stand still so that you can do your thing. The downside of that is the limitation of movement, you can’t go everywhere, the costs are high and it has a bad effect on the environment.

Enjoy yourselves!

Maybe not necessary to say, but usually you find yourselves at the most beautiful places at the most beautiful moments. Enjoy it. Usually you are working and so concentrated, that you don’t always realize it. Then, leave the camera for a second and look around you!

Equipment

Your equipment is only as good as the photographer that uses it!

Good equipment is essential, as it enables you to take pictures that you probably couldn’t have made otherwise. Buy the best material, as far as your budget enables you. Cheap in photography is really expensive or disappointing and then expensive…

Camera

In nature photography the 35 mm camera is the most used one. With a modern auto focus camera you have a good piece of equipment. The speed of the camera is essential. A camera with a quick auto focus, a minimum of 3 images per second and enough buffers (when digital) is essential. For landscape photography a medium size or a big size camera is also good to use. Separate "panorama" cameras like the Hasselblad Xspan are also used a lot.

Lenses

People and wild animals usually don’t go well together. That is hard for a nature photographer, the minute you get close to them, they are gone. Every animal has a so called "fear circle". Come close to this circle, and the animal makes itself ready to run. Therefore in nature photography people frequently use long tele-lenses. 300 mm is minimal here. 500 mm or 600 mm are ideal. Converters (times 1,4 or times 2) enlarge the reach even further.

Light intense (quick) lenses with a diaphragm of f2.8 or f4 are to be preferred. Lenses with a steady focal length are usually better than zoom lenses. The latter have quality loss at the end and beginning of their reach and are less sharp.

For macro photography, a macro lens that is capable of making pictures in "life size" (1:1) is ideal. A reach of 90 to 180 mm gives you enough room to play.

For landscape photography you need a good wide angle lens. The reach of the wide angle lens goes from 35 mm to 28 mm. The light intensity is less important, because you usually photograph with f16 or higher.

Tripods

Use a heavy tripod and I mean REALLY heavy! Make sure the tripod you have is stable enough to use with your big tele-lenses, without this causing unnecessary vibrations. Yes, you carry around a lot, but you will see that it’s worth it. For beautiful pictures you need to suffer a bit. Why the emphasis on the tripod? Well, if I, in order of importance make a list of photo equipment, it would look like this:

1. Tripod

2. Head set

3. Lenses

4. Camera

Strange? Well, I think that you can get a better result with a less good lens and a better tripod, than with a good lens without a tripod. You can forget about long focal length distances without a tripod. Especially when you talk about 400/500/600 mm. Image stabilizers are very handy (with that a very big wallet), but not enough. For nature photography I advise you to use a tripod without a middle leg. It only makes the tripod more unstable and it doesn’t get close enough to the ground in nature.

Accessories

Get the right accessories. To make a long story short here is a list:

* Flash

* Remote control

* Extra batteries

* Hide tent

* Bean bag

* Enough (fast) memory cards (when digital). Preferably compact flash, no micro- drive, because they can not be trusted.

* Sturdy photo bag or bag pack (buy it to grow)

A few tips for buying

• Think through what you want to make photos of. There is no point in spending a lot of money on an expensive standard lens with the knowledge that you usually use your tele-lens.
• Orientate well! Look around on the Internet, read the texts and reviews and look around on the forums. There you find good answers to the questions that you have.
• Choose a good brand. Canon and Nikon are in this branch of photography leading brands, although Canon got a big leap ahead with their USM and IS technology. Both brands have a big choice in (new and secondhand) accessories, lenses, flash etc.
• Don’t forget the second hand market while purchasing. Lots of times you can get first class equipment here for interesting prices that would not be affordable if it were new.

In the end; even the best equipment in the world doesn’t make you a good photographer! Also with simple and cheap equipment you can get good results. Seeing instead of looking, an eye for nature and photo-technical knowledge are the most important assets. Let yourself be inspired and motivated by beautiful pictures of other photographers. And be at the right time at the right moment. That means simply to go out there. Remember that most of the time is spent waiting and that you can get disappointed about the result of come back without a result. But finally you will succeed and that one beautiful picture makes everything worth while! So, take into account that 95 percent of your pictures will probably go straight in the bin, but don’t give up. Nature photography is to suffer a bit, but great if it works out. And that’s what it’s all about!

Professional nature photographer, Philip Tiverton, a nature person

talks about photography in nature.

Nature photography, especially animal photography in free nature, asks for lot of time and patience. A good nature photographer is a fanatic, and is driven by enthusiasm. He is always dependent on changing weather conditions and the hard to control and ever changing environment. Shots of animals living in the wild require a lot of knowledge about the subject, a solid preparation and organization. Especially in far away countries it is not always easy to create a situation that leads to optimum results. During the preparation at home a lot of sources can be used to learn about the behavior of a species, when and where they live and other important knowledge. So, there is homework to be done and a plan to be made. Patience, insight, feeling, risk, being driven, adventure, endurance and money are the qualities that a nature photographer needs to possess to reach success.

Professional nature photographer, Philip Tiverton (1949), based in Belgium practices nature photography for decades and built up a name for himself in this specialized profession. At the age of 10 he was a serious bird-watcher and beginning photographer. When he was 15 years old he bought his first tele-lens with money he saved. He muddled through and got a lot of experience then that he still uses daily. As a nature person, graphic artists and fanatic photographer he creates photos that come into being in free nature. The existing light, composition, use of color, shape (repetitions) and content form are his most important image elements.

With "his" light source, the sun, he has a love-hate relationship.  Philip calls himself an atmosphere photographer and goes into the field under extreme weather circumstances. The rougher, the more beautiful, nature never bores him. "Only if you really love nature, you can make good pictures. I have to go into the spirit of an animal or a landscape; otherwise I can never register it well on film. Philip is and will be a real nature lover always.

Play outside

Most of the knowledge he gets from books and in free nature. "To play outside", like he expresses himself. He is willing to wait in his hide out tent for several days.

"I have to go to the animal in its living room; otherwise I cannot register the life of that animal. Because most animals became scared of people, I have to come up with all kinds of tricks to make pictures from up close. You need an extreme amount of patience for that, in spite of long tele-lenses.

Respect for animals

Philip has a boundless respect for his subject. "Nature should always prevail above the picture. Even though I make money with my nature pictures, the animal stays the most important." No empty words, but words from a man with experience. Philip detests photographers that, on sea for instance, disturb large groups of animals by hunting them with the photo camera. "Those birds need their peace very much. To hide and to wait until they get closer is much better, gives better pictures than animals that are on the run enable. To chase away a bird from its nest or its steady resting place is not done.  Boring nest photos are not interesting anyway; action is much more interesting, but also harder to photograph."

Specialization

Philip’s specialization is landscape, bird and mammal photography. However, wild flora and macro photography are not forgotten. For this he travels all over the world nowadays. For his bird pictures he usually has the image result in his head beforehand. The bird is portrayed in a ‘by Philip chosen’ biotope. Bird photography is his big love. His photos give away his graphic education and background. In his landscape photos often the lines, repetition of shapes and atmosphere that make them special.

Perfectionist and calendar

Philip is a perfectionist. Every picture has to, he finds, speak for itself and evoke something. Like a photo for a calendar, the purchaser has to look at the picture for a full month. At the end of the month the picture still has to be "worth it", to be looked at and has to be special enough to tell a story. One time it will be a certain atmosphere, another time a beautiful in line and/or shape translated reality. Even somebody having a bad day has to think when looking: "Hm, what a beautiful landscape or what a beautiful animal that is." When that happens, the photo is a success.

Antarctica

In Antarctica Philip met a lot of animals that had no fear of him as a human being. They are not afraid of the silhouette of man because they never had bad experience with people. The giant albatrosses descend next to you to find out what that "something" was. The many penguins were so incredibly curious that they started pulling his shoe laces. They also inspected his opened photo bag and gave it a thorough beak investigation. This was a fantastic experience that offered many possibilities for good photography.

World traveler, but still…

Philip becomes more of a world traveler. Since he became fifty, he travels more consciously. "Now that I have my health and that I can still bear the physical and emotional burden of heavy nature trips" I try to make the most of that, before my time is up. He set foot on all continents and made nature photos. Antarctica impressed him the most. Even so, he remains a Belgian photographer.  "I just have less connection with a bird from North America than with one of our national birds. Foreign nature will never become as familiar as your own country’s. The fauna in Holland is harder to photograph though. The growing population disturbs nature areas more and more. Lately I have to make myself invisible for the people instead of for the animals. "

The visitors of this page probably feel the need for clear written, basic tips about digital photography. Although the latest techniques are focused on making photos easier and more fun, it doesn’t always result in better pictures. A lot of amateur photographers are still struggling with the basic principles of photographing, like focusing and composition. With these basic tips we want to give you some information, with these tips you will soon make better pictures with your digital camera.

Prevent moved and unclear photos

We all make bad photos. Blurry photos, because the camera was moved during the making of the picture, or photos that are partially unclear because the auto focus of the camera was not used properly. Many uninspiring photos are made because we don’t pay attention to the right composition. Many of these problems can be prevented, by using a few simple basic techniques. By just holding the camera better, to correct use the auto focus system and giving more attention to the composition, you can achieve amazing results.

1. Hold the camera the right way                                                                     

Most digital camera’s come with a grip on the right side. On some mini camera’s you can hardly speak of a grip anymore. Those cameras are hard to keep stable. When your camera has a grip, hold it steadily with your right hand; support the camera with your left hand, while your elbows are pressed against your body for extra support. Use the image optical viewfinder as much as you can. Keeping the camera at arm’s length: looking at the LCD monitor is asking for blurry photos. Put your left foot half a step forward when making a picture, so that the body weight is divided between both legs. Try to stand still and find support next to a wall, a tree, or another vertical object. Kneel down if possible and let the elbow of the arm that you use to support the camera lean on your knee. Before you carefully press the shutter button with your right finger, breathe in and out once, and hold your breath while you press the shutter button.

2. Resolution

Choose the right resolution to make your photos. With a digital camera you have no material loss, but it is a shame to waste time on working on unnecessary big files. Use the low resolution mode for photos that are meant for e mail, Web or presentations. Use high resolution for photos that you want to print.

3. Composition, come closer!

One of the biggest beginner’s mistakes in the area of composition is to take way too much distance from the object that they want to photograph. Often, most of the picture consists of a boring background. So, come closer, not just a little bit, but really closer. Use your legs, or use the optic zoom option of the camera. You can of course, when you edit your digital photos, try to get rid of the background later, but by doing this you throw away valuable information. Especially for the people that have a CCD camera with less than two mega pixels, is it very important to come as close to the object as possible. This way you will optimally use the low amount of pixels.

4. Delete photos

Why wait with the deleting of photos until the memory card is full, when you wanted to throw away bad pictures anyway? Murphy’s Law has a long arm, just when you wanted to take that gorgeous action photo; you have no more storage… If you make a bad photo - delete it immediately.

5. When to photograph with a flash?

Many cameras use the automatic flash as a standard set up. But if you point the flash directly at the object, it can lead to flat photos because the flash minimizes the shadows. Experiment with the scattering of the flash light with a paper towel (use an elastic to keep the towel in place) and try other flash set ups, like "slow sync". People on pictures that are made with flash, often have red eyes. Preventing red eyes is as simple as choosing the anti red eye flash set up on the camera; some HP camera’s can even remove the red eyes after a picture is made.

6. Use of daylight

Use, if you can, normal daylight and not the built in flash. Day light is softer and more realistic than the bright white light of a flash. If you want to photograph in dark circumstances, enlarge the sensitivity by choosing a higher ISO number in the menu.

7. The rule of three

In the rule of three, imaginary lines are drawn on a third and two thirds of the vertical as well as the horizontal ax. Like this the frame is divided in 9 similar sections. Place the most important part of the composition on one of the four places where the lines cross each other. Although this might turn out to be an imbalanced composition, the object is kept in balance by the other two thirds of the frame. When you photograph a landscape, try to place the horizon on one third of the frame. Often this results in a dynamic composition. But, this is a rule and not a law. So, keep on experimenting with different original angles.

8. Looking at photos

Is it necessary to use the LCD monitor when you make photos? The LCD monitor can be used when making pictures and for the looking at pictures afterwards. The older camera’s use batteries, ask yourself if you want to use the LCD monitor if you also have the optic search engine. Find out what is handy and what the status of your battery is. Save energy by refraining from using the LCD monitor to make pictures.

9. Focus on the object

Almost all digital Auto Focus cameras (AF cameras) have an optical searcher with hooks that indicate the focus area. Within this frame you find the area that the camera focuses on. When the focus area has several objects at different distances, problems can arise, because the AF doesn’t know what to focus on. By locking the focus you can prevent this from happening:

1. Point the camera, so that the focus is focused on the main object.

2. Press the shutter button half way, so that the lens is focusing on the object.

3. Keep the shutter button pressed down halfway so that the focus is locked and find the right composition of the photo.

4. Take the photo by pressing the shutter button all the way.

How can you move on if you have seen so many dead and wounded? He asks himself. Things are not well with the ex soldiers. They are in prison, divorced, or ended up in a psychiatric institution. One man still lives at the front. He protects the border with Russia and lives for eight years in a hut surrounded by white mountain tops. ‘Now it is harder than during the war, " he says. "Then I longed for peace. Now? For nothing."

Village of Socks, Romania 2006

In the picturesque village Viscri in Romania a women knit socks of sheep’s wool. A German woman in the village, Annette, and her accomplice Harald, buy the socks and sell them in Europe. But they don’t pay well, and if there is a small loose stitch, the women get the socks back. Even when everything is done according to the buyer’s wishes, it is uncertain if the knitters receive money. First they have to pay for the wool themselves, and then knit the socks, and if they are accepted by the fierce Rumanian supervisor, then they only get their money if the socks themselves are actually sold. Every now and then the strict woman smuggles a sock for herself, that doesn’t fit the norm.

This is a small movie, with every now and then a touching moment. An old woman that tells while knitting that she is divorced and that her son lives in the city. With tears held back she confirms that she is lonely. Although, she says, it’s better this way.

Or the woman behind the cash register of the deserted tourist shop "Artisane’ that talks to a French woman. She holds up a scarf and asks "if she has one size smaller"? No? Then the buy is off. As if she is walking through Lafayette.

Travel Photographer of the Year (TPOTY) is the international photography competition designed to find the very best in travel photography. TPOTY is a showcase for photographers and their fascinating images. Many of these can be seen on the website www.tpoty.com, in the "Journey" portfolio books, the image library or purchased as prints.

After being in the shadows, photographers from Britain have played an important role in this year’s Travel Photographer of the Year competition (TPOTY), winning four of six awards. Julian Love, a professional photographer from London who takes pictures of London, Egypt, Namibia and Nepal was crowned as travel photographer of 2006.

Photographers from Britain were also doing well in the Single Image – Festival, Streetlife and Iconic categories. A South American photographer won the Wild Category and a German young boy won the Young Travel Photographer of the Year on the other hand. You can have a look at all the winning photos on the website: www.tpoty.com

Organizer Chris Coe says: "We had a lot of amazing entries this year. Black and white photos won two of the categories, panoramic images won in two other categories. In the winning portfolios there were European cities like London, Rome and Paris. The quality of the photos was very high; only one category did not reach the expected standard, so we did not chose a winner in that category. The young photographers had very good quality images, so we awarded extra commendations to two other entrants in Young TPOTY."

Winning photos in "Journey Two" book

The book Journey Two shows you the winning and other placed photos of TPOTY 2006 and 2005. For the price of £27.50 (plus P&P), this great 164-page book can be bought at www.tpoty.com. You will also find the winning photos in the Daily Telegraph Adventure Travel & Sports Show at London’s Olympia from January 12-14, 2007.

Overall winner - Travel Photographer of the Year, 2006

Julian Love, professional photographer from London, with two portfolios in different categories, has won the title of Travel Photographer of the Year 2006.

Young Travel Photographer of the Year, 2006

16 year-old Robert Dziabel’s from England impressed the judges with his photos, they think highly of his talent and they find him a major talent for the future.

13 year-old English Edward Mole and 16 year-old Erik Haag (Canada) were Highly Commended by the judges.

Wild’ Portfolio Category

Andre Lichtenberg, UK-based photographer won this category with his remarkable black and white photos.

Peter Dettling, North American based photographer was the second runner up in this category, with a great portfolio of wildlife and landscape photos, whereas photo-grapher Amber Maitland from England was Highly Commended for her black and white photos of Antarctica. Christian Aslund, based in Sweden, was commended for his photos of ski jumpers.

‘Iconic’ Portfolio Category

This category was all about capturing the icons of travel. English Peter Hendrie did this perfectly with his photos of Paris by night and won in this category.

Dutch photographer Rene Koster made some amazing photos of the sailing barque Europa in Antarctica and took the second place in this category. Luke Duggleby, England, was Highly Commended for his dreamy photos of prayer flags, pilgrims and monks in Yunnan Province, China. Mark Paula got a Commendation for his London portfolio.

‘Festival’ – Single Image

The goal of this category was to capture colors, movement, culture, eccentricity, history, sounds and smells of a Festival in only one photo.

Karoki Lewis, UK based, did this very well by making photos of the Mahamastakabisheka Festival in India and carried away the first prize.

Nichola West (England) made a witty shot of the Glastonbury Festival and won the second place. Tim Bird from Finland got Highly Commended with his photo of the May 1st celebrations in Helsinki. Kasia Nowak (London) made an exuberant photograph of fireworks over London and also got highly commended.

‘North of 30 Degrees’ portfolio category

This category had an open travel theme, but images taken in places north of 30 degrees latitude were taken into consideration. There were some amazing photographs submitted, but none of the portfolios consisted only of such photos, so the judges decided not to chose a photographer in this category. Instead they highly commended the following people;  David Lehman (USA), for his portfolio ‘Faces of China’, Ron Tear (England) for his photos of Finland, Peter Cox (Ireland) for his panoramic landscapes and Clare Kendall (England) for her portfolio demonstrating the effect of global warming upon the Inuits.