I was able to draw attention away from the clutter in the
background and focus on the foreground subject, even at a
small aperture.07
Invest time and patience
Time is the most important investment you can make
in getting great rainforest pictures. Your time begins the moment
you make the decision to visit a new destination. It takes time
researching new locations, time driving or hiking to get there
and time taking the photo. You'll want to figure out where the
sun will rise and set to make the most of your time in the field.
Perhaps you've found an interesting tree, but the light is falling
on the opposite side to where you had hoped to shoot – you can
either recompose your shot or revisit the scene when the lighting
has changed angles. Often I'll do both to get a different feeling
for the same subject. But be patient – the forest has all the time in
the world! That gigantic tree you want to photograph didn't sprout
up overnight. That's the best part of shooting the natural world;
Mother Nature is extremely patient. Sometimes you'll be rewarded
with something special, other times you may walk away empty
handed with no pictures at all. Part of becoming a better landscape
photographer is finding time to ref lect and take in your surrounds.34 AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM AUSTRALIAN PHOTOGRAPHY + DIGITAL JULY 2015
RIGHT
Narrow creek in Dorrigo National
Park, NSW, comes to life after heavy
rain, plunging into a shallow rock pool
along the Wonga Walk. By setting my
tripod up from a low angle I was able
to tilt the camera upwards to frame the
canopy and give the image depth and
greater perspective. Soft diffused light
shrouded in mist helped create the
mood. I also used my hand to cover
the lens to avoid getting rain drops.
It didn’t solve the problem so I removed
raindrops in post production.
Canon 6D, 16-35mm f/2.8 @ 16mm,
ISO 400, 1s @ f/14, circular polariser
and tripod. Contrast, curves, levels,
clarity, shadow/highlight recovery
adjusted in Lightroom 5. Raindrops
removed and sharpening applied in
Photoshop CS5.BELOW
A miniature macro world on the forest
floor is barely visible to the naked eye.
To put this scene into perspective,
the tiny white flowers are the size of a
match head and the mushrooms about
the size of a five-cent coin. Canon 6D,
1969 Nikon 50mm f/1.4 with Canon
adapter @ 50mm, ISO 400, 1/30s
@ f/1.4 with tripod. Contrast, saturation
adjusted in Lightroom 5, sharpened
in Photoshop CS5.HOW TO Shoot Great Rainforest Images