Origin of Natural Exploration
When I first picked up a camera, I was in the second field season of my master’s in biology. My research focused on an interesting group of animals in an incredible place that most people will never get to see. My photos were all about capturing the animals and locations that existed in the Gila. Many of which I never would have seen had I not taken this research position. In this post, I want to share a little about my experiences in the beginning of my photography journey and some of the photos I am still proud of a year later.
Landscape Photography
Landscape photography is a common place for new photographers to start. It makes sense for a someone just starting out to want a subject that’s not going anywhere. I took so many pictures while learning about the exposure triangle and how the camera works that i look back on and laugh at how bad they are. When I finally took a look back at all of those pictures several months later, I realized I may have taken nearly 10,000 photos before learning anything about composition. I still struggle with composition in landscape photography.
Plant Photography
While landscape photography helped teach my about the basics more broadly, photos of plants helped my learn about the effect aperture has on the image. Without knowing there were specific lenses for this, I started taking close detailed shots of flowers. I think this is another great place for new photographers to start since it lets you see how the focal distance changes with the changing aperture. It’s easy to see when some pedals of a flower are in sharp focus and others are blurry, compared to a landscape photo where you may not notice the difference when focused on something so big and so far away. Taking pictures of flowers also taught me about vibrance, luminance, and texture. These were all things that I wasn’t able to see when I started with landscapes.
Here are a few of my favorites from that time:
Wildlife Photography
While taking photos of the landscapes and plants were a great way to learn about the exposure triangle and how each side (aperture, shutter speed, and ISO) influence the image, wildlife really taught me how to think about them in a more detailed way. I learned you can’t just leave the settings the same all day. That may sound obvious now but learning to estimate the needed shutter speed and changing the aperture and ISO to compensate was a little tricky at first.
Here are some of my favorite wildlife photos from my early days:
How Does Boudoir Photography Tie In?
My photography has come a long way from the poorly composed landscape photos I was taking when I started. If you made it this far through my website, you know outdoor boudoir is my new focus. The lessons I’ve learned through my journey have taught me a lot about the fundamentals of photography and let me experience some incredible places in rural New Mexico. What I’ve learned and the places I’ve seen helped shape the concept for this business. I want other people to experience those locations as well and to have a photography experience unmatched anywhere else.
Here are a few more recent photos from the Gila National Forest:
If you’re ready for a photography journey like no other, contact me to schedule a shoot today!
Natural Exploration 