Picture this!
By Brad Bumgardner
Annika and Eirik Eggen pose with digital point-and-shoot cameras.
Ready … aim … click!
With today’s digital cameras, capturing and enjoying nature’s beauty in photos is amazingly simple. Even a beginner can take breathtaking images of plants and animals with an inexpensive digital camera. “Image,” by the way, is another name for a digital picture. Both kids and adults can head for the nearest DNR property and start shooting with no worries of running out of film. If you take a bad shot, delete it. If you like it, print it.
The best way to learn photography is doing it. Not only does practice make perfect, it makes you think of new things to photograph and raises questions about those subjects. Your natural world will open you to numerous fun photo ideas. Decide which ones interest you most, then center your efforts on getting the best photo of that subject, whether it be a still life, your cat, dog, friend or that raccoon that lives under your deck.
Here are a few simple tips:
•Practice getting quicker to the draw. Do not worry about taking too many pictures or waiting until you are sure you set the knobs and buttons correctly. As the motto on a photographer’s T-shirt that I once saw said, “Shoot First, Ask Questions Later.”
•Crop out the uninteresting things. Consciously place your subject where you think it most belongs. Do not just accept it wherever it lands in the photo.
•Check the lighting. Is the light blazing directly and brightly upon your whole subject? If you love the bold colors of your subject, this works well.
•Finally, be wise but be bold. Experiment. For example, get a cool shot of a mushroom from above, then get down on its level and take another.
Your first photograph may turn you on to a lifelong hobby. Every picture is a record of an experience. You can create many of both to share and remember for years.
From time to time, state park and reservoir interpreters offer programs on how to take pictures. Check out these and all other interpretive programs at www.interpretiveservices.IN.gov on your computer. Click on “programs.”
With today’s digital cameras, capturing and enjoying nature’s beauty in photos is amazingly simple. Even a beginner can take breathtaking images of plants and animals with an inexpensive digital camera. “Image,” by the way, is another name for a digital picture. Both kids and adults can head for the nearest DNR property and start shooting with no worries of running out of film. If you take a bad shot, delete it. If you like it, print it.
The best way to learn photography is doing it. Not only does practice make perfect, it makes you think of new things to photograph and raises questions about those subjects. Your natural world will open you to numerous fun photo ideas. Decide which ones interest you most, then center your efforts on getting the best photo of that subject, whether it be a still life, your cat, dog, friend or that raccoon that lives under your deck.
Here are a few simple tips:
•Practice getting quicker to the draw. Do not worry about taking too many pictures or waiting until you are sure you set the knobs and buttons correctly. As the motto on a photographer’s T-shirt that I once saw said, “Shoot First, Ask Questions Later.”
•Crop out the uninteresting things. Consciously place your subject where you think it most belongs. Do not just accept it wherever it lands in the photo.
•Check the lighting. Is the light blazing directly and brightly upon your whole subject? If you love the bold colors of your subject, this works well.
•Finally, be wise but be bold. Experiment. For example, get a cool shot of a mushroom from above, then get down on its level and take another.
Your first photograph may turn you on to a lifelong hobby. Every picture is a record of an experience. You can create many of both to share and remember for years.
From time to time, state park and reservoir interpreters offer programs on how to take pictures. Check out these and all other interpretive programs at www.interpretiveservices.IN.gov on your computer. Click on “programs.”
Make a rustic picture frame
Annika models a nearly completed frame that
features a younger version of herself.
Supplies Needed
Hand Pruner
Twine or yarn
Low temp glue gun
12 sitcks or wooden dowel rods
- Gather 12 sticks from your backyard or a walk in the woods. Look for straight sticks that are 1⁄4 to 3⁄8 of an inch in diameter.
- Strip off all leaves and side branches (another option is to use wooden dowel rods).
Red dogwood twigs are cut to match a selected photo (left). Parents MariJean and Jon Egen assist (right). - To make an 8 x 10-inch picture frame, break or trim six of the sticks or dowels into 11-inch lengths. Break or trim the remaining branches into 6- to 9-inch lengths.
- To make a 5 x 7-inch picture frame, break or trim six of the sticks or dowels into 8-inch lengths. Break or trim the remaining branches into 6-inch lengths.
- Arrange the sticks or dowels to form your picture frame. Use the low temp glue gun to tack them in place.
Eirik with a nearly completed frame.
- Wrap each of the four corners of your picture frame with twine. Glue the ends in place on the back of the sticks.
- If needed, trim your photo to fit, then glue it to the back of the frame at the corners. Cut and glue a piece of twine to the back of the photo to hang it.
