Nature photography in the forest

The chaos in the forest
The image composition
Sun stars in the forest
Mushrooms in the forest
The weather and the seasons
The equipment

The chaos in the forest

Photographing in the forest is certainly one of the most challenging tasks in nature photography, but why is that? One of the difficulty is the lighting conditions found in the forest. The light in the forest is usually so low that the shots need to be exposed for a long time, but there is an easy solution for this problem, which is the use of a tripod. Another problem is the very high contrast that challenging every sensor. I do not have an easy solution for contrast management at this time, so my advice in this case is that highlights may "bleed out" or depths "sink," but it depends on the fact that the image areas are properly exposed with the main statement of the subject. There are still some ways to keep the contrast in the forest low, but more on that later.

The main challenge is the image composition. When we look at the subjects in the forest with our eyes, the results will differ greatly from the actual photographs made and much more than in any other nature photography! Why is this? Our eyes and our brain automatically structures what we see, which the camera is not capable of. The exposure will not usually reflect the actual scale and must also be limited to two-dimensional representation. Of course, the photographer perceived sounds and smells during the shot that are completely missing from the later viewer of the image.
OK, what to do now? First of all, you should always keep in mind the things mentioned above when taking the shots! You will only be able to control the chaos in the viewfinder if you put a lot of effort into the composition and that means you should meticulously design the subject in every detail. The more time you take, the closer you get to your goal. If you are expecting a patent solution from me, I'm sorry to disappoint you, as forest photography has many facets. For example, the subject can be a whole forest, a single tree, or even small details and the composition is of course greatly dependent on this. Nevertheless, I would like to try to show some possible ways of better composition in the next section. (back to the beginning)

The image composition

With a good image composition, the chaos in the viewfinder can be reduced. Our task is therefore to bring order to the image.

One way to achieve a "tidy" forest shot is to work with a large aperture and limit the depth of field accordingly. Bright telephoto lenses are best suited for this. As there is rarely unlimited space in front of the main subject in the forest, I prefer to use bright zoom lenses to stay flexible. However, the disadvantage of zoom lenses is that they often not fast lenses and sometimes better results can be achieved with an prime lens. Detail views are also a good way to present a structured shot to the viewer of forest photos without the eye constantly searching for a resting point in the photo.

The most important aspect to create "order" is for me to have a structured image composition. The goal here is to present the viewer of the later image with a structure in which the main subject is immediately clear. This should actually be the top priority in every photo, but in forest photos, this rule is even more important so that the viewer can quickly orient themselves in the image.
In order to create this structure in the image, one should be aware of the foreground and background during image composition. Good tools are also lines that lead to the main subject, as this creates spatiality in two-dimensionality. Such lines can be, for example, forest paths, streams or tree rows. It is also worth trying a different perspective, for example, photographing from a frog's perspective into the tree tops.
(back to the beginning)

Sun stars in the forest

Photographing in the forest on a sunny day is usually not advantageous, as the contrasts in the forest are often very hard due to the sun. However, the sun in the forest can also become the main subject and very beautiful forest photos can be taken in backlight. A requirement for such shots is a low-lying sun that can be encountered shortly after sunrise or before sunset.

Taking photographs in the forest with backlight is particularly popular for creating sun stars or, more specifically, aperture stars. An aperture star is created by the light bending at the corners of the aperture. The appearance of the aperture star in the photo is largely dependent on the lens used. I personally like to use a 20mm prime lens with 7 aperture blades, which produces 14 aperture rays. However, nice aperture stars can now be produced with zoom lenses as well. I recommend trying a comparison test with available lenses, as not only the number of blades but also the shape of the blades (angular, rounded, or fully rounded) affects the result. If the latter is the case, then there are no blade edges and, unfortunately, no aperture star.
Once the right lens is found, it's important to close the aperture because with an open aperture, a sun star cannot be created. I usually use apertures between f/11 and f/16, but personal taste and experimentation also play a role. The more the aperture is closed, the longer the sun rays will be. However, with apertures smaller than f/16 (larger f-number), you will already have significant diffraction blur and the image quality will suffer noticeably.
(back to the beginning)

Mushrooms in the forest

In the fall, mushrooms sprout from the ground and provide beautiful photo subjects. For me, there are two types of mushroom photography: either I photograph the mushroom with a macro lens and showcase the mushroom through shallow depth of field, or I use a wide-angle lens to get as much of the surrounding environment as possible in the image. In both cases, I look for a ground-level perspective and since mushrooms are not particularly large, a tripod often doesn't get me close enough to the ground. Therefore, I usually use a flat beanbag and place the camera directly on it.

Especially when using a macro lens, I often use a technique called focus focus stackinging when photographing mushrooms. With focus focus stackinging, I take a series of pictures and shift the focus point with each individual shot. In post-processing, the images are then combined into one photo, resulting in a large depth of field. While this might sound quite involved, it is now very easy in practice. Many cameras now automatically perform the focus shift during the shots, and the combination of the shots into a single image can be quickly accomplished with the use of focus stackinging software.

A problem that often occurs in mushroom photography is the lack of light under the cap of the mushroom. To get some light to the bottom of the cap, I use a small reflector and redirect the natural light to the bottom of the mushroom. I never use a flash in photography, but a small flashlight that additionally illuminates the reflector is also very helpful or I use a small diffuser to shade the mushrooms if the sunlight is too strong on the mushroom.
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The weather and the seasons

Regarding the different seasons, there is really not much to say except that taking photographs in the forest is worthwhile in all seasons. However, I like autumn the most among all seasons because nowhere else is the colorfulness as great as at that time. However, the best period in autumn is usually limited to 1-2 weeks, because the colorful leaves fall quickly once the autumn storms sweep across the country.

What is the best weather for forest photography? Some nature photographers believe that rainy weather is especially suitable for photography in the forest. Generally, I also think so, because in rainy weather the contrasts are low and the colors come to life especially well. However, I recommend using a polarizing filter for as many shots as possible, because wet leaves reflect light quite strongly and this is usually disadvantageous. These reflections can be well controlled with the polarizing filter.
Photographing in the forest is also worth it in sunny weather, as beautiful moods can be created in backlight. I would only use the early morning or evening hours in the forest because otherwise the sun is too high and the light is too strong. A particularly interesting weather condition in the forest is the fog , , which gives the picture a mystical feel. The fog also helps us separate the background even more and better structure the image.
(back to the beginning)

The equipment

The most important tool for photography in the forest is a solid tripod, as the lighting conditions make longer exposure times necessary if one does not want to work with very high ISO values. As far as focal lengths are concerned, I would pack lenses from wide angle to medium telephoto in my camera bag, but of course a macro lens should not be missing either. I also consider it especially important to take a polarizing filter with you, so that you can reduce reflections or enhance colors with the filter in the forest.
(back to the beginning)

written: Dezember 2013, (author: Olaf Juergens)
updated: November 2020

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