http://www.flickr.com/groups/naturesbeststudents/
The exciting thing about being young and fairly new to photography, is the amount of new photographic knowledge learnt each year. We go into each year with a new set of skills, and in return, I’m sure we all see vast improvements in our images. 
This past spring, I was lucky enough to earn a spot on the NANPA College Scholarship program (thank you Gabby for the nomination letter!). This was an amazing program which allowed me to develop my skills, meet other young nature photographers, and obtain a different mindset about nature photography. I highly suggest applying for either the highschool or college program in 2013. Since I signed up for a summer semester at school, I didn’t think I’d have much time for photography, but this was not to be the case!
During May, June, and July I took three long-weekend family vacations to various lakes in the interior of British Columbia. The main targets on these trips were Loons, Grebes, and various other birds. On one of the trips, Jess Findlay and myself found a Great-grey Owl nest, which was a fairly rare find, and was one of our most unique photo experiences we’ve had. July was a very poor month for weather in BC, so overall it wasn’t very productive. 
In August, Jess and I went to visit Bertie Gregory on Vancouver Island, where he was a deckhand on a Bear watching boat. The three of us were allowed to take the companies small zodiac boat around the remote coastal passages in search of wildlife. We had an extremely good trip since the tides were low during good light. We photographed species such as, Black Bear, Bald Eagle, Harbour Seal, Great Blue Heron, Black Oystercatcher, Common Murre, River Otter, and best of all, a Coastal Grey Wolf pack! Photographing the wolves was one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had, as well as a 5.5 foot encounter with a yearling black bear. I then went back to the Island two weeks later, but didn’t have much luck since the tides were low during bad light.
To finish off the summer, I went on a day hike with some friends in search of Ptarmigan. We didn’t end up finding any, but we took a few landscapes images. We then hiked 1.5 hours down the mountain in the dark and rain!
Overall, the summer of 2011 was my favorite summer for photography yet. I can only hope that the summer of 2012 will be half as good!
thanks for reading,
Connor Stefanison
http://www.connorstefanison.com/
Filed under: Connor Stefanison | 4 Comments »
Small patches of fall color are starting to appear hear in Clare, Michigan. I have yet to get any stunning fall color images but these leaves have allowed me to experiment and prefect various techniques for capturing these marvelous colors when they present themselves. One technique which I’ve been using heavily is rear sync flash combined with long exposures. Rear sync flash makes the flash fire at the end of the exposure freezing whatever the flash is lighting. By moving the camera during exposure it makes the background blurred from the camera movement while keeping the foreground subject sharp. Spinning the camera moving it vertically or horizontally can create smooth painterly background while the flash keeps the leaves sharp. This technique can be applied to a variety of situations. I use this for wedding receptions to freeze dancers while making the background a colorful blur. This can also be used to light wildlife in low light. This makes the animal sharp while blurring the subjects movement. This allows you to keep skittish wildlife pin sharp even in very low light or if the subject is moving. Flash extenders may be needed to proper the light far enough when using long lens such as 300-800mm. I hope to play with this technique more as more leaves begin to show there vibrant and stunning hues.
One of my favorite times of the year for nature photography is coming up very soon: autumn. For some the fall color’s prime is just a few days away; for others there are still a few weeks till their peak. Finding creative ways to showcase the beauty of autumn is always a challenge whether you’re shooting in an iconic location or just in your backyard. If the colors are out in full grander incorporating this color into wide landscape images or shooting reflections of the leaves in the water can be very rewarding. Last year in mid-Michigan the colors were very splotchy. This meant I had to find small pockets of areas with stunning color and emphasize on them. These patches were ideal for macros and intimate landscapes like in the above image. Finding the right leaf and using it for a subject or even foreground interest is critical in getting the best possible fall imagery. Instead of just documenting the color change we can also embrace out inner Jackson Pollock and create abstracts with these stunning colors. Experimenting with long exposures in combination with camera movements, zooming, double exposures, or a combination of several of these techniques can create stunning imagery which focuses on color, shape, and texture. When editing you’re fall images be careful not to boost the saturation or vibrance to high which can result into unrealistic over processed photos. Hopefully over the next month I’ll be able to share with you some new fall images of mine!
