5 Tips For Great Rainforest Photography | Traveler by Unique

1. Find the best time to take pictures

Figuring out the best time to take your camera out and go clicking pictures in the rainforest is the first thing to sort. Ultimately, its best to go photographing in the rainforest when its raining or cloudy. While it is common to assume good lighting and clear skies are the best time, but with a rainforest, it is often not the case. During an overcast, clouds act as a giant light diffuser and soften the effect of harsh lighting, which helps to avoid sharp highlights and overly dark shadows. And there is a good chance of finding moisture in the rainforest most of the time, and it is ideal for clicking those mystic photos that look straight out of a fairytale.

2. Make use of the natural light

The major mistake people make when starting out fresh with rainforest photography is waiting for a sunny day to click pictures. This is wrong as on a sunny day. The rainforest turns into an irregular landscape with patches of light and shadows, which is hard to work around with. The best natural light in a rainforest is found on a cloudy day when light is evenly dispersed.

3. Use good -not expensive- camera equipment

The trick is to use decent camera equipment with a few tips to get gorgeous photographs rather than going for expensive equipment and hoping it will do the rest. First essential equipment, other than a decent camera, is a tripod. Landscape photographers must have this in their kit. It is important to use a tripod while capturing in the rainforest because it is mostly dark under the canopy when clicking with small apertures, holding your camera can't always be the option. Tripod enables your camera to slow your shutter speed while still being able to capture sharp pictures from foreground to background. Trying to click steady pictures while holding a camera with small apertures in low light is impossible unless you have very steady hands. Wide-angle zoom lenses also have various advantages to click in the rainforest. They enhance the perspective, which makes the viewer feel like being present in the forest. Another benefit is that they can capture everything in a single frame.

4. Choose your subjects

In a busy environment like a rainforest, it is fairly easy to find subjects. So much so that it can become overwhelming to a point to select a subject to photograph. Overly abundant subjects like roots, rocks, trees, vines, foliage can be the making or breaking point for your photos. A good photograph requires structure and balance in composition to make sense. Crowded photographs don't look flattering regardless of how natural a setting is. Prepare an idea of how you want to approach capturing stills in the rainforest, and find a location that fits, look for details that catch your eye. Study your subjects from different angles to determine what works for you and get clicking!

5. Enjoy the time you spend clicking

Finally, the most important tip to remember is investing time to click amazing pictures. It takes time to scope landscapes, find subjects, decide angles, find a spot for the tripod, among many other things. All the time you spend from stepping into the forest to deciding a location to cleaning up after the venture will boil down to how much patience you put into clicking your photos.

So, with that being said, get out there and work with what catches your attention and don’t be afraid to try new things and break a few photography rules!