Taking a Nature Scene Up a Notch with Chamira Young

Text and Photos by Chamira Young

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If there's one thing Michigan has no shortage of throughout the state, it's scenic nature trails. Combined with a plethora of beautiful trees and - if you time it right - lovely weather, it's the perfect recipe for a fun walk to capture the mood of nature. It's a great way to practice creativity "just because" and keep your passion for your craft alive. If you're a pro or semi-pro, sometimes this passion can get lost in the day-to-day challenges of running your business. That's why it's invaluable to do an occasional fun project just for the thrill of it.

That’s why I recently took a short nature walk just for fun. Bringing along my Platypod was much easier than lugging a full size tripod, and would also allow me to capture images from a more interesting angle. When it came time to set up, all I had to do was place my camera on ground. The Platypod provided a nice sturdy base despite the fact that I was shooting on soggy leaves.

By the way, the images in this post were taken with Tamron's fantastic 35-150mm/2.8-4 lens. I love its versatility: while it's a great portrait lens, I find it's wonderful for outdoor photography in general. And given that I'm still mending from a hip injury, it's extremely useful to have a lens that does a bit of the walking for me!

The goal of my nature walk was to capture the mood of the path, the ambience of the time of day, and also my own personal creative expression as an artist. Shooting from a low angle with my Platypod made all the difference in the world.

After capturing the images, I took them into Lightroom and played with the Adjustment Brush to adjust the exposure, shadows, and temperature. Here are two of my favorite results: 

If you haven't done so recently, get out in the great outdoors and unleash your creativity. It may give you that much-needed kick of inspiration you've been missing!