In wildlife photography, it is very easy to concentrate on what the subject is doing and to forget what the background looks like. Roads, distant houses, telephone poles and fences destroy the wilderness feel of an flying eagle or a wolf on a ridgetop. When working with herd animals strive for a good depth of field such as F8 or F11. A good rule of thumb to try for is F8 and 1/250 of a second to get good depth of field and to stop motion.

After spending hours or days preparing for a shot, we shoot from as many angles as possible. Changing angles will change the background, foreground and light angle, which changes the overall feel of the photo. This also may help you get what appears to be totally different shots of different terrain features without having to hike into a new area. When working with animals it may change the entire feel of the photograph. However, when working with animals, move slowly and avoid making eye contact with them. This will reduce their interpreting your movement as a threat to them or their young..

Ask the model to take a deep breath and relax, bend a knee or sit down. Straight lines are not common in nature and a person standing straight up and rigid will look out of place. Editors and publishers also like to have the models look like they are doing something. Give them a camera so they look like they are taking a picture or maybe use binoculars to survey the surrounding landscape. Remember - never place a model in the center of the image. Models belong towards one side looking into the image.

Consider all different scales of composition of a subject. . Don't be shy when thinking about framing and scale of the subject in the image. Shoot a portrait and then consider a scenic where the animal is a small part of the photo. Often times a scene will be strikingly beautiful, but we may not realize why it is so appealing. Stop to think in both large and small terms and you will find the segment that is drawing your attention, then focus on that in your composition. When working with wildlife this may require setting up quickly before they move off, but always remember quick movements around animals is likely to spook them and ruin your shot and maybe that of other photographers that arrived on the scene before you.

Northern lights are best viewed and photographed well away from city lights. Photographing the Northern Lights or Aurora requires timed exposures. Exposures of over 20 seconds will cause the stars to become oblong or show as streaks rather than dots. For this reason we suggest using very fast lenses f 1.4 or f 1.8 and a film speed of at least 200. With the camera on a tripod, we start taking pictures with exposures of 5 seconds and increase each exposure by 5 seconds as a method to bracket. When the lights are not moving or very intense, we may have exposures of up to 2 minutes, offering differing effects with the stars. When the lights are out it is generally very cold. To avoid breaking the film or causing static electricity streaks often caused by fast rewinds, we do not rewind the film in the field. To avoid condensation problems, we place the camera and lens in a plastic bag before putting it back in the car or going back inside any warm place.