In this instructional YouTube video, nature photographer Angie Birmingham shares five practical, immediately applicable tips to improve photography for beginners and seasoned shooters alike. She begins with a brief personal introduction and showcases sample photos to illustrate the impact of each tip. The first tip walks through a systematic exposure decision process, explaining how to choose aperture (depth of field and creative effects), shutter speed (freezing motion or creating silky water), and ISO (brightness versus noise), and introduces the 1 × focal‑length rule for shutter speed. The second tip emphasizes using unconventional angles—getting low, high, or moving around the subject—to break the monotony of eye‑level shots. The third tip focuses on lighting, especially the golden hour, describing how the sun’s low angle creates soft, warm light and why midday sun is harsh. The fourth tip encourages “thinking opposite” by re‑imagining iconic locations with different compositions, focal lengths, or perspectives to produce unique images. The fifth tip highlights atmospheric and weather factors—heat waves, dust, salt, and humidity—that can degrade image sharpness, and offers strategies such as shooting early/late, using shorter focal lengths, and photographing after rain. Throughout, Angie intersperses visual comparisons, practical examples, and enthusiastic encouragement, and concludes with a brief channel support plug and a call to action for viewers to like, subscribe, and watch related content.
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Hey there, fellow photography enthusiasts! Are you ready to take your photography skills to the next level? Well, today get ready because I'm going to share with you 5 game-changing tips that will instantly improve your photography. But first, let's start with some of my favorite photos to set the mood and grab your attention. Welcome back to the channel. I'm Angie Birmingham, and I have been a nature photographer for many years. I love capturing breathtaking moments in nature. I've learned a lot along the way, and today I'm excited to pass some of those tips on to you to help you enhance your photography skills. In this video, I'll be sharing 5 crucial tips to elevate your game. Whether you're a beginner looking to improve your craft or a seasoned photographer wanting to refine yours, these tips will make a difference in your photography. We will review photos along the way to show you the difference before and after each tip. You'll be amazed at how a A simple adjustment can transform a photo from good to outstanding. Get ready to witness the magic of these photography tips in action. So let's go ahead and jump right into the action. Tip number 1. This would be my thought process I go through for every shot that I take. First, I choose my aperture. A larger aperture Also referred to as wide open. For example, f/2.8 would get you the nice bokeh background, the nice blurred background, so you can't really tell what's in the background. And a smaller aperture like f/8 is great for landscapes, so you get that nice depth of field, so you can just see on forever. Then You can always try to tap into your creative side of the brain and try out some starbursts by setting your aperture at, say, f/10 to f/16, and that'll get you some nice starburst effects. Next, I will set my shutter speed, and I set my shutter speed for the purpose of the photo. So if I'm freezing birds in flight, I would be at, say, 1/ 1/3000th of a shutter, and even slower for larger birds, and but then faster for smaller birds that are close to you, because the closer the bird is to you, the faster you're going to need your shutter speed. And another purpose of a photo might be for making the water silky smooth. like a waterfall or some soft clouds in the sky, and you might want to start at 1/30th of a shutter speed and go down from there or go up to achieve the look that you want. This just really depends on how fast the water's moving and the clouds, but 1/30th of a second is a pretty good spot to start. And then you're going to want to use the rule of 1x your focal length for shutter speed for all your other photos that you're out taking. So for example, 100mm, you're going to want to be at 1/100th of a second or faster. 400mm, you're going to want to be at, at least 1/400th of a second or faster, and so on. You get the idea. And then the last thing I do is I adjust the ISO to adjust the overall brightness of my image. Think of the ISO as like a volume knob on your radio station, but use it with caution. The higher you go, the noisier it gets, and your image will show noise. But remember this, You can fix noise, but you can't fix motion blur. So keep your shutter speeds up. The thing you need to try is to try out different apertures and shutter speeds on the same subject to achieve different looks. So you have options when you get home and you're looking on the computer. You may not like your original idea, but one of the others may be a winner. Angles. Is tip number 2. It's all about angles. Use unusual angles to pique your viewers' interest. Stop shooting from eye level. This is how everybody sees the world. Get down low, squat, kneel, lay down on your belly, whatever it takes. Stand on your head. Get down to your subject's level. Also, Don't be afraid to move around. You don't have to stay in one spot. You should move around and try to get different and more interesting angles. Tip number 3 is lighting. Like my lighting in my studio? What you need to do is you need to learn how to play with light and shadows to create depth and mood in your photos. And also picking the right time of day plays a big role in that. Golden hour, which is also known as magic hour, most people have heard of it and they don't really understand why it's called that and how to use it to their benefit. It occurs 1 hour after sunrise and 1 hour Before sunset. And during the golden hour, the sun hits the world at a lower angle, and because that, the light has to travel a greater distance to reach the earth. So therefore it looks softer, flattering, and oftentimes gives a reddish glow to the area. Sometimes in the water, if you're photographing around the water or the mountains, So the sky will have a reddish-orange glow, sometimes even pink and purple. But that's much nicer than your midday sunlight, which just beams directly down from above, producing harsh shadows and generally unflattering illumination. Tip number 4 is think opposite. When you're at an ionic spot, Like, say, the molten barns in the Grand Teton National Park. Go ahead, take that iconic shot that you see that everybody has, then do something different, like a wide-angle shot of the barn, or even get down low and take a shot from looking up at the ground going up. Just move around and get some different angles. Get something different, something that nobody else has shot before, or that less people have shot before, since that is a very popular place to visit. Okay, so tip number 5. I saved this one for last because this one's a biggie. Pay attention to the atmosphere and the weather. The main culprit in blurry images is heat waves. They will make your images soft. How to avoid this? Stop shooting across open fields, concrete, and asphalt during the midday hours. Cold weather tips. Heat waves, they can also affect you on cold days as well, so don't shoot across snowy fields or ice-covered roads. Oh, and when you're shooting from your car, make sure you turn the heater off and the car. And one last thing to remember is those lens hoods that we have on our lenses. Those hold heat too. Another way to try to minimize the heat waves is to shoot a shorter focal length. Just real quick, I just want to I just wanted to remind you that any support for this channel would be greatly appreciated, and all you have to do is click the links below. They're all affiliate links, and we get a little bit of bonus each and every month if you purchase items from our affiliate links. So I have, I have camo, I have a ghillie suit below. I've got Luminar. Oh, that's cool. I've got ProMediaGear. I've got B&H Photo, and they have everything you're gonna need to spend every last penny you got. So check out the links below and try to use them to purchase your goods. It really helps out the channel. Thank you. Shooting a shorter focal length might help you, but you really need to close the distance between you and your subject safely. The longer the lens, the more you are shooting through, so you'll get more heat waves and atmosphere. Best time to photograph is early morning and late evening, as mentioned above in tip number 3. Believe it or not, the cleanliness or dirtiness of the air has a significant impact on your photography, especially your long-range shots like landscapes and long-range shots like Milky Way shots, as both heat waves rising from the ground and floating particles of dust and pollutants that we call atmosphere will completely Ruin a photo. I live close to the Texas coast, and we typically have a steady breeze that comes in off the ocean that is refreshing on a hot summer day, but it contains serious amounts of salt and dust. The salt air can be seen for miles. The saltwater mist hangs in the air and has an adverse effect on both metallic surfaces and my photographic subjects. The most ideal weather for shooting razor-sharp images is those delightful hours right after it rains. Not only is it cooler, but the rain has cleaned the air of the salt and dust from both nature, and our automobiles. Remember that practice is the key in photography. Don't be afraid to try new things, make mistakes, and learn from them. By implementing the tips shared in this video, you'll see an improvement in no time. Just keep clicking that shutter. But before you go, make sure you check out this video for some more Tips. Don't forget to like and subscribe and ring my bell so you will get notified the next time I post a video. See you on the next one.
