Forest photography is one of the genres of landscape photography that I enjoy the most. It provides me with a chance to escape. It also serves to remind me of how precious our natural world is and how stark the divide is between these ecosystems and the surrounding chaos of humanity.
Here are four simple lessons that I have learned along the way photographing these different forest environments. I hope you find them useful.
1. It is a dark environment, even during the day
Forests, depending on their density, are naturally dark environments. So do not expect a golden hour or a blue hour. Instead, you can expect either a high contrast environment of penetrating sunlight and deep shadow or a soft, diffuse environment depending on the lighting conditions.
To get the best results, I have learnt to rely on cloud forecasts, and I plan my visits to coincide with overcast or rainy days that produce even, diffuse lighting on the ground. You can use your local meteorological service to assist with this planning, as well as a several free and paid apps. The most useful of these is Clear Outside. It is very accurate in predicting cloud coverage and I swear by it for forest photography.
Fiordland National Park, New Zealand
6 secs, f/16, ISO 64
Hasselblad X2D 100c w/25mm f/2.5v XCD lens
This image was taken in the middle of the day, yet it still required a six second exposure. In dark environments, you need to keep your camera stable or your need to boost your ISO. As I mostly work in medium format, I prefer stability, but having a sharp image is more important than having a noisy image.
2. Watch for movement
In addition to being dark, forests are dense and cluttered. So, you need to be careful and watch for movement in the vegetation. Excessive movement creates blurring and this can ruin parts of the scene. So, keep your camera stable and select your exposure timings carefully. You want a reasonable level of sharpness throughout the frame.
Lamington National Park, Australia
1 second, f/16, ISO 64
Hasselblad X2D 100c w/25mm f/2.5v XCD lens
It was important to choose the timing of this exposure carefully as there were wind vortexes swirling around the base of the waterfall. The plants and ferns in the foreground needed to be sharp or else the image wouldn't have had the same impact.
3. Embrace the environment
Forests, and in particular rainforests, are wet environments. So, invest in good hiking and wet weather gear that keeps both you and your equipment warm and dry. When you are dry and comfortable, you are more inclined to keep going and capture those images which stand out.
Fiordland National Park, New Zealand
1/8, f/16, ISO 64
Hasselblad X2D 100c w/25mm f/2.5v XCD lens
The weather leading up this image was terrible. Without the ability to wait and ride out the rain, I would not have been able to capture it.
4. Find composition amongst the chaos
Finding a composition amongst the chaos of a forest is where the challenge and reward lies in this genre. Forests let you test out every rule and theory of composition. The rule of thirds, the golden spiral, diagonals, triangles, the list goes on. All these rules work and don’t work depending on the scene in front of you. So, give different compositional techniques a try.
These are all relatively simple lessons, but they have worked well for me over the years. Feel free to share any tips that you may have. I would love to hear what has and hasn't worked for you.
Cheers,
Russell