Contributing photographer and writer Rebecca Latson has spent the past 11 years with the National Parks Traveler, writing about tips and techniques for getting the best national park photos – no matter what camera you use. In her final article for the Traveler before it goes dark on December 31, 2023, Rebecca recaps some of those tips and techniques.
Sometimes, you see amazing wildlife during your national park adventure, but you just don’t have the right lens on your camera, or maybe your telephoto lens (or setting) doesn’t far enough reach for a sharp, close-up shot. Go ahead and capture that wildlife image anyway! You’ll have a beautiful landscape shot of the environment in which that wildlife dwells.
Many of you visiting a unit within the National Park System capture photos for more than just Instagram, right? Maybe those shots will accompany a blog, report, or other online/paper publication. How you photographically document your subject determines the extent to which your viewing audience will understand and appreciate that feature, concept, or process.
Every photo you capture of your experience in a national park fleshes out that visit for yourself and your viewing audience. That national park photo story should include a few low-light shots of your explorations through a shadowy forest interior, or around the spacious lobby of a rustic park lodge, or gazing skyward toward the Milky Way on a clear, moonless night outdoors.