How to take better restoration photos

Posted on May 16, 2008 | Filed Under Dam Removal, Outreach, Regions, River Renewal 

Serena McClainSerena McClain, Associate Director of River Renewal
River Renewal, Restoring Rivers

Yokum Brook BeforeDocumenting your restoration projects does not have to involve hiring a professional photographer* or investing in an expensive SLR camera. By following a few simple tips and practicing a little, you should be able to start taking photographs that meet most of your organization’s needs and better illustrate the great work that you have accomplished. 

The basics

  1. When you set out to photograph your project, keep in mind the concept you are trying to convey, and remember that less usually is more.
  2. Make sure you take a good ‘before’ picture. Take the photo from a couple of different angles, and if possible, try to identify a point of reference that will help you frame your ‘after’ shot.
  3. Always set your camera to take photos on the highest resolution possible. You never know what you will want to use your pictures for and the higher the resolution the more options you have. If you are worried about space on your camera, invest in a 1G memory card. If you are downloading your pictures with any frequency at all, that should be more than enough room.
  4. If you have shaky hands, do not be afraid to bust out a tripod. An excessively blurry photo is unusable. Plus, a tripod gives you the added benefit of being able to set your camera’s timer and put yourself in the shot if you so desire.
  5. Learn how to adjust your white balance manually and do so. The color in your photos will often look much better than if left on auto. If you have questions about how to do this, check your camera’s manual.
  6. When taking your ‘after’ shot, be sure to take it from the same angle that you took your best ‘before’ shot. If you identified a point of reference, make sure it is in the same place in your ‘after’ photo.
  7. Label your photos. When storing digital images or sending them off to others, be sure the title of the photo alerts whoever is opening it to what they are going to be seeing. For example, I would label a photo of one of our project sites with the (a) name of the dam or former dam, (b) name of the river, and (c) state. Other useful information can include ‘looking upstream’, ‘looking downstream’, etc. Let’s end the DSC0000987 madness.

The more advanced set

  1. It is generally believed that the best light to shoot nature photographs in occurs within 2 hours of either sunrise or sunset. Schedules, of course, do not always allow this to happen.
  2. If possible, ensure something of interest is in the foreground of your photo to create a certain depth of field. For example, if you are shooting a river looking upstream, this could be a rock or boulder in the stream.
  3. Consider framing your photograph according to the “rule of thirds”. Visualize your photograph broken into thirds both vertically and horizontally (breaking the frame into essentially 9 boxes). The rule of thirds states that you will get the most visually interesting photo if you frame your subject at one of the points where these lines intersect. Just ensure that creating a visually interesting photo does not get in the way of conveying the restoration concept you established at the outset.
  4. If possible, go back to the site over the course of the next year and document the site as it evolves. Your ‘after’ shot is a work in progress. Wouldn’t it be great to capture the site at years 1, 3, 5, and 10?

*Will the photos be used in an ad campaign or something similar? There are definitely times when you may want to invest in a professional photographer.

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Comments

One Response to “How to take better restoration photos”

  1. Mchilly on May 20th, 2008 10:15 pm

    Great inputs, restoration could also be done in a lot of photo editing software too..

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