Courtney, you have totally inspired me with your many videos. I use the Z8 and recently purchased the Nikon 105mm Macro. I have even done the focus stacking thing and love the results! I cannot thank you enough for your inspiration. You have opened up a totally new world of photography for me!
I love the idea of walking around in the woods looking for inspirational opportunities to pop out. Seeing beauty in the ordinary is something that I slowly learned from countless walks just looking around. Developing this skill does take much practice. Practice that I love doing and therefore is never dull or boring...love your channel and your energy. Thanks ever so much for sharing the beauty of your passion.
When you were talking about photographing a fern with water drops on it reminded me of how I was taught to shoot florals. Always travel with a spray bottle of water, you can add instant rain effects or early morning dew drops, etc.
I used to shoot a lot of macro when I had a film system - gave it up when I went digital. Your videos have inspired me to take up macro shots of plant and fungi activity again. Something I lost and didn't realize it until I watched you working. Thank you!
True, and also a potential theme can be found through just looking around for things to shoot while training the eye to photograph light, shadow, shape, etc.
I’ve been pointed towards your channel, Courtney. You have some magnificent intimate creative images here, great for inspiring older photographers! These are the sort of images I prefer to make, with my Olympus, so it’s great watching you to see how you do it with your Nikon. Might inspire me to get my heavy shelved Nikon out again!!! It’s more getting down, then up again that’s the problem these days. Your spiders are nothing like the ones we have here in Australia - and whose webs I keep crashing into in our nearby eucalyptus forest! Loved your video!
No rain! No mud! Courtney, I almost didn’t recognize you. You make a very good point to look around where you are for photo opportunities. It’s a great way to sharpen seeing a subject. Thanks for another great video!
Thank you for your videos! I find them very calm and cathartic. I, too, shoot with a D750 & D850 (depending on how I feel for the day!), out in the woods. I love to look for the little things, and the big things. Nature is my happy place. It’s solitude, not loneliness lol. Your videos are always a joy to watch!
15 minutes 32 seconds. Yes I'm looking at the snail, or slug if you prefer. I love the swirl in it's shell. The fact that it's crawling in those dead leaves adds to the image. Courtney I know you're a landscape photographer, but sometimes an unexpected accident can occur that turns out to be a beautiful image. Just my opinion.
I have only recently found your UA-cam channel and am enjoying the content very much. You are one of the best presenters I have seen. Your an inspiration the way come across. You make it simple to understand yet you make your videos enjoyable to watch. Thank you so much for inspiring me to get out my camera again other than taking it on holiday
I developed an eye on perspective and composition from looking at thousands of magazines when I was growing up. When I look into the viewfinder I automatically see the image in various compositions. I will move around to see other possibilities of perspective and composition. So, you are correct. You can take a great photo almost everywhere. Great video.
Using a prime lens is a great way to get your feet moving, at least that was my realization after using one for some time. Love my zooms but have a special regard for primes, especially in street photography.
Great video Courtney! I’ve done this for years. It’s nice for a fellow photographer to highlight that you don’t need to go far to practice your photography. Love your channel by the way! 😊
Thanks Courtney....I always get inspired by your work & this helps me develop further with my photography... you always get great results for your efforts & your locations are very attractive for good compositions... thank you so much for sharing.... cheers from Australia 🦘🦘😀
Inspired and entertained, as always. The elephant (5:19) definitely had wings though and 9:29 was two ballroom dancers, one in pretty dress, the other in a tux!......Oh no, now I'm doing it!
Thank you for sharing, Courtney. Due to physical limitations (and no car on hand to take me farther away) I usually have to stay near my home here in The Netherlands to make my photo's. In this -and your other- video's you show me the limitless possibilities of noticing the potential beautiful small subjects. Thank you so much for the inspiration ❤
A terrific video. Your close-up focus is definitely working and those images were first rate. Your presentation style is engaging and your enthusiasm is a joy.
Loved the "Elephant Fern" shots. I neve noticed they look like that before but instantly saw it when you pointed it out. I have will have to remember that for next spring when the ones in my garden are starting to unfurl. The slime mold at the end was really good. Looking forward to the next one. Thank you for sharing as always.
This is wonderful! Even in my old "Whip out my phone and take a snapshot of something" days, I tried to never replicate the same shots each time I went to the same places, which I often do because I love them. Of course, there are SOME places that I just HAVE to shoot the same way each and every time...a local footbridge comes to mind, because it reminds me of something out of a Dumas novel...but trying to find a new angle each time, new light, something, is always a good challenge and reminder. Best wishes!
Ancient Wessex sacred landscapes and Martinsell Hill which was a Late Bronze Age / Early Iron Age hill fort Some really nice trees here for you to hug ..And great pictures waiting to be taken.. Love your channel .. From Skegness east coast :>)
Great video, only down side is MPB the sponsor. I have used them twice and each time not a very good experience at all. The last occasion I part ex a lens for use one on the mpb web site only to find it had an error code when I tested it. After some reading of reviews I read this was a common issue with mpb not fully testing the gear, if at all, or the description was incorrect from the actual conditions. Also my part ex lens was knocked down on its value once they received claiming it had a scratch on the rear element. When The deal fell through and I asked for my lens back I had to pay FULL retail price for it from mpb, and when I did get it back I could not find any scratch. I used a macro lens and 45mp camera to hunt for said scratch, and strangely enough I did not find any scratch ! ! Problem when a deal with mpb goes south for the consumer it cost the customer in the pocket ! All mpb offered me was a £10 discount voucher off a £100 spend as their idea of compensation ! !
Hi Courtney. Loved the snail shot at the end. Insects add movement and life to your photographs. Even birds and amphibians can add to the narrative. Keep up the good work.😊
Courtney, at 5:40 one fix for this is to use a T\S lens maybe a 85 for closeup perspective, if you have one, (or you can rent one), this allows you to use sheimpflug principle to selectively focus on the subject, not the foreground, and also with a shallow dof, you can control it, making everything sharp, or bokeh where you want, say focus on a line of the flowers, making all sharp, but with a blurred background.
great video as usual, thank you! I have a cheap and cheerful 24mm Canon lens with close focusing macro capabilities, and it's so easy to sneak it into any camera bag so I always have it there.
Im all for sitting and waiting , i photograph local deer , while my 400mm tele is being serviced im stuck with my 70-200, luckily nikon d850s crop button turns it to a 300 2.8 , i like to chillout giving deer more room ,
The SIGMA 105mm is the best macro lens I have ever used! It even focuses faster than most standard primes or zooms when used as a regular lens for general photography
Haven't heard from you, not a single peep,🤷♂ needed your virtual company, as my heart broke last week.💔 I've laid my daughter, in her final resting place,✝ bewildered and broken, needing someones loving grace.😢 But, here you are again, in the Forest of Dean,🐌 upbeat, inspired and surrounded with green.🌲 Big brother was worried, its kind of been a while,😟 so wonderful to see a video with your lovely smile.😊 Today my turn smile, as my heart is on the mend,💗 thanks for the inspiration from Your Kindly Poetic Friend.❤
I enjoyed the video as usual Courtney. The wolf's milk was very interesting and i have never seen that before. Great image's as usual. Look forward to the next one.
You certainly do inspire me and I thank you for that. I do however wish my camera system had focus bracketing, it’s a real pain taking a shot and then refocusing over and over again.
It is a useful feature, I don't mind manually bracketing but sometimes it's great to be able to do it so quickly. Had I used my Laowa 100mm 2x magnification lens which is manual only, I wouldn't have had to change my crop mode and could have taken an even closer shot. Swings and roundabouts I guess!
Only Courtney can pull this off and make everyone smile. Her fun spirit and her photographic ability sets her apart from many other photographers who regularly post videos, and is why she is, by far, the number one photographer that I follow.
I tried something like this earlier this spring. I looked for three images within 25 feet of where I set my camera bag down. I really liked the first grab. The other two weren't something I should have shared. I'll try it again though.
One day, running late getting ready for work. A very heavy frost had happened with thick fog. I rush out the door headed for my car and the sun had burned a hole or the fog shifted....A ray of sun came through and it immeduately started melting the frost. Small trees, shrubs , covered in the frost, the grass frosted. What happened was the sun melted the frost, leaving the shadows of the trees and schrubs " snow white". I wish I had my camera with me. You can get an idea about " white shadows" by noticing how, on a car frosted and the sun melts the frost leaving the shadow white.
The weather around here has been unpleasant, and sometimes dangerous and destructive. Getting out with my camera hasn't been an option. At least I get to watch you having a good time and capturing some beautiful images.
I like the light modifying you did with your hand and the reflector, it produced a much better result, I'll keep it in mind when I'm photographing mushrooms. I used the crop mode recently but forgot to switch back on the next shoot and wondered why everything was pixilated when I was pixel peeping!
really good stuff, you could get rid of your dslr stuff and use a small chip camera and get more done in time so you can do other stuff. canon has 3cm makro + tele compacts.
I was surprised you gave the spiders a miss. What I usually look out for to add interest to close-up plant/flower shots is precisely any insects. So then I'm adding a subject to my composition, and the plant is the setting, or provides the leading lines. A bit like adding a person in your landscape or street photo, to provide scale and/or tell more of a story.
I briefly thought about it, but I'm really not fond of spiders haha! I used to have quite a fear of them although I can tolerate them more since getting into macro photography, as I'll usually end up with one or two crawling on me while I'm working on the forest floor. Not sure if I'm ready to study them up close just yet, but never say never! Thanks.
@@CourtneyVictoria I was relatively cured of my arachnophobia a single experience where our pet tortoise "ran" away and had to look for it, walking along a narrow path along a gutter, which was full of webs and spiders. But the urgency of finding Yoda made me not care. (Bonus: I found him)
Since you definitely have an eye for the relationship of shapes (especially in your macro work), have you done any experimentation in post-production with monochrome conversion of your shots, which would de-emphasize colors and the ‘distraction’ from shape that it may cause?
This is something I struggle a lot with Have some amazing locations to shoot ... Yet I cannot find inspiration. Always thinking "naaaah that won't work, or that won't be nice". Videos like this help me :) thanks for that 😊
I need to know one thing, as I have been following you and watching your videos to learn details about photography vlogs. Are you shooting alone or someone help you to carry these videos.
Consider taking a small spray bottle of water to spray on the item you want water droplets on. Like your videos.
Love the way you look for the photos you give me so much to look for. Love your work
Courtney, you have totally inspired me with your many videos. I use the Z8 and recently purchased the Nikon 105mm Macro. I have even done the focus stacking thing and love the results! I cannot thank you enough for your inspiration. You have opened up a totally new world of photography for me!
Oooh fantastic, wonderful to hear! I hope you have a lot of fun with it :) It really does open you up to a completely different perspective. Thanks!
I love the idea of walking around in the woods looking for inspirational opportunities to pop out. Seeing beauty in the ordinary is something that I slowly learned from countless walks just looking around. Developing this skill does take much practice. Practice that I love doing and therefore is never dull or boring...love your channel and your energy. Thanks ever so much for sharing the beauty of your passion.
The flower and square fern photos are beautiful, very elegant.
I really enjoy your calm demeanor and positivity.
Yep, Wolf's Milk (Lycogala epidendrum).
Forest and fungi photography is so relaxing. Cheers, looking forward to the next walk you take me on - Trevor
When you were talking about photographing a fern with water drops on it reminded me of how I was taught to shoot florals. Always travel with a spray bottle of water, you can add instant rain effects or early morning dew drops, etc.
I used to shoot a lot of macro when I had a film system - gave it up when I went digital. Your videos have inspired me to take up macro shots of plant and fungi activity again. Something I lost and didn't realize it until I watched you working. Thank you!
Composition on the first fern image was sublime Courtney
Indeed, its true. You can image anything, no matter how common. Although it helps to have a theme in mind first.
True, and also a potential theme can be found through just looking around for things to shoot while training the eye to photograph light, shadow, shape, etc.
I’ve been pointed towards your channel, Courtney. You have some magnificent intimate creative images here, great for inspiring older photographers! These are the sort of images I prefer to make, with my Olympus, so it’s great watching you to see how you do it with your Nikon. Might inspire me to get my heavy shelved Nikon out again!!! It’s more getting down, then up again that’s the problem these days. Your spiders are nothing like the ones we have here in Australia - and whose webs I keep crashing into in our nearby eucalyptus forest! Loved your video!
So happy to see you making more videos. Would love to see your pictures on Photocrowd as well❤❤❤
No rain! No mud! Courtney, I almost didn’t recognize you. You make a very good point to look around where you are for photo opportunities. It’s a great way to sharpen seeing a subject. Thanks for another great video!
Haha! I was surprised too! For once I went home with clean trousers and shoes. Thanks!
You really captured the fragility of the stitchwort. Minimalist and beautiful.
Thank you for your videos! I find them very calm and cathartic. I, too, shoot with a D750 & D850 (depending on how I feel for the day!), out in the woods. I love to look for the little things, and the big things. Nature is my happy place. It’s solitude, not loneliness lol. Your videos are always a joy to watch!
Lovely, rich content video. Slime mold capture was mastery of light. We enjoy each of your videos. Thanks for taking us along on your walk.
Your smile cheers me up. Your gentle voice heals me. I love you. I also go to take pictures of moss, mushrooms and alpine plants.
15 minutes 32 seconds. Yes I'm looking at the snail, or slug if you prefer. I love the swirl in it's shell. The fact that it's crawling in those dead leaves adds to the image. Courtney I know you're a landscape photographer, but sometimes an unexpected accident can occur that turns out to be a beautiful image. Just my opinion.
I have only recently found your UA-cam channel and am enjoying the content very much. You are one of the best presenters I have seen. Your an inspiration the way come across. You make it simple to understand yet you make your videos enjoyable to watch. Thank you so much for inspiring me to get out my camera again other than taking it on holiday
I developed an eye on perspective and composition from looking at thousands of magazines when I was growing up. When I look into the viewfinder I automatically see the image in various compositions. I will move around to see other possibilities of perspective and composition. So, you are correct. You can take a great photo almost everywhere. Great video.
Using a prime lens is a great way to get your feet moving, at least that was my realization after using one for some time. Love my zooms but have a special regard for primes, especially in street photography.
Great video Courtney! I’ve done this for years. It’s nice for a fellow photographer to highlight that you don’t need to go far to practice your photography. Love your channel by the way! 😊
Lovely lovely spot to just be out and enjoy all that spring green. Good for the soul.
Thanks Courtney....I always get inspired by your work & this helps me develop further with my photography... you always get great results for your efforts & your locations are very attractive for good compositions... thank you so much for sharing.... cheers from Australia 🦘🦘😀
Inspired and entertained, as always. The elephant (5:19) definitely had wings though and 9:29 was two ballroom dancers, one in pretty dress, the other in a tux!......Oh no, now I'm doing it!
Haha love it! It's amazing what characters you can find in nature!
Thank you for sharing, Courtney.
Due to physical limitations (and no car on hand to take me farther away) I usually have to stay near my home here in The Netherlands to make my photo's. In this -and your other- video's you show me the limitless possibilities of noticing the potential beautiful small subjects. Thank you so much for the inspiration ❤
A moment of realization:
She, her laugh, and her eyes are the most beautiful scene captured in this video so far 8:35 9:00 ❤🥺
A terrific video. Your close-up focus is definitely working and those images were first rate. Your presentation style is engaging and your enthusiasm is a joy.
Thank you as always.
Great source of insparation Courtney. Love your laid-back delivery.
You come across as sincere and authentic, and love how you share your thought process. I relate to your "eye" in choosing your compositions.
Love this. Opportunities are all around us, we just need to look. Excellent video, thank you.
Loved the "Elephant Fern" shots. I neve noticed they look like that before but instantly saw it when you pointed it out. I have will have to remember that for next spring when the ones in my garden are starting to unfurl. The slime mold at the end was really good. Looking forward to the next one. Thank you for sharing as always.
This is wonderful! Even in my old "Whip out my phone and take a snapshot of something" days, I tried to never replicate the same shots each time I went to the same places, which I often do because I love them. Of course, there are SOME places that I just HAVE to shoot the same way each and every time...a local footbridge comes to mind, because it reminds me of something out of a Dumas novel...but trying to find a new angle each time, new light, something, is always a good challenge and reminder. Best wishes!
That was great Courtney! I often love just going out and finding little gems in the woods. Loved that slime mold. 😊
That was cool! I love photographing ferns. One can get so many wonderful images from them. Thanks for bring us along!
Great video love what I am seeing thanks for sharing.
Ancient Wessex sacred landscapes and Martinsell Hill which was a Late Bronze Age / Early Iron Age hill fort Some really nice trees here for you to hug ..And great pictures waiting to be taken.. Love your channel .. From Skegness east coast :>)
Thank you for this moment
Great video, only down side is MPB the sponsor. I have used them twice and each time not a very good experience at all.
The last occasion I part ex a lens for use one on the mpb web site only to find it had an error code when I tested it. After some reading of reviews I read this was a common issue with mpb not fully testing the gear, if at all, or the description was incorrect from the actual conditions.
Also my part ex lens was knocked down on its value once they received claiming it had a scratch on the rear element.
When The deal fell through and I asked for my lens back I had to pay FULL retail price for it from mpb, and when I did get it back I could not find any scratch.
I used a macro lens and 45mp camera to hunt for said scratch, and strangely enough I did not find any scratch ! !
Problem when a deal with mpb goes south for the consumer it cost the customer in the pocket !
All mpb offered me was a £10 discount voucher off a £100 spend as their idea of compensation ! !
Die D850 ist immer noch eine Top Kamera mit hoher Auflösung.
Schöne Bilder gemacht!❤
That is very much true . The D850 is still a brillant camera. ☀️☀️
Excellent video Courtney. You've certainly given me some food for thought and I thank you.
Thank you for another great walk in the forest.
Hi Courtney. Loved the snail shot at the end. Insects add movement and life to your photographs. Even birds and amphibians can add to the narrative. Keep up the good work.😊
Courtney, at 5:40 one fix for this is to use a T\S lens maybe a 85 for closeup perspective, if you have one, (or you can rent one), this allows you to use sheimpflug principle to selectively focus on the subject, not the foreground, and also with a shallow dof, you can control it, making everything sharp, or bokeh where you want, say focus on a line of the flowers, making all sharp, but with a blurred background.
Thanks so much for your videos. I really enjoy them and they helped getting me back into photography!
great video as usual, thank you! I have a cheap and cheerful 24mm Canon lens with close focusing macro capabilities, and it's so easy to sneak it into any camera bag so I always have it there.
Enjoyed the video, great idea about finding subjects in “every day places.”
Great topic! So many opportunities in your local forest or park( or backyard)
Im all for sitting and waiting , i photograph local deer , while my 400mm tele is being serviced im stuck with my 70-200, luckily nikon d850s crop button turns it to a 300 2.8 , i like to chillout giving deer more room ,
أشجار أخضر جميل جدا ❤❤❤❤❤❤
A productive walk through the woods. Carry on. 👍🥂
D850, the camera of my dreams.
The SIGMA 105mm is the best macro lens I have ever used! It even focuses faster than most standard primes or zooms when used as a regular lens for general photography
Hello Courtney, very interesting keep them coming...☕a spot of tea...
I envy your talent for seeing good shots. I wish I had that ability, but I never will. At least we can enjoy seeing your work though!
Another very interesting video. Really enjoying them.
Fotos espectaculares,very good
Haven't heard from you, not a single peep,🤷♂
needed your virtual company, as my heart broke last week.💔
I've laid my daughter, in her final resting place,✝
bewildered and broken, needing someones loving grace.😢
But, here you are again, in the Forest of Dean,🐌
upbeat, inspired and surrounded with green.🌲
Big brother was worried, its kind of been a while,😟
so wonderful to see a video with your lovely smile.😊
Today my turn smile, as my heart is on the mend,💗
thanks for the inspiration from Your Kindly Poetic Friend.❤
So sorry for your loss my friend.😥
@@ashstubbings2603 🙏
I enjoyed the video as usual Courtney.
The wolf's milk was very interesting and i have never seen that before.
Great image's as usual.
Look forward to the next one.
Love your videos, they are always so calming and give me inspiration/motivation to get my camera out.
What a wonderful video.
You certainly do inspire me and I thank you for that. I do however wish my camera system had focus bracketing, it’s a real pain taking a shot and then refocusing over and over again.
It is a useful feature, I don't mind manually bracketing but sometimes it's great to be able to do it so quickly. Had I used my Laowa 100mm 2x magnification lens which is manual only, I wouldn't have had to change my crop mode and could have taken an even closer shot. Swings and roundabouts I guess!
Absolutely wonderful video. Really loved the images and vibe to it all! Cheers!
What a lovely video and beautiful photos. 😊
非常纯粹的拍照理念,感谢分享
a lovely video .. thank you!
First time on your channel. Loved your video, the photos and the calm, relaxed approach. Thank you 😊
I never thought that the words Slime Mould, and 'cute' would appear in the same sentence! 😂😂
Only Courtney can pull this off and make everyone smile. Her fun spirit and her photographic ability sets her apart from many other photographers who regularly post videos, and is why she is, by far, the number one photographer that I follow.
enjoyed this great video and shots cant wait for the next adventure
My favourite forest photographer hobbit!
Great Video...i really enjoyed it! Thank you
Your videos inspire me, Courtney! Keep up the excellent work!
Awesome
Lovely video again you inspire me a lot .
Looooove your channel Courtney . I love you approach to photography. I am a huge MACRO fan. xo
New Courtney-video! Wohoo!
I tried something like this earlier this spring. I looked for three images within 25 feet of where I set my camera bag down. I really liked the first grab. The other two weren't something I should have shared. I'll try it again though.
Nice walk, the greens are amazing!
One day, running late getting ready for work. A very heavy frost had happened with thick fog. I rush out the door headed for my car and the sun had burned a hole or the fog shifted....A ray of sun came through and it immeduately started melting the frost. Small trees, shrubs , covered in the frost, the grass frosted. What happened was the sun melted the frost, leaving the shadows of the trees and schrubs " snow white". I wish I had my camera with me. You can get an idea about " white shadows" by noticing how, on a car frosted and the sun melts the frost leaving the shadow white.
The weather around here has been unpleasant, and sometimes dangerous and destructive. Getting out with my camera hasn't been an option. At least I get to watch you having a good time and capturing some beautiful images.
I like the light modifying you did with your hand and the reflector, it produced a much better result, I'll keep it in mind when I'm photographing mushrooms. I used the crop mode recently but forgot to switch back on the next shoot and wondered why everything was pixilated when I was pixel peeping!
It made quite a difference! I have done the same a couple of times recently haha, a good reminder to check camera settings before you start a shoot.
Thanks for being so inspiring 💯💚
GREAT VIDEO. YOUR LAUGH ALWAYS MAKES ME SMILE.
Great video, thanks for sharing!
really good stuff, you could get rid of your dslr stuff and use a small chip camera and get more done in time so you can do other stuff. canon has 3cm makro + tele compacts.
I was surprised you gave the spiders a miss. What I usually look out for to add interest to close-up plant/flower shots is precisely any insects. So then I'm adding a subject to my composition, and the plant is the setting, or provides the leading lines. A bit like adding a person in your landscape or street photo, to provide scale and/or tell more of a story.
I briefly thought about it, but I'm really not fond of spiders haha! I used to have quite a fear of them although I can tolerate them more since getting into macro photography, as I'll usually end up with one or two crawling on me while I'm working on the forest floor. Not sure if I'm ready to study them up close just yet, but never say never! Thanks.
@@CourtneyVictoria I was relatively cured of my arachnophobia a single experience where our pet tortoise "ran" away and had to look for it, walking along a narrow path along a gutter, which was full of webs and spiders. But the urgency of finding Yoda made me not care. (Bonus: I found him)
Enjoyed your video, thanks for posting 👍
Since you definitely have an eye for the relationship of shapes (especially in your macro work), have you done any experimentation in post-production with monochrome conversion of your shots, which would de-emphasize colors and the ‘distraction’ from shape that it may cause?
Wonderful video as always. I'd write more, but I need to get up early and find myself some ferns…
improving my English with this photographer :)
Nice shoot
your videos are so satisfying...loved it
This is something I struggle a lot with Have some amazing locations to shoot ... Yet I cannot find inspiration. Always thinking "naaaah that won't work, or that won't be nice".
Videos like this help me :) thanks for that 😊
I need to know one thing, as I have been following you and watching your videos to learn details about photography vlogs. Are you shooting alone or someone help you to carry these videos.
Super super super super photographer good skill micro lens photos excellent
Thanks for the video.
I use the Laowa 15mm f/4 Wide Angle Macro. This lens is a lot of fun.
I'll never look at a fern (or an elephant) the same way again 😄. Inspiring stuff, thank you.
There are only elephants from this moment on haha! Thanks!
Spot on Courtney 👍🏻
You should title your elephant fern photo 'The Pachyfern' :)