Color Nature Photography

Bee Bright
copyright 2013, Stephanie Maatta Smith

Making Honey While the Sun Shines
copyright 2013, Stephanie Maatta Smith

“The keeping of bees is like the direction of sunbeams.” 
― Henry David Thoreau

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending a Color Nature Photography workshop at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. While this was not a hands-on camera class, the workshop leader presented a number of techniques and strategies for creating unique and stunning photographs of nature. So now my list of equipment has grown. What I discovered during the workshop is that I do a lot things right to make good, eye-catching photographs, but I also have so much more to learn. These are two of my favorite photographs from yesterday's afternoon in the gardens. I seem to be very good at capturing bees. One lesson learned was that I need to use my polarizing filter to capture water images and sculptures since the light bounces off them fiercely.