Nature photography differs from studio or portrait work by being almost entirely depended upon the local, unaltered conditions. When capturing images on the fly, it's important to have the right gear. But, it's even more important to be ready to capture those magical moments that really make a superior nature photo, whenever they present themselves.

In a recent interview with Lewis Kemper, one of Canon's 78 Explorers of Light, the topic of how to take exceptional nature photos was discussed. He shared his philosophy of always being prepared for the best shots by not overwhelming yourself with technology.

Getting comfortable with your gear

Many new photographers spend a lot of money getting all sorts of expensive gear when getting stared with nature photography. While there certainly is something to be said for having the right equipment, Lewis Kemper suggests getting just one or two good lenses that will handle the bulk of your work with far less bother. In his experience, this includes a single good wide angle lens and, a single prime lens with a wide range of focal lengths.

Perhaps even more importantly, choosing a single camera body that gives you good control of the focal length and quick focus is of the utmost importance. This allows you to become familiar enough with the controls that operating them is like second nature. It is, for instance, rather difficult to be ready to capture images if you're fumbling around looking for the aperture control.

Being familiar with your subject

According to Kemper, there are two major elements of a good picture: good light and a good subject. In the case of high quality nature photos, both of these elements can benefit from a bit of research. For instance, if you'll be photographing an unusual animal in an unusual location, you'll want to spend some time online or at a library getting to know each as best you can.

One example might be making sure that the area you'll be visiting has a suitably large population of the animals you wish to capture on film. Some of the most impressive images of nature often occur when the sun is just over the horizon, so making sure the animals are active at the hours that the light is at its best is imperative.

Getting to know the light

Once you've found something interesting to actually take a picture of, you'll need to get the lighting correct. For professionals like Kemper, this means looking online for nature photography from the same area. This can also mean spending time perusing Google Earth for specific site information, as seen from aerial reconnaissance photos. These can give you a very good idea of what conditions will be on the ground and what sort of light angles and exposures you can expect at various times during the day, throughout the year.

Just as with photo capture equipment, simplicity is often the best policy when getting to a remote location, too. For instance, instead of leaving for a shoot at 3am to get there by dawn, it's often a lot easier to simply spend the night at a site so you're rested and ready to capture the first rays of dawn.

Nature photography is a challenging subject and one that should not be made more challenging by equipment issues. For more nature photography tips from master photographer Lewis Kemper, visit 7PhotographyQuestions.com.