There are many types of photography, each requiring specific cameras and accessories. Nature photography, for instance, requires a lens capable of shooting from distance, ideally a zoom lens with a wide aperture. Landscape photographers, meanwhile, often use a lens with a shorter focal length to capture broad and beautiful scenery. Whether you’re just starting out as an amateur nature photographer or an experienced landscape creator looking for inspiration, here are eight prolific and influential nature photographers that may interest you.
1. Guy Tal
A popular contemporary landscape photographer, Guy Tal lives in Colorado and primarily shoots the state’s high desert landscape while emphasizing patterns and structures. He’s also an artist, author, and educator. He has three published nature photography books (More Than a Rock, Another Day Not Wasted, and The Interior Landscape) and strives to express a familiarity with and connection to nature in his photos.
“The things I photograph are not just attractive models to me; they are also temples and sanctuaries and multi-dimensional characters in my own story, as I am (surely to a lesser degree) in theirs,” he explains.
2. Galen Rowell
Galen Rowell is among the most influential photojournalists of all-time, having excelled in not only landscape photography but also wilderness adventure and rock climbing. He was among the first photographers to exclusively use 35mm cameras when shooting outdoors and helped make graduated neutral-density filters mainstream.
Rowell, also an acclaimed writer and mountaineer, has published photo books and had his work featured in National Geographic. His book In the Throne of the Mountain Gods features extraordinary scenes shot during a six-year period in which he went on seven international photography expeditions, including to Patagonia and Tibet. He died at just 62 years old in 2002.
3. Max Rive
Max Rive’s home country of the Netherlands isn’t exactly known for its mountainous regions, but the Dutch photographer’s work exhibits how much he is inspired by mountains. Rive is always on the move chasing his next great landscape photo and, in the past, has snapped picturesque landscapes in Scotland and the Himalayas. He aims to convey freedom in his photos, which usually have a human subject to provide a sense of scale.
4. Ansel Adams
Known by many as the “grandfather of landscape photography,” Ansel Adams helped popularize the genre and created the zone system, now used by most professional landscape photographers. Adams, famous for his black and white landscape shots, used only nine shades to adjust the contrast of his photos. He manipulated the contrast via the zone system, which splits the photo into 11 zones: pure black, pure white, and nine shades of gray. In development, he was able to produce an amazing contrast by burning and dodging the nine shades of gray. The zone system can be used in digital photography with slight changes.
Adams’ most well-known photo is “Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico” (1941). He’s also known for his photos of Yosemite National Park and his environmental conservation efforts, which include the creation of Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. He also helped launch multiple art education institutions.
5. Jimmy Chin
A famous contemporary adventure photographer and mountain sports athlete, Jimmy Chin captures most of his nature photos while skiing and climbing in high-risk environments. He has worked as a professional photographer for nearly 25 years and has received awards from the American Society of Magazine Editors, Communication Arts, and Photo District News. He has also shot for National Geographic and helped direct Free Solo, an Academy Award-winning documentary that followed mountaineer Alex Honnold on his equipment-free climb up El Captain.
6. Jamie Justus Out
If you utilize leading lines in your nature photography, there are few better options for inspiration than Jamie Justus Out. An adventure photographer who enjoys trekking and shooting water from elevated areas, Justus Out’s photos usually contain paths or walkways to direct the viewer’s attention. Like Rive, he also often includes a human subject to provide a greater sense of scale.
7. Marina Cano
Spanish nature photographer Marina Cano has been a Canon ambassador since 2015. Specializing in shooting wildlife, she has won numerous awards and published three photo books (Inspiración + Naturaleza, Drama & Intimacy, and Cabárceno). Cabárceno features a collection of images she shot over a three-year period in Europe’s largest wildlife park.
8. Art Wolfe
A 71-year-old nature photographer from Seattle, Washington, Art Wolfe has shot in hundreds of locations on all seven continents during his extensive and impressive career. He was a leading figure in the conservation photography movement and helped establish the International Conservation Photography Awards. His work has been featured in National Geographic and Terre Sauvage, among other notable publications, and shown in exhibitions at Seattle’s Frye Art Museum.