Nature photographer Sherri VandenAkker shares her strategies for capturing stunning and compelling images of the diverse birds found on Cape Cod.
Bird photography can share commonalities with landscape photography and with portraiture. In this session, VandenAkker will focus particularly on the latter – how to capture the unique characteristics and beauty of the subject.
Sherri will discuss composition, including the use of negative space to focus attention on the subject; shape and texture to add interest; and light and reflection to create painterly effects. She’ll also discuss techniques to convey tone – particularly humor, action, and, ideally, a narrative in one’s images.
She will also address technical issues – including equipment and settings; share her strategies for finding promising locations to shoot; and offer her hard-learned tips for success.
About Sherri VandenAkker
Sherri VandenAkker enjoys photographing animals, especially ones with wings. She strives to create portraits of animals that capture their unique nature and beauty, which she finds in abundance even in the commonplace. When she isn’t amongst the birds and butterflies of Cape Cod, she teaches writing and literature at Springfield College, Boston campus and writes documentary films. Sherri earned her Bachelor’s degree at Mount Holyoke College and her Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She has won multiple awards for her documentary films and nature photography, including Honorable Mention in the 2018 Massachusetts Audubon photo contest. Sherri lives in Eastham in the summer and in Reading, Massachusetts the rest of the year with her husband and two teenagers.