Often when we take photographs, it can be hard to know how to best display them. Making a slideshow video is an interesting and engaging way to do that; and we know video gets more traction on social media channels: win-win!

If you’re a nature photographer, whether that’s plants, animals, or landscapes, this tutorial will get you ready to create an amazing slideshow video.

Photographic Tips

If you’re thinking about making a slideshow for nature photographs you’ve not taken yet then you can start to think about what photographs will work best in your video and also things that are just good practice.

If the background is busy, try a shallow depth of field with your subject close up, to blur out any potential distractions.

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  Shooting
  Understanding the Factors that Affect Depth of Field
  Stefan Surmabojov

Get out early (and late!) – the changes in light will make your pictures extra special, and there are also fewer people around at either end of the day.

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  Lighting
  What Is the Golden Hour?
  Harry Guinness

Make good use of textures – in nature, they can often be the main focus of the photograph if used to good effect.

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  Textures
  How to Photograph Textures for Designers
  Marie Gardiner

Respect your environment. The old adage, take only pictures, leave only footprints, kill nothing but time may be corny but it’s a good mantra to have buzzing around your head while you’re out in the wilds.

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  Travel Photography
  The Travel Photographer: More Than a Camera-Toting Tourist
  Marie Gardiner

National Geographic have some great tips on Photographing Nature and Landscapes.

Slideshow Tips

Text

Keep it simple, make your photographs the focus of each slide. You may want to add descriptions of what’s being shown, like locations, for example; if so, try to keep those short and make sure the design of the text, the colours you use, and the placement, complement the overall design and don’t distract from your images.

Colours

As with text, choose your supporting colours with thought. If you’re using frames, lower thirds, titles etc, you should try and fit them with the colour scheme of your images or background. If you process your photographs in a particular way, colour grading them for consistency and fitting your template or structure with that, can help give your video a more purposeful look.

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  Video
  Setting the Mood: How to Tell Stories With Color (Grade Your Videos)
  David Bode

Tell a Story and be Selective

A bit like curating a portfolio, you need strong images to grab your audience’s attention, particularly at the start of your video. Try telling a story or shaping a narrative of sorts with your images, whether that’s thematically, geographically, or however you imagined it when you shot your photos.

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  Video
  How to Tell an Exciting Story With Your Travel Video
  Cindy Burgess

Transitions

Choice of transitions is very much dependant on the style you’re going for. A good rule of thumb is to choose one or two and stick with those. Subtle effects are usually preferred, and so the classic fade, and dissolve are popular choices.

Try a Slideshow Template for Your Nature Photographs

Using a template can be a great starting point because it gives you a quality, professional structure that you can then customise to suit your particular project. Here’s a great example that you could use for your nature photography sideshow. It’s part of a subscription from Envato Elements, so once you’re signed up you can try as many as you like if this one isn’t your cup of tea.

My Greatest Adventure for Adobe After Effects

Show off you’re your nature photographs with the backdrop of an impressive waterfall in this unique slideshow for Adobe After Effects. Your photographs are displayed on rocky outcrops on an easel – neat!

 More Great Ways to Make Slideshows

After Effects is a powerful program for making slideshows, but Premiere and Final Cut Pro are also great options. You can even make a slideshow using Facebook. Check out the tutorials below to for more instruction on about how to use each platform:

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  How to Make a Video Slideshow for Facebook

  Learn how to make a simple video slideshow for Facebook in this quick step-by-step tutorial.
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  How to Make a Video Slideshow in Adobe Premiere Pro

  Tell a story through your videos and achieve your goals by making a great slideshow video in Adobe Premiere Pro,
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  How to Make a Video Slideshow in After Effects (With Template)

  Learn how easy it can be to create your own video slideshow with images in Adobe After Effects in this tutorial.
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  How to Make a Video Slideshow (With a Template) in Final Cut Pro

  Video slideshows create motion from your still images. Learn to create video slideshows for Final Cut Pro easily in this tutorial.

Finally, if a full-fledged video editing program isn't to your tastes, check out Placeit, a service from Envato which includes an easy-to-use slideshow maker with professionally-designed motion graphics templates you can use right in your browser.