Outdoor Photography How To

Pro photographer Jim Reed’s specialty is images of severe and unusual weather; in short, he’s a stormchaser.

Exposure systems in digital cameras are highly sophisticated components that can analyze light, contrast, color and all the aspects of a photo instantly. Yet with all the automation and computerization there’s still the need to understand how to get the most from all the available options, to know when to choose a particular mode or metering pattern, when you can rely on automation and when you need to step in to get the best exposure possible. This set of tips deals with the creative use of the various Exposure modes, metering patterns, bracketing features and more.

Travel and nature photographer John Shaw lives his dream, traveling the world with his camera, without deadlines or obligations. His images go toward stock sales worldwide, in addition to being used in his many books. While he doesn’t shoot on assignment, magazine editors familiar with Shaw’s work will come to him when needed, or he’ll occasionally pitch story ideas to them when planning a trip.

Telephotos have always been bread-and-butter lenses for photographers shooting everything from commercial and sports to wildlife and landscapes. The ability to separate a subject against its background or pull in a distant scene has made telephoto lenses a staple in nearly every camera bag around the world.

Here are some of the questions I asked myself on the way to taking some of the photos you see accompanying this column:
• How am I going to find a father and son trekking through snow?
• How long is this fog going to last?
• Police tape? What’s police tape doing here?
• Is this rain ever going to stop?

A recent shoot offered a spectacular setting, cooperative subjects, wonderful lighting, great colors, a number of advantageous positions from which to shoot—and a challenge for a travel photographer used to roaming cities and countryside in search of images.

There’s no reason to pack your photo gear away when the first snows of winter start to fly. Winter photography presents some of the most wonderful opportunities to capture stunning subject matter that is not available during other times of the year. With the ground enveloped in a blanket of white snow, even familiar surroundings will take on an entirely different perspective and serve as the background for new and exciting images.