Nature Photography How To

The history of photography and camera technology is littered with controversies about the “best” way to capture an image. For a while shooters questioned the value of autofocus, then there was a debate regarding the quality of digital images vs. those shot with film.

In today’s mobile-obsessed society there’s one thing we carry with us at all times (even if we forget to bring our wallet). And that’s the smartphone we use for everything from checking the weather, keeping up to date on social media, and taking photos when a “real” camera isn’t available. Some folks even use their phones to make telephone calls.

Life isn’t always a bowl of cherries, and neither should be your landscape photos—especially of you want them to stand out from the crowd. The Lightroom tutorial below demonstrates how to give images a moody, gloomy look.

We’ve posted numerous tutorials in the past explaining why so many accomplished photographers prefer to shoot in Raw, or set their cameras to capture both a Raw file and a JPEG every time they press the shutter button.

There’s one sure way to take your photography to the next level: Shoot images with a totally different look from those you’ve captured in the past. You can do this by switching up the subject matter, trying a different technique, or composing images from an unusual vantage point—either high or low.

All photographers are looking for an edge when it comes to shooting in mixed light outdoors, where there’s often a wide range of tones from bright highlights to deep shadows. While arriving at a balanced exposure can be challenging in these situations, there’s a way to use varying light levels to advantage.

Noise in digital photos can seriously degrade image quality, especially when shooting with budget gear, in much the same way grain is annoying in film photography. There are several editing techniques for cleaning up noisy shots, but today’s topic is banishing these ugly artifacts as much as possible in the camera.