This will probably surprise you, but for someone writing about the advantages of heading out with one camera and one lens, I mostly don't do that. As a professional photographer who emphasizes travel images and loves to apply special techniques, I most often carry a rather full kit of lenses and a back-up DSLR, plus filters and a tripod.
Have you ever wondered how to shoot dynamic photos with soft silky water, cotton-like clouds moving across the sky, or light trails emanating from cars cruising down the road at night? If so, the comprehensive guide in the video below is all you need for getting the job done.
Landscape photographers constantly grapple with complicated, messy scenes that have a wide range of tones, whether their shooting at sunrise, sunset, or in the middle of the day. As a result it's not uncommon to return home with a few images that would be spectacular were it not for the fact that they're seriously underexposed.
ISO is a basic camera setting with a big impact on the photos you shoot when it comes to exposure, image quality, and other important variables. Unfortunately the simple concept is misunderstood and often results in images that don't meet expectations.
Experienced photographers typically set their camera's Mode Dial to Manual or Aperture Priority for most of their work. But there's another option that's frequently overlooked and you'll learn exactly how it works and when to use it in the quick tutorial below.
Ask any landscape photographer to name two filters they can't live without, and the answer is likely to be a polarizer and a neutral density (ND) filter. The video below concentrates on the former, explaining how this affordable tool can really add impact to just about any image you shoot outdoors.
As one of our favorite pros insists, “Lightroom’s histogram is one of the most important things to understand in photography.” If you’re new to this powerful tool, the beginners guide below from our friends at The Phlog Photography will get you up to speed in barely eight minutes.
Outdoor photographs often need local adjustments to balance a bright sky against a dark background, or when one side of an image is brighter than the other. The trick is using Lightroom's Linear Gradient tool to create soft transitions in a fading pattern to make the necessary enhancements.
If your outdoor photographs often have blown-out highlights, crushed shadows, or a combination of both, our guess is that you’re not using exposure bracketing to perfect exposure when shooting in difficult lighting conditions. The tutorial below quickly explains how it’s done.
Are you familiar with Photoshop’s powerful Blend If tool and how easily it enables you to create outdoor photos with maximum impact? If not, you’re in for a treat.
When it comes to shooting outdoors we’re all at the mercy of Mother Nature, no matter the level of our skills or the beauty of a scene. And sometimes that means arriving at a great location, only to confront boring, dull skies.
It can be extremely challenging to capture accurately exposed photos of scenes with a wide range of brightness values from white to black and everything in between. This tutorial from the My Photo Journey YouTube channel explains how to get the job done in the camera by selecting the oft-ignored Spot Metering mode.
If you’re having trouble nailing exposure and ask a few friends for help, you’re likely to be told, “it’s time you mastered Manual mode.” While that’s certainly an option, there’s another (and often easier) way to consistently achieve perfectly exposed photos.
If you’re struggling to properly exposure complicated outdoor photos join the club! Many landscape scenes involve a wide range of tones from bright highlights to deep shadows, and it can be difficult knowing where to start.