Lighting How To

One way to give landscape images a dreamy, unique look is to employ slow shutter speeds to create a sense of motion that’s not visible to the naked eye. By using this technique clouds take on a soft cotton-like appearance, as does flowing water in lakes, streams, waterfalls, and the sea.

Many photographers either ignore or struggle with portrait photography because they think sophisticated lighting equipment, advanced skills, and a well-equipped studio are an absolute necessity. We’re going to debunk that fallacy in the straightforward tutorial below.

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when viewing low-light landscape photos with impressive sun stars? Most likely it’s this: “The photographer either used a lens filter or created the effect during the editing process.

As an avid photographer, paying close attention to Shutterbug’s articles and tutorials, you’ve become pretty confident about using a camera to achieve sharp, properly exposed images. Congratulations: You’re halfway there.

Photography is no different than other creative pursuits, in that mistakes happen regardless of one’s skills. That’s often true with exposure, particularly under difficult lighting conditions. 

How many times have you returned from an outing, shooting what you thought were outstanding images—only to be underwhelmed when you viewed them on the computer? If your answer is “too many times to count,” you have plenty of company.

There are numerous way to render outdoor scenes during the editing process, depending upon the subject. Sometimes your goal is maximum depth of field throughout the frame, while other times a soft background blur will separate an important foreground object from a cluttered background.