Ron Leach

Not long ago we featured a comprehensive guide to photographing the Milky Way, with camera settings advice, gear recommendations, post-processing tips, and more. We're following up on that today with this primer for inexperienced photographers who want to capture awe-inspiring images of starlit skies, even when the Milky Way isn't visible.

We were all taught early on to always shoot with the sun to our back, and that worked OK for beginners looking for the easiest way to capture a "Kodak moment." If you're still following this familiar "rule," it's long past time to be more creative, and one effective way to do that is by setting aside what you learned about composition and try shooting towards the sun.

The first step for capturing breathtaking images in the field is analyzing light intensity and direction to determine the necessary settings for achieving a balanced exposure. One foolproof method for accomplishing this task involves using your camera's histogram to get the light right every time without time-wasting experimentation.

Printing and framing your best photographs is a great way decorate a home or office and present thoughtful gifts to family members and friends. Today's tutorial from an expert shares his time-proven technique while debunking what says are "the most common photo printing myths."