Shooting portraits on location with a wide aperture can result in some great images, but if, like me, you want to underexpose the ambient light for a more dramatic effect, you’ll quickly realize there’s a problem with shutter speed and off camera flash.

When teamed together properly, your image files, monitor, image-processing software, and printer can produce prints that you will be justly proud to show. My aim here is to provide tips that will give your prints that extra touch so you can produce wall-worthy work that displays the characteristics of color, tone, and contrast that fully expresses your vision.

The classic definition of macro photography is that the image projected onto the digital sensor (or film plane) should be the same size as the subject. With a 1:1 ratio, a DSLR with a full-frame chip should be able to produce life-size magnification and focus on an area as small as 24x36mm.

This amazing image of a baby humpback whale by Karim Iliya earned him a coveted 2018 Hasselblad Masters Award, which is one of the premier international competitions for professional photographers. Iliya captured the award-winning shot off the islands of Vava’u in Tonga during a freedive.