Lighting How To

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.

Typically when we discuss photographing birds in flight, the emphasis is on techniques for capturing super sharp images. But as you’ll see in today’s tutorial, there’s another critical consideration under certain lighting conditions.

 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.

Bright summer days are great for trips to the beach, sitting around a pool, or casting a line into your favorite stream. But when it comes to outdoor portraiture, well, not so much.

The first thing most of us think of when we hear the words “Zone System” is the great Ansel Adams, who developed this powerful exposure technique with Fred Archer over 80 years ago. The second thing that often comes to mind is the word “complicated.”