Nature Photography How To

Professional photographers spend years studying, practicing, and refining their shooting and editing techniques before really hitting their stride, and this video from an accomplished pro is intended to shorten your learning curve by revealing five "huge mistakes" made by self-taught shooters.

It's a dead giveaway that you're new to post-processing if the images you edit are oversaturated because you took a heavy-handed approach with one of Lightroom's most overused tools. By doing so you just spoiled an otherwise great shot because it no longer appears realistic.

Instructor Andy Parkinson is a National Geographic photographer and Nikon Ambassador who has traveled the world to capture stunning imagery under just about every lightning condition imaginable. He's also very generous about sharing the secrets to his amazing work that have earned him over 130 domestic and international awards.

Remember that macro lens you stashed in the back of your camera cabinet at the end of summer? Well, there's a lot more to closeup photography than photographing spring buds and the flowers and insects that emerge later.

Inexperienced photographers typically strive for maximum sharpness from foreground to background in every image they shoot. A more sophisticated approach often involves strategically adding lens blur to accentuate a key subject within frame. And you'll learn an effective way to do exactly that in this tutorial from the Park Cameras YouTube channel.

The megapixel race shows no signs of abating as camera manufacturers continue to promote the benefits of high-res cameras while ignoring some of the disadvantages. The result is that many shooters are think about investing in a new and expensive high-resolution monster.

White balance can make or break a photo because this important attribute enables you to imbue a scene with a variety of feelings and moods. Do things right and you'll have broad control over a variety of appealing effects. The problem is that an incorrect approach may result in photos that appear unrealistic or totally fake.