Nature Photography How To

This tutorial demonstrates the magic of a "Vaseline technique" that will impart a soft, dreamy look to just about any image you shoot. This method isn't exactly new, but it's rarely discussed among digital photographers who typically apply software filters to create special effects.

Water reflections can be a powerful element when shooting after dark, transforming a ho-hum image into a money shot. This tutorial is another simple primer from the My Photo Journey YouTube channel, and it explains everything necessary for using reflections to boost the impact of a photo.

If you're unfamiliar with an in-camera technique known as "Expose to the Right" (ETTR) this tutorial explains the concept and demonstrates how one of our favorite pros uses it to nail exposure every time and get the best possible image quality out of every shot. The pro hack takes less that nine minutes to explain, and it will prove invaluable for every image you shoot in the great outdoors.

We all faced a barrage of so-called "photography rules" when first starting out, and one of the most enduring for outdoor shooters is the familiar Rule of Thirds. This is a compositional guideline that involves dividing an image into nine equal parts and placing the subject where two of the vertical and horizontal lines intersect.

Midtone contrast is often a key ingredient for making impactful outdoor photos, but the technique is often overlooked by inexperienced shooters. As one successful pro likes to say, "it's the secret sauce that makes many images feel more lifelike" and jump off the screen.

Like it or not we live in an era where camera manufactures compete with each other for how much resolution their products offer. But there's a big difference between what you want and what you really need. That's why, budget notwithstanding, it's time to ask yourself how many megapixels are necessary for your style of photography.

What if an experienced pro told you that one simple shooting technique can instantly improve every image you capture in the great outdoors? This may sound implausible, at least until you watch the following video from the Gary W YouTube channel.