Outdoor Photography How To

One of the most challenging—and gratifying—subjects to photograph is wildlife. The primary obstacle is getting close enough to wild animals to take dramatic photos of them. Your best bet is a telephoto lens—a few point-and-shoot film cameras offer built-in zooms as long as 200mm at the telephoto end, and...

For over 30 years Petersen's Photographic Magazine has been recognized as the leading instructional magazine for photo enthusiasts. Our goal has been to inspire readers with dramatic imagery, and to offer clear and simple instructional articles to help photographers improve their skills.

To further this mission, we have created the Photographic Faculty; a team of seven...

Ways to be bright when it gets dark.

Low-light photography can yield some amazingly striking and unusual images. But it also presents a problem. You need a fast enough shutter speed to prevent camera-shake-induced image blurring, and sometimes to "freeze" a moving subject. You often need to shoot at a small enough aperture to provide adequate depth of field. You want to use the...

All photos by David Schultz

According to nature photographer David Schultz, "Spring and Fall are my busy times for picture-taking." Aspen and maple trees adorned in fall colors are big sellers at West Light Images, Schultz' photo gallery located in Park City, Utah. People also enjoy decorating their walls with spring wildflowers, he observes.

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All photos by Don Gale

Have you ever embarked on an exciting wilderness adventure that promised great photo opportunities, only to be disappointed with your images after you got home? Maybe the skies in your pictures weren't as blue as you remembered them, or the colors as vivid. Perhaps the grand vistas you experienced appeared a little washed-out in your...

Here are seven more ideas for some great shots this summer

1. Magic Moments
It's not just a summer thing, because a photographer should always be on the lookout for those intriguing sights of life being lived, but summer seems to produce more of them. Put your camera in full-auto mode, stay alert, and fire away when you come across something neat, be it people at work or...

Adding a filter or two to your camera bag is a quick and relatively inexpensive way to improve your photos

How can you tell if you need filters? Take this quick test: Do you take photographs? If the answer is yes, you very likely need some filters to get the best possible images. Here are some that can really improve many of your future photos.