Outdoor Photography How To

Sunstars are a great way to fill an otherwise boring, cloudless blue sky with a feeling of drama and excitement. They are often a way to add a compositional element that helps draw a viewer into a scene. Technically, any light source can create a “sunstar” as long as it is a tiny point of light and the camera is set correctly. We often see the star effect in shots of buildings with their lights twinkling at dusk, or the moon in the night sky. Most commonly we see star patterns when the sun is setting on the horizon, but in this case we only see half of the sunstar because the other half is being blocked by the horizon.

Ugly Dust Spots can really spoil a photo, whether they're caused by a dirty lens or a sensor that's overdue for a cleaning. Unfortunately, conventional post-processing repairs don't always do a perfect job—especially when the artifacts are difficult to notice at first glance.

If the headline above strikes you as a bit crazy, join the club. We were more than a bit skeptical when we stumbled upon this quick tutorial because of the conventional wisdom that using a lens hood is one of the easiest ways to improve outdoor images.

Many nature and landscape photographers strive for vibrant, saturated colors when editing their work because they think that this approach makes their images "POP." The truth is, however, is that a heavy-handed approach with improper tonal balance often has the opposite effect.

Time-lapse photography and time-lapse videos are still immensely popular and interest in them shows no signs of slowing down (so to speak). In fact, a spectacular time-lapse video of Chicago was the fifth most popular story on Shutterbug.com in 2016 and it’s easy to see why.

Now that summer is behind us, and autumn is officially here, it’s time to bone up on your fall photography skills. In the video below, you'll pick up 30 great tips for getting the job done.

If you're just getting started in macro photography, or the images you capture leave something to be desired, this tutorial from the Naturefold YouTube channel will significantly improve the quality of your photos, with three helpful tips from a small-world expert.