Nature Photography How To

Would you like to try your hand at close-up photography but can’t afford an expensive macro lens? Well consider this: An affordable set of extension tubes will turn just about any lens you own into a close-focusing macro lens.

Whether you’re photographing exotic beetles in the rainforests of Ecuador like entomologist Phil Torres, or shooting more common insects in your backyard, the video below will help you capture dramatic images that look like they were shot in the studio.

All outdoor photographers have experienced the dilemma of coming upon a scene that would make a stunning image, were it not for the dull light. But all is not lost, as you’ll see in the video below, demonstrating how to magically transform a flat photo by painting with light in Photoshop.

Many of history’s greatest photographers gained their fame making b&w landscape images. With today’s modern cameras, and the digital darkroom, most of the goals remain the same but techniques often differ.

One of the challenges with all forms of outdoor photography is that scenes often have a wide-range of tones—often beyond the density range of your camera. The best way to deal with situations like these is editing selective portions of the image.

Most outdoor photographers have had the unfortunate experience of planning a trip to a spot full of great opportunities, only to confront disappointing dull light when arriving at the destination. So what to do? One option is to accept defeat and plan a return trip. But another is to get the gear out, make some images, and use the following Lightroom trick to salvage the day.

Summer means stormy weather, with threatening thunderstorms that offer great opportunities for dramatic landscape imagery—especially when lightning is involved. The challenge to coming up with dramatic photographs is dealing with the complex lighting conditions that electrical storms present.