Nature Photography How To

One of the "rules" outdoor photographers learn from the get-go is to avoid contrasty midday light. The idea is to shoot in early morning or late afternoon when colors and soft illumination is far more preferable. That's good advice but we can't always choose when we'll come upon a beautiful scene, and there are ways to capture epic photos under harsh conditions.

Spring and summer usually come to mind when most photographers think about shooting macro and close-up photos, when budding flowers, insects and other creepy-crawlies are just about everywhere you look. But if you’ve already stashed your macro lens for the year, you may have second thoughts after watching the video below.

Some outdoor photographers make the mistake of stowing their gear when the weather turns foul, and as one pro says, “They run off into the trees like a little girl.” That’s a shame, because many of the best opportunities for dramatic landscape photos present themselves when rain, snow, or storm clouds roll in.

We addressed the first problem in an earlier tutorial and today you'll learn how to cope with the latter. Instructor Simon d'Entremont is an accomplished Canadian pro, specializing in wildlife imagery, and he walks you through the steps he takes to capture great images when the light is far from ideal.

Outdoor photographers spend a lot of time chasing “great light” as they strive to make the best photos possible. But according to one trusted pro, “There’s no such thing as bad light.”

Summer offers many opportunities for landscape photographers, one of which is dramatic lightning that often accompanies thunderstorms this time of year. With a few basic techniques for photographing electrical storms, it’s easy to capture truly epic landscape images.

Nailing exposure is a critical aspect of all genres of photography as you refine your skills, and this can be difficult when shooting outdoors under varied illumination. This is a particularly challenging task when the light is everchanging as clouds pass through a scene, or when subjects in motion move in and out of sunlight and shadow.