Travel Photography How To

According the instructor Neil Borg, "Dodge and Burn is the secret weapon for sculpting light and adding drama to the photos you capture outdoors"—just like it was in the darkroom for the iconic masters of landscape photography during the heyday of film.

So you have a bit extra cash to spend on photo gear, and you’re about to go shopping. Before you do we want to remind you of something we’ve stressed in the past; namely, it often makes far more sense to upgrade your optics than it does to invest in a new camera.

Wide-Angle lenses are typically the go-to choice for experienced landscape photographers. They enable you to easily capture expansive vistas with room for cropping, and they help to tell a story about the location with your images.

There are plenty of camera settings to consider for capturing the best possible landscape photos, depending upon the specific look you’re after. And one of our favorite pros insists that, “aperture is the most important stylistic instrument of all.”

The technique known as Expose to the Right (ETTR) can make a huge difference in the images you capture in Raw, but this method is frequently misunderstood and can lead to compromised results if you take the wrong approach.

On a recent trip to Jordan I was going through my nightly routine of cleaning the cameras’ sensors and backing up the day’s shoot when it came to me that these two exercises in what you might call preventive maintenance—keeping dust off the sensors and making sure my pictures are safe—are among the things that concern me most as a professional travel photographer.

The unsung hero of our age is the rechargeable battery. Can you imagine using a cell phone, digital camera or notebook computer without high capacity, long lasting batteries? The battery technology of choice for the past several years has been Lithium Ion. Here are five things you need to know about it—for your own safety and convenience.