Outdoor Tips

Anyone who loves shooting scenics probably enjoys capturing the grandeur of mountains. As with most landscapes, it's best to photograph mountain scenery very late in the afternoon or very early in the morning. Some of the best high-country photos are shot by photographers who get up before daybreak or stop shooting only after dark. You'll find that an otherwise...

A lot of photo enthusiasts say, "The sun's out--time to take pictures," and put their camera away come nightfall. But if this is your philosophy, you're missing half the fun of photography. You can take some exciting night shots of colorful neon signs, the streaked taillights of traffic in motion, or shadowy figures silhouetted by street lights.

All Photos by Mike Stensvold

Proper exposure is important. Color-print film has a lot of "latitude," and digital images can be manipulated extensively, but a properly exposed image will always look better than a "corrected" poorly exposed one.
What is "proper" exposure, anyway? Well, it's the exposure that gives you the...

Beautiful scenic views rank among our most popular subjects to photograph, but surprisingly, they can be one of the most challenging subjects to capture on film or a memory card. The human eye perceives a scene differently than the camera does--we tend to see selectively, while the camera lens simply takes it all in. Also, there are elements that add to our experience...

Shooting good photos in dim light is challenging, but can also be quite rewarding, because capturing the feel of the existing light generally produces a more pleasant picture than using on-camera flash.

The basic problems facing the low-light photographer are being able to use a fast enough shutter speed to permit hand-held shooting, and being able to use a small enough lens aperture to...

Photographs of beautiful landscapes made in the right conditions can be absolutely stunning. The keys are to be there in those conditions, and to be ready to record them when you find them.

You can greatly enhance your chances of being there at the right time by doing your research. It's frustrating to travel to a stunning scenic site, only to be socked in by a blizzard—or to find...