Lighting How To

If your outdoor photographs often have blown-out highlights, crushed shadows, or a combination of both, our guess is that you’re not using exposure bracketing to perfect exposure when shooting in difficult lighting conditions. The tutorial below quickly explains how it’s done.

One question I’m frequently asked is, “Are you a natural-light photographer or do you use flash?” All too often that query stems from a popular misconception that using supplemental light is too difficult or confusing for mere mortals. As you’ll see in the basic tutorial below, nothing could be further from the truth.

One way to give landscape images a dreamy, unique look is to employ slow shutter speeds to create a sense of motion that’s not visible to the naked eye. By using this technique clouds take on a soft cotton-like appearance, as does flowing water in lakes, streams, waterfalls, and the sea.

Many photographers either ignore or struggle with portrait photography because they think sophisticated lighting equipment, advanced skills, and a well-equipped studio are an absolute necessity. We’re going to debunk that fallacy in the straightforward tutorial below.

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when viewing low-light landscape photos with impressive sun stars? Most likely it’s this: “The photographer either used a lens filter or created the effect during the editing process.

As an avid photographer, paying close attention to Shutterbug’s articles and tutorials, you’ve become pretty confident about using a camera to achieve sharp, properly exposed images. Congratulations: You’re halfway there.

Photography is no different than other creative pursuits, in that mistakes happen regardless of one’s skills. That’s often true with exposure, particularly under difficult lighting conditions.