Nature Photography How To

Let’s face it: Not all of us have the time or means to go on safari to photograph exotic animals in their natural habitat. The next best option is a trip to the local zoo with a long lens, and that can be a load of fun.

One of the most basic components of great photographs is an accurate exposure with a broad range of tones, yielding details in both shadows and highlights. This goal can often be a challenge when shooting outside under complicated mixed light.

It’s not uncommon to have a distracting object or two in otherwise beautiful outdoor images. Sometimes that’s because you weren’t paying attention, while in other cases there was simply no way to compose the scene without the offending objects in the frame.

You’ve probably heard the silly adage that “If the mode dial on your camera isn’t set to ‘M’ you’re not a real photographer.” While most pros would disagree, there are clearly advantages to choosing camera settings yourself.

You know the expression: "wisdom comes from experience"? That certainly applies to photography particularly when shooting landscapes, as landscape pro Mark Denney explains in the below tutorial.

It was shortly after I’d completed a remote Zoom presentation to a group of camera-club members that I decided to share some of the images and main points of my talk in this column. I show photographs, explain the process of making them, and answer questions, and at a time when in-person workshops, camera club meetings, and field trips were impossible, doing Zoom sessions was a welcome chance for members of the photo community to stay connected, motivated, and inspired.

There's an easy way to improve your landscape photos quickly and all it involves is thinking negatively. No, not negatively like having a bad attitude about your photography but thinking about "negative space" in your image.