Some photographers spend a lot of time fretting about aperture settings, and how they affect depth of field (DOF) in their photos. In today’s quick tutorial you’ll learn why it’s not necessary to worry about aperture as much as you think.
We’ve posted countless landscape tutorials in the past—some with so-called “rules” of composition, and others with tips from top pros. And guess what? Many of these lessons include very similar advice.
Have you ever returned from a vacation to a popular city, or to an iconic destination in the great outdoors, only to realize that your images look pretty much the same as those shot by everyone else? In the quick tutorial below you’ll learn simple techniques that are guaranteed to make your photos stand out from the crowd.
All photographers strive to create photos with accurate focus, and most of us prefer to get things right in the camera. This saves time during the editing process, and helps avoid the temptation to take things too far—ending up with an unsightly, “crispy” effect.
Landscape photographers know that the sky in a scene can make or break a photo. Soft billowing clouds make for compelling imagery, as do dark, threatening skies that evoke a dramatic sense of doom.
Many photographers limit their use of Photoshop’s Crop tool for simple tasks like making subtle adjustments to the composition of a shot, or getting in tighter on the main subject of a photo that was captured without the use of a telephoto lens.
When manufacturers design a camera’s menu they do so without knowing the type of images you shoot or what style of imagery you prefer. And that’s why it’s important to modify the default settings so they meet your specific needs.
Last week we brought you the premiere episode of a free online photo editing masterclass from our friends at the PHLOG Photography YouTube channel. That one demonstrated Lightroom’s most basic tools.
There was a time when lens flare was considered a negative attribute of photos shot outdoors. Often caused by using a lens with inferior coatings (or no coatings at all), flare can also result from failing to use a lens hood when shooting on sunny days (depending on your position relative to the sun).
One of the primary goals of landscape photographers is to arrive at a “correct” exposure, and we regularly post tutorials on this subject to help get the job done. But in the quick tutorial below you’ll see why certain types of scenes look much better by adding a bit of intentional overexposure during the editing process.
There are numerous photographers who turn to Photoshop instead of Lightroom to edit their photos, and in the tutorial below we’re going to demonstrate one of the several reasons for this choice. It’s the simple and easy-to-use app built into Photoshop called Adobe Bridge.
Camera technology these days is amazing; it’s practically magic. The problem, though, to my way of thinking and photographing, is that the magic offers a very wide and deep comfort zone—you might call it a zone of automatic decisions, and it’s probably best not to spend a lot of time there, certainly not if you want to create individualistic images.
If you ask a bunch of budding landscape photographers to name the biggest challenge they face, the answer you’re likely to receive is “getting a perfect exposure.” This can be difficult with all forms of outdoor photography, but it’s particularly an issue when shooting landscape scenes with a wide range of tones from bright highlights to deep shadows.
Photographing birds is a great way to try your hand at shooting wildlife because traveling to exotic locations isn’t required. All you need is a nearby park or nature reserve, and you can even get started in your own backyard.
A lot goes into making landscape images that look as spectacular on the computer as they did through the viewfinder, and one common challenge is capturing foliage with realistic, vibrant colors.