Nature Photography How To

Most new photographers begin their creative journey by learning a bunch of so-called "rules" to  help them develop their craft. But here's the deal: while many of these guidelines are great for beginners, they may actually inhibit growth as your skills become more advanced.

Dodging and burning is a classic image-editing technique dating back to the heyday of film and the darkroom. Back then, dodging was used to lighten a specific portion of an image, while burning did the opposite.

Well-composed landscape photographs are often difficult to achieve—especially in scenes with several important elements. Sure, there are a variety of common guidelines, like the Rule of Thirds and the importance of leading lines, but you're undoubtedly familiar with those.

Most outdoor photographers love shooting at Golden Hour, when soft warm tones bath the landscape before the sun disappears below the horizon. Unfortunately it's not always possible to control when we come across an epic scene, and sometimes that happens earlier in the day when light is less than ideal.

There are a variety of techniques for sharpening photos during the editing process, some more effective than others, but none are quite like the method you'll learn in today's tutorial that photographer Jethro Stebbings developed himself for bringing images to life.

Sooner or later all of us hit the doldrums and run out of fresh ideas and inspiration. The quick tutorial below will pay big dividends the next time your imagination runs dry.

Last week we featured a tutorial explaining how photographers of all skill levels can shoot impressive wildlife photos with whatever cameras they own. Today we're moving on to the next step in the process with a straightforward lesson on enhancing these great images in Lightroom.