Nature Photography How To

When it comes to shooting outdoors we’re all at the mercy of Mother Nature, no matter the level of our skills or the beauty of a scene. And sometimes that means arriving at a great location, only to confront boring, dull skies.

We often hear people complain that there’s nothing interesting to photograph where they live. Well, one of our writers lives in the most densely populated state in America (New Jersey). Here are some of the images he captured during a two-hour period one Friday morning without traveling more than 15 miles from home. And to prove that good photos exist everywhere—if we just look—he used only one camera and one lens.

Beginner landscape photographers who are making the jump from shooting JPEGs to capturing RAW image files would do well to check out the below tutorial from Mark Denney. In the video at the bottom of this post, Denney discusses five beginner steps to edit better RAW landscape photos.

There are numerous ways to convert color images to b&w, and some work better than others depending upon the type of photo on hand. The tutorial below is designed for landscape imagery, and provides a foolproof method for achieving striking contrast-rich photographs.

Summer is in full swing, but autumn is right around the corner. That means it’s time to bone up on your technique so you’ll be ready for the change of seasons. Today’s Photoshop video explains a simple color grading technique that provides a beautiful fall effect.

Whether the view before you is an expansive vista, a majestic mountain scene, or a stunning seascape, there’s a good chance you’ll reach in your bag, pull out a wide-angle lens, and mount it on your camera. But that doesn’t guarantee a great image unless you avoid a few common errors.

Neutral Density (ND) filters are among the most popular tools for nature and landscape photographers because of the versatility they provide in setting exposure. By limiting the amount of light entering a lens, ND filters permit shooting at very slow shutter speeds under bright light, for creative effects like soft-flowing water, cotton-like clouds, light trails and more.