Selecting the appropriate shutter speed for a given scene is important for most types of photography if you want the best possible results. This decision is important with landscapes and wildlife shots—particularly when shooting hand-held, for scenes with motion, and while using long lenses.
Most photographers turn to wide-angle lenses when shooting landscape photos. But every so often, depending upon the situation, it makes more sense to pull out the big guns. And if you’re new to telephoto nature photography, it’s easy to make mistakes that can spoil an otherwise great shot.
It’s not often that one has an opportunity to glean wisdom from six of the world’s top photographers, but that’s exactly what you’ll find in the eye-opening video below. In just six minutes, you’ll pick up 13 composition tips that will definitely improve your photography.
Landscape photography is challenging enough, with ever-changing light, weather concerns, and complex scenes, that the last thing you want to do is to spoil your effort by making unnecessary mistakes. In the tutorial below you’ll learn how to confront errors that limit your chance of success.
Cropping is a simple and effective way to fix poorly composed images, turn a horizontal shot into a vertical one, or get rid of distracting elements. And if you’re caught out in the field without a telephoto lens, cropping is an effective way to get in tight on a distant subject—especially if you’re using a hi-res camera.
There are numerous “rules” of photography and some are meant to be broken—including a few of the most familiar. But as you’ll see in the eye-opening video below from a trusted pro, you can avoid sabotaging images by using an oft-ignored trick.
While we all strive to capture awesome photos in the camera, it’s often possible to make a great shot even better with a few post-processing enhancements. But image editing is a mixed bag, and you can actually degrade a nice photo if you’re sloppy on the computer.
We often turn to Danish pro Mads Peter Iversen for expert advice on exactly what to do when shooting landscape images. While Iversen is a cheerful, positive guy, he takes the opposite approach in the tutorial below by explaining what NOT to do when making nature photos.
There are plenty of camera settings to consider for capturing the best possible landscape photos, depending upon the specific look you’re after. And one of our favorite pros insists that, “aperture is the most important stylistic instrument of all.”
Editor’s Note: The imaging world has lost a spark of brilliance with the passing of legendary photographer and beloved friend Douglas Kirkland at the young age of 88. In his memory we’re re-posting our 2017 article with a selection of Douglas’ iconic images and a video revealing the secrets behind his photos of the rich and famous.
Presets are timesaving files that enable Lightroom to apply predetermined enhancements to images, enabling you to quickly make changes to color, introduce special effects, and much more. By clicking on a preset you avoid the task of doing things manually, and you can always go back in and tweak the results.
Unless you’ve been living in a cave recently the amazing images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have likely blown your mind. But did you know they’re available as a free download on a NASA website?
There are many reasons you may want to cut out the background of a photo and create a composite image. Sometimes the goal is to replace a boring sky with something more compelling. Other times you may just want to place a portrait photo on a more interesting background.
Here’s a deal that’s too good to pass up from the folks at Lens Culture, a global photography resource dedicated to discovering contemporary talent and celebrating great work. Their efforts are an invaluable resource for learning new skills, discovering interesting books, and improving one’s skills and creativity.