Outdoor Photography How To

Bird photographer extraordinaire Tim Boyer is one of our favorite sources of quick, helpful tutorials on capturing great photos of our feathered friends. In the six-minute video below, he provides five simple tips for photographing shorebirds.

One common mistake when photographing action is using a shutter speed that’s too fast to convey motion. When shooting motorcycle races, for example, a high shutter speed results in tack-sharp wheel spokes, yielding static images without a sense of motion. As you’ll see in the five-minute video below, the same is true when photographing birds in flight.

We’ve all been there: You pack your gear, jump in the car, and head out for a day of landscape photography, only to discover that the location you chose isn’t everything it was cracked up to be. The next time that happens you’ll be prepared to save the day, simply by watching the quick video below.

Whether you live in a big city or in a small town, shooting on the street is an accessible way to capture some striking scenes—both during the day and at night. In this helpful tutorial, a successful pro reveals his favorite camera settings to give street photos the WOW factor.

A lot of photo enthusiasts say, "The sun's out--time to take pictures," and put their camera away come nightfall. But if this is your philosophy, you're missing half the fun of photography. You can take some exciting night shots of colorful neon signs, the streaked taillights of traffic in motion, or shadowy figures silhouetted by street lights.

It's winter, and with the season come wonderful opportunities to produce some great snow and ice photos. On the following pages are a few tips to help you do just that.

The basic idea is to have the brightest areas of snow or ice appear white, but with a trace of detail. Very small areas can be blank white, but large areas should have some texture and detail.