Nature Photography How To

Most outdoor photographers know that using a Curves adjustment in Photoshop or Lightroom is one of the best ways to add contrast and boost the tonality in an image to make it more compelling. But there's a unique trick for using Curves in Photoshop, and it works wonders with one simple adjustment.

Do you understand the difference between Lightroom's HSL and Calibrations tools, how each one works, and which method provides the best results when processing different types of landscape and nature images? If not, this 12-minute tutorial from the PHLOG Photography YouTube channel will clarify any questions you may have.

It was shortly after I’d completed a remote Zoom presentation to a group of camera-club members that I decided to share some of the images and main points of my talk in this column. I show photographs, explain the process of making them, and answer questions, and at a time when in-person workshops, camera club meetings, and field trips were impossible, doing Zoom sessions was a welcome chance for members of the photo community to stay connected, motivated, and inspired.

Landscape photographers are barraged by a bunch of "conventional rules," but here's the deal: Many of these widely accepted guidelines may be conventional, but they're not always the best way to proceed—especially when it comes to composing outdoor scenes with wide-angle lenses.

Today's post-processing lesson reveals a versatile and very effective tutorial for editing just about any photos you capture outdoors, from landscape shots, wildlife images, and a variety of other nature scenes. What you'll learn will help selectively boost detail in a realistic manner.

We all strive to capture eye-catching photos that immediately grab attention, and part of the secret is being prepared to take advantage of every photo opportunity you confront. In the eye-opening tutorial below you learn what one pro calls “the essential elements that every stunning image has in common.”