Nature Photography How To

Most of us strive to achieve sharp and precise focus in the camera when shooting in the field, yet every so often a bit of editing is required to rehabilitate soft areas within a shot. But here's the catch: sometimes the conventional approach can do more damage than good.

Today were going to discuss a tool that many experienced landscape shooters consider the pound-for-pound champion of photographic accessories, and it's the dollar-for-dollar champ too. If your guess is the affordable polarizing filter, you just scored a knockout.

Most beginning photographers are enthusiastic about their new creative pursuit, but sheer passion alone is not enough to get the job done. That's because practice, a firm understanding of the fundamentals, and appropriate gear are essential if one is to develop their skills.

We regularly preach the importance of taking a selective, rather than a global, approach to processing your images. This simply means limiting your adjustments to specific portions of a scene that really need work, instead of making enhancements to the image as a whole.

Last week we posted an overview of making nighttime the right time for shooting after the sun drops below the horizon. That tutorial was designed for those new to the technique, and today we're following up with a deeper dive on one compelling aspect of this style of photography that's of particular interest to cityscape and street photographers.

Nailing exposure is a critical aspect of all genres of photography as you refine your skills, and this can be difficult when shooting outdoors under varied illumination. This is a particularly challenging task when the light is everchanging as clouds pass through a scene, or when subjects in motion move in and out of sunlight and shadow.

Something magical tends to happen once the sun drops below the horizon: scenes that were dull and unimpressive during the day are often transformed into sparkling tableaus full of interesting light, vivid colors, and captivating reflections—while all the boring stuff disappears into the shadows.