Outdoor Photography How To

Low-light photography is all about compromises, especially when shooting with natural light. You can use high ISO settings to arrive at a proper exposure, but image quality tends to suffer and noise rears its ugly head. The other option is to select slow shutter speeds, but that approach has pitfalls of its own.

Last Friday we featured a tutorial on using a composition aid known as the “Golden Spiral,” and it turned out to be one of our most popular stories of the year. So today we thought we’d bring you another powerful video, with seven simple tips for framing compelling landscape photos.

How about this for a fun weekend photo assignment: Get up early, grab your gear, and head into town for a bit of black-and-white street photography. The quick video below provides five helpful tips, and all the inspiration you need, to give this a go.

The eye-opening video below is the latest in a series of tutorials by a British pro, demonstrating how to recognize good light and use it to create dynamic imagery. In this episode, photographer Sean Tucker explains how to use reflected light when shooting on the street.

Some photographers are under the misconception that slow shutter speeds are only required when shooting at night or under less-than-ideal lighting conditions. In this tutorial, you’ll see how to use long exposures during the day to make epic landscape photos.

Today marks the 116^th birthday of Ansel Adams (February 20, 1902-April 22, 1984), a passionate environmentalist and one of the most iconic image-makers of our time. Were he alive today, Adams would no doubt be somewhere in Yosemite Valley, and he’d likely be pioneering new forms of photography—perhaps in the digital darkroom.

“Keep things simple” is great advice for whatever type of images you shoot, but when photographing nature scenes it’s often crucial to simplify the landscape if you want to capture compelling photos without a lot of unnecessary clutter.