Photo How To

Quite a few photographers prefer making portraits with available light—either because they prefer the look, or they don’t own supplemental light equipment. It’s possible to do that indoors, like when using window lighting, but the typical approach is to shoot outdoors.

One challenge with all forms of outdoor photography is that we're always at the mercy of the weather and prevailing lighting conditions. That fact is particularly evident when you wake up on a nice day, pack your gear, and travel to a favorite location—only to confront a pretty scene with a rather boring sky.

Outdoor photographers often encounter lighting situations with such a wide range of tones that it’s difficult or impossible to capture a properly exposed image in just one shot. Under such conditions, if you expose for the highlights, shadows are crushed. Conversely, if you expose for the shadows, highlights are blown out.

Have you every wanted to give night photography a try, but didn’t know where to start? If so, the five-minute beginner’s guide below is just what you need.

If the headline above strikes you as a bit crazy, join the club. We were more than a bit skeptical when we stumbled upon this quick tutorial because of the conventional wisdom that using a lens hood is one of the easiest ways to improve outdoor images.

When shooting portraits, nature, or other types of outdoor images, one of the best ways to accentuate a key foreground subject is to create shallow depth of field with an out-of-focus background. You can often do that in the camera by selecting the proper focal length and aperture setting, and positioning your subject close to the camera.