Outdoor Photography How To

He stands in about 3 feet of roiling surf, wetsuit jersey glistening from repeated dunkings. The sky above Oahu’s North Shore is deep blue. Undertow currents grasp his legs—eroding sand beneath his swim fins—as water rushes seaward to build the next huge wave. He holds his bulky waterproof camera housing tightly, faces west toward the setting sun and checks the long tether attached to his wrist. He turns his head to watch the wave rise ever higher—a towering blue-green monster that’s starting to curl, white spume blowing off its top. He braces himself as best he can against the forces raging around him, points the camera toward the golden Hawaiian sunset, and waits as tons of water begins to curl over him, forming a tube. At what he hopes is the right instant, he fires off several shots and prepares to be pounded and rag-dolled by the massive wave.

As Hamlet one said: "To edit in color or to edit in b&w, that is the question." Well, not really, but it's a question you should ask yourself regardless of the type of images you shoot.

Here's a provocative and enlightening video from photographer Mark Denney. In the below clip, Denney discusses whether photographers should remove elements from a landscape photo during the editing process.

Is it just me, or is this summer extra hot? Grab your camera and stay cool with this extra cool Summer Sizzle Sweepstakes brought to you by Shutterbug. We might not include a yacht in the prizes, but maybe with the right gear you can convince a friend to let you take some nice photos on their boat. We gotcha!

 

It's nearly impossible to capture a great photo if the colors in your images are consistently unnatural, gaudy or dull. So if you're struggling with unimpressive color, whether shooting indoors or out, buckle up and watch the 10-minute tutorial below.

One way to give landscape images a dreamy, unique look is to employ slow shutter speeds to create a sense of motion that’s not visible to the naked eye. By using this technique clouds take on a soft cotton-like appearance, as does flowing water in lakes, streams, waterfalls, and the sea.

So here's a common problem that may sound familiar: You come home from a day of shooting in the field, review your images on the computer, and feel really discouraged because you don't know whether to toss the files in the trash, or where to beginning fixing them with the software of your choice.