Outdoor Photography How To

When photographing interesting cities, you'll find it very convenient to travel light—a point-and-shoot camera will free you to concentrate on compositions and allow you to respond more quickly to great photo opportunities. If your camera has a built-in zoom lens, use it at its widest setting for...

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.

Like it or not we live in an era where camera manufactures compete with each other for how much resolution their products offer. But there's a big difference between what you want and what you really need. That's why, budget notwithstanding, it's time to ask yourself how many megapixels are necessary for your style of photography.

Shutter Speed is an important consideration with an interesting duality. Many photographers opt for high shutter speeds in an attempt to assure maximum sharpness—admittedly a key consideration when setting up a shot. But there are times when a slow shutter speed will deliver images with a heightened sense of artistry.

The proper use of depth-of-field effects is an important component of all great outdoor photographs, and we often use camera settings and techniques that accentuate a main subject by limiting the zone of sharpness to soften backgrounds and deemphasize other areas within the frame.