Outdoor Photography How To

Landscape shooters tend to be among the most stalwart of photographers, often carrying heavy tripods, and backpacks bulging with cameras, lenses, and other gear, on long treks into the backcountry. In the video below, a British pro reveals what he considers to be “the best accessories for landscape photography.”

Polarizing filters make pictures look like they were taken at either the North Pole or the South Pole. Rotating the Polarizing filter shifts the appearance from North Pole to South Pole and back again. They are not always used to photograph Polar Bears; it’s easy to understand the confusion, but there are no Polar Bears at the South Pole. Polarizers are important because our ice masses are disappearing, melting away and raising the sea level around Miami. When the ice caps are gone, the only way we’ll have to recreate them—or Miami, for that matter—is with Photoshop.

Okay, I made some of this up. But I do know how Polarizers work and why you should use one. Please read on…

The Rule of Thirds is a very helpful compositional guideline that is a great reference point for beginner photographers or seasoned professionals. As with any photography rule, they really are meant to be broken, so take this as more of a general guideline than a defined rule.

Whether you’re an accomplished wildlife shooter or you just enjoy photographing birds in the backyard, it’s likely you pop off dozens of images when an interesting subject appears. If so, the video below will be a big help.

In short, this eye-opening tutorial from portrait/street photographer Manny Ortiz is a visual examination of what could be called “the art of seeing,” Ortiz uses his compelling imagery to illustrate what accomplished photographers see upon arriving upon a scene, as opposed to how non-photographers (or less adept shooters) view the same location.

Cropping photos is easy, right? You start with either a horizontal or vertical photo and trim it a bit to get tighter or remove distracting elements. Of if you want to be really wild (and have enough resolution) maybe you crop in a way that transforms a portrait orientation into a landscape perspective.

Sooner or later every photographer hits the doldrums and their creativity temporarily runs dry. The quick video below will give you a heavy dose of inspiration the next time this happens to you.