Outdoor Photography How To

One of the most common image-editing tasks is cleaning up a photo by eliminating distracting elements. Until recently the standard approach involved turning to Photoshop’s Object Selection tool, and using or one or more time-consuming options to vaporize and fill the mess.

While more and more landscape photographers are turning to long telephotos when shooting in the field, the trusty wide-angle is still the go-to choice for most of us. And there’s a good reason: The perspective provided by short focal length lenses is often perfect for capturing dramatic, expansive vistas.

It's a fact that some landscape scenes look far more compelling in b&w, and if you've ever made a dramatic monochrome conversion you know how true this. We've previously featured tutorials on this topic, but this one from a pro who says, "I've cracked the code," takes a very different approach.

Perched on a cliff in Pescadero, California, about 50 miles south of San Francisco, sits the Pigeon Point Lighthouse, one of the tallest lighthouses in the US. For Shutterbug reader Erick Castellón, who has been looking to improve his astrophotography skills this year, the lighthouse also represented a tall challenge.

Winter is officially over and spring has finally sprung, and that means it’s time to pull out a macro lens and bone up on your skills. The quick video below provides five very helpful tips that are different from those we’ve discussed in the past.

We’ve posted countless landscape tutorials in the past—some with so-called “rules” of composition, and others with tips from top pros. And guess what? Many of these lessons include very similar advice.

All Photos by Abe Ordover

Abe Ordover is a nature photographer who combines his camera work with Adobe Photoshop to create images that are uniquely his own; photographs that reveal to the viewer what Ordover felt when he shot the scene.
He's traveled worldwide to...