Outdoor Photography How To

It's sort of surprising that more photographers don't avail themselves of the all-important histogram when shooting and editing their work. One of our favorite landscape shooters puts it like this: "Understanding the histogram is key to mastering exposure and taking control of your photography."

Whether the holidays bring out your “Humbug!” or your “Ho, ho, ho!” there’s one thing you must admit: it’s the most colorful season of the year. Except maybe for spring. And autumn. Anyway, all seasonal colors are just begging to be zoomed, blurred and pleasantly smeared. Smartphone users: you can play too.

Don’t lose your cool—or your camera equipment—when summer temperatures rise. Follow these tips when it’s Hot As Fahrenheit.

Yesterday we featured a primer on exposure bracketing, explaining how to get the light right by shooting three images of the same scene, and merging them during the editing process. Today you'll learn how nail exposure in the camera by using the oft-ignored histogram that you can set to appear on the rear LCD.

Here's an outside-the-box Photoshop tutorial from an Australian photographer who specializes in post-processing techniques that add imagination and creativity to her whimsical imagery. The video begins with this simple question: "Why use a Grey Layer (we'll stick with her Aussie spelling) in Photoshop?"

Social media has clearly taken the world by storm and photographers have been quick to catch on. That is indeed true for extreme sports photographer Christian Pondella, who has a strong following on several social media platforms, particularly Instagram.

Midway in my talk with Daryl Hawk about his travel photography, he mentioned that it was relatively easy for him to approach people and get their okays for impromptu portrait sessions. “I’m polite, I know something of their culture, and I spend time with them,” he said. Then he added, “And I speak a universal language.”