Outdoor Photography How To

We’ve all seen them: night shots of some wind-weathered rock formation in the American Southwest, backed by a dramatic, star-spangled sky. Earth, the universe, and everything.
Your first thought: “What sort of unaffordable equipment does it take to make a photo like that?” Your second thought: “You know, a 16x20 nighttime pic would sure look good above the pool table.”

According to official stats, more photos are taken during spring and summer than during any other time of year. Now that the outdoor shooting season is in full swing, more photographers are on the go—shooting on assignment, traveling to vacation destinations, or just hitting the road to have some fun.

While nothing beats practice and time spent in the field waiting for perfect light, there are a few essential tools that should be found in every landscape photographer’s bag. These photo accessories might not be as exciting as that new camera we all dream of, but they will help you take your photography to the next level much quicker than upping your megapixel count.

The photography critic and historian A.D. Coleman once noted that the most common mistake many photographers make is thinking that what they’re experiencing while making a picture is what’s being captured by the camera.

Bill Hatcher was near the park entrance when a wildfire forced the closing of Tioga Pass road into Yosemite National Park last summer. “The fire was threatening to cross the road into Yosemite,” he says, “and helicopters and tankers were being sent out on kind of a bombing run to cut the fire off.”

It’s spring! And after many, many weeks of trudging through a gray and lifeless winter, Nature has opened her bodice of modesty and presented us with all of the colors the snow had denied. It’s time to photograph flowers. No matter what level of flower photography you pursue, here are some tips that will deliver a few more blossoms. 

Located on Havasupai tribal lands, Havasu Falls is in a deep canyon leading to the Colorado River, and requires a 12-mile hike just to get there. The travertine formations at Havasu Falls are created from minerals in the water and over time the water droplets have precipitated away, leaving these intricate formations.