Lenses. They’re arguably the most important piece of equipment a photographer can buy – even more important than the camera itself. But what makes lenses so useful? Why are some camera lenses so much better than others? The answer goes beyond simple things like sharpness and image quality. Instead, lenses…
Post Archive By Spencer Cox - Page 2
Mastering Wide Angle Lenses
The first lens a lot of landscape photographers want to buy is a wide-angle. Intuitively, it makes some sense that the most useful lens at an amazing scene is the one that captures as much of the scene as possible. But that mindset only works so well in practice. So,…
Hyperfocal Distance Explained
Hyperfocal distance can be a confusing topic, both for beginning and expert photographers. However, if you want to take the sharpest possible images, particularly landscape photographs, it is simply invaluable. In this article, I will explain hyperfocal distance and give several methods to get the sharpest possible photographs with maximum…
Hard or Soft Graduated ND Filters? It Depends on Your Lens
One common question I see from photographers about lens filters is whether to get a hard or soft graduated neutral density filter. Which one is better? You’ve probably seen a lot of photographers recommend soft GNDs (if you can only choose one), since they’re more versatile when photographing uneven horizons.…
9 Rapid-Fire Landscape Photography Tips
There are so many little tips and tricks I like to use in landscape photography to make my life easier, and I’ve included nine of the most important in the article and video below. I’m focusing especially on composition, but there are some post-processing and camera related tips as well.…
Manual Focus or Autofocus for Landscape Photography?
Landscape photography is often slower paced than other genres, allowing for a more methodical approach to composition and camera settings. That includes focusing; manual focus is more popular for landscapes than most other genres. Indeed, there’s a whole market of third-party manual focus lenses geared almost exclusively to landscape photographers.…
When to Use a Polarizer for the Best Results
Polarizers are perhaps the single most important filter for digital photographers, but you need to know how to use yours correctly if you want the best results. In this week’s video, I’ll explain everything you need to know about using polarizers to get the look you desire.
Video: How I Took This Sand Dunes Photo
In this week’s video, I’m going to show the story behind a photo I took a few days ago in Great Sand Dunes National Park. Because it’s our first case study video at Photography Life, I wanted to shoot an image that I already had in mind – hopefully lowering…
The Nikon Z Cameras for Landscape Photography
I’ve now been using the Nikon Z7 for more than six months, and I’ve also tested the very similar Z6 extensively for our review at Photography Life. The takeaway in both cases is that, despite a few flaws, Nikon produced an excellent and surprisingly refined first-generation mirrorless camera. But the…
Our Macro Photography Video on YouTube
Today, I’m excited to publish the first in a series of weekly YouTube videos from Photography Life! This is something Nasim and I have planned for a while, and circumstances finally conspired to make it a reality. We’ll film everything in 4K: tutorials and case studies, with the same high…