Whenever I set out to photograph wildlife, and especially birds, I make sure to arrive before sunrise - or choose to stay until after sunset. There are two reasons why I do so. First, being early to start and late to leave gives me access to the flattering light of...
Photography Techniques Category Archive - Page 2
Blurry Corners in a Photo? Don’t Blame Your Lens
One of the most common image quality challenges in photography is to get sharp corners. Landscape photographers (among others) often pay big bucks for lenses with high resolving power at the edges of the frame. But a new lens may not solve your problem – because blurry corners usually aren’t due to the lens.
13 Wildlife Photography Tips for Beginners
One of the great challenges of wildlife photography is that there are so many things to consider in such a short amount of time. Even if you do everything right, the uncontrollable stuff can still stop you from getting "the shot." However, there are some basic tips that are easy...
What Is Dynamic Range in Photography?
Dynamic range is the ratio between the strongest and weakest signal measured in a given context. For example, the dynamic range of a camera sensor is the ratio between the brightest and darkest signal that can be captured in a single image. Like most other things in photography, dynamic range...
Introduction to Manual Focus on a Camera Lens
Manually focusing your camera lens can seem tricky. Compared to the ease of autofocus, you may wonder why you even still have manual focus as an option. It still has a number of important uses, however, and it’s a great skill to learn. In this introduction to manual focusing a...
10 Tips for Better Bokeh in Photography
“Bokeh” is a term to describe the quality of out-of-focus areas in a photograph, both in the foreground and background. Although some aspects of bokeh are subjective, everyone seems to like creamy, smooth bokeh, whereas the infamous “onion rings” are unwanted in photos and probably better left as a food.
10 Tips for Taking Beautiful Photos in the Rain
“Rain, rain, go away, come again another day.” This line from an old nursery rhyme has popped into my head many times over the years growing up in the soggy Pacific Northwest. It came to mind again when I arrived at North Carolina's Blue Ridge Parkway to photograph autumn and...
My Favorite Things I Learned About Photography in 2021
I never want to stop picking up new techniques in photography. If you’re constantly learning, you’re constantly improving. Now that 2021 is coming to a close, I’d like to share some things I learned this year and how they’ve helped my photography grow.
How to Make Your Tripod More Stable
Some of the most common advice in photography, especially for landscape and architectural work, is to use a tripod. But the story doesn’t end there. Even if you have a top-of-the-line tripod and head, bad tripod technique can result in some seriously blurry shots.
Mastering Focus Stacking for Stunning Macro Shots
Macro photography is about capturing the smaller world around you. A little adjustment to the aperture and there you are, zooming into the subject to reveal its inherent brilliance. The popularity of macro photography is growing exponentially, thanks to the popular concept of Focus Stacking. Beginners reading this must be...