Improve Photography

While shooting in Nauvoo, I found a beautiful stone bridge built by Mormon pioneers over 150 years ago.  The small rock bridge included a small waterfall underneath it, so I knew it was time to take out the camera and start shooting. Unfortunately, as soon as I got underneath the bridge and waded into the [...]

I listened to an interesting discussion on Kerry Garrison’s audio podcast this last week. The topic was balance in photographic composition.  I thought the principle they were teaching would also be helpful for you all, so today’s post is an example of how balance in photographic composition can improve your landscape photography. I took the photo [...]

Landscape photographers are snobs about shooting times.  We only shoot in the morning or evening and we turn up our noses to anyone who shoots during the day.  While it is certainly true that morning and evening are the most favorable times for shooting landscapes, I think most landscape photographers don’t shoot during the day [...]

Landscape photography of cities and city buildings are often some of my favorite photos.   Cityscapes capture a serene and beautiful mood better than any other type of photo.  Unfortunately, many of the cityscapes I see are shot at the “wrong” time of day.  I don’t mean to say that there is only one time [...]

Whenever I teach a class on landscape photography, I can guarantee that one of the first questions asked will be what aperture photographers should use for landscape photography.  I wish it were so simple that I could say an aperture value and leave it at that.  The truth is that, for photographers who really want [...]

Gorgeous mountain scene–check.  Have my photography gear–check.  Found a good composition–check.  Dull and un-inspiring photo–unfortunately, check. We’ve all been there.  This is an unfortunate example from my portfolio of photos that *almost* turned out beautiful.  Examining this mistake will hopefully lead us to understand some of the most important characteristics of good landscape photography. Look [...]

While many lenses have a maximum aperture of f/22, some lenses have apertures that go to f/40 or higher! Generally, photographers do not use any aperture above f/18 or f/22 because of diffraction.  Diffraction is a phenomenon which causes a loss in sharpness because light rays are bent around the aperture. The following is a [...]

Sunset Photography Tip #1. Underexpose.  This is the most important tip for taking pictures of sunsets.  Slightly underexposing the sunset will make the colors look more rich and defined.  The entire scene will become more dramatic.  You can underexpose by using manual mode and selecting a fast shutter speed, or you can shoot in aperture [...]

Yesterday, we discovered what circular polarizers are and what they accomplish.  Today you’ll learn six tips for using a polarizer. Polarizer Tip #1: Polarizers will have little or no effect when used to shoot a setting sun, because the angle is wrong.  The effect of a polarizers manifests itself at 90 degree angles to the [...]

Today and tomorrow, my posts will discuss polarizers: what they are, when they are useful, and some lesser-known tips on how to use a polarizer.  These posts are in response to a misguided photographer who recently told a student in one of my classes that polarizers don’t work at sea level.  That’s a new one! [...]