Plan and Prepare
In photography, nothing beats preparation. First, study and become knowledgeable about your camera gear. When you’re comfortable with your equipment, it allows you to be creative. Second, scout your shot. If it’s a specific location, check the light in the morning and the evening, and ask yourself: Is one season better than another? Third, learn to be patient. Even with good planning, nature operates on her schedule, not yours.

Graphic Exposure
Digital camera LCD monitors provide instant feedback for checking your compositions, but don’t use the image on your LCD to judge exposures. Most digital cameras also display a histogram representing the exposure in graphic form. The far left side of the histogram represents the shadows (or dark areas) in the image, and the far right side represents the highlights (or bright areas). A “good” histogram spreads evenly across the graph from left to right. Dark or underexposed photos will be heavier on the left side of the histogram, while bright or overexposed images will be heavier on the right. Making sure your histograms are not heavily weighted on one side of the graph or the other will result in better exposures.

Strong Focal Point
It is usually best to have one main subject as the focal point because a photograph can successfully tell only one story. Lacking a strong center of interest forces the viewer to search for something to observe as the eyes seek a resting place. Always give the focal point sufficient prominence in the composition so that all other elements are subordinate. Even if the focal point is small, it can be given prominence by composing empty space around it.

Rule of Thirds
The exact center of any composition is not a satisfying place for the viewer’s eye to come to rest. With the main subject placed in the center, the viewer is less likely to explore the rest of the photograph. In fact, it is preferable to keep the viewer’s eye moving. To create movement in your photographs and to avoid the static bull’s-eye composition, use the rule-of-thirds guidelines for off-center placement of the main subject. It is the traditional way to create a well-balanced composition and has been used by artists for centuries. To apply the rule of thirds, imagine the scene in your viewfinder divided into thirds both horizontally and vertically, similar to a tic-tac-toe grid laid over the scene. Place the main subject and other important elements of your composition along the grid lines or at the points where the grid lines intersect. Employing the rule of thirds not only helps avoid symmetrical composition but also provides a pleasing proportion of space around the main subject to prevent distracting tension between the focal point and the edge of the frame. A common compositional faux pas occurs when the horizon is positioned directly through the middle of the frame, bisecting the scene. Utilizing the rule of thirds, the horizon is placed near one of the grid lines. This will lower or raise the horizon in the frame and give emphasis either to a dramatic sky or an interesting foreground.

Simplicity
The best way to present a clear message in a photograph is to keep the composition simple. The fewer elements you have to work with, the easier it is to design a pleasing image and control the viewer’s eye movement. There are several ways to simplify a composition, but the primary method is to move in closer to the main subject. Whether you physically move the camera position closer or zoom in optically, getting closer allows you to fill the frame with the subject, paring the composition down to its essential components. It removes visual distractions from the edges of the frame, eliminates superfluous elements and defocuses the background. Shallow depth of field helps to isolate the subject from a busy background by blurring objectionable clutter, and may even create soft pools of complementary color behind the subject.

Leading Lines
Another compositional technique to create energy and movement in a photograph is the use of leading lines. Whether they are graceful curves or dynamic diagonals, all lines should lead the viewer’s eye to the focal point. But be careful with the use of leading lines. They can also work against you by directing the eye away from the subject or, if the line divides the photograph in two. It could lead your view right out of the image.

Refining Composition
• Let the lines in your composition decide if the scene should be shot horizontally or vertically. If the scene presents long vertical lines, compose vertically to take full advantage of them. When presented with strong horizontal lines, use a horizontal camera orientation. This plays to the strengths of the composition and also will help to avoid wasted space at the edges of the frame.

• Be aware of white or light areas in your compositions. The viewer’s eye will always go to the brightest part of a scene, so eliminate any bright spots that will pull attention away from the main subject.

• Look for repetition of shapes and textures. Patterns create rhythm and motion in a composition.

• Compose boldly using sweeping diagonal lines. Long horizontal lines can be static and visually boring. Conversely, diagonal lines add visual energy. Change camera angle to pivot prevailing lines so they don’t run parallel to the top and bottom edges of the frame.

• Try using a wide-angle lens. Compose for a foreground, middle ground and background with overlapping compositional elements to create a three-dimensional effect in a two-dimensional photograph.

Storm Light
Nature photographers get excited about storm light. They relish the buildup and release of a storm. When the leading and trailing edges clash with the sun, the light display can be magical. Exposures can be tricky when bright shafts of sunlight pierce through dark storm clouds. Expose for the brightest areas of the scene, and bracket your exposures to ensure getting the best balance of highlights and shadows. This gives you options when editing the images later. Modern photographic equipment can tolerate brief exposure to moisture, but be sure to pack a towel, a large plastic bag and a collapsible umbrella in case you get caught in a downpour, and seek shelter when lightning is present.

Getting Established
Whether you’re a photojournalist producing an essay for a major travel magazine or a weekend shutterbug in charge of documenting your family vacation, the process is basically the same. One of the first things you’ll need is an “establishing shot,” a photograph that lets the viewer know where the action is taking place. Among other things, this photo needs to say something about the mood or atmosphere. It won’t necessarily be the first scene you photograph, or the first thing that happens during your vacation, but it should establish the context for your “essay.” After that, shoot away.

Follow the Focus
Whether you’re shooting scenics, sports or wildlife, here are some tips from longtime professional photographer John McDonough. New cameras are getting better all the time. If you’re in the market, look for something that will allow you to shoot in a variety of situations. Highly recommended are digital single-lens reflex cameras (dSLR) for their interchangeable lenses and shorter shutter delay. In addition to that, the image quality using higher ISOs with the larger dSLR sensors has never been better. If you decide to shoot moving subjects, practice and learn to follow the action. Rather than reacting, work on anticipating what will happen next. As you become more confident, begin to crop your images in the camera’s viewfinder.

Check the Weather
Nature can be powerful and unforgiving. It’s important to research the locations you’ll be photographing, and be informed of the potential dangers the wilderness presents. Arizona’s slot canyons are prone to torrents of runoff during the summer monsoons, and flash floods have claimed the lives of seasoned canyoneers. So timing is everything. Check the latest weather conditions before entering a canyon.

No Speed Limits
When photographing water, there are no absolutes. The laws of physics dictate some of the choices you make, and personal taste dictates others. Consider this: Water can be a solid, liquid or gas, and it takes on the color and shape of the container in which it’s held. As a subject, it truly is a chameleon. What you have to decide is which facet you want to capture. So, the next time you’re photographing moving water, try using different shutter speeds. Start with 1/500 second, then 1/125 second. If the light is low enough, try shooting at 1/15 second or less. Look at the results on your computer, weighing motion with depth of field. The choice is yours.

Photoshop Techniques
Because of the mechanics of sensor design, digital images always look a little softer than they really are. Almost all digital photographs can be improved with some sharpening. When software sharpens an image, it looks for an edge and then bumps up the contrast along that edge. So it doesn’t have much effect on a clear blue sky, but dramatic effect on something with a lot of texture, like a brick wall. Over-sharpening can wreck a photograph. The resultant halos make edges look artificial and magnify the noise. Sharpening can always be added to a photograph, but once applied, it can’t be undone. So don’t go crazy.

Keep It Simple
The best way to present a clear message in a photograph is to keep the composition simple. The fewer elements you work with, the easier it is to design a pleasing image and orchestrate the viewer’s eye movement. There are several ways to simplify a composition, but the primary technique is to move closer to the subject. Whether you physically move the camera closer or zoom in optically, getting closer allows you to fill the frame with the subject, paring the composition down to its essential components and clarifying the story you’re trying to tell. It re- moves distractions from the edges of the frame, eliminates superfluous elements, and defocuses the background.

Sun Screen
Getting a great shot of your friends in the bright midday light is one of the toughest things to do. Although this tip runs counter to what you’ve heard all you life, have them stand with their backs to the sun. You’ll notice your faces will be evenly lit, and there will be a lot less squinting. You might have to shade your lens, but this is the right approach. They’ll love you for it.

Expose Yourself
When photographing sunsets, the incorrect exposure is sometimes the best exposure. By bracketing exposures in 1/3- to 1/2-stop increments above and below the light meter’s recommended “correct” exposure settings, you can create very evocative images. Besides conveying an interesting mood, bracketing also ensures a successful shoot and provides editing options later. Digital photographers, who can see the results immediately, also should bracket exposures to ensure the future option of “stitching” two slightly varied exposures together, combining the best shadow details and highlights. It’s good insurance that costs nothing.

Shooting the Moon
A simple way to begin photographing night skyscapes is to experiment with the moon. Prime photographic opportunities occur daily at sunrise and sunset and some of those opportunities are directly related to the phases of the moon. The moon, whether it’s at its full, crescent or quarter-moon phase, can evoke a sense of romance, whimsy or mystery, adding a lot to an image. First, determine when the moon rises and sets each month – the information is easily found online. Next, choose an interesting foreground. Because the moon is the brightest object in the night sky, to maintain the detail in both the moon and the foreground of your image, shoot several days before the full moon.

Sunrise, Sunset
Most landscape photographers work primarily during the first and last hours of daylight – hours they refer to as “sweet light.” The “warmth” of the light and shadows at those times of day create natural drama in your images. Scout the location before the day you plan to shoot and then arrive well before the sun tops the horizon. Even before the sun comes up, the soft glow from the pre-dawn sky provides wonderful photographic opportunities. Plan to work fairly quickly as the quality of light at sunrise and sunset changes rapidly, usually in less than an hour.

Length Matters
When it comes to making great portraits, lenses play the most important role. Wide-angle lenses tend to make everything closest to the camera appear bigger – most notably in portraits, a person’s nose. But long focal-length lenses (telephoto lenses) compress the angles in an image, giving the image much more of a two-dimensional appearance, which is much more flattering in people photographs.

Good Scout
The best landscape photographers are great location scouts. As you scout locations, be aware of the sun. As it’s high in the sky, it’s difficult to tell how the light will strike your subject at sunrise or sunset, when you plan to photograph. A couple of good tools that will help you visualize the scene in those hours include an azimuth calculator and a compass. These tools will tell you determine where in the sky the sun will rise and set, which can give a good indication of how the sunlight will strike your scene at those times.

Get Closer – In the Thick of the Action
The single best tip to improve your photographs is to get closer—both physically and in your composition. The late great photojournalist Robert Capa once said, “If your photographs are no good, you’re not close enough.” Capa was talking about a photographer’s proximity to a subject — an ability to work in close quarters. A photographer’s sheer physical closeness to a subject adds a dramatic intimacy, generates strong foregrounds and produces visual depth. Photojournalists and action photographers often work in this style, employing extremely wide-angle lenses in the 17-24 mm range and getting into the thick of the action. The same strategy can also work for landscape photographers.

Get Closer - Composition
Compositional tools to improve your images. The human brain has fashioned certain coping mechanisms to make sense of the array of visual stimuli confronting it every day. Most relevant to photographic composition is closure—the mind’s tendency to fill in the blanks when confronted with an incomplete set of visual cues. For example, if you make an image of a cowboy’s face and part of his hat is missing, the viewer subconsciously fills in the blanks in the photograph, adding the crown and brims of the cowboy’s hat. Forcing viewers to complete parts of a photograph in their imaginations provides a visual challenge that helps to engage and keep their interest. Additionally, tight crops almost always create more dramatic compositions, so instead of seeing the cowboy’s entire hat, viewers focus on the real subject of the image, the cowboy’s face.

Panning
You can create dynamic photographs by panning with moving subjects. Panning with speeding racecars, for example, blurs the background, capturing the illusion of velocity. Shutter speeds of 1/1,000 of a second or faster freeze the racecars and make them appear as though they are parked on the racetrack. A slow shutter speed works much better for telling the story of a racecar traveling more than 200 mph. Using a slow shutter speed while panning the camera at a rate relative to your subject’s speed, you can maintain fairly sharp focus on the subject and blur the background. Panning often works best in low light, with a slow ISO or with the use of a neutral density filter if shooting in bright light conditions. Since some auto focus cameras don’t react quickly to fast-moving subjects, you may have to switch off the auto focus feature. Set the exposure program for shutter priority or manual operation so you can select the appropriate shutter speed. The shutter speed you choose and the speed of your panning motion depend on the amount of available light and the speed of your subject, but generally a shutter-speed range from 1/4 to 1/30 of a second works best. Take note of the background to determine where you want your subject to be when you make the exposure and pre-focus on that spot. Pick up your subject in the viewfinder and pace your panning motion with its speed by pivoting at the waist as you track it to the desired spot. Don’t stop the motion when you release the shutter. Continue to pan right through the exposure. Effective panning requires practice so make several exposures at various shutter speeds and compare your results until you develop a feel for it. Race cars obviously require a little faster shutter speed, whereas slower shutter speeds work better for running baseball players and thoroughbreds breaking from the starting gate.

Blurring
By stabilizing the camera on a tripod and using slow shutter speeds, moving objects become impressionistic blurs in front of your lens, conveying action in a different way than panning does. Motion itself becomes the subject of blurred photographs. Blurring is achieved with shutter speeds of generally 1/30 of a second or slower depending on how fast your subject is moving. Just as with panning, it helps to work in low light or to use a neutral density filter. A pan-blur combination can be achieved with a small on-camera flash. Using this technique, you either pan with the subject or hold the camera steady using a slow shutter to record the movement, and a flash to freeze the subject. This works best in dimly lit situations with shutter speeds of 1/15 or slower. Take a meter reading of the scene with the shutter speed at 1/15 (slower if you want more blur) and set the appropriate aperture. You may want to underexpose a little bit to make the subject stand out. For a panning shot, begin your pan as the subject approaches and release the shutter triggering the flash. For a blurring shot, brace the camera and release the shutter as the subject moves past. A slow shutter speed will create a blur of the subject’s movement and the flash will freeze it in mid-motion as it passes by, creating a unique effect. As with all photographic techniques, a little practice and experimentation with motion can lead to some interesting results and help you to develop a photographic style that is much less static.

Warming Filters for On-Camera Flash
Almost all electronic flashes, including studio strobes, on-camera flash, and shoe-mounted flashes, are balanced for nominal daylight, 5,000 degrees Kelvin. Although using nominal daylight to set standards for color uniformity, the coolness of the light may often be inconsistent with the photographer’s artistic vision. In comparison, normal incandescent light bulbs scale in at about 2,400 degrees Kelvin, about twice as warm as the electronic flash on our camera. Most of us have seen the effects of electronic flash used indoors with a mix of light, which includes incandescent bulbs. This happens because we’re adding a cool daylight light source to a warm scene. The solution to this problem is to warm up your electronic flash at the source. Use a 1/4 CTO gel filter to add just a bit of warmth to my flash. C.T.O. stands for “color temperature orange.” These filters are available in strengths of 1/4, 1/2, and full CTO. A full CTO filter will take a daylight light source and convert it to 3,200 degrees Kelvin. The filters come in 16x16 inch sheets available at large photographic supply houses and cost about $10 per sheet. To apply the filter, simply cut it to size and tape it onto the face of the strobe (flash). The added warmth of the 1/4 CTO gel filter makes images look more natural in almost all situations.

Backyard Photography
You don’t have to journey to the ends of the earth to get great nature photographs. A whole world awaits, right in your own backyard. With a little bit of planning and a small amount of landscaping, you can create a natural environment that serves as your outdoor “studio” for photographing wildlife, flowers and insects. Backyards are usually good places to practice macro photography. You can track the development of flower buds and be ready to photograph them when they look their best—fully open and in the best light. Flowers, and the insects that visit them, are great subjects for close-up work. Fast shutter speeds will freeze fast-moving insects in flight, so shoot in strong sunlight at the times of day when light is the warmest and striking your subjects at a low angle. You might be surprised at the great photo opportunities you can create in your backyard.

More Backyard Photography
Some photographers consider the area within 100 miles of their homes as their “backyards.” They have favorite locations they can get to quickly and easily, and visit them often. It pays to do some reconnaissance so you know the quickest routes to familiar places when dramatic weather conditions, gorgeous sunsets or double rainbows occur. It can be difficult to find a good foreground for these situations if you live in the city. Rooftops and power lines ruin a great skyscape every time. But knowing where you can find interesting foregrounds in a hurry, such as those in city parks or National Forests, is invaluable.

Editor's Note:
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