Much of successful landscape photography depends on having the right location, composition, and light, but photographer Mark Denney has shared 8 camera tips and hacks that can further enhance the shooting process and benefit photographers of all levels of experience.
Figuring out the line between "good" and "too much" is one of the big challenges in photography, whether it's making adjustments in post-processing or figuring out what to include in a composition. In this 14-minute video, photographer Mark Denney shares 5 things to look for to figure out if your landscape photos are too busy.
A common misconception among beginning landscape photographers is that when using a tripod, one should stay at ISO 100 for the best resulting photos. Photographer Mark Denney made this 10-minute video dispelling the myth and showing examples of when that's not true.
If you ever leave an outdoor location without having captured the exact landscape photo you had in mind due to unfavorable conditions, don't give up on the photos you shot -- not all is lost. In this 14-minute video, photographer Mark Denney shares 5 editing "hacks" he often uses to compensate for bad weather and/or lighting.
When you’re beginning a new endeavor it’s common to receive advice from various different sources, whether it’s directly from someone or indirectly from books, podcasts or tutorial videos. Some of this advice can be highly beneficial and others can be, well not so good.
There’s a common misconception among beginner photographers, especially those that are just getting started with post-processing and editing their landscape photos. This mistaken belief is that dodging and burning is a highly complex procedure that should only be attempted by seasoned professionals and Photoshop wizards -- this belief could not be further from the truth!
How many times have you returned from what you felt was a productive photography trip only to find that some of the compositions of your favorite images weren't exactly what you expected? This happens to me rather frequently, but fortunately for us, we have access to one of the best Lightroom tools for improving composition in our photos: the Crop tool!
Perhaps one of the more difficult aspects of landscape photography is determining how to properly expose your scene under less-than-ideal lighting conditions. These types of situations are a common occurrence with outdoor photography as it’s often a struggle trying to properly expose an image consisting of a bright sky and a dark foreground in a single image.
In all honesty, I only use single-key shortcuts as opposed to multi-key for the simple reason that I can’t remember much beyond a single keystroke. I thought about printing every shortcut and hanging it on my office wall for reference, but that would defeat the purpose of using shortcuts in the first place as I’d have to spend additional time scanning the printout to locate what I’m looking for.
We all have them, some more than others, but one thing we all have in common is a desire to eliminate them. What I’m referring to are bad habits. I don’t want to speak for anyone else, but in this video and article, I discuss the 9 worst habits that have negatively impacted my landscape photography over the years.
When you purchase a new camera, how much time do you spend reading the manual? I find most camera manuals rather difficult to follow along with, and I for one very rarely use them. What’s interesting is that camera manuals only describe the technical “how to” side of things, like how to turn on your camera or how to attach a lens, but it doesn’t tell you how to truly become comfortable with your camera.
Making mistakes when starting something new is a common part of the learning process, and the sooner you can identify and fix them, the faster you’ll progress within your new endeavor. When I first started in landscape photography I certainly made my fair share of errors, but I didn’t realize it at the time, so I ended up repeating them over and over again.
When I first began dabbling in the world of landscape photography, I was enticed by the instant gratification of purchasing Lightroom presets. I was originally drawn in by the fact that I could instantly download these presets and I could instantly import them into Lightroom and instantly “improve” my own photos.
Am I the only one that finds some of the most popular apps used for landscape photography a bit overwhelming? Don’t get me wrong: these apps are tremendously powerful tools and I own many of them, but I find that I rarely use them anymore. I prefer apps that have a simple user interface that enables me to obtain the details I'm looking for quickly and without having to dig through mountains of other information.
One of the more difficult aspects of post-processing is identifying when you’re starting to over edit a photo. It’s common knowledge what many of the characteristics of an over-edited image are, but determining when you’ve gone too far, that’s the challenging part. In this 14-minute video, I break down five tips that have helped me to understand and identify when I’m beginning to over process an image.
The frigid winter months provide an exceptional opportunity to capture unique photos, but they aren’t the easiest to create due to extreme weather conditions and the many post-processing nuances related to snowy winter photography. In this 14-minute video, I review 7 Lightroom tips that have helped me along the way with my winter post-processing workflow.
In my opinion, the most under-appreciated tool within all of Lightroom has got to be Split Toning. Not only is this a great option to solve many photo-related problems, but it’s also an excellent way to work towards developing your own creative editing style.
It seems the moody edit trend has been going strong for quite a few years now and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down. There’s probably not a better time of the year to capture moody landscape photos than the winter months.
Everyone’s list of Lightroom tricks and shortcuts is a bit different and when I started to compile mine I wasn’t 100% sure what they were exactly. It’s funny how you don’t even realize you’re using these handy timesavers as they become second nature when you apply them within your editing workflow.
Something I’ve always found difficult was knowing when an image should be converted to black and white and when it should be left in color. It’s one of the more contested discussions in photography and there really isn’t a “black and white” or cut and dry answer to it. After much trial and error, I’ve come up with three questions that I consistently ask myself when trying to determine if a color image is a good candidate for B&W.
Due to circumstances that are generally out of our control, not all landscape photography trips are a success, but with a bit of planning you can increase the likelihood of having a productive outdoor photo shoot. The soft morning or late afternoon light that all landscape photographers are after is generally a short-lived event and being as prepared as possible will enable you to capture it when the moment is right.
How many of you can relate to this scenario? You encounter a scene that really grabs your attention, and it has all the elements you look for in a great composition -- a spectacular foreground that works the eye towards the mid-ground that in turn leads the viewer towards a majestic mountain range in the background.
It’s been an active few weeks in the world of new camera announcements. Between Nikon, Canon, and Fuji, there’s a slew of state-of-the-art camera choices available to entice photographers to switch brands. As I dug into the details associated with such an important decision, I set out to determine the most responsible way of identifying if making a brand change made sense for me.
The label of being a “professional” at something, whether you’re a professional football player or a professional figure skater, typically means you’re the best of the best in your respective field. But when it comes to a professional photographer, the same assumption can’t be made.
How literally should you interpret a histogram? Where do the lines intersect between artistic expression and photographic technicalities? It’s important to first recognize that a histogram is nothing more than a mathematical representation.
The popularity and widespread use of focus stacking in landscape photography have dramatically increased over the last few years. The concept typically reserved for macro photography has quickly won over countless outdoor photographers worldwide. With more and more landscape enthusiasts using wide angle lenses to capture images with dramatic foreground elements, it’s become nearly impossible to create front-to-back pin-sharp photos.
Recognizing personal progression and improvement is a wildly beneficial yet often overlooked exercise for our confidence. It’s human nature to want to be “better” at things. We don’t have to be the best right now, but we all want the affirmation that we're improving and moving in the right direction. Photography is no different and in the digital age can feel rather short-lived as the majority of images created are shared on social media and eventually with time, slide off into the digital archives rarely to be seen again.
When it comes to purchasing a new lens there are two questions that immediately come to mind for me, how much is it and how sharp is it? Now, I know there’s more to the lens buying process than overall sharpness, but as a landscape photographer, sharpness is king!
In this 6-minute video, photographer Mark Denney talks through the Orton Effect and how it can be used to make dreamy landscape photos in an instant.
Focus stacking is a technique typically used in macro shots to achieve a large depth of field. It’s a relatively simple concept: take many images focused at slightly different distances and combine the sharp portions to a single image in post. This 6-minute video from landscape photographer Mark Denney will show you how to utilise the technique in landscape photography.