Tips

This past week, I pulled out my travel kit and have been testing camera rig configurations for an upcoming documentary project. The goal was to make this thing as versatile and nimble as possible, while still carrying all the gadgets I rely on.

Shortly after sunset, the viewpoint parking lot at Grand Teton National Park begins to empty. The traffic moves on to the highway while photographer Matt Suess stays at the viewpoint. He keeps his attention on the western horizon, waiting for the color to appear. Thirty minutes later, color lights up the sky. Suess is the only photographer who stayed at the viewpoint long enough to take the photograph.

Photographers often know how they want an image to look before they begin editing, but reaching that result can require both changes across the entire scene and adjustments limited to specific areas. Selecting one person in a group, isolating the midground without affecting the foreground or background, or removing dozens of dust spots can take longer than the exposure or color adjustment that follows. DxO PhotoLab 10 introduces new tools that make this process faster while giving photographers …

On August 12, 2026, a total solar eclipse will dazzle people in Greenland, Iceland, northern Russia, Spain, and a small part of Portugal, plus some lucky people on boats in the Atlantic Ocean. For photographers gearing up for the total solar eclipse next week, and others farther down the road, photographer Steven Madow has created an incredibly robust new solar eclipse automation app, Umbra.

Recently, I was asked to provide feedback on an unreleased product: a cocktail shaker from a well-known culinary brand. The company asked me to take it for a spin, make a few cocktails, and fill out a survey. Survey?! Boring. I’ll do you one better - I’ll make a whole promo product video, right here in my dining room.

Every time I go on vacation, I run into the same problem: I start with an empty bag, pack one camera, and think that’ll be enough. Five minutes later, I come back to my bag and pack another one. Just in case. Then I see there’s still room, so I pack a lens. Or Two.

At 1:45 a.m., photographer Maegan Lanham left camp and drove 54 miles down a backcountry road. She then hiked three and a half miles into a dark canyon, before gaining more than 1,300 feet to reach a ridge she had never stood on, for a sunrise that lasted minutes. She had no guarantee it would be worth the effort. That kind of dedication follows her everywhere, including a goal few photographers would think to chase, let alone finish: photographing every state park in Texas.

The Milky Way that arched over the Tetons looked nothing like the RAW file that came home. At two in the morning, on Matt Suess' camera, it glowed. On his computer the next day it was flat and gray, the core buried in noise, the color drained out. Every photographer who has pointed a camera at the night sky knows that gap between the glow on the camera and the flat file the next morning. Getting that glow back is the real work.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda needs no further explanation. It's a challenging landscape to navigate, and numerous animals inhabit it. But its most famous residents are the mountain gorillas.

Over the last few decades, most photographers have believed that the more powerful the editing tool, the longer they need to spend behind a screen. Selection tools, color grading, and creative effects require layers of manual work and patience. A major update to one of photography’s oldest plug-in suites broke that pattern by taking the editing problems most photographers have accepted as unavoidable and building tools that solve them.

I still can’t believe it: 15 years of being addicted to capturing the night sky. Did you know this addiction all started with my first bear encounter?

Photographer Matt Suess was halfway through a 45-minute star trail exposure in Joshua Tree when he noticed a hazy band stretched across the sky. He had grown up in New England, where light pollution hid the Milky Way, so he didn’t know what he was looking at. He pointed his camera at it. It was Suess’s first time seeing the Milky Way, but the photos came back soft. Decades of night shooting later, understanding why is the kind of lesson only experience can teach.

Wildlife photographer Tiffany Taxis had been sitting with a bear and her three cubs on the Alaska coast for hours when the large animal went rigid. She stopped nursing. Her gaze became focused and she started to drool. Thirty yards away, a lone wolf stood against the glaciers. Every photographer's instinct would say the same thing: zoom tight, fill the frame with the wolf. Taxis did the opposite. She pulled wide, trusting her storytelling instincts that years of art school had taught her.

After 25 years behind the camera, OM SYSTEM photographer Jerred Zegelis thought he knew the rules of photography. Shoot RAW. Stay neutral. Fix it in post. Art Filters are for amateurs. These weren't suggestions. For Zegelis, they were law, absorbed from forums, tutorials, and years of professional habit.

Master winter wildlife photography with expert tips on camera settings, gear, composition, and field strategies to capture stunning images of animals in snowy landscapes.

Photography often feels like a battle against physics, where image quality supposedly demands heavy glass and aching backs. However, four accomplished OM SYSTEM Ambassadors challenge assumptions that Micro Four Thirds cameras cannot compete with full-frame alternatives. Macro specialist Ben Salb, wildlife veteran Eric Rock, bird and nature photography duo Lisa and Tom Cuchara, and landscape artist Matt Suess each abandoned full-frame systems for a smaller alternative. They reveal how shedding …

Beyond basic RAW adjustments lies the world of creative color grading where photographers define their signature style. DxO's recently updated Nik Collection 8 unlocks a staggering amount of creative potential, but knowing where to start with its powerful Color Efex plugin is key.

A crew working for an unnamed wildlife photographer fed and used cellophane paper to lure a fox for the 'perfect shot' in Grand Teton National Park. Since the fox was conditioned to human food, park officials euthanized it. The photographer got his shot. The fox paid with its life. Learning about this event became the North Star for Arthur Lefo, an OM SYSTEM Ambassador who has spent almost a decade photographing iconic wildlife. Lefo believes that ethical wildlife photography isn't just about …

Understanding the roles of the fundamental elements of art allows photographers to create compelling compositions. These elements are not merely aesthetic choices but tools for creating structure in your photography.

There’s a lot more to focusing than many novice photographers realize. When they delve into it, it can seem complex. However, it is easy to master once you have found your way around your camera.

There are small pieces of information that can make a big difference to your enjoyment of photography and your success at taking better pictures.

While birds inhabit every environment from remote wilderness to urban parking lots, capturing their beauty and behavior demands technical precision, patience, and skills that can challenge even experienced photographers. OM SYSTEM Ambassador Ben Knoot, who has spent over two decades perfecting his approach from backyard feeders to international expeditions, shares with PetaPixel his essential field-tested roadmap for beginners ready to transform fleeting encounters into portfolio-worthy images.

Landscapes are one of the most accessible yet challenging genres of photography. The challenge for many landscape photographers is effectively translating the experience of witnessing incredible moments in nature into a single, compelling frame.

The long days of summer offer a unique advantage for photographers: an abundance of golden hour light. This seasonal extension of the coveted 'magic hours' provides more time for photographers to work with the soft, beautiful light that can transform a scene. Adobe Lightroom and Sony Ambassador Colby Brown shares with PetaPixel his process of mastering this unique light, providing practical techniques for both in-camera capture and post-processing.

Pelican partner Boone Speed is regarded in many circles as a jack-of-all-trades. In addition to being a pioneering rock climber, Speed is also a successful photographer with a portfolio rich with unique images.