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contrast

How To Add Contrast To Landscape Photos

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Sunrise in the Mojave / Photo by Steve Berardi
Sunrise in the Mojave / Photo by Steve Berardi
Adding contrast to a landscape photo is one way to make it a more compelling image. When we think of the word “contrast” we usually think about contrasting colors or brightness. But, there’s also another type of contrast that you can capture in your images: subjective contrast.

Here’s a quick look at the different types of contrast and how you can capture them in your images:

Color Contrast

The most common way of adding more contrast to your images is photographing a scene with strong contrasting colors. With landscape photography, this is usually pretty easy to do around the “golden hours” — where you’ll likely have some of your scene in the shade while the rest of the scene is extra saturated with that warm light of sunrise or sunset. [Read more…] about How To Add Contrast To Landscape Photos

Which Photo Do You Like Better?

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Red Rock in Utah / Photos by Steve Berardi
Red Rock in Utah / Photos by Steve Berardi

Which of the two photos above do you like better? Why?

Both photos are very similar, but one was shot at sunrise and one was shot at sunset, so different parts of the red rock were lit up by the sun.

There’s no right or wrong answer here. The reason I’m asking the question is to get you thinking about composition, and specifically help you think about your own unique perspective of the world. [Read more…] about Which Photo Do You Like Better?

Two Reasons For Using a Lens Hood

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Photo by lmnop88a (used under the CC-Attr-2.0 license)
Photo by lmnop88a (used under the CC-Attr-2.0 license)
The lens hood is an often overlooked accessory. I see a lot of people walking around without one. Or sometimes they have one on their lens, but they’re not using it: it’s put on backwards (the storage position).

So, to help remedy this problem and motivate you to always use a lens hood (if you’re not already!), here are two great things they can do for you: [Read more…] about Two Reasons For Using a Lens Hood

How To Make Your Subject Stand Out

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Photography is all about making your subject stand out. You want the viewer to easily recognize your subject, and appreciate its beauty. There are lots of ways to draw attention to your subject, but here are a few of my favorites:

Contrast

Desert Sunflower / Photo by Steve Berardi
Desert Sunflower / Photo by Steve Berardi

One of the simplest ways to make your subject stand out is to photograph it in front of a contrasting background. Ideally, you want the colors to be complementary, but any kind of contrast will usually work. For example, in the photo on the right, I really wanted that yellow Desert Sunflower to stand out, so I photographed it in front of some purple flowers (Desert Sand Verbena). [Read more…] about How To Make Your Subject Stand Out

6 Tips For Photographing Sand Dunes

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Photo by Steve Berardi
Photo by Steve Berardi
Sand dunes are some of the most visually stunning subjects you’ll find in the desert. In a land that’s dominated by sharp cactus and pointy rocks, dunes provide some relief with their smooth curves and soft sand. So, naturally they make good subjects for photographs. Here are a few tips for photographing them:

#1 – Watch where you walk

Avoid walking through the middle of dunes, since that’ll mess up those nice lines in the sand and ruin any opportunity to photograph the dune. Instead, walk around dunes, or only walk through dunes you know you don’t want to photograph. [Read more…] about 6 Tips For Photographing Sand Dunes

Quick Tip for Getting Sharper Closeup Photos

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Variegated Meadowhawk (female) / Photo by Steve Berardi
Variegated Meadowhawk (female) / Photo by Steve Berardi
In a previous post, I explained a quick way you can get sharper photos by adjusting the “picture style” on your DSLR (if you’re shooting in JPEG). Well, another small way you can make your closeup photos appear sharper is by photographing your subject in front of a contrasting background.

The photo above is a good example. The dragonfly is pretty bright, but the background is much darker. This strong contrast of brightness helps emphasize the edges, making the outline of the dragonfly appear much sharper.

This is actually how most sharpening algorithms work in post-processing software: by increasing the contrast of brightness between edges it makes those edges stand out more and appear sharper. That’s why oversharpened images have those ugly halos. [Read more…] about Quick Tip for Getting Sharper Closeup Photos