Outdoor Photography

Congratulations to David Shield for winning the recent Shooting a Concept assignment with the image, “Throne of Dreams.” See more of David Shield’s photography at www.davidshieldphotography.com. Winner: “Throne Of Dreams” By David Shield “I spent a night in the Valley of Dreams so I could photograph a particular area at sunset, night time and sunrise,”

In every art form, specific connections can be made between real life and the given medium. A connection is a great way to get an artist fired up to pick up a camera, grab a paintbrush, ignite the welder or head to the studio. Some connections are triggered by thoughts, words, emotions, feelings, an incident

Photo By Nam Hui Cho Today’s Photo Of The Day is “The Spirit Undersurface” by Nam Hui Cho. Want to get your images in the running for a Photo of the Day feature? Photo of the Day is chosen from various galleries, including Assignments, Galleries and Contests. Assignments have weekly winners that are featured on the website homepage,

Photo By Randy Traynor Today’s Photo Of The Day is “St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge” by Randy Traynor. Location: St. Marks, Florida. Want to get your images in the running for a Photo of the Day feature? Photo of the Day is chosen from various galleries, including Assignments, Galleries and Contests. Assignments have weekly winners that are featured

The University of California Santa Cruz sits nestled amongst towering redwood trees, flanked by maritime chaparral, oak savannas and coastal wetlands teeming with life. It was here, while falling in love with the rich biodiversity of this place, that I began my career in conservation photography. In the classroom, I studied how animal behavior is

Photo By Donnell Allen “Watching these small burrowing owls is entertaining, and photographing them is a fun challenge,” says Donnell Allen. “I sat in my car for over two hours watching and photographing this particular owl flying around hunting bugs and looking for the perfect abandoned prairie dog hole for him and his mate. “After

Congratulations to Harry Lichtman for winning the recent Liquid Landscapes Assignment with the image, “Rundle Awakens.” See more of Lichtman’s photography at www.harrylichtman.com. View the winning image and a selection of submissions in the gallery below. And be sure to check out our current photography assignment here and enter your best shots! Winner: “Rundle Awakens” By Harry

Many photographers’ early work started with making snapshots of people. Whether it was of friends, family or strangers on the street, it’s what got them started. Then travel photography became important. Then it was time to add gorgeous landscapes to their repertoire. To relive the memories of the experience with your travel mates and loved

Photo By David Ellis When I was in high school, I was hanging out at a friend’s house and picked up a copy of color photography pioneer Ernst Haas’s The Creation that was sitting on a coffee table. Until that moment, photographs for me were those stiff representations of forced family events, but Haas’ sense

The American Landscape photo contest celebrates the incredible beauty and diversity of America’s wild places. This year the contest received more that 1,300 entries, and we’re pleased to present to you the finalists in the slideshow below. The winners will be selected soon—follow us on social media to be among the first to know when

Few things in nature are more dramatic or unpredictable than lightning—or more dangerous. The more you understand lightning, how to anticipate it and what to do in its presence, the safer you’ll be and the more success you’ll have photographing lightning. Forked Lightning, Point Imperial, Grand Canyon. This storm started out by the Vermilion Cliffs,

Congratulations to Nadeem Sufi for winning the recent Cloudscapes Assignment with the image, “Rays of Life.” See more of Sufi’s work at www.expressionsbynadeemsufi.com. View the winning image and a selection of submissions in the gallery below. And be sure to check out our current photography assignment here and enter your best shots! Winner: “Rays Of Life” By

Juxtaposition: “The act of placing two or more items side by side often to compare or contrast and/or to create an interesting effect.” To produce the above photographically, photographers must take into consideration the technical aspect of depth of field. When one object is placed behind another, especially when a telephoto lens is utilized, unless

Clouds make great backdrops for most nature subjects. They add interest, become compositional elements, create balance, provide color and add drama to landscape or wildlife photos. They can be a primary or secondary component. At times, they can simply serve as a colorful backdrop for a silhouette. As you can see, they’re quite diverse and

Canon today debuted a new wide zoom for its EOS R full-frame mirrorless cameras, the RF14-35mm F4 L IS USM. Priced at $1,699 with expected availability in August, the lens is a more affordable and compact alternative to the faster RF15-35mm F2.8 L IS USM which retails for $2,299. Canon RF14-35mm F4 L IS USM

Congratulations to Sandra Rust for winning the Spring Mammals, Amphibians And More Assignment with the image, “Cedar Waxwing eating a Crabapple Blossom.” See more of Sandra Rust’s work at jolietcommercialphotographer.com. View the winning image and a selection of submissions in the gallery below. And be sure to check out our current photography assignment here and enter

Did you miss a Photo Of The Day last month? View all of June’s selections in the slideshow below. Want to get your images in the running for a Photo of the Day feature? Photo of the Day is chosen from various galleries, including Assignments, Galleries and Contests. Assignments have weekly winners that are featured on the website homepage,

Nikon Z fc You might remember Nikon’s Df retro-styled DSLR released in 2013. Today Nikon has introduced a new take on that classic design for its mirrorless Z system. The 20.9-megapixel Nikon Z fc is a DX-format (APS-sensor) camera that inherits its vintage looks from the iconic Nikon FM2 film SLR, but jumps into the

What’s a “big glass” landscape? What is your “go-to” lens to photograph scenics? Are you sure you have a polarizer for your 400mm lens? Wait—in some way these three sentences imply one should use a telephoto lens to make scenics! Yes—it goes against the norm to photograph a scenic with a wide angle, but just

Congratulations to Hi il Lee for winning the recent Spring Showers Photography Assignment with the image, “Spring Waltz.” View the winning image and a selection of submissions in the gallery below. And be sure to check out our current photography assignment here and enter your best shots! Winner: “Spring Waltz” By Hi Il Lee “Cherry blossoms

Having lived in cities most of my life, astrophotography has not been one of my main focuses, but that changed recently for a couple of reasons. For one, when the pandemic hit, my wife and I moved to our “summer” house in the Catskills in New York full time. Up here in the country, there

I love it when the sky is filled with drama as ominous clouds boil in fury and thunder. This frequently occurs as huge thunderstorms move into an area. Likewise, as a storm wanes, a crispness and vivid sense of cleansing occurs. Both provide dramatic circumstances for storm photography. Constantly monitor weather stations and satellite radar

Crowds gather at a scenic overlook in Grand Canyon National Park. Notice the steep cliffs—this is not a place to push the boundaries for an Instagram selfie. Our national parks are popular, and with those crowds come folks unprepared for the hazards and sometimes lacking common sense, increasing the risk of accidents. People falling from

Congratulations to Max Foster for winning the In Bloom Photography Assignment with the image, “Sunset Cove.” See more of Foster’s photography at www.maxfosterphotography.com. View the winning image and a selection of submissions in the gallery below. And be sure to check out our current photography assignment here and enter your best shots! Winner: “Sunset Cove” By Max

Arriving at Lake Wanaka with a few minutes to spare, we had planned to give our New Zealand photo workshop group a quick preview of the next morning’s sunrise subject, the famous Wanaka willow tree. But as our group surveyed the scene, Don Smith and I surveyed the sky. We had another sunset photo spot

Congratulations to Robert Henderson for winning the recent Beautiful Bokeh Photography Assignment with the image, “Red Colobus Critique.” View the winning image and a selection of submissions in the gallery below. And be sure to check out our current photography assignment here and enter your best shots! Winner: “Red Colobus Critique” By Robert Henderson “The arboreal, leaf-eating

Wildlife photographers have an exciting job traveling the world in search of incredible subjects to photograph. But a lot of patience, long days, expensive equipment, subject knowledge and missed opportunities are also part of the process. Let’s celebrate the hard work of wildlife photographers and the amazing animals they’ve found with their lenses with this

No matter how long you’ve been practicing photography, there are always ways to keep things fresh and improve your images. So, if you’re feeling stuck in a rut or just need a new way of seeing things, these 10 tips can help take your skills to the next level.  1. Exhaust All Possibilities Don’t walk

Wildlife is one of the most challenging subjects for photographers. The most interesting wildlife photographs combine elements of portraiture, landscape and action photography. Recording animal behavior in the wild also requires knowledge of your subject’s habitat and routines, technical camera skill—and lots of patience. And to photograph wildlife ethically, you also need to maintain awareness

Bugaboo Provincial Park is located in the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia, Canada. The park contains isolated 10,000-foot granite spires soaring above ice fields and glaciers with stunning views in all directions. Access to the Bugaboos begins in the small town of Brisco on British Columbia Highway 95. Turn west onto Bugaboo Creek Road and