Dynamic range is a crucial concept in photography that describes the range of tones from the brightest highlights to the darkest shadows in an image. This comprehensive guide from the Hamed Photography YouTube channel explains how to enhance these attributes in the camera and during post processing.

It’s important to understand that the human eye can perceive a much broader range of light intensities that even the most sophisticated cameras. When looking at a bright landscape, for example, we can see details in both the sky and shadow areas, but a camera struggles to do the same. That’s because most modern cameras have a limited dynamic range of between 12-15 stops.

Therefore, when a scene encompasses a greater range of tones, either the highlights get blown out or the shadows are overly dark and devoid of detail.  Hamed explains that, “to overcome these limitations it’s necessary to employ HDR settings, Auto Exposure Bracketing (AED), or Active D-Lighting (ADL) to capture a greater amount of light and shadow.

These techniques are useful for landscapes, low-light and night photography, and shooting indoors in dimly-lit environments. Conversely, these methods are less effective when photographing moving subjects. And HDR may not even be necessary when a single exposure captures sufficient detail for a reasonably balanced shot.

Hamed runs you through everything you need to know to use various methods for creating images that look realistic. He explains that HDR works by capturing at least three images of the scene, each at a slightly different exposure—one at the camera’s metered level, another at one or more stops under, and a third that’s slightly overexposed. These shots are then combined to create one final image.

AEB is a camera feature that’s ideal for high-contrast landscapes, backlit portraits, and other challenging situations. ADL is another important tool found on Nikon cameras, and it’s similar to what Canon calls Auto Lighting Optimizer. Regardless of the nomenclature, this mode enhances shadow and highlight detail in real time—improving dynamic range without requiring multiple exposures.

Hamed’s best practices for HDR Photography include using a tripod and shooting in Raw and being very careful to avoid overprocessing. Spend 14 minutes learning the finer points of these straightforward methods and you’ll have no trouble nailing exposure every time.

We suggest visiting the Hamed Photography YouTube channel often to discover additional powerful tips and techniques.

And don’t miss a tutorial we shared earlier from another accomplished pro who demonstrates how to unlock dramatic backlighting effects and capture spectacular nature, wildlife, and landscape photographs.

Last week we featured an interesting tutorial demonstrating why every landscape shooter should experiment with telephoto lenses, and the camera settings and techniques that deliver uncommon images in the field. We’re following up on that today with five unconventional methods for capturing unique wide-angle photographs in ways you may not have tried in the past.

Utah based instructor Austin James Jackson belongs to new generation of landscape photographers with a unique vision and a willingness to explore a variety of new techniques. As he says, “The wide-angle lens is one of the most popular and enjoyable tools for landscape photography but creating jaw-dropping images with it isn’t as easy as you think.”

In this eight-minute episode Jackson demonstrates five straightforward techniques for shooting compelling wide-angle photos in the field. Jackson is specifically referring to ultra-wide lenses that he defines as anything wider than 20mm. However, most of what you’ll learn translates equally to less extreme wide-angle focal lengths.

Jackson illustrates these techniques with a variety of beautiful photos, most of which were captured at focal lengths between 14mm and 18mm. He kicks off the episode with an oft-ignored method that’s one of his favorites; namely, using wide-angle distortion to your advantage rather than trying to avoid it.

He explains the concept like this: “Anything in the center of an image will appear fatter and a lot more rounded, while things on the edges of the frame with appear stretched.” Hence, architectural photographers often prefer tilt-shift lenses because they enable them to adjust perspective and keep lines straight. Jackson demonstrates how to use this distortion to advantage with whatever wide-angle lens you own.

Another simple trick for eye-catching imagery involves what Jackson refers to as “not forcing a foreground when there isn’t anything interesting close to the camera.” In other words, including an overly busy foreground can actually make an image worse by diverting attention from the most compelling elements in the frame.

As the video proceeds, you’ll learn other conventional wisdom to avoid, why thin lens filters are a must, and how attention to detail factors into the equation. Bottom line: It takes a bit of finesse to produce portfolio-quality landscape photos with your trusty wide-angle lens.

Jackson’s instructional YouTube channel is a great resourse for landscape shooters who want to elevate their skills, so be sure to take a look when you have time to explore.

And don’t forget to watch the tutorial mentioned above so you’ll understand how to switch things up by experimenting with a telephoto lens for landscape photographs that break the mold.

Sony unveiled an incredible new 400-800mm super telephoto zoom lens today designed to help photographers get sharp close-ups of wildlife. As part of the announcement of the Sony FE 400-800mm f/6.3-8 G OSS lens, the company shared some images captured with this long-zooming lens and we’ve included five sample shots with this story.

Calling it “the longest-range full-frame E-Mount lens to date,” the new Sony 400-800mm lens is designed for bird and wildlife photography and “extends Sony’s focal length range beyond 600mm for the first time.” 

“With its 400-800mm zoom range, internal zoom mechanism for stability, and high-performance autofocus system, the 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS ensures sharp, detailed images even at extreme distances,” Sony said.

If you want even more optical reach, the new ultra-telephoto zoom lens is compatible with Sony’s 1.4x and 2x teleconverters, which allows the Sony 400-800mm to extend up to 1600mm for extreme close-ups.

The new lens is built with six ED glass elements, Sony said, to help minimize chromatic distortions and features an 11-blade circular aperture designed to produced smoother bokeh, aka background blur. Meanwhile, the lens’ Optical SteadyShot stabilization will help produce sharper photos of animals even in challenging outdoor shooting conditions.

Sample photo captured with the new Sony 400-800mm courtesy of Sony.

The Sony 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS goes on sale in March 2025 for $2,899. The sample photos shot with the Sony 400-800mm were featured in a new Sony video about the lens, which you can see here.

Sony announced the new super telephoto zoom lens at the CP+ 2025 International Camera and Photo Imaging Show in Japan. That show has seen several introductions of new long zooming lenses for outdoor and wildlife photographers including the OM System 100-400mm F5.0-6.3 IS II. Keep checking OP’s website for more gear news from the CP+ show. More Sony 400-800mm sample photos are below.

Sample photo captured with the new Sony 400-800mm courtesy of Sony.

Sample photo captured with the new Sony 400-800mm courtesy of Sony.

Sample photo captured with the new Sony 400-800mm courtesy of Sony.

Sample photo captured with the new Sony 400-800mm courtesy of Sony.

The post Here Are 5 Photos Captured with the New Sony 400-800mm Lens appeared first on Outdoor Photographer.