Most of us photograph birds on occasion, regardless of our favorite genre, because these colorful and accessible subjects are just about everywhere you look—including in your own backyard. Inexperienced shooters typically concentrate on stationary subjects perched on a branch because of a common misconception that capturing birds in flight is far beyond their skills.

This beginners tutorial from the new Wildlife with Rich YouTube channel simplifies the task in barely four minutes by describing the necessary gear, camera settings, and techniques so that even those new to the game can make very impressive photos of our flying feathered friends. You’ll pick up some bonus tips for making better images of perched birds too.

In this behind-the-scenes episode you’ll watch Rich do his thing at Symonds Yat Rock, one of the UK’s best locations for photographing Peregrine Falcons and other birds of prey. Rich notes that Peregrines are the fastest animals in the world—capable of flying at 200mph—making them perfect subjects for demonstrating the task at hand.

As an experienced wildlife photographer Rich arrives before sunrise so he’s set up and ready to go when the sun peaks above the horizon. That’s because many animals, including raptors, do most of their hunting at dawn or dusk. Birds are most active at these times of day, and there’s also the benefit of great Golden Hour illumination.

When light levels are low it’s necessary to use higher ISO settings than those you’d choose when photographing during midday—especially when moving subjects are the name of the game and faster shutter speeds are required. That’s why fast lenses and cameras with good low-noise characteristics are are a big advantage—especially for shooting handheld.

Rich also prefers using a telephoto zoom instead of a prime lens for one specific reason: “I can zoom out to find my subject within the frame and then zoom in to get the exact composition I want.” For this session he chose the popular, powerful, and relatively affordable Sigma 150-600mm, noting that the push/pull mechanism of this long range zoom is fast and convenient to use.

When it comes to camera settings, Rich recommends starting with a shutter speed of 1/2,000 or faster for photographing birds in flight without a tripod on clear days. Of course, a slower shutter speed will be required in situations with heavy cloud cover or during poor weather. The speed of your subject also factors into the equation, and everything changes when photographing slower birds.

Rich discusses other important camera settings before moving on to composition and several very effective techniques, and by the time the lesson concludes you’ll be ready and able to tackle this challenge. Then head over to his instructional YouTube channel for more wildlife photography tips and tricks.

We also suggest watching a tutorial we featured earlier with an image-editing expert who demonstrates how to edit nature and landscape photographs for perfect color using a straightforward Lightroom technique.

Adobe recently updated Photoshop with several exciting features and tools, and the new Selection Brush is one of the most powerful for processing landscape shots and other outdoor images. This 12-minute tutorial from the Rogala Photography YouTube channel showcases the enhanced selection capabilities of this versatile tool so you can take advantage of everything it can do.

Mike is a professional landscape photographer and post-processing expert who kicks off today’s episode like this: “This amazing Selection Brush adds to all the other options you have for selecting objects in Photoshop,” and he urges you to update to Photoshop 2024 if you haven’t done so already.

After running the update and opening Photoshop you’ll be presented with a screen that lists whatever new tools are available. At the bottom of this window you’ll be asked to choose one of three options, and Rogala explains why he recommends clicking the first tab labeled “Create new tool group and keep custom toolbar.”

There’s no need to worry if the new Selection Brush isn’t immediately visible in the workspace. The simple solution is to use the “Edit toolbar” option to update your preferences.  Then you can click-and-drag the new brush so it’s grouped along with the selection tools that are already in place.

Now that everything is properly configured, Mike moves on to practical examples for enhancing images with the new Selection Brush. In some ways it works like other brushes you’ve used to paint over specific portion of a shot. You’ll learn how to pick whatever color you want to identify the selection as you work. Rogala explains why you shouldn’t pick a color you work with frequently, like red, green or blue.

Despite the initial similarity between this tool and other brushes with you’re familiar, the Selection Brush offers numerous advanced features for accomplishing common tasks. As you’ll see, the enhanced selection capabilities are both numerous and effective.

We’ll let Mike illustrate the details and the wide array of simple options so you can start using this amazing new tool today. Once the video concludes we suggest visiting the Rogala Photography YouTube channel where there’s much more to learn.

And speaking of powerful Photoshop features, but sure to check out another tutorial we posted that demonstrates how to dramatically improve the impact of landscape photographs by enhancing “scale” with the software’s game-changing Transform tools.

The photographic eye can perceive great compositions, notice patterns, find great light. But what of the photographic mind? The thoughts, the wishes, and the imagination – the idea of scenes dripping with the golden drops of sunlight? How does the photographic mind influence your style?

This August, La Vuelta a España, one of cycling’s big three Grand Tours, sets off in Lisbon for the first time since 1997, with stages one and two starting in the region. To celebrate, the team at Visit Lisbon (https://www.visitlisboa.com) has recommended five slow and scenic short rides for holidaymakers to explore the region.