There’s no better way to learn than listening to a top pro explain the secrets to his success, and that’s what you’ll find in the following tutorial from acclaimed South African wildlife photographer Mark Dumbleton. His popular YouTube channel has the simple goal of helping other shooters capture better images in the field and make them look amazing.

This six-minute episode is the result of conversations between Dumbleton and several other professional wildlife photographers. He kicks off the tutorial like this: “I’ve spoken to many pro photographers about how they set up their cameras, and they all say the same thing, and in this video I’ll show you the camera mode they all use and explain why.”

Dumbleton also discusses important metering techniques you should use for getting the light right under a variety of conditions, along with several other wildlife shooting methods that contribute to great imagery. And keep this in mind: You needn’t go on safari to in search of exotic game, because everything you’ll learn will prove valuable for capturing photos of birds and other more common animals at a local park, game reserve, or even in your own backyard.

The lesson begins with a quick discussion of key exposure setting as they pertain to this genre of photography. One common denominator among Dumbleton and his experienced colleagues is this: “We need to react swiftly to situations and minimize the need to adjust camera settings on the fly.”

This is one reason that Dumbleton often prefers Aperture Priority mode, along with the fact that f/stop control is “crucial for achieving desired background rendering and precise subject focus.” And he provides examples of the significant difference this makes in the look of every image you shoot. Bottom line, wide apertures blur backgrounds while narrow apertures increase depth of field.

Shutter speed, on the other hand, is “crucial for freezing action or intentionally blurring action” for creating unique effects. That’s why different subjects require different shutter speeds depending upon how fast they’re moving (or if you’re dealing with a static scene in which an animal is at rest). Once again, Dumbleton provides some impressive examples of what you can expect when shooting at both long and short shutter speeds.

The foregoing is just a small taste of what you’ll learn in this quick and important lesson. After discussing all the technicalities of using the right gear and properly configuring the camera, Dumbleton concludes the video with some very helpful personal shooting techniques.

His instructional YouTube channel offers an abundance of solid information for wildlife photographers of all skill levels, so be sure to take a look.

And don’t miss the related tutorial we featured from another top expert, with several solid tips for processing wildlife photographs so they look as good as possible.

Understanding how to control depth of field (DOF) is essential for most forms of photography, and this technique can make the difference between a ho-hum image and one that makes viewers exclaim “Wow!” And nowhere is this more essential that when photographing macro subjects in the field—or even when shooting closeups of tiny inanimate objects at home.

That’s because DOF plays a pivotal role in accentuating a key subject by separating it from other areas withing the frame. You’ll learn how to unlock the secrets to this technique in today’s comprehensive 21-minute guide—whether you’re a beginner or a more experienced shooter.

Instructor Stewart Wood is an accomplished pro specializing in macro photography with a portfolio of mind-blowing images. He’s also a popular instructor who regularly passes along the new techniques he learns so that you can take advantage of them too. His goal for this episode is to help you “perfect your macro shots and tell compelling visual stories by mastering the art of depth of field.”

Wood coves plenty of ground in a hurry, so we recommend jotting down a few notes for future reference. He discusses a wide variety of topics, from essential gear, the impact of camera-to-subject distance, and powerful techniques like focus stacking and others.

The bottom line is that you’ll learn how to manipulate aperture settings to isolate a subject and capture intricate details with stunning clarity. And, after all, that’s what great macro photography is all about. Wood begins by explaining the concept of DOF, and how it pertains to this particular genre.

Wood spends a couple minutes discussing aperture settings and illustrates how different f/stops will dramatically impact your results. In this regard the concept of diffraction is a crucial one because, as you’ll see, image quality tends to suffer as you stop a lens down beyond acceptable limits—typically f/5.6 or f/8. That’s why it often makes sense to control exposure by modifying shutter speed and/or ISO.

The focal length of your lens also factors into the equation, as does the level of magnification it provides. The crop factor of a camera, if you’re not using a full-frame model, is another important consideration. As far as composition is concerned, it’s important to understand the impact that camera angle and camera-to-subject-distance have on your results.

When it comes to editing your images there’s a method known as focus stacking that can pay huge dividends, and you learn how this process works. Essentially this involves shooting multiple photographs of the same scene—each with a different point of focus—with the camera locked down on a tripod. Then you merge the shots during post processing to achieve one final image with ideal DOF exactly where you want it.

Wood concludes the lesson by explaining how to use everything you learned to become a much better visual storyteller. If this guide strikes your fancy be sure to visit Wood’s instructional YouTube channel where you’ll find other lessons that will elevate your macro photography skills.

So you just purchased a new camera and it’s time to undertake the task of configuring it properly to suit your particular style of shooting so you “can grab the most out of the sensor.” As a Shutterbug reader you’ve no doubt done this before and know that the menu contains of myriad of default settings you may want to change.

That’s because camera manufacturers set up cameras without knowing whether you shoot portraits, actions sports, landscapes, or something else. So the default configuration is just a guess designed to achieve pretty good results in a wide variety of situations. If “pretty good” doesn’t sound good enough for you, watch as one of our favorite instructors explains the four settings you should change first, before delving deeper into the menu of your new toy.

Instructor Vlad Manea is a Romanian-born pro now based in Germany. He specializes in tutorials for beginners, and this one is about as basic as it gets. And even if you’ve owned your camera for a while, we suggest that you check the settings you made previously and take advantage of Manea’s advice.

At the top pf Manea’s list is the important consideration of file type, and he says this: “Do yourself a favor and set this to Raw,” instead of sticking with the Jpeg default. He says that doing this will “squeeze the most out of the sensor” and enable the camera to record the maximum amount of information. Raw files also have significant benefits during the image-editing process.

Manea’s second suggestion is based upon his supposition that “you didn’t buy a camera to keep on Auto, so let’s get out of the trap now.” He recommends shooting In Manual or one of the semi-automatic modes like Aperture priority—depending upon your skill level, personal [reference, and the type of photos you shoot most. He discusses three primary attributes and how they combine to create an ideal exposure.

The lesson continues with a discussion of various autofocus modes available, with the goal of helping you determine which one makes the most sense for you. Naturally, when conditions or the subject matter changes it’s a simple matter to make another choice. The two primary considerations involve whether you typically shoot static shots or capture subjects in motion.

The video concludes with White Balance options, and here Manea recommends that beginners start with the Auto setting for reasons he explains. Then as your skills improve you’ll be ready to try other settings that are tailored to specific qualities of light. He notes that when shooting in Raw “you’ll be able to modify White balance without any type of issues.”

This lesson is a good one to bookmark so that you’re ready to go the next time you pull a new camera out of its box. Manea’s instructional YouTube channel is a great source of information—especially for those just starting out. So pay a visit and explore what’s available.

And on a related topic, don’t miss the tutorial we posted earlier, explaining one camera setting that another pro says will enable you to consistently capture perfectly exposed photographs.

Photoshop includes a variety of built-in crop presets for streamlining your post-processing workflow. But as you’ll see in today’s quick tutorial there care a few really good reasons for creating your own. In today’s video you’ll learn why and how to tackle this simple task.

Australian photographer Barry Beckham doesn’t apologize for his amateur status because his beautiful imagery belies the fact that he doesn’t making his living as a working photographer. In fact, he takes advantage of being an enthusiast by posting straightforward Photoshop tutorials from an amateur’s perspective that allow him to sidestep many of the tools beginners will rarely if ever use.

This episode demonstrates the value of creating your own crop presets for a variety of tasks you confront frequently, like photos with a specific aspect ratio for meeting the requirements of social media platforms. These presets can also be a timesaver for other purposes too, especially if you regularly crop landscape photos for an expansive, panoramic view, or if you prefer a tall, narrow crop for architectural images.

Beckham begin by reviewing the traditional approach when cropping images, and he explains why they don’t always turn out as intended. That’s because there are a few options atop the screen that many Photoshop users ignore. He also provides this important reminder: “Photoshop will always remember the values you typed into these boxes that may interfere with what you’re trying to do.”

While we typically crop a photo for compositional purposes, sometimes our goal is to meet a certain size—even though most of the photos we shoot adhere to a different format. And this is where custom crop presets come into play.

Beckham begins with this rather unusual example: His camera club requires that images be submitted with a specific aspect ratio that meets a predefined size. Sometimes a custom crop preset makes it far easier to fulfill rules like these, depending upon the image at hand. And even if minor adjusts can help fine-tune composition, they’re much quicker to adjust than if you started from scratch.

The bottom line is this: if you regularly edit photos for a set value that you employ over and over again, the simple task of creating custom presets is something you’ll definitely want to understand. After the video concludes take a look at Beckham’s instructional YouTube channel where you’ll find a variety of straightforward Photoshop lessons for improving your skills.

And be sure not to miss the helpful tutorial we featured a couple weeks ago, in which a noted pro demonstrates a “hidden” Photoshop hack for creating breathtaking landscape photographs in three simple steps.