Camera settings are among the most democratic aspects of photography, in that the optimum choices are available for shooters of all skill levels. It’s simply a matter of changing the defaults and configuring the camera in a way that best suits your specific style of photography.

After all, camera manufacturers create default setting as general guides that usually work OK for shooting various types of images. But “OK” shouldn’t be good enough if you’re serious about our craft, and it’s time to pull out your camera and choose the specific settings that work best for you.

This tutorial from pro James Popsys is specifically intended for nature and landscape photography because those are his specialties. He’s confident about the approach he’s developed over the years and says, “they are integral to my photography.”

Most of the settings you’ll learn will work wonders with just about any full-featured camera you use and can be modified quickly when you encounter unusual situations. As you see, some of Popsys’ recommended setting are of the set-it-and-forget-it variety, while others are dependent upon the specific task at hand.

A great starting point is to create a two or three Custom Settings for common applications—an option that’s available with most modern digital cameras. This way you can quickly shift gears when shooting with the primary settings you’ve chosen as soon as the subject matter or conditions change.

All it takes to use these pre-configured Custom Settings is rotating the Mode dial or tapping a Function button on the top or back of the camera, and by doing this you’ll achieve consistent results every time. Another advantage is that this approach significantly speeds things up because you’ll rarely have to dig into the menu to modify settings.

Popsys walks you through the Custom modes he uses most and explains how they work. He then turns his attention a camera’s basic defaults and demonstrates options that typically deliver super when shooting in the field. These include options for focusing modes and focus points, drive settings, and much more

You’ll even learn why how and he sets up the camera to keep shutter speeds and ISO settings with a specific range to avoid inadvertent mistakes when shooting on the fly. There’s much more to discover while watching this important lesson, including how to dial in the metering mode that will work best for you.

After the video concludes go grab the camera you use for outdoor photography, take advantage of Popsys’ advice, and get rid of all the default settings that are holding you back. Then head over to his popular YouTube channel for more tips and tricks.

We also recommend watching the tutorial we posted recently from another accomplished shooter, explaining several pro hacks for capturing amazing backlit photographs outdoors.

If you’ve been following our image-processing tutorials you likely understand that this task often comprises a number of small, simple enhancements. But when taken as a whole, these seemingly minor adjustments can have a huge effect on the look of your work.

One minor tasks that can help transform a photo is the use of Photoshop’s lens corrections to eliminate distortion and chromatic aberration. This straightforward skill is simple enough for all users, and that’s exactly what you’ll learn how to do in today’s instructional video from photographer Barry Beckham.

Beckham regularly posts tutorials for amateur shooters with an emphasis simple methods for improving image quality. In barely seven minutes he demonstrates how to harness the power of Photoshop’s Lens Corrections to rid photos of elements that detract from their impact.

Both of the problems discussed are caused by the distortion within all of our lenses. Fortunately, because these are familiar issues, they can be easily corrected with image-editing software. In fact, Beckham says resolving these problems should be one of the first things you do, just like cropping the photo to refine composition.

All you have to do to get started is open Lightroom’s Optics panel and focus your attention on two of the several tools. Beckham begins by clicking on Use Profile Corrections and you’ll see how his before/after images illustrate the immediate improvement. The change is often subtle, but it’s more apparent with photos captured with wide-angle lenses that may impart a curved horizon.

The second option, and one that Beckham considers more important is Remove Chromatic Aberration. Before demonstrating how this works he explains the concept of chromatic aberration and illustrates the effect it can have on an image. By zooming in on the branches and twigs in a tree against the bright background of his shot you can see clearly cyan and magenta fringing that shouldn’t be there. This is a common concern in areas of high contrast.

This problem becomes even worse if you increase Vibrance and Saturation during the editing process. But here’s the trick: when you click on Remove Chromatic Aberration, the ugly artifacts are effectively removed. In fact, Beckham says that he has so much confidence in the two aforementioned adjustments that he routinely ticks these two boxes and proceeds with his edit.

Interestingly, Beckham always does this without closely examining a photo because it works so well. If you enjoyed this quick episode pay a visit to Beckham’s instructional video where you’ll discover more simple tips and tricks.

And be sure to take a look at another image-processing tutorial we posted in which the instructor provides free Lightroom presets, an explanation on how to use them, and several powerful tips for editing sunset and sunrise photos for maximum impact.