Earlier this month we discussed five ways to boost autofocus with whatever gear you own. Today’s tutorial from Great Big Photography World (GBPW) takes a look at one specific camera setting that will deliver the best possible results in a  variety of situations.

GBPW is a popular online community of enthusiasts and professionals who share shooting and editing tips and techniques to help others create better imagery. In this quick episode our unnamed instructor explains the concept behind single-point AF, why the technique is so popular among pros, and several simple tips for getting the job done.

It’s logical to assume that this method is only appropriate for static subjects, like landscapes, portraits, or images of birds perched on the branch of a tree. In fact, however, there are times when this approach can also be used to advantage when photographing subjects in motion.

There are several very helpful tips in this three-minute lesson, including where and how to place the point of focus while composing a scene. The instructor also provides example of why, “single-point autofocus is the AF mode I use most of the time.”

The benefits of this technique are many, including the fact that you have full control of focus, rather than trusting the camera to get it right. Our instructor puts it like this: “Having the camera make the choice in Multi-Point mode often results in photos that are focused in the wrong place.”

It takes a bit of practice to move a single focus point to the correct spot within the frame, and this approach slow you down at first. But once you get the hang of it “you’ll become more precise and faster that if your camera is set to Multi-Point AF.”

You may want to consult your manual because different cameras have a propriety method for making this adjustment. Sometimes it’s a button or joystick, while other times you’ll rotate a wheel or use the touchscreen on the back of the camera to set the AF point like you do on a phone.

Properly configuring the camera is the first task, and the remainder of the lesson concentrates on several practical techniques for using single-point AF in the correct manner depending upon the specific task at hand. Then you’ll be able to capture consistently sharp photos every time.

There’s much more to learn on the Great Big Photography World YouTube channel, so be sure to check it out.

And don’t miss the tutorial mentioned above that demonstrates five ways to boost autofocus speed and acquisition with whatever photography gear you own.

For many of us, a trip to a major National Park may be a once in a lifetime event. Maximize your experience by anticipating the photo opportunities you’re likely to encounter and planning a course of action. Here are some photo tips to give you a head start, and some gear recommendations from the experts at MPB, the largest global platform to buy, sell and trade used photo and video gear.

Don’t Tackle Yellowstone with a Smartphone!
When venturing into a photogenically rich environment like a National Park (or even a neighborhood picnic area) you absolutely want to make sure that your photo equipment is capable of matching the task. Don’t tackle Yellowstone with a smartphone! That goes for everyone in your family, even the younger members.

At the core you want a solid mirrorless system camera, something like the Nikon Z series, Fujifilm X mirrorless or one of the highly popular Sony Alpha cameras. Alternatively, you may want a traditional DSLR, although if much of your travel is to be on foot, you’ll appreciate the generally lighter weight of the mirrorless cameras and lenses.

The good news is that you can stretch your equipment budget by buying MPB Approved cameras and lenses.

Mirrorless camera systems are currently most popular for pros and amateurs alike. Small wonder: collectively they’re smaller, lighter and every bit as good as their large DSLR counterpart. In fact, “Small Wonder” is the perfect identifier.

MPB offers popular used mirrorless cameras like the APS-C format Fujifilm X-T and the full-frame Nikon Z system. Prices start below $800 an MPB Approved used Fujifilm X-T3 (body only). You can buy a retro-style Nikon Zf body for under $1900.

Not looking for a Nikon or Fujifilm product? No problem. MPB has more than 16,000 pieces of used gear in the US and over 47,000 globally. And they add more than 2,000 products every week.

Get the Big Picture
MPB Gear Tip: wideangle lens, polarizing filter, and for fun a Ricoh GR in your pocket.

To convey the full impact of sweeping vistas, use a wideangle lens. Even if you normally carry the kit zoom that came with your camera, take along the widest zoom you can find. Wideangle lens deliver more depth-of-field than long lenses and are unbeatable when you enter a canyon, cave or other smallish space. To darken a blue sky and accentuate color saturation of landscapes, use a polarizing filter.

That said, consider also packing a compact camera that has a wideangle as standard, something along the lines of a Ricoh GR that has a lens that’s the equivalent of about 28mm. Ricoh GR series cameras are top-level street shooters and indispensable as a back-up camera should the unthinkable happen.

About Joshua Tree National Park
Located at the conjunction of the Mohave and Colorado desserts, Joshua Tree National Park is most hospitable in the spring and fall when this part of California enjoys more moderate temperatures. Inside the park you’ll find campgrounds, hiking trails, vista points, picnic areas, and pullouts with interpretive information — but no creature comforts like hotels, restaurants, or gas stations. With that in mind, it’s important to arrive prepared with water, food and sufficient fuel. Despite its rough texture, Joshua Park offers some of the most breathtaking photo ops found anywhere.

Don’t be Afraid of the Dark
MPB Gear Tip: Fast zoom, tripod, mirrorless with excellent high-ISO performance.

Night shooting is thrilling and challenging. You’ll need a fast zoom lens and a tripod—that’s common sense. But also consider the high-ISO performance of your main camera. You do not want a spectacular shot of the Milky Way spoiled by digital noise.  Sony Alpha A-series cameras have a well-deserved reputation for exemplary low-light performance. MPB has dozens of used Sony mirrorless cameras in stock at prices everyone can afford.

About Arches National Park
Famous for spectacular sunsets amidst the mind-blowing rock formations (including 2,000 natural stone arches), Arches National Park belongs on the short list of all landscape photographers. And because of the light-pollution-free Utah skies, it’s a haven for stargazers. Afficionados of American history can trace the footsteps of the more than one dozen tribes of Indigenous peoples traditionally associated with this terrain. Note that reservations are required April 1 through October 31. Don’t leave the part without at least one great nighttime shot.

Focus on Details
MPB Gear Tip: mid-range zoom.

The zoom lens that came with your camera is likely not up to the task of zeroing in on distant details. For those out-of-reach subjects, look toward a mid-range zoom, something in the 18-135 range. The Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM is perfect for Canon users. Nikon users should consider the Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED. No matter what brand of camera you drive, you can find a suitable used mid-range zoom among MPB’s vast inventory.

About Mesa Verde National Park
A World Heritage Site, Mesa Verde National Park was home to Ancestral Pueblo people for more than 700 years, and abundant architectural structures remain to the delight of visitors young and old. Wildlife photographers take note: this park is inhabited by more than one thousand species, including several that live nowhere else on earth. Located in Colorado, this amazing piece of history is about 180 miles NNW of Albuquerque, NM.

Sunsets & Sunrises Add Drama
MPB Gear Tip: be prepared at all times with a high-end compact plus your primary camera.

Be prepared. Having a top-shelf compact camera like a Sony Cyber-shot RX100 Mark V or other model from the Sony RX100 lineup will ensure that you are photo-ready at all times, even at the crack of dawn or drama of sunset. In addition, a compact camera is a great way to capture spontaneous indoors scenes, like dinner around the campfire.

When you purchase an MPB Approved used product, you always know precisely what you’re buying. MPB uses an easy-to-understand 5-point Condition Rating System. The condition ratings are: • Like New – unboxed, unused or lightly used • Excellent – minimal signs of wear, otherwise pristine • Good – fair amount of use, but well-kept • Well Used – significant use, signs of normal wear and tear • Heavily Used – clear signs of wear and tear, still works. For a deeper dive into the Rating System, check out this YouTube video and review the complete details by clicking here.

About Zion National Park
Zion National Park is home to the spectacular Kolob Canyons and Kolob Arch, one of the largest free-standing arches in the world. “Wild” in every sense of the word, Zion Wilderness is not for the timid beginner, nonetheless it’s a popular destination for backpacking, camping, canyoneering, rock climbing and river trips (permits may be required). Zion is Utah’s first national park and belongs on your bucket list.

Include Foreground for Scale
MPB Gear Tip: 70-200 zoom, UV filter.

It’s much easier to comprehend the enormity of a mountain when the photo has something in the front for scale. Include a person, plant or other identifiable item. A 70-200mm f/2.8 zoom lens is a must-have for this type of outdoor photography. You’ll use it for landscapes, family portraits and wildlife. Reduce the dulling effects of atmospheric haze by adding a UV filter. It’s essentially colorless so you can leave it on the lens.

MPB has an extensive selection of used zooms in the 70-200mm range. Don’t overlook Tamron, Sigma and other non-camera brands in your search, just be sure to select the correct mount for your camera. MPB also offers a wide variety of used UV filers in sizes sure to match your lens’s front thread.

About Glacier National Park
If melting ancient glaciers, sculpted valleys, alpine meadows and stunning lakes appeal to you, set your summer vacation GPS on Montana’s Glacier National Park. Our National Park Service strongly recommends that you plan your accommodation options in advance, especially during the normally busy summer seasons. There are currently 26 glaciers, but that number is shrinking possibly due to the impact of global climate change. Yours maybe the last generation to enjoy historical glaciers.

Bonus Destination: Our Neighbor to the North
MPB Gear Tip: Photo Backpack, compact system camera.

To go along with the compact mirrorless camera system we mention above, consolidate your camera gear in a photo backpack. A regular backpack, even if it’s specially designed for mountaineering, probably does not provide the padded compartments needed to fully protect delicate camera equipment. MPB has used backpacks ideally suited for comfort, protection and style. A great example is the Lowepro ProTactic 450 AW II Backpack. Prices start around $129 and it’s an investment you’ll be glad you made. Like other photo items sold by MPB, used photo backpacks also come with a six-month warranty.

Black fabric backpacks tend to show wear more readily than other products, so it’s reassuring that MPB individually photographs each unique item, so the product pictured in the listing is the exact product you’ll receive.

About Yoho National Park of Canada
How lucky we Americans are to have a beautiful, easily accessible and genuinely friendly foreign country at our northern border. Among the most popular destinations within Yoho National Park of Canada is Lake O’Hara. Located about 100 miles NW of Calgary (as the crow flies), temperatures June through July hover around 68 to 72 degrees, with lows in the uppers 40s, making it the perfect spot for a cool vacation. PS: Take a jacket, even during the summer, but leave your drones at home; drones are prohibited and the penalty is fierce.

When You Return Home
Generations ago, families gathered around the hearth at the end of the day to discuss and share their adventures. Today we recommend gathering at the computer monitor and reviewing the images everyone captured. Download all photos from every traveler. Relive your vacation and enjoy the wonderful experiences all over again. And this winter, when a great icy wind is blustering through your homestead, revive the journey and thumb your nose at the cold.

Buy With Confidence & Save
On average, used camera gear from MPB costs a third less than new and comes with 6-month warranty. Every item is carefully inspected by a trained specialist. Plus, the product you see in the listing is the exact same item you are buying, because MPB photographs every camera and lens individually. And MPB lists every accessory included with the product, so there are no unpleasant surprises.

Join the hundreds of thousands of photo and video storytellers who have made MPB the largest global platform to buy, sell and trade used photo and video gear. With a 5-Star rating on Trustpilot (based on more than 38,600 reviews) MPB recirculates 500,000 pieces of photo gear every year. Start planning your family excursions today at mpb.com.

∞ Shutterbug Staff

By ignoring Lightroom Profiles you’re missing out on a quick and easy way to achieve more effective edits in less time. These one-click settings enable you to establish a neutral starting point for a realistic look or apply creative effects to imbue photos with various moods and emotions.

Instructor Julieanne Kost is an expert at all things Adobe and a self-proclaimed “digital-imaging evangelist” whose tutorials describe tools, techniques, and helpful shortcuts for the best-looking results possible. Today’s nine-minute episode describes what you’ve been missing by not using Profiles, and how to quickly unlock their power.

She describes the concept like this: “A profile is just a set of instructions that determines how the information in a photo is processed.” One advantage is that Profiles are non-destructive and can be changed at any time without any loss in quality. Kost explains that Profiles can use Lookup Tables to remap colors and tones which is why they’re so useful for achieving the aforementioned neutral look and special effects.

Kost takes a two-pronged approach to this lesson by first demonstrating some of the Profiles deigned to work with Raw files. Then she turns her attention to Profiles that can be employed when processing other file types.

The default profile when editing in Raw is called Adobe Color. With Jpegs the default is just identified as Color because you can’t apply a Raw Profile to files of a different format. In cases when you’re working on a legacy file you’ll see the previously embed Profile which you can change at any time to suit your needs.

Kost notes that Adobe Color was designed to be an ideal starting point for just about any Raw file—with the intent of rendering “a neural baseline image that closely matches the original color and tones in the original scene.” As you’ll see, however, there are other options from which to choose like Adobe Monochrome, Adobe Landscape, and others.

You can easily preview how any given Profile will affect an image by hovering your cursor over thumbnails in the panel. Then simply click on a Profile when you like what you see and your choice will be instantly applied. Then you’ll see the resulting impact on both the screen and in Lightroom’s histogram.

There are a few more concepts to understand, including the fact that any given Raw file can only have one Profile. If you click on another Profile, the first one will automatically be removed. Kost quickly illustrates how various Raw Profiles affect how an image appears. For example, Adobe Landscape bumps up saturation “and it enhances blues and greens, along with a slight, overall increase in contrast.”

At this point Kost is only halfway through the lesson, and there’s much more to understand. So take a close look and jot down a few notes for future reference. By following her advice you’ll significantly improve your Lightroom workflow and save a bunch of time creating the exact result you envision.

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.