If you’re struggling to capture photographs that are just as just as spectacular as your wildlife subjects, we’re going to change all that today with five practical tips from an Australian pro designed for beginners and experience shooters alike. These techniques are practical, not theoretical, and “actually work in the real world.”

Instructor And Rouse is an awarding photographer who travels the globe in search of that elusive perfect shot, and he explains today’s 14-minute episode like this: “I share the key fundamental that have shaped my career— fieldcraft, blending techniques, and creative thinking to help you get closer to the images you really want to make.”

This handful of simple tips covers both technical and creative matters. His first tip is for those of you who aren’t sure about which exposure mode to use, and his unequivocal response is that for this particular genre “shutter speed is king.” Rouse then demonstrates how put this key concept to use.

Rouse is just emphatic about tip #2 and he provides a quick rundown of why composition is just as important as shutter speed. He pulls up several convincing example for framing scenes properly in the camera, rather than relying upon creative cropping during post processing. Rouse says he relies upon a golden mantra that goes like this: “If you’re not going to put it on your wall, don’t take it.”

Next on the list is the notion of keeping wildlife photography fun, and Rouse insists that the best way to do this is by specializing. In other words, “You’ll learn nothing by photographing one species one day, another the next day, and yet another after that.” This means sticking with a subject that you especially enjoy and practice refining your skills.

This thoughtful approach will not only boost your confidence, bit it will enable to develop a recognizable style off your own. There are two more transformational suggestions as this video proceeds, and Rouse promises that they keep you from missing the moments that matter.

Once you get the hang of it, and it doesn’t take long, the quality of your wildlife images will grow by leaps and bounds—whether you’re shooting in the forest, at a nearby nature reserve, or even on safari.

If wildlife photography strikes your fancy be sure to visit Andy’s YouTube channel often because there are many more how-to videos for upping your game.

And don’t miss our earlier tutorial from a very successful Australian nature and landscape photographer who demonstrates how to unlock the power of Lightroom’s Clarity, Texture, and  Dehaze tools.

We’re going to start out with a couple important questions: Have you ever captured a photo through water or glass and been totally let down by ugly reflections? Or perhaps your skies look flat and boring even on clear days. In these situations and others there’s a “ridiculously simple” solution that delivers reduced glare, clearer skies, and vibrant colors straight out of the camera.

Here’s how instructor Anthony Crothers explains his goal for today: “I’ll show you why a circular polarizing filter is one of the most power yet underrated tools in photography, and how to use it like a pro.” Once brings you up to speed in barely four minutes your outdoor photos will have more punch and clarity forever more.

Crothers’ popular YouTube channel is all about helping beginner and intermediate shooters build confidence and improve their skills one video at a time, and today he uses several landscape shots to illustrate why this little accessory should be your best friend. As you’ll see, the polarizer differs from most filters because of its rotating ring than enables you to adjust an image to perfection.

You may be surprised to learn that the value of this essential filter transcends scenes with water or glass. In fact, it will also dramatically darken pale blue skies and increase saturation of subjects like flowers and birds when micro reflections can easily mute their beautiful colors. Simply thread one onto your lens, follow Crother’s advice, be aware of a few possible mistakes, and you’ll super impressed by the results.

Crothers explains that as you rotate the front ring on the filter it blocks certain light rays from hitting the camera’s sensor. This isn’t about darkening a photo, but rather “transforming how the camera sees light. As the episode proceeds you’ll also learn several creative uses for your new friend.
Crothers describes the impact on exposure, and why your angle relative to the sun is another important consideration. And the best part is that all the filter’s benefits are visible in the viewfinder as you rotate its front ring right or left to increase or lessen the effect.

There’s a lot more to learn on Anthony’s instructional YouTube channel, so make sure to visit and explore.

And don’t miss the related tutorial we featured with a post-processing expert who reveals a simple Lightroom/Photoshop trick for fixing photographs with uneven polarized skies that have blotches and harsh transitions.

If you want a simple post-processing method for creating unique landscape photos that stand out from the crowd, we’ve got you covered in the next five minutes. Instructor Scott Davenport does the trick by demonstrating how to imbue images with a soft, dreamy twilight glow that can’t be ignored.

Davenport is an accomplished landscape photographer and post-processing instructor whose popular YouTube channel is devoting to shooting techniques and editing methods that are appropriate for beginners and experienced shooters alike. Today’s quick episode explores how easy it is to craft this beautiful look in Lightroom using a simple, effective set of three color curves.

The goal of this straightforward edit is to retain a believable, atmospheric look by gently lifting the red channel, pulling down the greens, and subtly raising the blues. He promises that “these targeted adjustments shape color, and light in a natural way, giving you a peaceful, cool-toned glow without pushing things too far.”

Davenport says this selective tweak is particularly useful when your scene includes a strip or band across the frame like a mountain range or other prominent element. It’s one of those “finishing touches” that involves nothing more than a simple mask or two to transform a shot from meh to WOW!

His demonstration image is a beautifully composed landscape shot with a clearly defined foreground, snow-capped peaks across the middle, and a beautiful pink-and-blue sky overhead. The original photo looks pretty great as is but watch the spectacular transformation that occurs after making a trio of simple color-curves adjustments.

Once Davenport determines the specific effect desired, he limits the enhancements to a precise band across the mountains using a pair of linear gradients. The technique involves positioning one gradient from the top down and another from the bottom up, “intersecting them to isolate the band to where the fading twilight kisses the peaks.”

The beauty of this tidy approach is that it enables you to keep the effect where is really matters while retaining clean shadows below and the pretty sky above. Davenport’s instructional YouTube channel offers many image-editing videos like this one, so don’t forget to takes a close look.

And be sure not to miss the related tutorial we posted from another popular instructor who demonstrates how to transform drab landscape images into jaw-dropping photos by adding natural-looking light rays in Lightroom Classic.

Today’s straightforward post-processing tutorial from the Better Pics YouTube channel demonstrates several great options for harnessing the power of Lightroom’s Clarity, Texture, and Dehaze tools to maximize detail in every image you capture when shooting in the field.

Instructor Damian is an experienced Australian landscape photographer and post-processing expert who regularly share powerful shooting and editing tips gleaned while traveling to all seven continents on the globe. He jumps right in to Lightroom’s effects panel and uses a selection of images to illustrate the magic you can create by modifying this trio of simple sliders.

As Damian says, “I find that the Clarity, Texture, and Dehaze tools really help me edit tricky images and achieve results that I wouldn’t achieve with the other Lightroom tools that are available.” One great trick if you forget the difference between these tools is to hover your mouse over each of the sliders. When doing so you’ll see a pop-up windows with a brief description of the tool’s purpose and what happens when you move the slider back and forth.

Take the Clarity tool for example. Here the descriptive window informs you that this tool changes the edge contrast of objects; namely, the edges that would be considered to be in focus. And the image on your screen changes in real time as you move the slider in this informative window.

The foregoing also occur when hovering over Texture and Dehaze without manipulating the tools themselves in the Effects panel where you van further refine each modification. With this timesaving trick out of way, Damian then provides practical examples of when, why, and how to employ these transformation tools to make images pop off the screed.

Once the video concludes be sure to visit the Better Pics YouTube channel where you’ll quickly get up to speed on other common shooting and image-editing techniques.

And don’t miss last week’s important explainer with a British pro expert who demonstrates the pros and cons of using Raw and Jpeg file formats for capturing stunning photographs of fast-moving subjects.