Struggling to get sharp photos of sports and fast-moving subjects? This beginner-friendly action photography guide explains the exact settings, autofocus techniques, and shooting strategies that consistently freeze motion—even with a basic camera and kit lens.

A beginner-friendly guide to photographing the Northern Lights—covering gear, camera settings, and simple tips to capture stunning aurora photos during Wisconsin’s active aurora season.

A practical guide to photographing air shows, covering recommended gear, camera settings, and techniques for capturing fast-moving aircraft from the ground.

You don’t need a tripod or exotic gear to photograph the moon. This guide shows simple camera settings and techniques for capturing sharp moon photos handheld with almost any camera.

What are RAW files, and should you actually be shooting them? This guide breaks down the real differences between RAW and JPEG, explains the tradeoffs, and helps you decide which format makes sense for your photography.

Learn how to freeze ultra-fast motion using manual flash. This guide explains how flash duration becomes your effective shutter speed, allowing you to capture splashes, drops, and other high-speed moments with basic lighting gear.

Perfect exposure doesn’t have to be a mystery. These three simple techniques will help you get consistent, accurate exposure without guessing.

So I had in mind when photographing the Tetons and the Snake River at sunrise that a split grad ND filter might be handy. I brought my Cokin set, which I had purchased many years ago and used before I became a professional photographer. However, I found I was able to do more at higher quality with digital ND filters. In my early days I probably didn't realize that the ND filters reduced the sharpness of the image because I never liked my images enough to call them professiona

Learn how to photograph fireworks with confidence using simple manual camera settings. This beginner-friendly guide covers gear, focus, exposure, and practical tips for capturing sharp, colorful fireworks photos every time.

Every camera setting is subjective, including white balance. Some of the top wedding photographers use auto white balance. Some do custom white balance for every shoot. I used to believe in auto white balance for everything. For the most part, situations are always changing and therefore white balance is always different, so auto helps. But since color temperatures change, so does auto white balance, meaning every image you take could have a slightly different white balance

When I met George Lepp, Canon Explorer of Light, many years ago at a seminar, one of the questions I had then as an amateur was how to create a sun star effect. The answer was pretty straightforward, but I've added some tips. The kicker in the snow scene image is the sun star. To create an effect like this, start with a lens with a wide angle lens like 24 mm or shorter. The longer the lens, the less impact the effect will have. Start with the aperture fully closed, which

Photographing bright white snowy landscapes is one of the trickiest tasks in  photography, if you're a beginner using reflective metering. When everything is white, the camera calculates an exposure that will render it medium gray. The result is often flat and disappointing, unless you know how to correct for it. I did a fun study of snow covering a wooden fence and tree in a field near the Horicon Marsh. I had my trusty Sekonic L-758 incident meter with me. The incident met

Out in a recent snow storm I found the woods near the Horicon Marsh interesting, every branch covered with snow. It was a forest made out of snow. I didn't have a tripod to enable me to shoot a high aperture, but a sharpening trick in CS6 enabled me to get reasonable detail. The obvious element of interest is the blue light. It's a Honl blue color gel on an off-camera flash triggered by a PocketWizard. I did enhance tones and sharpness in CS6 and color, vignetting and contras