Dragonflies can look wonderfully cooperative when they are resting on a reed, flower stem, or garden stake. Then, without warning, they launch into the air, change direction almost instantly, hover for a fraction of a second, and land somewhere completely…
How to Photograph Dragonflies
Dragonflies can be surprisingly difficult to photograph. One moment, one is resting perfectly on a reed. Seconds later, it launches into the air, changes direction almost instantly, circles the water, and disappears before your autofocus has decided what to follow….
How to Photograph Butterflies Without Scaring Them Away
Butterfly photography can become frustrating surprisingly quickly. You spot a beautiful butterfly resting on a flower, carefully lift your camera, take two steps closer, and suddenly it disappears. Then you follow it. It lands again. You approach again. Off it…
How to Photograph Butterflies in Flight
Butterflies floating through a summer garden can look graceful and effortless. Photographing them in flight feels very different. One butterfly may suddenly leave a flower, another may cross behind it, while several more move between blooms at completely different distances…
How to Photograph Butterflies
Butterflies seem like perfect photography subjects until you try to photograph one. For a moment, a butterfly rests beautifully on a flower with its wings completely open. By the time you raise the camera and focus, it has moved to…
How to Photograph a Carnival With an iPhone
A carnival can feel almost overwhelming through an iPhone camera. Ferris wheels tower overhead, rides spin in every direction, bright signs compete for attention, people constantly enter the frame, food stands glow beneath colorful lights, and everything seems to happen…
Creative Carnival Photography Ideas
Carnivals are almost designed for photographers. Brightly painted rides spin against the sky. Games are covered in oversized prizes. Food stands glow beneath colorful signs. Children race from one attraction to another, while Ferris wheels rise above the midway and…
Best Camera Settings for Carnival Photography
Carnivals are deceptively difficult to photograph. During one visit, you might encounter brilliant afternoon sun, rapidly moving rides, people walking through deep shade, colorful booths, reflective metal, blinking LEDs, glowing signs, and eventually a scene illuminated almost entirely by artificial…
How to Photograph a Summer Carnival
Summer carnivals and fairs are almost designed for photography. Towering Ferris wheels rise against blue skies, brightly painted rides spin through the frame, food stands glow after sunset, and strings of bulbs transform ordinary fairgrounds into colorful nighttime scenes. Yet…
Summer Photography Ideas Beyond the Beach
When you mention summer photography, the beach usually comes up almost immediately. Ocean waves, colorful umbrellas, footprints in the sand, and brilliant sunsets certainly make beautiful photographs, but they represent only one version of the season. Summer is happening everywhere….
How to Photograph an Outdoor Concert
Outdoor concerts give photographers something indoor performances cannot: an entire evening of changing light. The same performer might begin a set under bright afternoon sun, move through warm golden-hour light, become silhouetted against a colorful sunset, and finish under saturated…
How to Photograph Summer Street Scenes
Summer changes a street’s personality. Sidewalks become busier, café tables move outdoors, storefronts catch brilliant sunlight, children race through sprinklers, bicycles appear everywhere, and long evenings keep neighborhoods active well past dinner. Even an ordinary block can feel completely different…
How to Photograph Summer Rain
Summer rain can completely transform a scene within minutes. Bright pavement becomes reflective, leaves deepen in color, distant buildings disappear behind sheets of water, droplets catch the light, and ordinary streets suddenly have atmosphere. Even better, a summer shower rarely…
Summer Night Photography Ideas
Summer changes after sunset. The harsh brightness of the afternoon disappears, temperatures become more comfortable, lights switch on along boardwalks and patios, fireflies begin appearing over lawns, and ordinary outdoor spaces suddenly take on a completely different atmosphere. That transformation…
How to Photograph Sun Sparkles on Water
Sunlight dancing across water can turn an ordinary lake, ocean, river, fountain, or swimming pool into thousands of brilliant points of light. To your eyes, the effect may look almost magical. Raise the camera, however, and those sparkles can disappear,…
Pool Photography Ideas
A swimming pool can become one of the most visually interesting places to photograph during summer. The water changes constantly, sunlight creates moving patterns, colorful tiles add graphic detail, and even an ordinary ladder or floating object can become part…
How to Photograph Water Splashes
Water can transform from something completely ordinary into an extraordinary photographic subject in a fraction of a second. Drop a strawberry into a glass and water erupts around it. Toss an ice cube into a bowl and tiny droplets hang…
Beach Photography Camera Settings
Beach photography looks simple until you point your camera toward white sand, reflective water, a bright sky, and people moving through waves. Suddenly, exposure becomes more complicated. The sand can fool your camera’s meter. Sunlight sparkling across the ocean can…
