There’s no doubt that beaches are ideal for sunbathing, picnics, swimming, diving, sailing, boating, snorkeling, and scuba diving etc. however, they’re also ideal places to practice several types of photography.

There are so many different types of beautiful beaches to choose from. Some are deserted and tranquil while others are jam packed with people like sardines in a can. The type of beach you take your shots on will produce the mood of the photographs. Isolated and deserted stretches of coastline will definitely create a different feeling in the viewer than a crowded, white sandy beach.

You can take all sorts of shots on beaches, such as portraits, silhouettes, wildlife, macro, seascapes, landscapes, and even documentary photos. And what better place than a beach to capture an amazing or romantic sunset on camera?

Beaches are ideal for creative abstract photography and macro images. As long as you let your imagination run wild you should have no problem coming up with plenty of ideas and topics to shoot. For example, there are footprints in the sand, interesting seashells, old boats, beach huts, seagulls, lighthouses, piers, and the breaking waves. Of course you can always use people as your subject as well.

If you’re looking to create a shallow depth of field in your beach shots you may want to use a telephoto lens and open the aperture up wide. Then you can just zoom in on your topic and focus. If you want to guarantee a clear and crisp image you can get down low and stabilize the camera with whatever’s available.

If you’d like to take portraits at the beach it’s a great place to capture children. In fact, they’ll probably be having so much fun that it might be a hard task to get them to sit still. This is fine though as you can capture them in action as they enjoy the freedom a beach provides.

If you’re going to capture the kids as they tear along the sand and in the water, you’ll need to use a faster shutter speed, perhaps something like 1/400^th of a second.

You might be able to get them to slow down a little bit if you can get them interested in building a sandcastle. You should frame and focus on the child, but you might want to zoom out just enough to include some background to give the image some context.

If you’d like to go for a portrait that’s evenly lit, you can diffuse the stark sunlight falling on your subject’s face by utilizing a t-shirt, beach towel, or white sheet to provide the setting with some shade. You could use a prime lens of 35mm or 50mm and a wide aperture which will allow you to slightly blur your bright background while keeping the person in focus.

The seas’ ebb and flow provides great motion shots and these can be captured by using a tripod and a slow shutter speed. Even when the sun goes down you’ll be able to capture excellent beach shots. Of course, the sunset itself is always worthy of numerous photos and when it’s finally sunk into the sea you can place your subject on the shoreline in front of the horizon and take interesting and dramatic silhouettes.

There are numerous opportunities to be creative and have fun while taking your camera to the beach. Just remember to protect your digital camera from the water and sand and enjoy yourself as much as possible.

You need to be prepared though since you may only have a 30-minute window of opportunity to capture the shots in the evening before it gets too dark.

Some of the most effective photos are taken about 30 minutes before the sunsets and 30 minutes after it sinks in the sky, as the sun will produce some fantastic colors in the darkening sky. You’ll often see the sky turn pink, purple, red, and orange, and these colors can also reflect off of any clouds in the sky.

When it comes to good low-light images the key is long exposures, meaning slower shutter speeds. Another key is a tripod as you’ll need a sturdy one to keep the camera steady.

A tripod allows you to decrease the noise (graininess) in the photos by lowering the ISO speed and it also lowers the sensitivity of the camera. You can open the shutter for as long as you like without having to worry about any camera shake. If you don’t have a tripod then try and find something else steady to support the camera such as a fence or wall.

You can set the ISO at 100 if you have a tripod and start experimenting with shutter speeds between 15 and 20 seconds. If you want a long depth of field you can try the aperture between f9 and f14.

If you’d like to capture the whole scene in front of you then a wide-angle or fisheye lens is a good choice. If you want to focus on a specific scene you can try a zoom lens. If you shoot the photos in the RAW mode you’ll be able to adjust the white balance later if it isn’t to your liking. A remote control shutter release or self timer is also a good option to make sure you don’t accidentally bump the camera when pressing the shutter.

If you don’t have a tripod you’ll likely have to use a higher ISO setting, but this could result in more noise in the photos. If your digital camera has a noise reduction option you can use it as it will be a bit of a help. You can also utilize noise reduction in some photo-editing software programs. When taking the photos, you can try all sorts of shots such as adding interesting foregrounds.

You’ll find you can shoot a wide variety of topics including bridges, buildings, highways, houses, trees, fences, hedges, cliffs, and lighthouses etc.

You can also try some exposure bracketing in low-light landscape photography. This can be done by altering the length of exposure. You’ll be able to see the results instantly in digital photography, so this will enable you to experiment as much as you like until you are thrilled with the results. But just remember you only have so much time before the scene gets too dark to capture.

When your camera batteries get cold their output will be reduced. Try to keep your camera as warm as possible and keep your spare set of batteries in a warm place too. Since your body gives off a good amount of heat it’s not a bad idea to keep extra batteries in your pocket. You may even want to rotate your batteries every once in awhile. To do this, just take the batteries out of the camera and replace them with the warm ones. By doing this your camera will always have relatively warm batteries in it.

While the fluffy white snow can look gorgeous and clean it can sometimes be a bit of a nightmare to photograph. The built-in light meter on your camera often reads a snowy scene as a gray tone of about 18 per cent. The snow may end up looking gray and the rest of the image will be quite dark. You could overcome this by letting more light in the camera by opening up the aperture or slightly over expose the shot.

The problem with this is if there are people in the photo they could be overexposed too. To remedy this get close to the people and take a light reading of their faces. This will allow you to shoot from anywhere and get the proper exposure for their faces. You could also try bracketing your shots by taking them at different exposures.

By taking a few photos of each scene there’s a very good chance that one of them will be just what you’re looking for. You can also use a digital photo editing program to fine tune them and delete the ones that are obviously too under or over exposed.

Remember, when shooting outdoors you’ll need good lighting and the best time of day for this is usually early in the morning and/or late in the afternoon. The sun creates long shadows when it’s at a low angle and this will add contrast to the subject. It’s important to know where the sun is located in relation to the subject. When it’s early or late in the day it’s a good idea to keep the sun at a right angle. When the sun’s high up in the sky you should try to keep it behind you when shooting.

It’s also a good idea to add a little color or something of contrast when shooting a snowy scene. Completely white photos can often be a little boring and hard for the eyes to decipher. There are also many good outdoor sports in winter to practice taking action and sports shots. You’ll find that skiing, snowboarding, and outdoor hockey games are ideal.

As long as you take care of your camera in the cold weather and keep it warm and dry you shouldn’t have any major problems with it. When you take it out of the case the camera lens may fog up, but if you just give it a minute to get used to the temperature all of the glass parts should clear up and you’ll be ready to go.

The trees don’t move, which makes them such an easy subject. You can also shoot them from close up, mid-range, or from a distance. You’ll see a wide range of colors such as red, yellow, purple, orange, green and brown, also in a wide array of different shades.

There are several American states where the annual fall colors are simply stunning. These include the New England region as well as New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Virginia. You’ll also find some gorgeous views in forests across Northern California, the Pacific Northwest, and Utah.

It’s usually not hard to find a suitable location and it’s often interesting to take shots at the same spot to compare the changes in colors as the weeks pass by. As long as there are some hardwood trees in your vicinity and the weather has turned cooler, you should be all set.

Once the days begin to get shorter the trees actually go into a rest mode. During the summer they produce food by the process of photosynthesis. The green color in leaves is caused by chlorophyll. When the autumn comes the chlorophyll will break down and the green color gradually disappears and other colors take over.

You can take shots of the trees at just about any time of the day. However, the most interesting shadows are often created in the morning as well as late afternoon. It’s a good idea to take your photos when your shadow is longer than you actually are. But in reality, each lighting type will offer a different and effective photo opportunity, even when it’s misty, foggy, and cloudy.

It’s generally a good idea to capture the fall colors as soon as possible because it’s impossible to predict how long they’re going to last. They could quickly disappear if a heavy frost hits the region or a big storm. The colors usually diminish during a frost and a storm could blow the leaves from the trees pretty quickly.

Many photographers like to use polarizing filters when they capture the fall colors as they can enrich and darken the blue in the sky as well as cut down glare created by water. This can be useful if you’re attempting to reflect the color of the leaves in nearby water. If you’d like to enrich the yellow and red colors in the photos you can try using intensifying or enhancing filters.

The closer you get to the leaves you’ll notice that most of them have small tears or holes in them. However, these aren’t visible from a distance. In addition, you should also keep your eye out for distractions in your images such as wires and telephone poles.

Of course you can always take photos of people as well when you’re capturing the beauty of the colourful leaves. It’s common for people to rake the leaves into a pile and then take shots as children are playing in them or throwing them up into the air. Remember, that fall colors don’t always last too long and they only come once a year. Don’t miss the opportunity to capture some glorious images or you’ll have to wait for the calendar to turn its pages to next autumn.

The reason these hours are so popular is because at these times of the day the sunlight possesses a very warm and soft look to it that isn’t found at any other time. The sun looks different at this time because most of the light it radiates is actually indirect since it is reflecting through the atmosphere instead of coming directly from the sun. In addition, it creates longer shadows and enables photographers to use more artistic expression.

Since the lighting from the sun is indirect the shadows are also less harsh and dark as they are at other times of the day, such as mid-day. This means they won’t conceal some of the critical elements of your photo’s subject. When the sun is located directly overhead you will often lose quite a bit of detail in your images due to the shadows created by the overhead light.

The lighting is generally softer and warmer in hue. More blue light will be scattered and the sunlight will appear to be more red in color. The shadows are longer because of the sun’s angle in relation to the horizon. The type of lighting the sun gives off depends on its altitude. This means it’s not always the same all over the world. The golden hour will depend on the latitude of a location as well as the time of year it is.

In some areas of the world it’s possible that the golden hour can actually last for the whole day during certain seasons of the year.

When the sun is directly overhead and the shadows are harsh and dark, many photographers will use fill flash, especially if taking portraits. This method will balance the lighting across their subject’s body or face and fill in the strong shadows with light.

There is less contrast in the golden hours and it’s less likely that any part of your image will be overexposed. You’ll also notice in landscape photography that the low sun’s warm color will often enhance the scene. The golden hour is often used by directors when they are filming movies because of the lighting effect it provides.

However, not all photographers agree on when the golden hour is. Some consider it to be the time when the Sun is close to the horizon, but above it. Other people believe it is the time frame between sunset and darkness. This is when the sun lies below the horizon, such as during twilight.

Lighting provided by the sun in twilight each morning and evening is quite a bit different from the light that comes when the sun is above the horizon. The time of twilight is often referred to as the blue hour.

While some prefer to work with people, others enjoy the stillness and quietness of nature, and so they opt for landscape pictures.

When trying to find the perfect technique to make landscape pictures, you might want to experiment a little with depth. The majority of the photographers would like to get as much of the landscape in focus as possible.

To achieve the results that you wish for, you should choose a small aperture setting. The smaller the aperture, the greater the depth of the photos will be.

Another effect of the small aperture is that there will be less light hitting the light sensor, and this is why you might have to adjust the ISO by increasing it or making the shutter speed longer. In some cases you might need both of these methods.

As you can see, the longer shutter speed will make up for the small aperture, but this also means that you will have to hold the camera completely still while taking the photo. To hold the camera still, you could really use a tripod, but a cable or wireless shutter release mechanism might also add an extra stillness to the process.

It is a golden rule of the art of photography for the pictures to have a focal point. This rule also applies to landscape photography, because this way the eye will find something to rest on. Otherwise the picture will be quite empty and the eye will simply wonder through and move on really quickly.

Focusing a bit on the foregrounds might add depth to the photo and this way you will also make it possible for those who see the picture to get absorbed by the image.

Another element of nature that you shouldn’t forget about is the sky. In case you don’t focus a bit either on the foreground or the sky, the landscape can be the most interesting you have ever seen but the picture will still end up being boring.

An important element to consider when capturing landscape pictures is to lead the eye of the viewer. The focus on the foreground is only one method to achieve this. Another good idea is to use some lines that lead into the image. These lines offer depth and scale to the picture through the patterns in the shot.

Although sometimes nature seems to be still and passive, in many cases it changes, it moves, it lives. Those are the best pictures that are able to capture this movement. To manage adding life to the picture, try using a longer shutter speed.

This means that there will be more light hitting the light sensor and so you will have to use a smaller aperture. You could also use some kind of filter or shoot in a moment when there is less natural light.

It makes plenty of sense to use a tripod when taking night sky pictures. It helps keep the camera still as the exposure time is generally long due to the light conditions. One can also use a shutter release cable as it further reduces the chances of camera movement.

You can opt for either a stationary camera or a driven camera. The stationary camera is placed on a tripod and the focus is set on infinity.

Due to the rotation of Earth, exposures longer than 30 seconds will show stars as streaks. You may need to be careful about the exposure time to get clearer pictures.

This technique suits the clicking of bright comets, artificial satellites and meteors. You will need a fast film and the exposure time should be within 5-30 minutes for clear pictures.

A driven camera gives the best results for night sky pictures as it is basically attached to a mount with a motorized drive system. It is quite similar to the ones used in telescopes.

For detailed celestial pictures of Moon, star clusters, planets, galaxies and nebulae, you could try the double mount technique. The camera is focused through a telescope to get a better and clearer view.

You can also try and use a coupling device to attach the telescope to the camera and make it easier to shoot pictures.

Black and white film is a great option if you are trying to shoot the moon against the night sky, but it will not serve the purpose if you are interested in clicking the planets and colored stars.

The night sky is a constantly changing subject and the right techniques and practice will result in spectacular pictures of it.

The background is very important for this type of shot. The rainbows are not solid so they will have to be captured on a background that will enhance their appearance.

Ideal for this purpose would be a blurry background filled with dark colors (dark clouds, mountains, rocks). There are situations in which you cannot change the background but you can modify the angle from which you take the shot, focusing it on the part of the rainbow visible on the best background.

The composition of this type of picture will require a lot of attention. The rainbow is a spectacular phenomenon but the surroundings can enhance its beauty.

As positioning goes, it is very important to accurately frame the rainbow and the scenery inside your picture. Consider the main attraction points and keep in mind the rules of the composition.

The space limits of the rainbow – the places where the rainbow reaches the earth and the sky – are very important and you must capture them inside the photo.

Lenses used for such a photo can be very different. You can experiment using several types so you can see which one gives the best result. The wide angle lenses can offer you very impressive images but also the focalization on a certain point. The focus must be placed on the points where the rainbow intersects different composition elements.

You must offer a lot of attention to the subject. The background is underlining it but capturing the rainbow in a flawless picture will draw attention on certain elements from the background creating an even more interesting picture.

Multiple rainbows are a rare event. If you happen to come across one or to meet a rainbow that has an extra layer, make sure you capture both and your picture will become even more spectacular.

If you own a polarizing filter, try and experiment with it and see what kind of effects you get. In the picture will appear different color saturations, reflections or contrast levels which can influence the image and underline the rainbow.

You should know that some apertures can have a small impact on the rainbow. If you choose a small aperture, the image will have a larger depth bringing the subject even more in the center of attention.

When shooting the landscape, the camera must be steady and this is even more important when you capture a rainbow. So remember to take a tripod with you when you go hunting for rainbows.

1. Chile
This South American country lies between the Pacific Ocean and Andes Mountains. It offers some of the most spectacular landscapes on the planet. There are glacier regions in the south and the north features the Atacama Desert.

The nation’s scenery and climates are very diverse as it’s filled with wonderful volcanoes, forests, lakes, glaciers, islands, inlets, canals, and fiords. In addition, the beautiful Easter Island and its abundance of archaeological sites belong to Chile, making it a photographer’s dream come true.

2. Australia
Australia is deceivingly large and is the only country in the world to also be a continent. There’s so much countryside and outback here because most of the population resides in half a dozen major cities. This leaves the rest of the land to be explored by the likes of photographers.

You’ll find colourful coral reefs and ocean waters, white sandy beaches, lush rainforests, the rugged outback and mountains, desert land and some amazing wildlife.

3. Nepal
This small nation is nestled in the Himalayas and has plenty to offer to landscape photographers. This includes majestic mountains, winding rivers, lakes, and plenty of snow in some regions. Every corner you turn offers new and exciting scenery.

4. Holland
This choice might surprise some people. But this small nation tucked away in Europe provides excellent natural beauty in both the countryside and in its towns and cities. The land is filled with picturesque canals, dykes, lakes, forests, dunes, and national parks. The architecture is tremendously appealing and the large city of Amsterdam exudes small-town charm.

5. New Zealand
New Zealand is largely uninhabited, unspoiled, and unpolluted, making it another ideal location for taking shots of the land’s natural beauty. There are plenty of beaches, glaciers, rivers, mountains, fiords, islands, and geysers, to keep you busy for days on end.

Most people lift their cameras to their faces and shoot away. However, if you get down to a lower level you might be able to make the landscape more interesting and it can make your image stand out because you’ll be getting a different view of the scene.

You might also want to tilt the camera forward as this will allow you to take a shot of the location that’s sitting immediately in front of you. It will also keep the remaining landscape in the image, but more in the background.

If you’re in a forest or tall grass or flowers you may want to get right down to grass level and actually take your photo through it. This will make it appear that you’re right in the middle of the landscape.

It’s a good idea to look for some contrast. If you can include some strong elements of shadow and light for instance, it can create a very stunning effect.

If there’s an object that will allow you to frame the image naturally, go for it. Taking a photo of the landscape through an archway, open door, or glassless window can make the image a lot more dramatic.