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Backpacker Photo School: Light Direction

The way light illuminates a subject can make or break a photo. Learn to use the direction of light to your advantage.

Photography is all about light. The subject is important, sure—but a photo always captures a subject in one particular lighting situation.

Light has two properties: quality and direction. We already talked about one quality of light in our cloudy day lesson. But when it’s not cloudy, direction of light becomes even more important.

Direction of light is defined by its direction in relation to the subject. Light can hit any subject in three basic ways: from the front, side, or behind. Read Full Story...

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Friday, November 13, 2009 in: Backpacker Photo School
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BACKPACKER Photo School: Rule of Thirds

The most talked-about rule of design--the Rule of Thirds--deserves it. Using the rule properly is crucial to making interesting photos.

Ever look a bunch of photos and just feel bored? Most likely the photos were taken with the subject in the center of each shot—the photographer probably used a point-and-shoot and, well, just pointed and shot. But no matter what kind of camera you’re using, there’s the opportunity to craft better photos simply by following the Rule of Thirds.

The point of the Rule of Thirds is to avoid placing the photo’s subject in the center and avoid dividing the photo directly in half. Do this the easy way: Imagine dividing the space in your viewfinder by thirds with imaginary horizontal and vertical lines. Then, place your main subjects along those lines. You can use real objects—the horizon, trees, or anything that creates a separation between two areas—to clearly mark those lines. You can even divide the space with the foreground and background. Read Full Story...

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Thursday, October 22, 2009 in: BACKPACKER Photo School
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BACKPACKER PHOTO SCHOOL: Reader Photos Update!

It’s not too late for fame and glory. That’s right, BACKPACKER is still accepting Reader Photo Contest submissions!

The office has been buzzing with discussions, sometimes heated, about which photos we like best for the Reader Photo Contest. Results will appear in the January 2010 issue, if we can make up our minds before the issue goes to print. You are such good photographers-too many good choices! If you missed the deadline for that contest there are 3 things currently going on that you can send in photos for... Read Full Story...

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Friday, October 16, 2009 in: BACKPACKER Photo School
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Backpacker Photo School: Fall Foliage Expert

New England photographer Paul Rezendes talks about taking his best fall photos, and shares how you can, too

A few weeks ago, we asked you to send your best fall foliage photos for a slideshow. You sent some beautiful images—but we aren’t going to publish that slideshow just yet. First, we’ve asked Massachusetts resident and BACKPACKER contributor Paul Rezendes to help us improve our fall foliage skills. You might know his name from his field guides: Tracking and The Art of Seeing: How to Read Animal Tracks and Sign, and The Wild Within: Adventures in Nature and Animal Teachings. As a professional nature photographer for over 25 years, Paul’s got plenty of experience to share, so we asked him to explain the technique behind four specific photos. Check it out: Read Full Story...

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Monday, October 12, 2009 in: BACKPACKER Photo School
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BACKPACKER Photo School: Taking Perfect Photos on a Cloudy Day

Picture perfect weather doesn't necessarily mean blue skies. Sometimes, when clouds roll in, they make for better shooting weather, and better photos.

Here I’ll show you the benefits to photographing on cloudy days and a couple ways to adjust your shooting so you can take beautiful photos in “interesting” weather.

First off, it’s important to know the benefits of clouds. In the past, if I woke up and saw a white, cloudy sky I used to cancel my plans and snuggle back under the covers. Now that I’ve had some good shooting days with a white sky, I don’t mind clouds. Sure I still want an extra half hour of sleep, but there’s a reason for that: Shooting midday when it’s cloudy doesn’t result in reduced quality like shooting midday in bright weather. So, get that extra sleep, then get on your way to great photos. Here’s what you’re up against, and how to handle it:

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Wednesday, September 16, 2009 in: BACKPACKER Photo School
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BACKPACKER Photo School: 4 Steps to Better Photos

Instantly improve your trip shots with these four simple rules.

Going digital has made it fun and easy to take a million photos—but that’s not always a good thing. If you're not careful, your computer will get filled over and over with multiple versions of the same cluttered snapshot, rather than just the keeper shots you really want.

There are a million rules to composing photos, but you don’t have to memorize them all. One word sums them all up: simplify. Decide what you want take a photo of, and don’t include anything else. Here are four things to think about before clicking that will instantly improve the quality of your trip photos.
1. Timing: Wait for it… Everything about a scene constantly changes as you hike. Sometimes the best thing you can do to take a better photo is wait a few seconds. While hiking in Yosemite this spring, I was on some really crowded trails with 4 friends. It was a challenge to wait for the trail to clear of strangers, but it was well worth it to wait not to have groups of other tourists cluttering the beautiful scenery or taking away from the four subjects I actually wanted in the shot. Other times, I found myself waiting a couple minutes so I can get a sliver of blue sky behind a mountain instead of white cloud. In this example, not only does the blue sky look nicer, but sun lit up the granite and the trees for a more brilliant photo overall.
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Friday, August 21, 2009 in: News and Events, BACKPACKER Photo School
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Backpacker Photo School: Get Your Camera Ready

In the first edition of our new photo skills blog, BP’s senior asst. photo editor shares rule #1 for taking the perfect photo: Always have your camera out. That’s not as easy as it sounds.

In the five years I’ve spent working in Backpacker’s photo department, I’ve seen a lot of amazing shots. And not just from the pros: More and more, our readers are capturing all the right moments, too and more often than not, it’s all about timing.

So, what does it take to grab the perfect shot without a moment’s notice?

The first step is—don’t laugh—to have your camera out. Like a lot of people, I’ve been guilty in the past of carrying my camera up and down mountains without ever even taking it out of my bag. But if you don’t have your camera ready to quick-draw, you’ll be restricted to shooting only when your party takes breaks.

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Friday, August 07, 2009 in: Backpacker Photo School
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