Short and Sweet

1. For detailed work in Photoshop -- such as making precise selections with the pen tool -- a Wacom tablet is essential. It takes a few hours to get used to, but once you do, it becomes part of your hand. You don’t need the expensive version nor the large model. I use the inexepnsive 4 x 6 inch size with no bells or whistles.

2. Start making a file of sky pictures to replace unattractive and boring skies. Shoot storm clouds, puffy white clouds on a blue sky, rainbows, lightning, clouds at sunrise and sunset, backlit clouds, etc. Since you have to match a new sky with the landscape or cityscape regarding lighting, you will need a variety.

3. Using more glass, such as a teleconverter or a longer lens, will give you better quality in filling the frame with a distant subject than cropping the image. In this example, the northern hawk owl was cropped only because I didn’t have a longer lens with me (I used a 400mm).

4. When using a flash or a ring flash, it is often desirable to clone out the reflection of the flash in the eyes of your subjects. Enlarge the image to at least 100% so the cloning is done precisely. A catchlight in the eyes is great as long as it looks natural. If it looks artificial, it degrades a nature image. §