Short and Sweet

1. Shooting from a low perspective makes more powerful wildlife shots. To do that, using a long lens from a distance means the lens will be more parallel to the ground. This makes the shot look like you were photographing from a low angle even if you were elevated in a safari vehicle. 2. Light is not ideal when photographing during the middle of the day. Nevertheless, if you keep the sun at your back such that the subject(s) is front lit, the results can be quite good. This is Nymphenburg Palace in Munich, Germany. Had the sun been behind the structure, this wouldn’t have worked.

3. Low angled sunlight is the key to taking great pictures of landscapes. Make sure you set the white balance on your camera to daylight, however. Auto white balance will ‘correct’ the golden colors we love so much about sunrise and sunset and make the color of the light white. This is not what you want. 4. If you haven’t started building a collection of cloud pictures, start doing so. Great skies can make or break outdoor pictures -- from landscapes to cityscapes and more -- and it’s good to have all kinds of shots of clouds from which you can choose the perfect backdrop. I am constantly adding to my cloud library. §