Let There Be Light competition

HDR light trails at sunset on a moody evening at Winnats Pass

Urban Cottage Industries is running a photography competition where photographers need to enter two images on their blog – one showcasing natural light, and a second that shows the use of artificial light. Scroll down to see my two entries for the competition and to read the stories behind the images.

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How to create sunlight in Photoshop

How to create sunlight in PhotoshopLearn how to create sunlight in Photoshop and add it to your landscapes, portraits or automotive shots. Sometimes a bright burst of sunlight can completely transform an image. But what can you do if the sun wasn’t out or in the frame? Add it yourself with this highly effective technique.

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How to remove lens flare in Photoshop

How to remove lens flare in Photoshop

How many times have you shot a killer image at golden hour only to find it practically ruined by ugly lens flare? Learn how to quickly and easily remove lens flare from your landscape images in Photoshop. This is an essential technique for all photographers who often shoot landscapes and cityscapes at sunrise and sunset with the sun in the frame.

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Create surreal motion blur in forest shots

Misty sunrise at Delemere Forest in Cheshire

Learn how to apply a surreal motion blur to forest shots in Photoshop. This technique is hugely popular and can be applied in just a few minutes. All you need is a forest image, ideally taken in interesting lighting conditions, and you’re ready to go.

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Camera kit I use for landscape photography

A long exposure of a moody and dramatic sunset at Hope Cove in South Devon

I often get asked what kit I use for shooting different photographic subjects, and one that comes up regularly is landscape gear. For this type of photography I like to keep things as light as possible because there’s often a lot of walking involved. And if I’m camping as well as hiking, I even take less kit with me – just the bare essentials. Below you’ll see my most essential kit, which is minimal to say the least. But why carry what you don’t need?

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Boost contrast without increasing saturation

How to boost contrast without increasing saturation in portraits

How to boost contrast without increasing saturation. Adjustment Layers in Photoshop are powerful tools, but sometimes using them at face value doesn’t provide the best results. In this tutorial we’ll take a look at how a simple change of Blending mode can make a huge difference to an Adjustment Layer.

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Upload to Instagram from your computer

Windowed Instagram software

If you’ve always wanted to upload images to Instagram directly from your desktop or laptop computer, it’s now possible thanks to a free software program called Windowed. By creating a mobile browser with the sole purpose of accessing Instagram, Windowed essentially tricks Instagram into thinking you’re using a mobile device rather than a computer allowing you to upload. And the great thing is, the software is free to use.

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Make your sunrise and sunset shots pop

How to enhance the colours in sunrise and sunset shots using Photoshop

Learn how to make your sunrise and sunset images pop with this simple colour enhancement technique. By using either natural colour sampled from the image or adding a similar tone selected from the Color Picker in Photoshop, you can make your golden hour shots even more eye-catching while maintaining a natural appearance. 

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How to focus stack images in Photoshop

focus stacking landscape photography

Focus stacking is the perfect way to ensure your landscape shots are pin-sharp from the front of the image, all the way to the back. Learn how easy it is to blend focus stacked images together using Photoshop’s intelligent automated functions. This tutorial focuses on blending landscape images together in Photoshop, with a small amount of shooting advice.

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Roach End Barn Location Guide

Roach End Barn, Peak District

Roach End Barn is a fantastic photography location found at the end of The Roaches on the Staffordshire side of the Peak District. The Roaches is a gritstone edge that is itself a great location for photography with subject matter perfectly positioned for shooting at both sunrise and sunset. This guide focuses on Roach End Barn, but will also get you to The Roaches if you would like to shoot here. 

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