editing

What separates the best landscape photographers from the rest of us? And I definitely consider myself one of “the rest of us.”

A major part of the answer, I think, is that the best photographers simply work harder. They’re willing put in the time it takes to get a memorable photograph.

Take a look at the photo above: Adam Schallau was able to capture this gorgeous image by releasing the shutter at just the right time. But how did he get it? We talked to Adam about what he did to achieve it.

A camera's LCD screen can be quite misleading when viewing your images. Often, when you import your images onto your computer they don't look anything like what you originally shot (that is, if you were working with RAW files). In order to get better color out of your images, you'll need to follow a couple of steps. And once you've reached the end, it will be like night and day.

We talked to four of the leading industry professionals to talk about how they get better color. Here are their tips from start to finish:

Lead image is Beached by JCNixonPhoto via the B&H Photo Flickr Group

"You absolutely need to sharpen all of your photos if you're shooting RAW on your DSLR," that's what Matt from Kelby Training says. Sharpening your images will help to make them pop for a more appealing look. As always, balancing is also important to make sure that it isn't overdone. Matt from Kelby Training explains sharpening in the video below in one of the best ways I've ever seen and continues on to explain that we sharpen for the print.

Take a look at the video after hitting the read and discuss button and for more in-depth training please visit Kelbytraining.com. They also have full one day seminars at Kelbytraininglive.com.

The other day, while on a coffee break with two co-workers, I decided to bring along my Canon 5D Mk II and snap photos along the way. The photo on the left was snapped after I rushed in front of the two women seen in the image. However, it was actually terribly underexposed. Here's how I fixed it in Lightroom 3 to look more balanced, and give it a gorgeous look with muted tones.

You don't need extremely high-end editing software to make minor retouches and edits to your photos. In fact, you can still achieve wonderfully pleasing results with something like Adobe Photoshop Elements. Here's a quick run-through that is simple and thorough.

Nikon AF-S DX Micro Nikkor 85/3.5G ED VR

Designed for use with Nikon DX-format (APS-C) imaging sensors, the AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 85/3.5G ED VR covers the angle-of-view (18º) of a 127.5mm short-telephoto lens on a full-frame (24x36mm) DSLR. The new lens focuses down to 10.8" (0.27 m) for sharp, life-size (1:1) reproduction of your subject.