Flowers provide a unique range of colors, tone, texture, and other attributes that make them perfect subjects. In fact, it is in the details of these attributes that we find ourselves inspired. To prove it, we’ve curated a collection of inspirational macro flower photos that we’d like to share with you. For those interested in taking a more hands-on approach, we’ve also put together a list of tips and the gear you’ll need to practice macro flower photography.  Here’s what we’ll cover in this article:

• Macro Flower Photography Gear
• Tips for Optimal Macro Flower Photography
• Macro Flower Picture Inspiration

The Gear You’ll Need for Macro Flower Photography

While you can’t overstate the importance of education when it comes to exploring new territory, there’s also something to be said about the gear you use on your journey, especially when it comes to macro photography. A number of point-and-shoot cameras offer a macro “mode,” which can get the job done, but I’d like to encourage you to explore other modes (such as aperture priority or manual mode) as they’ll give you more creative control along the way. This might require an upgrade in gear, but use what you have available until you’re ready to take the next step.

Camera (DSLR or Mirrorless) for Macro Flower Photos

Most DSLR or newer mirrorless cameras offer more creative control in terms of exposure, stability, file type, and more. Here are a few great, hi-res options from Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Fujifilm.

Macro Lens Choice for Flowers

First, know that you can capture macro-style photos without a macro lens, using distance or other techniques. For example, you might photograph a flower from a close distance with a longer distance between the flower and the background in order to achieve a shallower depth of field; however, a dedicated macro lens or extension tube will simplify the process and offer more creative options. The focal length of macro lenses varies, but the wider the angle, the closer you’ll have to get to the flower. 100mm (or its equivalent if you’re using a crop sensor camera) is a good go-to focal length. Consider some of these lens options that we’ve reviewed at SLR Lounge:

• Canon RF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS Lens
• Nikon Z MC 50mm f/2.8 Macro Lens
• Sigma 70mm f2.8 DG Macro ART Lens
• Fuji Fujinon XF 60mm f/2.4 R Macro Lens

Tripod

A tripod is handy but not absolutely necessary. A tripod will give you the ability to capture sharp images at lower shutter speeds. However, if your scene has plenty of light, then you may not need one.

When shooting close up, motion becomes more exaggerated. Even with image stabilization in the camera and lens, you still risk camera shake, and the last thing you want to do is spend any significant amount of time setting up a shot only to have it come out blurry and destined for the digital trash bin. You can help eliminate (or at least minimize) camera shake by placing your camera on a quality, sturdy tripod.

Lighting

Natural light can work, but a ring light or off-camera flash will come in handy when ambient lighting is less than desirable. You will need to modify the lighting.

Spray Bottle

The unsung hero of macro photography, spray bottles work well for adding a touch of mist to flowers for additional texture.  Combined with angled light, the water droplets created from the spray bottle add texture and interest to a macro flower image.

Tips for Shooting Macro Flower Photography

Focus on Composition

Whether you’re photographing buildings, people, or flowers, you should begin setting up your shot with an emphasis on composition.

For macro flower photography, consider compositional theories like the rule of thirds, depth of field, balance, symmetry, leading lines and other compositional tools to help you create a visually compelling composition.

Ensure You Have a Focal Point

Focus is always important, but it’s especially important in this genre. Use manual or autofocus to pinpoint the exact area of the flower you want to highlight. If the depth of field is too shallow, for example, make adjustments (via stopping down the aperture or by increasing your distance from the flower) until you can see in detail the areas of the flower you want in focus.

Find Unique Angles & Perspectives

Storytelling is key in photography, even when photographing flowers. Capture wide, medium, and tight angles so that you can put together cohesive sequences (perhaps in a blog, social media post, or album). Shoot each of these angles from a different perspective (top-down over the flower, side angle, or underneath the flower, looking up toward the sky) to add visual interest.

Shoot at the Ideal Times

Early morning or late afternoon (perhaps golden hour) sessions work best for getting softer, more pleasant light. Try to avoid the harsh, midday sunshine, if possible; otherwise, look for shade or use a reflector or scrim to diffuse and soften the light falling onto the flower(s). If using natural light, position yourself so that the natural light creates subtle directional light when it falls across the flower. Otherwise, position your flashes (and your camera) in a way that allows you to create directional light.

Use the Right Camera Settings

• Use Depth of Field with Intention – It’s really quite simple. Opt for a shallow depth of field (f/1.2-f/4) if you want to focus on key elements and blur out the rest of the flower’s surface; otherwise, dial your aperture in to f/11 and up to capture a broader range of detail in the image.
• Use a High Shutter Speed – Unless you’re indoors with absolutely no breeze, there’s a good chance the flowers you are photographing are going to blow in the wind and/or move a bit. Along with a tripod, you can dial in your shutter speed to a faster setting (1/200 or faster) to help freeze the action and eliminate camera shake.
• Use a Low ISOs – To maximize image quality, photograph your macro flower photography at low ISOs. Some cameras have better low light performance than others, but in general, try to keep your ISOs at 800 and below.

Mind Your Backdrops

Unlike other genres of photography, macro photography makes it very easy to control the background, especially for those super tight closeup shots. The focus typically falls on the shallower side while backgrounds blur into oblivion.  According to Photography-raw.com, “In a macro image, especially concerning an insect, unless you go for stacking, there will be large unfocused parts.”

Please note, however, that you should still be mindful of any distracting elements in the background and opt for a clean backdrop. You can even use a piece of paper or some other surface of your choosing to create a unique backdrop.

Shoot in RAW

Shoot in RAW (rather than jpeg) to allow for more dynamic edits. For more information about the benefits of shooting in RAW, see our article on RAW vs JPEG.

Macro Flower Photography Inspiration

Without further ado, let’s jump into a collection of inspirational macro flower photography portraits, featuring talented and award-winning artists from around the world.

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed this collection of inspirational macro flower photography portraits. The list is not exhaustive, of course, but hopefully serves as a starting point to encourage you to further explore this unique genre of photography.

Action Photography Video Demo

In this article/video, we’ll start by showing you what to avoid for capturing an action photography shot, and then we’ll go through the artistic process of finding better picture angles to get to our final image. We cover these concepts and more for all cameras, including smartphones, in our Creative Photography 101 Course.

6 Steps to Better Action Photography

Avoid the “Walk Up” Shot

Before we get into the steps for capturing an exciting action photography shot, let’s talk about walk up shots and how to avoid them. To illustrate, we began this session by capturing a walk up shot of our model Derek doing a backflip on the beach. The shot is framed well enough, but the background is distracting and the picture angle is average at best. Unfortunately, this is the picture angle that most people would use when walking up with their smartphones or cameras to capture the action.

Use a Wide Angle Lens for Action Photography

First, lens choice. As a general rule, you want a lens that is as sharp and fast as possible. Depending on what you are shooting, you are likely going to want something that can get close to the action. If you are shooting a sport like baseball, hockey, soccer, football, or anything else with a large playing surface, your best bet is to purchase or rent a fast zoom lens such as a 70-200mm f2.8 or something similar. If you have good lighting, there are quite a few options for longer telephoto lenses that won’t break the bank but that will still provide great images.

For non sports action photography, start building your action photography shot by using a wide angle lens, such as a 15-35mm lens at 15mm, which will allow you to move in closer and actually get into the action. 

Basically remember:

• Large playing surface = Use a zoom lens to get close to the action.
• Smaller playing surface = Move around!

Action Photography Composition

Rather than relying on a perfect background, we can look for creative picture angles that use available objects in our favor. For this shot, I chose to lie on the ground and shoot toward the sky, incorporating the palm trees that the model used to launch into a backflip. The trees (along with the sand that I’ll introduce later) serve as a thematic element for the beach, but they also help frame the subject, leaving plenty of negative space in the blue sky to highlight the backflip and make the model’s outfit pop against the background.

Pro Tip: Snap a reference shot. Ask your subject (or an assistant) to step in while framing your shot so that you don’t have to repeat the action because you didn’t frame it properly.

Whenever your subjects are moving in a direction, a basic rule of photography is to leave room in the direction the subject is moving. This rule is important because the viewer’s eyes are naturally drawn from the subject to whatever the subject is looking at or facing. If the subject is facing the edge of the frame, it leaves the viewer wondering where the subject is looking. Furthermore, if the subject is moving toward the end of the frame, it leaves the viewer wondering where the subject is going, leading the attention off of the image. Lastly, if the subject is moving toward the edge of the frame, the subject can seem confined and enclosed. As always, showing is more effective than explaining, so as you view these images, imagine how they would look if the subjects were cropped at the other end of the frame.

Shot at the 2009 University of Utah vs. San Diego State Football Game in San Diego, CA on a Canon 40D with a 70-200mm f/2.8L Zoom Lens at 1/250 f/2.8 ISO 400

Shot at the Summit House in Fullerton, CA on a Canon 40D with a 70-200mm f/2.8L Zoom Lens at 1/400 f/2.8 ISO 200

Dial In Your Exposure Settings

Before you cue the action, make sure to dial in your exposure settings. If you aim to freeze the action, prioritize your shutter speed and then adjust your ISO and aperture until you get a balanced exposure. Ideally, you want to maximize your dynamic range to maintain as much of the highlights and shadows as possible. You can enable the highlight alert and use the histogram to help ensure that you’re not blowing out any highlights on your subject’s skin. I like to use live view for this step.

Pro Tip: Set your camera to burst mode (or some similar high-speed setting) so that you can shoot through the action as it unfolds and choose the best frame for your final image.

Lock Your Focus

You don’t want your camera to hunt for focus during your action photography, so lock in your focus ahead of time. For this shot, I set the focus on the model’s head while he stood by for the reference shot and then enabled the focus lock feature on my camera. You can also switch the lens to manual focus.

Cue the Action and Add Variations

All that’s left at this point is to cue the action and capture the shot. After looking at my initial capture, I liked the results, but I wanted to see how it’d look if I added another visual element. I decided to throw sand over the subject during the flip, which you can see in the final images below.

Pro Tip: I would recommend exercising caution when photographing at the beach, especially when playing with sand. Cameras and sand don’t mix well!

Final Images

Before

After

Settings for the Final Image: 15-35mm at 15mm, 1/2000, f/4, ISO 100 | Edited with Visual Flow Presets > Mood Pack > Hard Light

What Kind of Motion Should You Show?

There are two approaches to photographing motion. You can freeze the motion in progress or you can capture it in a manner that shows the motion. If you choose that option, there are two ways to do it. You can either allow motion blur into the photograph, or you can pan along with your subject and blur the background to indicate motion.

Motion Blur for Action Photography

To introduce motion blur to a photo, simply lower the shutter speed enough that the sensor picks up a bit of your subject’s movement. You can simply take the photo as you follow your subject with your camera and with a slower shutter speed they will leave “trails” as they progress through their motion. Or, if you know where your subject is going to end up (like a runner at the finish line or a baseball player at home plate, etc.) you can pre-focus on where they will end up and snap the picture as they move into the frame. This will also capture the motion while helping provide a sense of action to the shot. Another fun way to be creative with this is to use a slower shutter speed that shows motion blur while turning your flash on in rear curtain sync mode. This will fire your flash at the end of the exposure capturing both the motion trails and a relatively sharp capture of your subject.

Freezing Motion in Action Photography

This might actually be one of the simplest pieces of the puzzle! Freezing motion is all about getting your shutter speed high enough that the camera doesn’t show the movement. Depending on what you are shooting, you might have to get shutter speeds up into the thousandths of a second! Of course, when doing this, you have to be in an area that has excellent, bright lighting. Obviously, the shutter isn’t open very long in these cases so, the more available light in this case, the better.

Conclusion

As photographers, we really have no excuse for capturing uninteresting photos. Most everyone has access to quality cameras these days, even using their smartphones. Where people tend to come up short is technique. As you can see here, putting in a little creative effort can go a long way to build a worthwhile action photography shot.

If you’d like to dive deeper into your photography education and exercise your creativity side, our latest course, Creative Photography 101, provides frameworks for training your creativity so that you can stop settling for boring photos.

Oh, and we travel photographers want it to all fit in our budget, of course! Simply put, it is a never-ending challenge, because better and better cameras keep coming out, and in smaller and smaller packages. That is a very good thing, of course; thankfully technology is advancing very rapidly and providing us with excellent options. Today, more than ever before,  get can expect professional capability out of a camera that is nearly pocket-sized!

As a long time photographer and very frequent flier, I have owned several DSLRs, mirrorless systems, and even medium & large format cameras, as well as “Point & Shoot” cameras. If you’re like me, you WANT to “bring it all” when you travel. Unfortunately, if you bring all of the biggest, most exotic lenses, you might seriously regret having to carry around so much weight!

If you value your travel experience itself, the adventures, and the vacation/holiday memories themselves, the smart thing is to invest in a dedicated travel camera. The balance of portability and performance will allow you to capture beautiful images, and return with equally vivid, fond memories of the experience itself.

What Makes The Best Camera For Travel Photography?

Just like I stated in the Best Landscape Photography Camera article, the best camera for travel photography isn’t necessarily the best choice for all types of photography. Many high-performance features will be less important, depending on the exact subjects you’re photographing. Other features or specifications, however, are more important when traveling.

Big cameras like the Canon EOS R3, Nikon Z9, or Sony A9 II might be “flagship” cameras that are excellent choices for professional photography, but there are many better-suited (and more affordable) cameras for you to bring with you on your travels.

Basically, when traveling, most photographers (and all content creators) will not need a “flagship” camera. What you’ll need is something small and lightweight, that gives you full manual control, has decent image quality and resolution, and has a good variety of zoom lenses with similar qualities. (Portable, good image quality…)

Last but not least, you’ll want a camera that can survive the elements! Who knows where you and your camera will be next; the extremely hot, dry desert, or the humid, cold, rain of the UK or Newfoundland? Either way, you’ll want to have a camera and lenses that offer good weather-sealing.

Of course, this does create a slight catch-22: Beware, because many of the small, compact, and affordable cameras are aimed at beginners, and they may not have weather sealing or durable build quality at all. Furthermore, they may only offer a restrictive level of manual control that will leave serious photographers a bit frustrated.

For this reason, we pay very special attention to exactly which cameras are the best for travel photography!

Today, we’ve compiled multiple lists of cameras that you can trust to deliver the performance, features, and image quality for your travel photography needs. HINT: the list you’ll want to focus on will depend on very basic things such as, will your travel photography mostly involve pictures of people, wildlife, or landscapes/cityscapes?

Remember, these are just lists; for more information about the strengths and weaknesses of a specific camera, read our reviews of those camera!

[Related Reading: 5 Useful Photography Travel Tips From A Pro]

What Features To Look For In A Good Travel Photography Camera

We have agreed that the best travel camera is one that combines portability, performance, reliability, image quality, and obviously, value/price. A more subtle aspect is this: a good travel camera doesn’t get in the way of you enjoying your adventure! Indeed, the best camera for travel photography is one that allows you to capture great images AND create lasting memories.

Here are the key features you should be aware of when picking a travel camera

1. Price – Obviously, value is important. Thankfully, there are a lot of cameras that offer excellent performance and features at an affordable price.
2. Portability – While we may want the control and quality of a giant flagship camera, and the range of a whole bag full of exotic lenses, the optimal cameras and lenses for travel photography are small and lightweight, yet still pack a punch.
3. Image Quality & Resolution (Megapixels) – A high-megapixel camera with a large full-frame sensor will give you a more detail image, allowing you to crop in more without reducing much quality. However, a smaller ASPC or Micro Four Thirds sensor will still offer you excellent image quality, in a significantly more portable package!
4. Weatherproofing – This one is very important for most, but not all, travelers. You may one day find yourself atop a snow-packed mountain, or in the middle of a rainstorm, a dust storm… Just about the only subject you shouldn’t worry about is hot lava. (Stay away from that stuff, no matter how cool the “influencers” make it look!) 

   

5. Underwater Camera? – Some folks may be adventurous enough to try and create content underwater! In this case, you’ll have to  consider a camera that can go underwater, or a watertight case for your existing camera.
6. User-Friendly – This is a difficult one: You want a camera that is intuitive and easy to use, but you also don’t want a camera that is so “beginner friendly” that it restricts your needs for manual control and performance.
7. RAW Image Files – Raw files capture the image data without any editing applied, as opposed to JPG images, and this provides you with a larger file that contains much more information. This gives you more control over your final edits, but it also requires a little more work in post-production. (Beginners can always use RAW+JPG!)

   

8. Stabilization – Some cameras can provide a stabilization feature to compensate for your shaking hands, or slower shutter speeds. This can be incredibly useful when photographing low-light scenes at times when a tripod is not an option. Many cameras have built-in sensor-based stabilization, and some cameras can even combine sensor and lens-based stabilization for maximum stability! Also, video-oriented cameras can use sensor cropping to offer truly stunning, stabilized video footage.
9. Video – Virtually all photography and “hybrid” cameras today have the ability to record excellent 4K video, and some cameras like the Canon R5, Sony A1, and Nikon Z8 can capture 8K video and/or RAW video! This is much more than most folks will ever need, however, if you’re specifically a travel vlogger, or you create high-end travel/outdoor videos and/or time-lapse, you’ll have to closely compare video specs, of course.
10. Interchangeable Lenses vs Fixed Lens– Most of the best cameras for travel photography are mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras. This is because they offer the widest variety of lens options, from wide-angle to telephoto. Even if you’re traveling with just one lens that never leaves your camera, this is probably your best option!
    However, There are a few excellent cameras with fixed (zoom) lenses that create a very unique offering: The Sony RX100 series, for example, is a truly pocket-sized camera with the performance of a large pro camera, and an incredible 24-200mm equivalent f/2.8-5.6 zoom lens! Oppositely, for those who may be doing lots of telephoto wildlife photo/video, for example, there is the much larger Nikon P950 and P1000 cameras, which offer super-telephoto zoom lenses with jaw-dropping focal lengths such as 2000mm and 3000mm! (No, those aren’t typos!)

    

11. Wifi / Bluetooth Mobile Device Connections – Most cameras have the ability to connect directly to your mobile device and transfer either JPG or even raw image files! This allows you to transfer and share images immediately while traveling, which is especially important if you are on social media, and/or don’t have easy access to your main computer.
12. Battery Life & USB Charging – When you travel around the world, it’s great to have a camera with long-lasting battery life! Also, inevitably, finding the right power outlet adapter and/or charger can be tricky, and we have a work-around for you. Most all cameras now allow USB charging, so you don’t have to worry about finding the right outlet adapter; all you need is a large (Anker etc) USB battery pack. Just remember to check your camera’s exact charging specifications; some only accept USB-PD with the highest-power voltage, while others may only charge very slowly with regular USB.
13. Image Backups and Recovery –  Making regular backups of photos is a must, yet it’s not always practical to get out your laptop computer and perform a full download & backup workflow. For this reason, we try to only recommend cameras that have two memory card slots, which allow you to record raw images to both cards and create a backup you can keep in your pocket or somewhere safe as your travels continue. As a last resort, it is always good to fully understand proper photo recovery procedure in case you accidentally format a memory card while traveling, or one starts “going corrupt”…

Let’s Look At The Best Cameras For Travel Photography

These recommendations are based on our own experience using and traveling with these cameras.  (We aren’t just pulling a “Top 10” list from popular retailers!) Simply put, these are all systems we’d recommend to our friends and family to take when them on their travels, because we have been traveling with them ourselves and loved the experience.

First, let’s get right to the overall list. Then, we will suggest individual cameras in different categories based on the types of photography you’re doing, and/or your budget:

• Sony a6700
• Fujifilm X-S10 / Fujifilm X-S20
• Olympus (OM Systems) OM-5
• Fujifilm X-T4 / Fujifilm X-T5
• Sony RX100 VII
• Leica Q3
• Panasonic Lumix G100
• Panasonic Lumix DC-ZS80
• Nikon P950 (Ultra-telephoto super-zoom)
• OM Systems Tough TG-7 (Waterproof)
• GoPro Hero Series (Waterproof, “indestructible”)

Best Travel Cameras On A Budget

Okay so we’ve got a great list of travel cameras, but what if your biggest requirement is staying within a budget? Lets figure out which cameras provide some incredible performance, but won’t break your bank…

• Nikon Z50, ($806+) Nikon Zfc ($856+)
• Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV ($699+)
• Fujifilm X-S10 ($899+)
• Panasonic Lumix G100 ($497.99)
• OM Systems Tough TG-7 ($549) (Waterproof)
• GoPro Hero ($349+) (Waterproof, “indestructible”)

Thankfully, quite a few excellent cameras fall into the “around $500” range, or at least the “under $1,000” range. Mirrorless camera bodies will require an additional purchase of a lens, of course, but in every case there is a highly affordable option.

Either way, we chose these cameras specifically because they are a great balance of not just affordability, but also image quality and durability, the two most important things for any travel photographer. For more specialized recommendations, read on!

Best Cameras for Travel Photography (People & Events)

Whether you are a serious professional who already owns a bunch of high-end portrait photography gear, or you are a hobbyist who is looking to only own one camera, there are excellent options for capturing beautiful photos of people, whether posed portraits or candid, journalistic moments…

• Sony A6700 ($1298) – With the most diverse range of portrait lenses on the market, Sony’s premier APSC camera gets our highest recommendation. We are especially fond of portrait lenses such as the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 and , as well as wide-angle photojournalism lenses such as the Sony 15mm f/1.4 G. Also, Sony’s face & eye autofocus is the best in the industry.
• Fujifilm X-S20 ($799.95) – With an incredible value, the Fuji X-S20 (and the X-S10 for a tighter budget) is one of the only cameras under $1,000 with stabilization, a very useful feature for all candid photographers. Pair this camera with a portrait lens such as the
• Sony A7C II ($2,198) – For those with an expansive budget, the ultimate in portability and image quality is a full-frame mirrorless camera, of course. Sony’s compact, decently priced A7C II, plus the even more affordable Sony A7C, ($1,598) both provide access to the incredible array of Sony (and third-party) E-mount lenses, from the ultra-compact Samyang 75mm f/1.8 to the highly exotic Sony 50mm f/1.2 GM.

The above cameras, and just as importantly their lens systems, offer an excellent library of lenses available for all types of portrait and candid photography. We recommend having at least one fast-aperture prime in your camera bag, of course, whether it is a wide-angle, standard, or telephoto/portrait prime, to accompany your standard all-around travel zoom lens.

Best Cameras for Travel Photography (Wildlife & Action)

Once again, we are going to make a couple recommendations that are based more on the lenses available than the cameras themselves. Indeed, aside from a camera’s autofocus capability and shooting speed & buffer, wildlife photography and most action sports are all about the lenses!

• Sony A6700 ($1,398) – Continually at the top of many of our lists, this camera provides the best-in-class autofocus performance with face & eye detection for virtually all imaginable types of animals. Also, the lenses available are truly the best in terms of portability & telephoto range, from the lightweight & compact Tamron 70-300mm, to the super-telephoto Tamron 150-500mm and Sigma 150-600mm.
• Canon EOS R8 ($1,299) – Known for its amazing lenses just as much as (or more than) the camera bodies, Canon’s EOS R8 benefits from an incredible array of lenses that are perfect for travel photographers who are always capturing distant subjects of any type. There are the compact, affordable, excellent telephoto/superzooms such as the Canon RF 24-240mm and 100-400mm. Also, there are some truly exotic, unique lenses such as the Canon RF 600/800mm’s, and the Canon RF 200-800mm.
• Fujifilm X-H2S ($2,299) – Not to be outdone by either Canon or Sony, Fuji’s flagship action camera offers a complete host of features such as dual card slots, blazing fast speed, and a fully professional control layout, in a relatively portable package. There’s good news and bad news: the bad news is that this camera is a “compact flagship”, at about #2.3K. The good news is that Sigma and Tamron are helping you out with budget concerns, making many of their excellent telephoto zooms available on the X-mount.
• Nikon P950 ($796) – Although Nikon’s compact mirrorless system is  impressive, it’s still in its early stages. Plus, we can’t pass up the opportunity to recommend this truly mind-boggling telephoto zoom lens (built-in) camera! The Nikon P-series in general has offered staggering telephoto reach, equivalent to 2,000mm with the Nikon P950 and 3,000mm with the Nikon P1000. There is simply no other camera or lens that offers these focal lengths, let alone in such a portable, affordable package!

Best Cameras for Travel Photography (Landscapes, Cityscapes, & Nightscapes)

If your travels take you to places because of the beautiful landscapes, cityscapes, seascapes, etc, …then you’ll be looking for a polar-opposite set of lenses, of course. Thankfully, some of the same cameras will make an appearance in this list, but for very different reasons…

• Sony A6700 ($1,398) – Once gain at the top of a list, the A6700 is here for very different reasons: The sensor itself offers incredible dynamic range for those epic sunset/sunrise scenes, and the wide-angle lens selection is by far the biggest of any compact camera platform. If you photograph traditional scenes, ultra-wide zooms such as the Sony 10-20mm PZ are fantastic for photo+video content creators, while the the Sigma 10-18mm f/2.8 is an incredible value at a mere $599. Alternatively, if you photograph nightscapes such as the Milky Way, Sony’s 11mm f/1.8 is amazing, while the Sigma 10-18mm f/2.8 and Tamron 11-20mm f/2.8 are highly versatile options.
• Fujifilm X-T5 ($1,699) – For the most serious, adventurous photographers who want a truly flagship-style camera in a portable package, the Fuji X-T5 has it all: all the physical controls, dual card slots, excellent IBIS, professional weather sealing, and at 40 megapixels, one of the highest-resolution sensors of any compact camera system! Also, the lens selection is excellent, since it offers some unique options such as the Fujifilm 8mm f/3.5, as well as most of the Tamron and Sigma options.
• Olympus (OM Systems) OM-5 ($999) – Olympus is our champion if you want absolute maximum portability, yet also require maximum durability. Known for their flagship-grade durable construction and full weather-sealing, this relatively compact, flagship-style camera does indeed match the durability of Canon, Nikon, and Sony’s “gigantic” (and expensive) flagship cameras.

Best Cameras for Travel Photography (with a Fixed Lens)

If you’re looking for the most compact, convenient camera possible for your travels, you’ll likely be looking for something that has a fixed lens (prime or zoom), making your only tough decision being “how to frame your shot.” These cameras we’ve found will help make capturing your memories on the road a breeze.

• Leica Q3 ($4,995)
• GoPro Hero ($449)
• Sony RX100 VII ($1,298)
• Sony ZV-1, ($648) Sony ZV-1 II ($799)
• Ricoh GR IIIx ($899.95)

While the Leica Q3 is definitely on the “luxury” side of things, each of these fixed lens cameras are incredible options for you to bring with you on vacation. The Sony is one of the top rated cameras for candid/street photos on the market in its class, while the Sony RX100 and ZV-1 series offer some of the best image quality around, despite their ultra-compact size.

NOTE: The Sony RX100 series and ZV-1 series share similar physical form factors as well as similar sensors. However, the ZV-1 series is exclusively designed for vloggers, with the ZV-1 II offering a unique 18-50mm equivalent lens. Oppositely, for those who do a wider range of photo & video, the RX100 series includes a highly useful electronic viewfinder, and a very impressive 24-200mm equivalent zoom lens.

Best Cameras for Travel Photography that are Waterproof

If you’re anything like me, you’re going to want to go swimming (weather permitting), or still head out to take photos when it’s pouring rain or icy snow… So, it’s important that you have a camera with great weather sealing that’s designed to take on the elements, or in a few cases, go directly underwater!

While most of the cameras on this list have pretty great weather proofing/seals, only 2 are designed to specifically go into the water with you. So if you think you’ll be capturing some images in and around the water, these are the rigs for you!

• GoPro Hero ($349+)
• OM Systems Tough TG-7 ($549) (Waterproof)

We listed both of these cameras earlier, however, under this specific heading we need to offer some caveats: Both of these cameras, and almost all dedicated underwater cameras, come with a few significant drawbacks. In act, across the board, from their image quality to their zoom range and overall ease-of-use, none of them can match the other cameras we’ve listed. So, you should ONLY buy one of these if you are going to be using it almost exclusively underwater. Otherwise, we highly recommend using your normal camera, and purchasing an underwater housing for it.

Best All Round Travel Camera

At the end of the day, there are a ton of factors to consider, and personal choices to make. However, we have to ask ourselves, “what if we just want to do it ALL, and do it well? Few cameras can do virtually everything, yet keep the price affordable and the package compact. Of course, you guessed it, that camera is currently the Sony a6700!

This mirrorless APS-C camera from Sony has an excellent 26-megapixel sensor, in a body that is impressively lightweight at just around 1lb. Whether you are capturing exclusively still photos, or you are creating vlogs, or even cinematic content, the A6700 is just an impressive all-arounder.

The Sony A6700 also offers access to the impressive array of E-mount lenses, further solidifying the camera’s position as one of the best choices if you might be going from capturing portraits one moment, to wildlife the next, and a dramatic sunset later.

While the Sony a6700 costs over $1,000 even without a lens ($1,398 without a lens, $1,798 with a zoom) there are just so many features, manual control, and benefits to this camera that make it a perfect choice that’ll serve you for ages in your travel photography, while saving you a ton of space and weight in your bags! It truly is one of the best APS-C sensor cameras available and definitely deserves a slot on your travel bag.

Conclusion

We’ll update this list if new cameras come out that are optimal for travel photography! Also, remember, even if you don’t see your camera on this list, you can still get out and create beautiful photos with whatever camera you already have, including your phone. Plan (and budget for) your travels first, enjoy the experience, and then think about capturing phototos & videos of your travels…

(This list was up to date as of 2023)

We’ve rounded up some of our favorite photo editing software and separated them into three categories for you: Subscription-Based, One-Time Purchase, and Free!   These are not ranked in any particular order since each one has its own strengths, and some apps have placed into two or more of the categories as well, so make sure you go through to the bottom of the list.  You may also be interested in our list of Best Video Editing Software.

Subscription-Based Photo Editing Software and Apps

Most of the best photo editing software companies have shifted to a subscription model.  As with any corporate changes, the shifts to subscription models are likely financially motivated, but they do come with some perks.  First off, subscriptions remove the hassle of purchasing and installing upgrades, making the process automated or one-click.  Secondly, in our experience,  subscription software and apps are often more commonly updated and upgraded as compared to stand alone software, so the additional revenue they’re making is often going towards heave R&D and technological improvements.  To reduce churn (user turnover), they constantly need to innovate and make big splashes, which we as the end user benefit from.

Adobe Creative Cloud – Lightroom & Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop & Lightroom are pretty much world-renowned as the most popular and powerful photo editing combination of applications on the market. And while there are a lot of other options out there, it often seems that nobody else can stand up to the dream team of apps under the Creative Cloud Suite! Also available for both Mac & PC, Photoshop (and Lightroom) are pretty much the standard go-to for image editors worldwide. Simply put, Adobe’s retouching tools are the standard that most other applications are compared to and judged by.

Under the Creative Cloud, you’re given several different options for accessing whichever application you need, whether for photos or audio engineering and animation! That said, you can subscribe to the apps piece by piece, or choose several optional plans like the Photography package, which bundles Lightroom and Photoshop, or the complete Suite, which gives you access to everything Adobe has to offer, including every new update! For photographers, the good news is you can get the Photography plan for just $9.99 a month!

Capture One

Capture One Pro offers an interesting setup where you can buy the software outright once for a single purchase price, or you can sign up for a subscription and get continuous updates and upgrades as they are released. Available on both Mac & PC, Capture One Pro delivers a similar feel to Adobe Lightroom Classic, only arguably with its power cranked up to 11!

Capture One Pro offers a wide array of incredibly powerful and detailed tools to make RAW processing a breeze! Professional retouchers will attest to its RAW conversion being sharper & cleaner than Adobe’s, as well as a more vibrant and accurate color recognition; you’ll also get access to incredibly powerful tools such as layers and masks, which are typically reserved for Photoshop. C1 may be more expensive than many of the others on this list, but if you’re a serious professional looking to deliver the best quality in your work, then it’s worth every penny!

Canva

Canva is a bit different from the others on our list as it’s not quite a RAW processor, but more of a photo designer app. It’s among the most popular tools out there to help you quickly and easily design photo templates and graphics for social media and your website. You can’t do much RAW manipulation. Instead, it’s a very user-friendly drag & drop design editor meant to function more as a platform to take your already edited images and raise them to a new level for your digital or print marketing.  Loaded with thousands of templates, graphics, icons, and more, it even has a mobile app so you can design on the go.

PicMonkey –

PicMonkey is recommended for beginner editors who want to brush up on the editing basics for design and photography. There’s a full range of tools that those coming from Adobe will find familiar, like cropping, collages, and basic image touch-ups. It’s available in a 7-day free trial and offers several different levels of pricing plans, including access for teams. This app is another great addition to your arsenal for designing ads and social media posts for yourself or your business.

One-Time Purchase Photo Editing Software and Apps

Affinity Photo

If you’re looking for the power of Photoshop but don’t want the hassle of the subscription plan, then this is the solution for you. Available on both Mac & PC, Affinity Photo provides a full-powered Photoshop rival, created by the team at Serif. Even though it’s listed at a budget price of only $49.99 (currently on sale for 50% off), it’s loaded with enough features and power to rival its big-budget competition. While the layout may be a little different, those who have experience with Photoshop will find the layout familiar with many of the same tools, including layers, HDR tone mapping, masking, and more. Like its competitor, Affinity Photo is not a RAW-processing engine like Lightroom or Capture One, meaning it doesn’t have a catalog or library feature; it’s meant to edit a single file at a time. Affinity Photo is focused on in-depth single image manipulation, and it does it well.

Portrait Pro

PortraitPro is one of those apps that has grown leaps and bounds with every new version they release. Currently sitting at version 19, it’s designed with Portraits (as its name implies) as its main focus. The software is loaded with all kinds of tools to help you create stunning portraits quickly and easily, without any lag! It lets you fix skin tones, remove wrinkles & dark spots, cleans up blemishes, fixes saggy skin, and even has some creative features, like the ability to add eye shadow! Additionally, the app comes with many features we’re used to, like advanced layering options, manual adjustments for exposure, highlights & shadows, as well as the ability to “transform a face efficiently.”

Photoworks

Photoworks is an automatic photo enhancer that’s suitable for everything from landscape images to portraits. It’s built for the beginner who isn’t quite on the expert level when it comes to more complex editing that you’d find when using things like Affinity Photo or Photoshop. Still, it offers a plethora of incredible features, from basic color correction to advanced portrait & landscape enhancements. It’s a great alternative to some higher-priced and more advanced applications, giving the users more freedom to easily achieve complex edits.

Movavi Picverse

Movavi, a company best known for their video editing software, also has a photo editor called Picverse.  With Movavi Picverse, you’ll be able to add crisp and clear finishing touches to your photos. You can give your pictures extra life with HDR lighting, eliminate any grain or noise, or let the AI restoration tools work their magic on old photos. With the help of this program, you can remove objects from an image, replace the background with a custom one or completely erase it.

Movavi Picverse also offers retouching tools, face reshaping, teeth whitening, and more. The ease of use and low price point makes it a good option for novices and enthusiasts alike with the advanced tools that give the creative opportunity to really explore their ideas.

ON1 Photo Raw

ON1 has been growing in popularity over the last five years, largely because it offers a lot of the more advanced editing capabilities for free (you can get the app as a 30-day free trial version that you can upgrade later on).  Available for Mac and PC, it offers a great selection of RAW-processing tools along with a catalog feature to help you organize your images, all while helping you spend less time in front of the computer. Photo Raw also allows for a full editing history so you can revert to any step at any time of your retouching process; it has integration with Apple Photos, and if you buy the full bundle version, you can work with HDR, Layers, Panoramas, and more!

Topaz AI

Topaz AI, from Topaz Labs, is available for both Mac & PC and it has a wide suite of apps available to suit all of your editing needs. In the full suite, you’ll find Sharpen, Mask, Adjust, DeNoise, Gigapixel, and Jpeg to RAW. Each one operates as a stand-alone application while Sharpen & DeNoise also work as a plugin for Photoshop and Lightroom to give you even more flexibility. As you can probably tell from the individual product names, each one is named after its clear purpose. While each one of the bundle may be targeted to a niche area, they offer some powerful tools for your image editing, with features that are being boasted as industry best like with Sharpen AI, which has been able to make incredible improvements to slightly blurry or out of focus images! While a little pricier than some of its competitors, each app is available for a free trial, individual purchase, or as a bundle to save some extra cash.

Luminar 4 (Skylum)

Luminar has become one of the more game-changing editors on the market recently with the additions to the app in version 4, like AI Sky Replacement, AI Augmented Sky, and the AI Skin and Portrait Enhancers. Really, Luminar has kind of entered a league of its own. While it’s still easy to go overboard with your edits, you can create your own base presets for portraits or anything else to apply to the images that’ll allow you to save massive amounts of time when you’re stuck behind the computer doing bulk edits on things like landscapes and/or corporate headshots and portraits! Additionally, with version 4, they’ve added a decent cataloging service (Libraries) and fully non-destructive editing capabilities, so you can go back and make changes to your edits at any time. Currently, these features can be a tad resource-heavy, so we’d recommend grabbing the free-trial before you buy to be sure your system can handle the AI-based tools the app has to offer!

inPixio Photo Studio

inPixio Photo Studio is an easy-to-use, yet powerful photo editing program for Mac and PC that allows
beginner photographers to do many of the powerful actions that more expensive and complicated
programs can do in a matter of a couple clicks.

Background Removal – Everyone has a photo with that stranger in the background, a car driving by, or
house behind us under construction. Photo Studio allows you to simply and quickly take those unwanted images out of your picture, erase your entire backgrounds, or even change your background to make it look like you are somewhere else.

Erase tool – The Erase function allows you to delete any object or person from your picture while
keeping its full quality. The selection tool includes an automatic detection of colors that helps you
retouch the photo. Use the Erase function to retouch portraits too. Clear up minor blemishes and
reduce the appearance of wrinkles.

The Pro version of inPixio Photo Studio adds one-touch image correction, a perspective tool and several
other features.

Exposure X5

Exposure (formally known as Alien Skin Exposure), is one of those apps that’s been in the back pocket of most photographers I’ve known for nearly the last decade. It’s a fantastic app and plugin that blends the old analog look with modern enhancement tools. The app comes absolutely loaded with presets to get your creativity sparked and then has a wide array of professional, powerful, and detailed editing tools to completely customize every little detail of your image, including the addition of layers and masking! All of this is bundled in a fast and efficient editing system that even has a powerful filter & keyword-based folder & file searching system so that you don’t have to import your files like with some other editors.

Corel PaintShop Pro

Corel PaintShop Pro is celebrated as one of the best photo editing applications for beginners. It’s very capable, and it’s one of the most inexpensive photo editing tools on the market. It’s arguably a Photoshop alternative, but it should be noted that it does lack some of the more advanced “flagship” features like 3d modeling, liquify, and detailed typography. That said, if you want a powerful image editor that’s easy to learn and use, Corel PaintShop Pro is a very good choice, especially since it also comes preloaded with a bunch of graphic design templates, in case you want to get creative with your marketing and design.

DXO PhotoLab

DXO is a name most in the photography industry are familiar with due to its DXOMark site for ratings on everything camera and lens-related. With the Photo Lab application, the expected level of detail is still there! Famous for its lens correction profiles and RAW conversion, DXO has brought back the Google NIK software and integrated some of its best features into this powerful image editor. With PhotoLab, you can apply powerful localized adjustments to your images with a full RAW processing tool selection, as well as a huge library of lens perspective corrections. It doesn’t support cataloging, but it does have basic folder browsing capabilities, which will make navigating through image folders easier.

ACDSee

Like Capture One, ACDSee is available as a single one-time purchase, or under a subscription model to give the user a little more flexibility with spending power. This app has been around for a long time. Besides the Adobe suite, it’s one of the very first applications I personally ever used to work on my images. Initially only available on PCs, you can now get the application on Macs as well, and with its latest release, ACDSee Photo Studio offers the latest in advanced toolsets for a fantastic editing experience.  With all its features, it actually is a pretty impressive alternative to applications like Adobe Lightroom/Photoshop and Capture One, especially since it’s very easy for beginners to navigate and use.

Photomatix

HDRSoft’s Photomatix Pro is a little more niche-market than some of the other applications listed in this post. Just as Portrait Pro is focused on portraits, this application is geared towards High-Dynamic-Range image editing. It’s a standalone app that can be used on Linux, Mac or PC and is used to merge and adjust/edit exposure brackets (or a single image) to create a detailed and evenly lit image from edge to edge. With the pro version, you are able to use this as a plugin with Adobe Lightroom to give you some additional editing flexibility.

Since it’s targeted more towards Landscape and Urban images, the toolsets will let you get much more realistic styles than most other HDR merging tools, providing an improved image and color control set with exposure blending and masking capabilities, image distortion correction, ghost reduction tools, tons of presets, and a decent selection of rendering modes. Packed into a very user-friendly and robust system, it’s a fantastic choice for someone getting into HDR Imagery.

Free Photo Editing Software and Apps

Photoshop Express

Adobe Photoshop Express is the app for easy on-the-go photo editing, just as the tagline above says! It makes it easy to edit, get crazy creative, and share your images on social media, all at the low cost of free! As you might guess from its name, Photoshop Express is a scaled-down version of its world-famous sibling, yet it still has far more capabilities and tools than you’d expect from a free application. The app is available for Mac, PC, and mobile devices, and all platforms come loaded with powerful editing tools, including auto-fix, presets, selective spot healing, and export options that allow you to send images directly to your social media outlets or into the full version of Photoshop to get even more creative with your work. For someone considering the jump into the Adobe Creative Suite of applications, you can’t go wrong by starting with the free version of Photoshop Express.

GIMP

GIMP has been around as long as I can remember, and it is rated one of the best Free and Open Sourced based Photo Editing Software out there. The name stands for “GNU Image Manipulation Program,” and it comes loaded with a surprising pro-level variety of features to help you get started on your image editing adventures. While it’s not as user friendly or powerful as many of the bigger tools and brands mentioned above in this list, GIMP is a great way to get started and feel things out for those of you not ready to take the financial plunge into any of the applications listed. Plus, it offers a plethora of great functionality for graphic designers and illustrators who are also getting started!

Fotor

Similar to Ashampoo, Fotor is also geared towards automated/one-click photo enhancements, only this app will work on Windows, Mac, and Linux systems! Designed to give your images a quick boost, there’s no specifics areas you’d need to retouch with local adjustments. And if you did, sadly those features are not available; however, if you’re only looking for quick, simple, and even filter/preset based edits, then this is a fantastic choice for your image editing needs.

PhotoScape

PhotoScape is a PC & Mac compatible photo editor that offers far more tools than you’d expect from a free application. Including raw conversion, photo splitting, animated GIF creations (meme makes rejoice!), along with some interesting graphic design features. Basically, PhotoScape gives a LOT of punch for a free program. It’s still geared more towards the beginning editor as the interface is a little more “nuanced” than some of the other apps on this list, but since it’s free, the only thing it’ll cost you is the time it takes to test it out to see if it meets your needs!

Ashampoo Photo Optimizer

Ashampoo Photo Optimizer is definitely an app geared towards someone focused on bulk and batch editing. The PC editing system is uncluttered and designed to make editing go as fast as possible. While it lacks many of the professional/powerful features you may find in apps like Lightroom or Capture One Pro, it makes up for it in its ease of use with its automatic one-click optimization of your images.

Pixlr X

Pixlr X is a browser-based photo editor that works on Windows, Mac, and Linux and is designed to give you quick results working with smaller images (3840 pixels max). The interface is similar to the Adobe Photoshop Express layout and the editor gives you a decent selection of editing tools to enhance your image. These include sharpening, saturation adjustments, image combinations/collaging, as well as color adjustments and support for layers!

Final Thoughts

As you can tell from this list, there are a lot of options available to you when it comes to photo editors. We hope you find this list helpful and you can find the right photo editing software for your next project, whether you choose a free, one-time purchase, or subscription-based plan. Let us know if we missed anything by leaving a comment below and we’ll keep this post as up to date as possible.  For more “best of” lists, see our Best Of category.

Okay, if you choked on your coffee because I called this SECOND generation a FIRST for Nikon, I’m glad you noticed that irony. But, allow me to explain why this “Mark 2” is such an impressive accomplishment. Simply put, Nikon’s first generation of Z-mount mirrorless camera bodies was already a great camera, and the mark 2 is almost perfection. The “mark 1” was rock-solid, in fact, the Nikon Z6 (and Z7) build quality was already as good as Sony’s  IV generation! Nikon’s IBIS/IBVR (in-body stabilization) was already top-notch, and the overall user experience was a familiar delight, both to anyone who has held a Nikon before and to photography newcomers who are picking up their first camera.

All in all, the original Z6 only had two or three flaws, or none at all really, depending on what type of photography or videography you do. If you’re a working professional doing high-dollar work, then you probably missed having dual card slots, as your D850 etc offered. If you’re a wildlife or action sports photographer, then the Z6 probably left something to be desired in terms of autofocus tracking, and overall frames-per-second and buffer depth.

The Z6 II, of course, solves both of those problems; there are XQD and SDXC card slots for redundancy, and the autofocus, FPS, and buffer depth are incredible. If you need any of these improvements, then the $1,996 price tag is an easy decision to make.

Nikon Z6 II Specifications

• SENSOR: 24-megapixel full-frame BSI CMOS sensor, Dual Expeed 6 processors
• LENS MOUNT: Nikon Z-mount (full-frame mirrorless)
• STILL IMAGES: 6048×4024 NEF raw & JPG, 12-bit, 14-bit, uncompressed, lossless compressed, lossy compressed
• VIDEO: 4K (3840×2160) over-sampled (full sensor width) @ 30p, 144 Mbps, MOV, H.264, Linear PCM (4K 60p promised in APS-C crop, via firmware, coming soon)
• ISO: 100-51200 native (expandable to ISO 50-204800)
• AUTOFOCUS: Hybrid, 273-point AF system, face/eye detection & tracking
• SHOOTING SPEED (FPS): 14 FPS, (12-bit NEF) 12 FPS (14-bit NEF)
• SHUTTER SPEEDS: 900 sec (15 min) to 1/8000 sec, mechanical, 1st-curtain electronic, fully electronic (silent)
• STABILIZATION: Yes, sensor-based, 5-axis, up to 5 stops
• VIEWFINDER: 3.69M dot EVF, 0.8x magnification, 10% coverage
• LCD: 3.2″ articulated (tilting) 2.1M dot  TFT LCD touchscreen
• CONNECTIVITY: USB-3.2 (5GBit/s) mini HDMI, 802.11ac Wifi, Bluetooth
• STORAGE: XQD, SDXC
• BATTERY: EN-EL15c, 2280 mAh, 410 shot CIPA rating (up to 2,000 under ideal conditions!) USB-PD direct power with zero battery %% loss
• BODY CONSTRUCTION: Magnesium alloy, fully weathers-sealed
• SIZE: 5.3 x 4 x 2.7″ (134 x 100.5 x 69.5 mm)
• WEIGHT: 1.55 lb / 24.87 oz (705 g)
• PRICE: $1,996.95 (B&H | Adorama | Amazon)

Nikon Z6 II Review | Who Should Buy It?

The Nikon Z6 II is one of the best all-around cameras on the market, for virtually every reason. From its overall performance and image quality to its durable build, and of course, the value in the sub-$2K price tag, suffice it to say that regardless of what photography you do, you should probably consider the Z6 II. It’s a professional-grade full-frame mirrorless camera, period. From wedding photography to wildlife and landscape photography, and video/cinema, the Z6 II could be the best choice for you.

However, there are two “should I buy it?” factors that are even bigger than, “what type of photography do you do?” that you are likely going to consider. First: what if you already own a Nikon Z6; should you upgrade to the Z6 II? Second, what if you’re absolutely certain that you want to buy into this next-generation of Nikon Z-mount; should you buy the Z6 II, or the Z7 II?

Let’s answer both of those questions now! SPOILER ALERT: If you can answer whichever of these questions is relevant to you, then the final decision makes itself: All four of Nikon’s 6-series and 7-series cameras are good enough that if you like the overall system, including the available lenses and the user experience in general, then hitting the “add to cart” button will become a no-brainer. The image quality and overall performance of all four cameras are just that good. OR, of course, you can scroll down to the “Compared To The Competition” section below, for more info on how these cameras compare to their closest Sony and Canon and other competitors.

Nikon Z6II Versus Nikon Z6 | Should You Upgrade?

If you photograph pretty much anything that involves action, then the improved autofocus tracking will make the Z6 II worth the upgrade from the Z6. Even though the original Z6 has received numerous autofocus updates via firmware, updates that have greatly enhanced the performance and implementation of its AF, the Z6 II is still going to be even better, and it will only get better in the future with Nikon committing to continued firmware update efforts.

If you’re a video or time-lapse photographer, you’ll appreciate quite a few things, and not just the video quality and specs themselves, but also this one useful addition to the Z6 II: you can power the camera with a USB-PD power bank, and thanks to the higher voltage and amperage of PD, you can shoot without any drain to the internal battery whatsoever. With an Anker USB-PD 20,000 mAh battery, (that costs $49, as opposed to a Nikon EN-EL15c which costs $72.95) …you can easily shoot a multi-day time-lapse, or film 4K video for an all-day job.

Also, something that any DSLR-shooting time-lapse photographers will really appreciate: with fully electronically controlled apertures, you can shoot a time-lapse at apertures like f/13 (above)

Last but not least, of course, if you do any type of high-profile or paid work, then, of course, you’ll appreciate the addition of an SD card slot, making the Z6 II a dual-slot, XQD+SD card camera.

However, honestly though? Like I said earlier, the Z6 is already a really good camera; it’s built to last and has a great overall spec. If you don’t need dual card slots, or direct external power, or the improvement in speed, then there’s no reason why a Z6 won’t give you many, many years of faithful use.

Nikon Z6II Versus Nikon Z7 II | Which Should You Buy?

This is an easier decision: You should probably just get the Z6 II, and save that extra ~$1,500 for a great native full-frame mirrorless Z-mount lens. The biggest reason to get the Z7 II instead, of course, is if you (landscape photographers, fashion/editorial/commercial photographers, etc.) consistently make absolutely enormous prints, or heavily, severely crop your images for some reason. Because, indeed, the biggest difference between these two outwardly identical cameras the 45-megapixel sensor of the Z7 II versus the 24-megapixel sensor in the Z6 II.

24 megapixels is more than enough for almost everything you might want to do, though. It’s more than enough for ultra-sharp 4K time-lapse frames and video, of course. It’s enough for print sizes that are measured in feet, not inches, too. (Of course, if you’re measuring your print sizes in yards/meters, not feet, then yes, save up for the Z7 II!)

[RELATED: Nikon Z7 Review – one of the best landscape photography cameras around!]

If you have any other specific questions about a genre of photography, such as portraits or weddings, please leave a comment below! (However, our answer is probably still going to be that you should get the Z6 II.)

Nikon Z6 II VS Nikon Z5

Really quick, before we move on, this is one question we get a whole lot, too: what about the Z5? Honestly, it’s a really good camera. If you don’t photograph high-speed action at all and are just looking for a “casual” camera that still offers professional image quality, rugged build quality, and dual card slots, then the Z5 is by far the best value in full-frame cameras, period.

[RELATED: Nikon Z5 Review – The Best Value Full-Frame Mirrorless Camera]

However, the Z5 does fall short when your subjects start to really move fast. The maximum framerate of 4.5 FPS, the slightly more limited buffer, and the slower, blackout-prone viewfinder and LCD screen make it significantly more difficult to photograph action sports or fast-moving wildlife compared to the Z6 II’s relatively blazing speed specs.

Oh, and the 4K video on the Z5 is cropped to APS-C, unfortunately, making your wide-angle focal lengths significantly less wide.

Nikon Z6 II Review | Pros & Cons

Suffice it to say, the Nikon Z6II is a great all-around performer. We’ll let the image samples speak for themselves!

Image Quality

Nikon has spent the last decade-plus making full-frame digital cameras with image quality that is either in the lead, or roughly on par with the absolute best sensor technology available in full-frame cameras. Whether it is low-ISO image quality, or at extremely high ISOs, things like dynamic range, noise levels, and overall color vibrance and accuracy has been, well, impressive and beautiful.

The Z6 II is no different: from truly wild shadow recovery potential, (with zero banding issues that we could detect!) to impressively clean images from ISOs like 6400 and 12800, the Z6 II’s image quality is on par with the absolute best cameras available.

Here’s what this translates to in real-world shooting conditions, though: If you’re unhappy with an image that you get from a Z6 II, it’s because you, the end-user, made a grave mistake in setting your exposure, or selecting the best AF settings for the scene.

Put another way, here’s this: With Z6 II NEF files, you can crank your Shadows and Blacks to +100, your Highlights and Whites to -100, and then to top it off, crank your exposure +/- 1-2 EV, …and yet still not see much image deterioration at all!

Having said that, there are two things we would really love to see from a camera that is this good in any light:

• ISO 64 native on the low end. If the Z6 II had adopted this standard that the Z7 II offers, that would have been truly awesome for those who work in extremely bright sunlight, or those who just want the absolute cleanest images possible.
• On the high end, for a camera that can deliver such good, clean images at ISOs like 6400 and 12800, it is a shame that the Z6II can’t meter ultra-dark scenes better. And, by ultra-dark, we mean ~negative 8EV light levels, such as a starry, moonless nightscape. Admittedly, this is an extremely rare scenario, and most photographers will find that the Z6II’s built-in light meter works just fine, with maybe a +/-1 EV compensation needed from time to time.

Autofocus Performance

Here’s what everybody wants to know: How big of an improvement is the Nikon Z6 II compared to not just the original Z6, but also, the likes of the similarly priced Canon EOS R6, (~$2,500) or the nearly identically priced Sony A7 III?

Well, Nikon has, in fact, closed the gap. Will a Sony A7 IV offer better Real-Time AF tracking of highly erratic subjects? Probably, but the margin will still be a lot less significant than the difference between the overall reliability of this latest-gen Nikon mirrorless AF system, compared to the similarly-priced DSLRs. (Especially if you factor in heavy use to the DSLRs which means AF micro-adjustment/calibration is routinely a problem!)

In our testing, we found that the wide-area AF system, which automatically selects whatever AF point it thinks is right, did a very good job of finding human or animal eyes, and even tracking them in AF-C mode. Every now and then it would miss the eyes and focus on a nose or something else that was closer to the camera than the eyes. However, these types of scenes are usually better captured with you controlling the AF point more attentively.

The dynamic subject tracking AF mode is also quite impressive; unlike the first iteration of the Z6’s AF system, it now feels actually better than DSLR 3-D AF tracking, and almost as well-implemented. It just works very well, even in challenging lighting conditions.

We still wish dynamic AF tracking had its own dedicated mode, though, so that we didn’t have to hit the “OK” button to activate it. We’re also not sure why Nikon didn’t just call it “3-D” Tracking, if only to make it sound familiar, and be easier for people to understand its purpose.

All in all, if Nikon continues their commitment to upgrading (indeed, not just “updating”) the autofocus performance via firmware for the Z6 II just like they did with the Z6, then we can expect the camera to continue to stay hot on the heels of the absolute best AF system around, which is, indeed, Sony’s Real-Time AF tracking.

Keep in mind, though: a Sony A9 II is a $4,500 camera; if you were a serious professional photographer, for that much money you could also get, approximately, a Z6 II and a complete set of Z-mount, S-line f/1.8 Nikkor primes, or a Z6 II and one of Nikon’s Z-mount S-line f/2.8 zooms, or heck, you could get two Z6 II’s with FTZ adapters, and use your Nikkor F-mount lenses!

Overall Performance

From the sheer shooting speed to the overall responsiveness of every little feature and function of the camera, the Z6 II feels professional. You’ll have to remember to put the camera in 12-bit NEF if you want to get the maximum FPS of 14, but as a time-lapse photographer who has been using Nikon’s 12-bit and even lossy compression for 10+ years to squeeze up to ~50% more raw files onto memory cards, rest assured, you’ll never see the difference between 12-bit and 14-bit NEF.

[Related: Nikon raw NEF file settings tested & compared]

Even in 14-bit NEF, you get a blazing-fast 12 FPS from the Z6 II. Remember, just 10-15 years ago, the $5,000-6,000 flagship sports cameras were only 8 FPS! So, yes, the Z6 II is an action sports beast. Nikon may have a “Z1” or something lurking in their R&D lab, but the Z6 II is certainly ready to get the job done.

Features & Customizations

Nikon has one of the best feature layouts and overall customization systems of all the latest cameras. Not only is the menu interface the most intuitive, but also, there are fantastic features that allow you to differentiate all or none of your settings when switching quickly between photo and video capture. It’s a real shame that both Sony and Canon have not adopted the “photo/video switch” that Nikon has. This makes it so that you can have things like white balance and Picture Control set a certain way for stills, but another way for video, just in case you want to shoot video with a “Flat” or “Neutral” Nikon Picture Control and maybe AWB, but still shoot stills with a “Portrait” or “Landscape” Picture Control, and a Kelvin WB.

Having said that, Nikon could still do a little more to offer total customization of the available Fn buttons, as well as the others which come with a dedicated function. The REC button, and maybe even the 4-way controller now that these Nikons all have a dedicated AF point joystick, could all be re-programmed to do things like turn on/off IBIS, or instantly jump in or out of a crop mode. (Admittedly, having quick access to DX crop mode is more of a Z7 II thing, but still…)

Design & Durability

This thing is a tank! …But on a diet. Just like the Z6, of course, since the physical build is basically identical. That’s a good thing, though, because the original Nikons were built “right the first time”, indeed.

Having said that, we had actually wished for a few small ergonomic changes, and not seeing them in the mk2 iteration is a bit of a let-down. Mainly, the movement of the Menu button and the drive mode dial from the upper left, where they have been on Nikon DSLRs for many generations, to the lower right; these two changes alone leave the user experience not just unfamiliar, but quite honestly, I just think it’s a bad place for the drive mode setting; it’s really one of the hardest-to-reach buttons on the whole camera.

I wish Nikon had simply decided to move the “play” and “delete” buttons down to that lower-right-corner, instead. After using both Sony and Canon bodies rather extensively, I’ve decided that is just a better layout, period. (Meaning, this is not a matter of personal preference; the Nikon button arrangement for these two buttons is just flat-out less practical, no matter how familiar you get with the camera’s ergonomics and design.

Value

Nobody is going to question whether such a camera is a good value, considering what it offers today’s photographers. The Nikon Z6 II is providing performance and speed that is far superior to high-speed action DSLR flagships once costing $5-6K. Its 24-megapixel image quality is superior to Nikon’s only $8K DSLR!

There’s no question, it’s a fantastic time to pick up a camera such as the Z6 II. We’ll get to the competition next, however, suffice it to say, if you want the same truly flagship-grade experience from Sony or Canon, or if you want an even better autofocus system, you’ll have to pay a lot more for the likes of a Sony A9 II, or at the very least, Canon’s EOS R6 which “only” costs $500 more than the Z6 II, but definitely does have some drawbacks that make me prefer the Z6 II for what I do.

Really, the main question regarding value is, simply put, this: do you already have a Z6 that you are truly happy with, OR, are you on such a tight budget that a new Z6 (on sale for $1,596) or a new Nikon Z5 (just $1,396!) are all you can afford? Because otherwise, the Z6 II is the camera to buy.

Nikon Z6 II Review | Compared To The Competition

Okay, so, we have a LOT of full-frame mirrorless cameras available in the price range of $2K these days. In fact, if you open up the competition’s price range by a few hundred dollars, there’s a whole lot to talk about.

Why is the Nikon Z6 II one of the best cameras in this price range? Simply put, it offers the build quality, professional controls, and interface of pro cameras costing $3-4K or more. You just can’t get as much of that from more budget-friendly competition such as the Sony A7C, A7 III, or even the Canon EOS R6, ($2,499) or the Panasonic S-5. ($1,997) Simply put, if you’re going based on the physical durability, user interface, and overall professional user experience, the Z6 II (and the original Z6, for that matter) are the best value around.

What if you absolutely need the best autofocus performance? Is Sony still in the lead in that regard, like they were ~2+ years ago? Only barely. At this point, with how good Nikon’s autofocus is, you’re more likely to miss focus due to your own error in technique or focus point control, than due to consistent unreliability of the AF system itself.

In other words, should you buy the Nikon Z6 II, or a Sony A7 III, or maybe even wait for a Sony A7 IV? Honestly, the biggest differences are no longer about autofocus reliability. They’re about how the camera feels and operates overall, in which case we give the nod to Nikon in almost every way, and about the lens selection, in which case we give a strong nod to Nikon for coming up with such a great range of versatile lenses so far, although we’re really hoping the total sphere of the system is soon joined by third parties if we’re honest because that will indeed make the camera body even more attractive to all different budget levels.

What if you are on a really tight budget, and $2K is a little more than you’d like to spend? The original Nikon Z6 is a great camera, and you already read our opinion on that decision. The Nikon Z5 is an even more incredible value, at just under $1.4K; If you don’t photograph highs-peed action, the Nikon Z5 is a better photography camera than a Sony A7C, and almost as good of a video camera, if you’re a less discerning videographer.

All in all, we’re finally getting to a point in the evolution of full-frame mirrorless systems that makes the buying decision much more subjective. Our recommendation? Pick up a Z6 II, actually hold it, work with it, try out one or two of Nikon’s stunningly good Z-mount f/1.8 S-line Nikkor lenses, and see how you like the system.

If you’re coming from a Nikon DSLR, once you get past a few quirks you’ll be delighted at the overall experience. If you’re coming from another mirrorless system altogether, you’ll undoubtedly find differences that are really “done right” by Nikon, thanks to their decades of camera design experience.

Or, of course, if you’re picking up an interchangeable-lens camera for the very first time, you’ll likely find the overall experience to be relatively intuitive, and the end results to be truly impressive once you get the hang of things.

Nikon Z6 II Review | Conclusion

Nikon might have left us a little confused at first, with the original Z7 and Z6 not quite aligning with the overall impressive performance and a professional feature set offered by the truly legendary Nikon D850, ($2,996) , or the modern hybrid marvel, the Nikon D780 ($2,296). However, the Nikon Z6II, with just a few minor improvements to the physical features and processor-based performance, is truly a camera we can hands-down recommend to almost all types of photographers.

Check Pricing & Availability

The Nikon Z6 II is available for $1,996 as a body-only, or $2,096 with the FTZ adapter to use your F-mount DSLR lenses, or for $2,596 with the impressive Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/4 S kit lens.

B&H | Adorama | Amazon

Video: Five Cloudy and Rainy Day Photography Techniques

Don’t let cloudy or rainy days get in the way of taking amazing pictures. It’s easier than you think to use foul weather in your favor. The next time you find yourself scheduled to shoot under a looming cloud cover, use these five cloudy and rainy day photography techniques.

Technique #1: Backlighting

When used correctly, this rainy day photography technique will yield amazing pictures pretty much every time. All you need to do to pull off this backlighting shot is place an external flash (with 200-250 watt seconds of power, such as a Profoto B10 or a Flashpoint eVOLV 200) on a light stand and position it chest-high about 5-6 feet behind the couple. You’ll get different effects based on the distance between the light and the couple, so experiment for best results if time permits.

I like to use a CTO gel on the flash and keep the white balance set to around 4400 Kelvin, which allows me to warm up the image while also exaggerating (or deepening) the blue tones. It also helps to choose a dark background when setting up for this shot, whether it be the sky, bushes & trees, or something else. The darker the background, the more pronounced the illuminated raindrops.

Lastly, because it’s raining, be sure to put a rain sleeve or plastic bag over your flash to keep it from getting wet.

Technique #2: Reflections

One side effect of the rain is the collection of puddles, which you can use to create reflections in your portraits. In terms of framing the shot, you can go for the traditional look by shooting low and including your entire subject in the frame, or you can try something a little different. To capture the image above, I worked more on the model’s pose and shot down into the reflection rather than across it to show the model’s silhouette against the sky. Keep in mind, the negative space is what can make or break a shot like this.

Technique #3: Dynamic Range

If you’ve followed much of my work, you’ll know the emphasis I place on maximizing dynamic range. When you’re shooting on a cloudy or rainy day, you can maximize dynamic range in-camera to take advantage of the textures and occasional colors that the sky provides. One of the benefits of the cloud cover is that it cuts down the direct sunlight, which gives us just enough room to squeeze all of the information we need into a single shot. Some of the best single frame, HDR-type shots come from cloudy or rainy weather.

In the image above, the histogram in Lightroom shows that we’ve pushed the blacks to the edge without clipping them, and we’ve pushed the whites to the edge while retaining as much of the highlights as possible. If I have to bias one side over the other, I usually lean towards preserving all of the shadows to avoid any muddy, green tones in the shadows, and I let the camera keep whatever highlights it can retain.

You can see above, a simple application of the HDR Environmental preset from the Visual Flow Crush Pack and a radial burn from the Retouching Toolkit yields a fantastic final image.

If you don’t have these presets, you can use the settings outlined above for the preset and cloud+sky enhancement brush (which can be used over the cloudy areas to reveal even more detail).

[Related Reading: Cloudy Day Photography | How to Get Great Pictures in “Bad” Weather]

Technique #4: Sky as a Soft Box

If nothing else, cloudy days give photographers the all-time biggest natural soft box for diffused light. To take advantage of this during a portrait session, position your subject so that he/she is facing up toward the sky. In the example above, you can see my subject was sitting in a hedge in a parking lot. By positioning my camera slightly above her and having her look up, we get a naturally beautiful light that captures the catchlight in her eyes and softens the skin.

Technique #5: Golden Hour

We don’t actually need to shoot during golden hour (or even have the sun in the sky) to recreate the look. Even on a cloudy day, we can add our own backlight and mimic the highly sought after look. Here are the basic steps you need to take to pull of this technique:

1. Place an external flash behind your subjects. For this shot, we set the flash up several yards back. Basically, the flash needs to be placed far enough back to illuminate the objects in the background in a believable way.
2. Add 1-2 CTO gels to the external flash to match the warmth of the sun.
3. Use a high-powered strobe (like a Profoto B1, 500-watt strobe at full power) to generate sufficient light, especially if the strobe is placed a considerable distance away from your subjects.

If you adjust your position a little, you can add a flare for an even more convincing look (see above).

[Related Reading: 8 Rainy Day Wedding Photography Tips You Need to Know]

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed this article/video on five cloudy and rainy day photography techniques. If you’re interested in diving deeper into your photography education, check out our new Creative Photography 101 workshop, which we designed to boost your creativity using any camera, including your smartphone! It’s the ultimate iPhone photography tutorial.

Be sure to catch our next episode of Mastering Your Craft on Adorama’s YouTube channel next week! If you want to catch up on all the episodes, make sure you check out our playlist!

Video: Shooting Flat for Better Exposure Information | Exposure Triangle, Pt. 4

Welcome to the fourth & final part of our Exposure Triangle series! At this point, you should already have a firm grasp of the exposure triangle and understand how it works, compositionally. You should also know the histogram and highlight alert. In this article, we’re going to continue exploring what it means to get to the perfect exposure, this time focusing on how to shoot flat for better exposure information. This technique, which is often reserved for video production, also works exceptionally well for still photography. Like the previous parts of this series, this article expands on concepts covered in our Photography 101 workshop.

If you missed the first three articles, you can find them below:

• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three

Why Shoot Flat?

Avoid Highlight Alert and Histogram Discrepancies

In the image comparison above, you can see how the highlight alert in-camera is showing areas of the image in which the highlights are blown out; in Lightroom (pictured on the right), however, some of those areas have actually retained detail. Both refer to the same RAW file but render different results in-camera. What’s happening is we’re seeing the image based on a JPEG preview rather than the actual RAW file. The JPEG image represents a processed version based on your picture profile or picture style settings in-camera.

To further illustrate this point, the images above show what happens to the histogram if we dial in a high contrast setting vs a neutral (flat) or standard setting. The camera settings haven’t changed, but as you can see, the histogram has definitely shifted. Again, the preview image we see in-camera is the JPEG preview with the picture style attached. This means that the in-camera playback can misrepresent the image information if it is not set up correctly.

Make Exposure Decisions Based on a More Accurate Playback

You might wonder why we should bother customizing our picture style settings if it doesn’t affect the RAW file. While it’s true that these picture style settings only affect the actual image when we’re shooting in JPEG instead of RAW, what we see on the back of the camera can influence our decisions for dialing in exposure; therefore, the closer we get to our RAW file when playing back our image in-camera, the better chance we’ll have to maximize dynamic range and retain as much detail as possible in our files.

Gain a Post-Production Advantage

When I do post-production demonstrations, I often get asked how I make it look so easy to get to the final image. How is it possible to get to a fantastic final image in just a few clicks? In addition to using specially designed presets, the answer lies in shooting flat to get better exposure information. With a better RAW file to work with, we arrive with better images in post.

These are the reasons why it’s best to shoot flat for better exposure information.

[Related Reading: How to Read a Histogram | Quick Reference]

How to Shoot Flat

Customize Picture Style Settings

The images above outline my ideal settings for shooting flat. Here’s how to arrive at those settings:

1. Go into your camera’s menu system and locate the Picture Style settings (which might change in name, depending on the camera body you’re using)
2. Scroll down to the User Defined (or custom) settings and hit “Enter”
3. Select the “Neutral” picture style
4. Scroll down to Contrast and set your contrast and back it all the way down to minimize the contrast in your previews; when it’s set, hit “Enter”
5. Scroll down to Saturation and lower the saturation point; when does, hit “Enter”
6. Exit the menu and begin taking pictures

It’s that easy and the impact is noticeable.

[Related Reading: Get Perfect In-Camera Exposure with These 3 Overlooked Tips]

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed this video and lesson (the last of a four-part series) on why and how to shoot flat for better exposure information. You can revisit these and other concepts in our Photography 101 workshop and dive further into the fundamentals of portrait photography.

Be sure to catch our next episode of Mastering Your Craft on Adorama’s YouTube channel next week! If you want to catch up on all the episodes, make sure you check out our playlist!

I’m here to tell you that it’s okay to blow out the highlights. In fact, in this article/video, we’ll show you how and when to use natural light for high key portraits that balance imperfect lighting with a refined, authentic look. We cover these concepts and more in our natural light engagement photography and flash photography workshops, all of which are available to stream as part of a Premium subscription.

Video: How and When to Use Natural Light for High Key Portraits

When SHOULD You Blow Out the Highlights?

Lighting plays a crucial in creating compelling imagery, but it doesn’t have to be perfect. In fact, there are instances when imperfect lighting can be used to add authenticity to portraiture. Such is the case with shooting high key portraits. It’s important to remember that other elements, such as composition, posing, and expressions all work together with lighting to create mood and allow the imagery you create to match your vision.

We’ll use the CAMP framework (Composition, Ambient Exposure, Modify or Add Light, Pose & Photograph) to outline the steps we took to compose, light, and capture the final image.

Step 1. Decide on Your Composition

For this image, I placed the subject in a sitting pose in front of a window with a lot of hard light coming in through the window. I chose this location because of its potential for creating a beautiful, bright and airy high key portrait. The hard light falling across her shoulder accentuates the dress and adds visual interest to the photograph.

Lens choice also factors into the composition and artistry of this shot. Using a wide angle lens in such a close proximity to the subject, such as the Sigma 24mm f/1.4 DG HSM lens that I used for this semi-closeup portrait, adds lens distortion, which can be used for artistic effect. If you want to avoid (or at least minimize) lens distortion when shooting on a wide angle lens, you’ll need to place the subject in the center of the frame and/or move farther away form the subject.

Finally, after working through some of the other steps, I realized the frame still left something to be desired, so I added a plant that was sitting on the opposite side of the room to add visual interest to the foreground (see the image above).

[Related Reading: 5 Natural Light Techniques Before You Flash]

Step 2. Dial in Your Ambient Exposure

The first two steps go hand in hand, really, when setting up this shot. You can start dialing in your baseline exposure as you move your subject into position so that you don’t have to recompose the photo due to an unforeseen issue with lighting. I chose not to underexpose the image in this instance because saving details of objects outside of the window (such as cars, buildings, trees, people, etc.) would only add more distractions to the scene. I want to keep the focus on my subject.

Instead, I opened the aperture all the way to f/1.4 to let in light and blur out the background with shallow depth of field, further minimizing any distracting elements.

Step 3. Modify or Refine the Exposure

While I didn’t necessarily add any light, I decided to further refine the ambient light after taking a series of test photos so that I could retain as much detail as possible in the subject’s dress, knowing I can blow them out more in post if necessary.

In order to do this, I simply brought up the histogram and enabled the highlight alert. This reveals any clipped shadows and highlights and lets me know how much further I can push my exposure before losing too much detail in the image.

Step 4. Cue Your Subject to Capture the Perfect Expression

With composition and lighting dialed in, simply direct your subject into a pose and give cues for capturing the perfect expression. Watch how light is falling on your subject’s face and make adjustments until the resulting light pattern flatters your subject’s facial features.

[Related Reading: 5 Primary Light Patterns and Their Purposes]

Final Image

This represents what we call a perfectly imperfect portrait, where we’ve utilized imperfect lighting to give the image a natural feel. It serves as evidence that it’s okay to blow your backgrounds and create bright and airy portraits. This technique works especially well for bridal portraits, which look amazing when captured in a bright and airy style.

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed this video and lesson on how and why to blow out your background in your portraits. For more education on natural light engagement photography and flash photography techniques, be sure to check out our workshops and Premium subscriptions at slrloungeworkshops.com.