Welcome

No landscape photographer worth their salt would set

This month’s contributors

Cristina Mittermeier Paul Nicklen Nature photographer Nicklen is

Paul Nicklen

As the celebrated photographer releases his Masters of Photography online course, Niall Hampton finds out more about it – and what led Nicklen to become an educator

Photo Active

10 things you can shoot, create or edit this month, from outdoor miniatures and birds to panoramas

MASTER THE MAGIC OF FILTERS

James Abbott shows you how to use filters to take control of light and exposure for creative effects in your landscape photos

WHICH TYPE OF FILTER SUITS YOU?

Kit yourself out with the right filter equipment to take amazing shots

GET TO KNOW THE POLARISER, THE MOST VERSATILE FILTER AVAILABLE

If you only ever buy one filter in your lifetime, then it should be one of these

EXPAND YOUR CREATIVITY WITH ND FILTERS

Use six and 10-stop Neutral Density filters to create ethereal blur effects in your landscape captures

CONTROL SKY DETAIL WITH ND GRADS

Get perfectly exposed skies in-camera using the right type of ND grad for the scene

MAINTAIN SKY DETAIL BY USING HDR LIKE A PRO

If you don’t have ND grad filters, you can still capture natural-looking results by shooting bracketed exposures and merging to HDR

Your FREE HDR projects 2018 download

Create super-detailed high-dynamic-range images with our simple-to-use software

Master the Dodge and Burn tools in Photoshop

Get to grips with these essential tools for old-school image enhancements

Add sophistication to your vignettes

Use a Radial Gradient in Lightroom to draw the viewer’s attention to a part of your image

Creative Hue/Saturation effects

The Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer in Photoshop is often overlooked, but with so many creative possibilities, it’s well worth a deeper dive

Improve your shots with our Actions and Presets

THIS MONTH’S BONUS SOFTWARE EXTRAS

Take your images beyond perfection with Radiant Photo

Use Detailed Edit controls to make professional-level image adjustments

Discover the essential Detailed Edit tools available

Process your portraits quickly but with finesse

Photo Answers

Flummoxed by focal lengths? Exasperated by the exposure triangle? Send your technique and camera questions to digitalcamera@futurenet.com

The art of seeing

Benedict Brain explores ideas around wabisabi and relates it to his photographic practice

Hotshots

The winners and highlights from Historic Photographer of the Year 2022

Reader gallery

Digital Camera readers show how they’ve been getting creative, submitting images across a range of genres

Reader challenge results

In issue 263, we challenged Digital Camera readers to shoot their best Christmas spirit photo. Here are the two runners-up and the winning image – thanks to everyone who entered these challenges

Shot of the Month

Anouk Krantz rode, climbed, fell, slid and witnessed what it means to be a rancher

In Focus

The latest photography news from around the globe

Behind the lens

BEN HAWKINS & LIZA KANAEVA-HUNSICKER

Scanning ahead…

Jon Devo reflects on his favourite creative tech discoveries from January’s CES 2023

KitZone

New gear, buying tips and the world’s toughest tests

Kaylee Greer

Never work with animals, so the old saying goes – but Niall Hampton finds someone who didn’t get the memo…

Google Pixel 7 Pro £849/$899

Undercuts and out-performs the competition store.google.com

GoPro Hero 11 Black

£499/$499 (£399/$399 with GoPro subscription)

Tamron 20-40mm f/2 .8 Di III VXD

£879/$699

Image-editing software

Photo editing has evolved, and the programs can take you in many different directions…

What to look for in a photo editor

Everyone has different editing needs. Here are some things to consider…

ACDSee Photo Suite 2023

£7.99/$8.90 per month

Adobe Lightroom/ Lightroom Classic

£9.98/$9.99 per month

Adobe Photoshop

£19.97/$20.99 per month

Adobe Photoshop Elements

£85.56/$99.99

Serif Affinity Photo 2

£59.99/$69.99

Canon Digital Photo Pro 4.6.1

Free

Capture One 23

£24/$24 per month

Corel PaintShop Pro 2023

£89.99/$99.99

DxO PhotoLab 6 Elite

£199/$219

Exposure X7

£134/$129

Nikon NX Studio

Free

On1 Photo RAW 2023

£101.34 /subs f rom £8.10 per month

Radiant Photo

£159/$159

Skylum Luminar Neo

£129/$149

The winner is… The Adobe Photography Plan

T he winner – for now – is still