7 Unexpected Tips for Better Landscape Photography
Let’s face it. Half the articles sharing “the top tips” for you to capture better landscape images are rather generic. Sure, straightening the horizon and photographing during Golden Hour may have a positive impact on your photos, but will they make you a better photographer?
Instead of looking at those basics, I want to share 7 slightly different but equally important suggestions. These tips aren’t going to instantly improve your photography, but they’re aimed at making you a better photographer. Take the time to learn and try them, and I think you’ll start seeing a difference in the near future.
#1. Good Light is NOT Limited to the ‘Golden Hour’
I wasn’t going to talk about the Golden Hour in this article, but it’s such a common piece of advice that I can’t help bringing it up. While most people (myself included some years ago) say that you need to photograph during sunrise or sunset to get better images, I’m going to argue that this is not the case.
Yes, the light in the hours surrounding sunrise and sunset is soft and colorful, but that doesn’t mean good light doesn’t exist during the rest of the day; it simply depends on what you’re photographing.
This might come as a surprise, but many of my personal favorites are images captured during the day (i.e. not at Golden Hour). Sometimes it’s stormy weather that creates dramatic light around majestic peaks, other times it’s a harsh midday sun that gives interesting patterns and light in the deep forest.
Rather than limiting yourself to only photographing a few hours a day, learn when the ideal light will hit the scenery you’re planning to photograph.
#2. The Price Tag of Your Camera is Irrelevant
Have you ever heard someone make a comment along the lines of “That’s a beautiful image, you must have a fancy camera”? I’m sure that sounds familiar to most. But is there any truth in this statement? Does an expensive camera always take better images? No…
It doesn’t matter if your camera costs $200, $2,000 or $20,000. You can take bad photographs with the most expensive cameras and you can take good images with a point-and-shoot.
The important thing is to understand how to use the camera and to know its limitations. At the end of the day, it’s the photographer behind the camera who makes the image.
#3. Learn the Rules in Order to Break Them
If you’ve read any of my articles before, you know that I don’t like to talk about rules in landscape photography. I’d rather view them as guidelines that you should be aware of.
It’s important to learn and understand guidelines such as the Rule of Thirds, leading lines, and other compositional rules, but it’s even more important to know when to break them. The Rule of Thirds can do wonders for your compositions but you might quickly limit your creativity if you fall into the trap of following the process for every single photo you take.
Think about it. Some of history’s best pieces of art ignore the common guidelines and incorporate the complete opposite. Be open to exploring with such ideas.
#4. You Don’t Always Need a Tripod
No. I haven’t lost my mind (I know you’re shaking your head right now).
Again, I want to argue that you shouldn’t listen to the standard tip that tells you to always use a tripod. I’d say this is completely wrong and will do more harm than good to your photography.
It’s important to understand when you need a tripod and when you don’t. There’s no secret that in certain situations a tripod is essential. Here are the scenarios where you should use one:
In most other scenarios you typically don’t need a tripod. If you’re photographing during daytime and your shutter speed is 1/1000th of a second and the ISO is 100, using a tripod will not make a difference.
#5. Explore Focal Lengths (Don’t Limit Yourself to One Lens)
I don’t think you should limit yourself to only using one lens. When I first started landscape photography, I only used a wide-angle lens; in fact, I didn’t own anything else for a year or two.
Today I’ve got the full range, from ultra-wide-angle to telezoom, and I always explore a location with various focal lengths. Doing this has helped me pay more attention to the details surrounding me and it makes me look for elements that I otherwise would walk straight by.
Sometimes I wish it was so easy that I could just arrive a location and capture a couple of great images right away but that’s rarely how it works. Great images are often the result of patience. Great images are the result of returning to a location over and over again until you’ve got the best possible conditions.
I know this isn’t always possible when traveling but as far as it’s possible, I strongly recommend returning to a place until you’ve captured a shot you’re really happy with.
#7. Photograph the Hotspots but be Hungry to Explore
Social media has changed landscape photography in many ways and certain locations are more popular now than ever before. It’s not unlikely that you’ll be accompanied by hundreds of other photographers when photographing some of the greatest views on our planet.
There have been many discussions about these hotspots and how so-called “trophy hunters” are ruining the industry but I’m not so convinced that you should completely stop photographing the hotspots, especially if you’ve just started photography.
I tend to view the hotspots as photography with training wheels; you’ve seen thousands of images from there before and know exactly how to approach the location. This can be a helpful way to put yourself into the mindset of photographers you admire and, if you try, it can help you understand why they’ve made certain decisions in the field.
But I don’t think you should stick to the hotspots forever. I think exploration is a big part of outdoor photography and once we lose the will to explore, creativity quickly starts fading. Use the knowledge you’ve picked up from photographing the hotspots and apply it in the field when photographing new locations.
About the author: Christian Hoiberg is a full-time landscape photographer who helps aspiring photographers develop the skills needed to capture beautiful and impactful images. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. Download Hoiberg’s free guide 30 Tips to Improve Your Landscape Photography and open the doors to your dream life. Hoiberg is also the founder of CaptureLandscapes. You can find more of his work on his website and Instagram. This article was also published here.
7 Tips to Increase Employee Engagement Without Spending a Dime
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The company was in trouble: The value of its stock had dropped to just $1 a share. So the CEO decided to level with the workers about just how bad it was—and he laid out a plan to turn things around. The employees responded with renewed dedication and effort that helped the business rebound, and the stock price has since jumped to $20 a share.
It goes to show that transparency and confidence in an organization can inspire employees to be engaged—meaning they’re involved, enthusiastic and committed to their work.
The need to increase engagement is pressing. Recent surveys show that it is on the rise, but the overall picture is still pretty bleak. Only about 34 percent of U.S. workers—and 13 percent worldwide—report that they are engaged at work, according to Gallup data.
Those numbers translate into more than just a shortage of smiles around the lunchroom. Engagement correlates with productivity, customer service and profitability. So, for example, organizations with strong employee engagement scores generate revenue growth at a rate 2.5 times higher than companies with lower marks, according to the Hay Group, a management consulting company.
Stats like that aren’t lost on the C-suite: At least 85 percent of business leaders globally believe engagement is important, according to Bersin by Deloitte, a research and advisory firm.
But that number should be 100 percent, says Robin Erickson, Bersin’s vice president of talent acquisition, engagement and retention. Among the benefits, she notes, are lower turnover, better customer loyalty and improved safety. “All of those are bottom-line reasons organizations should care about employee engagement,” she says.
Many factors can impede meaningful engagement. These include organizational tumult, distrust of managers, job market unease, and a lack of cohesion among workers and teams.
But organizations that try to buy their employees’ enthusiasm and commitment are likely to be disappointed. While higher pay and better benefits generally improve a worker’s satisfaction and overall contentment, they don’t truly drive engagement and the extra effort that comes with it, engagement experts say.
The good news is that companies can improve engagement by paying more attention to their employees. The great news is that doing so doesn’t have to involve spending large sums of money. Rather, leaders must act deliberately and thoughtfully. It won’t work to simply grab ideas from other companies without first making sure the practices fit into your own organization’s culture. Just because something works at Google doesn’t mean it’s right for you.
That said, most strategies for driving engagement share common goals, such as helping employees to feel valued and emotionally connected to their work. To that end, here are seven approaches to driving engagement that can be tailored to suit any culture or budget.
1. Supply the Right Tools
One of the most important drivers of employee engagement may also be one of the most overlooked: making sure employees have all the tools they need to succeed in their roles. Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends 2016 report refers to it as providing an “enabling infrastructure” and lists it as the top driver of engagement globally.
One of the most important drivers of employee engagement may also be one of the most overlooked: making sure employees have all the tools they need to succeed in their roles. Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends 2016 report refers to it as providing an “enabling infrastructure” and lists it as the top driver of engagement globally.
A company’s infrastructure includes the tools and processes people use to complete their work and the organizational capabilities they have at their disposal, explains Don MacPherson, a partner in the employee engagement practice at Aon in Minneapolis. “Particularly in large organizations, there are barriers to employees getting things done,” he says. “It has an effect on employee engagement.”
For instance, if security protocols require people to remember four or five different passwords to log in to the software they need to do their jobs, workers can become frustrated. They—and the company—likely would benefit from simpler procedures.
“Business is getting more complex,” MacPherson says. “But engaged employees need to be able to move quickly to be effective in a changing world.” That means ensuring that all workers have the right equipment and aren’t operating in an environment that is so inefficient or bureaucratic that they can’t get anything done. “Companies with employees who have both the psychological investment in their jobs and the resources to adapt to a changing world are better positioned to survive disruptive market conditions,” he explains.
2. Give Individual Attention
One challenge to boosting employee engagement is figuring out which approach will work best in a multinational, multiethnic, multigenerational workforce. The answer could well be different for each person.
One challenge to boosting employee engagement is figuring out which approach will work best in a multinational, multiethnic, multigenerational workforce. The answer could well be different for each person.
At Timberlane, a Philadelphia-area shutter manufacturer with 70 employees, Brandi Yanulavich, a people and culture specialist, gives applicants a test from The Predictive Index that analyzes their individual tendencies. She shares the results with managers so they know which new hires want public recognition, for instance, or who hates speaking to groups. That data is also used to match workers with the tasks they feel most comfortable doing. In one instance, a salesman thrived when, as a break from his day-to-day desk job, he was given a role training new employees.
The survey results also help the company hire people who are well-suited to particular jobs, which leads to higher engagement, Yanulavich says. And the results help managers better understand their own communication styles and what motivates their teams.
Absent a personality assessment, there is a simple, low-tech, no-cost approach that managers can use to find out what each of their employees wants: Ask them.
Some preferences, however, appear to be almost universal. For many people, increased autonomy and responsibility in their jobs can lead to higher levels of engagement. Often, the flexibility to decide when and how they complete tasks also motivates them to do better work. Fortunately, many employers appear to be getting that right. More than 70 percent of workers say they are satisfied with this aspect of their jobs, according to the Society for Human Resource Management’s 2016 Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement survey report.
3. Provide Training and Coaching
Creating a culture that fosters continuous development does more than help workers build the skills they need to do their jobs. It also communicates that the organization values its employees and believes in their potential.
Creating a culture that fosters continuous development does more than help workers build the skills they need to do their jobs. It also communicates that the organization values its employees and believes in their potential.
“The more the employee feels the company is investing in their future, the higher the level of engagement,” says Brad Shuck, an assistant professor at the University of Louisville who specializes in organizational development.
Fortunately, a huge training budget isn’t needed to create a meaningful development program. At Timberlane Inc., a key focus is on cross-training employees so that workers learn how to perform other people’s jobs in addition to their own. For example, office staff periodically head to the manufacturing floor for a few hours to sand or assemble blinds so they have a broader understanding of the organization and how it operates.
Coaching is another key ingredient for engagement. That’s the case at Louisville, Ky.-based Yum! Brands (the parent company of Taco Bell, KFC and other restaurants). All 130,000 corporate employees are given midyear development plans and 360-degree reviews to help them identify skills to improve. Managers have a key role in the development process. HR leaders help maximize the effectiveness of coaching by counseling managers not to cancel one-on-one coaching sessions and, if necessary, to reschedule them as soon as possible rather than letting them slide. That reinforces the organization’s commitment to its workforce.
“We want our employees to reinvent themselves [and to] elevate their skills and elevate their contributions,” says Shelisa Gautreaux, senior director of corporate HR at Yum!.
Some company leaders worry that providing substantial training opportunities no longer makes sense given that today’s workforce is characterized by frequent job-hopping. But investing in employees can build loyalty and engagement, as well as help to attract new talent, says Fred LeFranc, CEO of the consulting firm Results Thru Strategy in Charlotte, N.C. The Container Store, for instance, provides more than 250 hours of training in each employee’s first year. And not coincidentally, LeFranc says, the organization has been rated by Fortune magazine as among the best places to work for 17 years straight.
4. Listen to Employees
Effective leaders pay close attention to what workers have to say and then act on the feedback, according to the 2016 Trends in Global Employee Engagement report from Aon. That’s one of the reasons annual employee surveys are being increasingly replaced or augmented by quarterly or monthly pulse surveys and performance conversations are occurring more frequently. Not only does a comprehensive approach to listening help an organization pinpoint and quickly address problems, it makes people feel valued.
“We give more to those places where we feel our voice matters,” Shuck says.
At Whole Foods, entire teams get a say in whether to hire new workers at the end of their probationary period. This approach communicates to employees that their views are important, LeFranc says. In addition, managers get valuable insights about the worker who is being assessed.
Along those lines, Deloitte’s human capital trends report cites lessons learned by an electric utility after it experienced a major power outage. After reviewing employee feedback, company leaders determined that the problem could have been predicted and prevented. The organization now uses text analysis to monitor comments from line workers and detect potential problems.
5. Get Social
Engaged workers feel emotionally invested in their jobs. A simple way to help employees care more about their workplace is to foster closer connections to colleagues. In a workplace where teams are increasingly important, healthy personal relationships are a key ingredient. And there’s virtually no end to the types of events HR can sponsor, so keep an open mind.
Engaged workers feel emotionally invested in their jobs. A simple way to help employees care more about their workplace is to foster closer connections to colleagues. In a workplace where teams are increasingly important, healthy personal relationships are a key ingredient. And there’s virtually no end to the types of events HR can sponsor, so keep an open mind.
There are many no- or low-cost options that often involve asking employees to contribute their own time or talent. As long as workers are approached in the right way, taking this tack can help people feel valued and appreciated for what they bring to the company. At Timberlane, for example, woodworkers built a beanbag toss game for employees to use during company parties. Another employee volunteers to cook a turkey in his fryer every year for the Thanksgiving potluck.
“Employees who enjoy being here really put forth the time and effort and want to make a great product and do what they can for the customers,” Yanulavich says. “It’s caring [about] what you’re doing and who you’re doing it with.”
6. Serve Others
Service projects are another opportunity to help workers cultivate closer relationships. And they’re rarely expensive to implement.
More important, they fulfill a central need among employees: finding purpose through work. That’s a top driver of engagement, according to the Deloitte report.
“We all want meaning in our lives and want to work for an organization that’s contributing to the community and is socially responsible,” MacPherson says.
Before becoming director of employee benefits at the Galena Park, Texas, Independent School District, Colleen Martin, SHRM-CP, worked at an oil field safety inspection company. It employed many seasonal workers for tedious jobs such as monitoring machine dials all day.
To help break the monotony, Martin organized several service projects. Those activities, she says, “made them feel they weren’t out there alone.”
Employees built homes on the weekends for Habitat for Humanity, sent personal cards to troops in the Middle East and donated to an orphanage. Martin saw business results from the service projects: “When you asked [employees] to go above and beyond [on the job], they were good with doing it because they knew you were a company that cared,” she says.
7. Recognize Proudly and Loudly
It’s no secret that rewards and recognition can increase engagement. To that end, organizations need to clearly broadcast the meaning of the company’s work, LeFranc says, because that message gives people a clearer idea of how they fit into the mission of the company and what kinds of behavior will be rewarded. At Disney, for instance, workers know that the customer experience is paramount, and they’re recognized for creating a magical atmosphere. That, in turn, helps them connect to their jobs, he says.
It’s no secret that rewards and recognition can increase engagement. To that end, organizations need to clearly broadcast the meaning of the company’s work, LeFranc says, because that message gives people a clearer idea of how they fit into the mission of the company and what kinds of behavior will be rewarded. At Disney, for instance, workers know that the customer experience is paramount, and they’re recognized for creating a magical atmosphere. That, in turn, helps them connect to their jobs, he says.
Too often, though, gifts and bonuses are doled out with little fanfare. Not so at Yum! corporate headquarters. The leaders there pull out kazoos, tambourines, horns and cowbells. Each month, a different company head leads a band of employees as it marches around the building playing “music” in honor of the six or so people chosen for recognition, gathering dozens more people as they go.
“It’s a little zany,” Gautreaux says. “It’s a little out of character for a corporate environment. But it highlights us.”
Yum! has 1.5 million corporate and franchise workers. Recognition is a companywide priority, and local leaders figure out what that looks like for their particular location and culture. The awards themselves are things you could probably pick up at a dollar store: a cape and sunglasses, an Albert Einstein bobblehead doll, and some chattering teeth.
Gautreaux says the recognition motivates the individual winners and serves as a “booster shot” for engagement throughout the organization. “At the end of the day,” she notes, “people respond to being appreciated.”
Tamara Lytle is a freelance writer in the Washington, D.C., area.
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11 best hidden Windows 10 tricks to know now that you've upgraded from Windows 7
These Windows 10 tips and tricks can save you time and effort.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Whether you've been using Windows 10 for years or have only recently upgraded, there are plenty of new and old tips, tricks and hidden features to learn that will make using your laptop every day faster and smoother. For example, finding the secret Start menu and saving battery power with a simple trick.
Microsoft doesn't typically publicize its hidden features the way Apple does, which can make it more difficult to know how to get the most out of the machine you use day in and day out.
Even learning how to upgrade to Windows 10 for free can be tricky. You'll want to do this ASAP, by the way, since support for Windows 7 ended in January. So no matter which Microsoft, Dell, HP or other Windows 10 rig you have, these clever tips will help you stay organized and get more done. Plus, here's everything you need to know about the Windows 10 Nov. 2019 update.
CNET NowAll the latest tech news delivered to your inbox. It's FREE!1. Minimize all windows except the active one
If your desktop screen has gotten too crowded with open windows, you can quickly minimize them all except the one you are currently working in.
Just click the title bar of the window you want to remain open to select it. Then, hold the mouse down and move the window back and forth quickly -- shaking it, essentially. After a couple of quick shakes, all other open windows will minimize, leaving only the one you've shaken open. Neat, huh?
2. Open the 'secret' Start menu
You know that to get to the Start menu, you hit the Windows icon at the bottom left of the screen or on your keyboard. But Windows 10 includes a lesser-known second Start menu that makes accessing important features like the Command Prompt, the Control Panel and the Task Manager much easier. You can access it two different ways, either by pressing the Windows key + X, or right click the Windows icon/Start button.
3. Create an event without opening the Calendar app
Windows 10's latest update lets you quickly add events to your Microsoft calendar directly from your Taskbar -- without actually having to open the calendar at all. Here's how to do it:
1. On your Taskbar, click the box with the time and date in it in the right corner.
2. Click the date when you want to schedule an event.
3. Enter the event name, time and location. (If you have multiple calendars, click the down arrow next to the event name field to choose the one you want to add it to.)
4. Click save. The event should appear in your Calendar app across your devices.
4. Take a screenshot
I know, it's a basic one -- but it's amazing how easy it is to forget how to take a screenshot on your laptop or desktop when you don't do it often.
There are at least eight different ways you can take a screenshot with Windows 10. If you want to capture and save a picture of your entire screen, the easiest way is to hit the Windows key + Print Screen key, and that picture will be saved to the Pictures > Screenshots folder.
To capture just one part of your screen, hit the Windows key + Shift + S to open a tool called Snip & Sketch, which allows you to click and drag to create a screenshot, which is saved to your Clipboard.
5. Open items on your Taskbar with keyboard shortcuts
If you've pinned programs to your Taskbar at the bottom of your screen to create a shortcut, you don't have to click the icons to open them. Instead, use the keyboard shortcut Windows key + [Number key], with the number key corresponding to the position of the program on the Taskbar. For example, Windows key + 2 will open the second item on the Taskbar.
This is especially useful if you're typing furiously and don't want to lift your fingers from the keyboard. It may feel more natural to reach for the Windows key.
6. Figure out how much space apps are taking up
Computers start running slower as they grow short on space. One quick way to speed them up may be to get rid of apps that take up more space than they should, especially if you don't regularly use them.
To see how much space an app uses, navigate to Settings > System > Storage. Click on the drive you want to search (likely the local storage, "This PC"), and click Apps & games to see a list of apps installed on your machine and how much space they are taking up. You probably won't get rid of your browser, but you might find that a game you haven't played in years is some good dead weight to drop.
7. Get rid of ads in your Start menu
When you run Windows 10 with default settings, you may sometimes see apps on the right side of your Start menu. Microsoft calls them "suggestions," but they are actually ads for Windows Store apps you can buy.
To get rid of the ads in your Windows 10 Start menu, go to Settings > Personalization > Start. Toggle the setting called Show suggestions occasionally in Start to the off position.
8. Shut down background apps
Apps that run in the background can receive info, send notifications, and stay updated, even when you aren't using them -- which can be useful, but can also suck your battery and your data, if you're connecting via a mobile hotspot.
To control which apps are running in the background and save some battery power and data, go to Settings > Privacy > Background apps. To stop all apps from running in the background, toggle Let apps run in the background to Off. Or, you can choose which apps to run in the background individually by going down the list on the same page.
9. Use background scrolling
With Windows 10, you can scroll up and down on any window -- even if it's not the one you're directly working in. This is a useful tool when you have a lot of windows open that you want to look through at the same time -- for example, if you want to open new sub-menu options in new windows to save you time clicking back and forward on the same page.
Try opening two programs -- say, an internet browser page and a notepad or Word document. Arrange both on the screen so you can see at least some of the text on each. While you are in one window, hover your mouse or use the touchpad to move to the second window, and scroll. Even though you aren't active in that window, it should allow you to move up and down the page.
The feature should be on by default, but if it isn't, go to Settings > Devices > Mouse, and toggle Scroll inactive windows when I hover over them to On. Then you can place your mouse over a window that's in the background and use the scroll wheel to scroll.
10. Show file extensions in File Explorer
Microsoft hides file extensions by default, which makes life difficult for people who need to look for specific types of files, like JPEGs and JPGs. To see file extensions in File Explorer, do the following:
1. Go to the Search bar at the bottom of the screen, and type in File Explorer Options, and click it. (There are a number of other ways to get here too, but that one seems fastest.)
2. In the window that pops up, click the View tab.
3. Uncheck the box that says Hide extensions for known file types. Click Apply, and OK. You should now see file extensions for all files in the File Explorer.
You can also use the File Explorer Options menu to choose to show empty drives, hidden files and folders, and more.
11. Cut down on distractions with Focus assist
It's frustrating to try and get work done when you keep getting interrupted with notifications. You can determine how many you get with Focus assist, a tool Windows 10 added in the April 2018 update.
Set it up by going to Settings > System > Focus assist. Choose from three options: Off (get all notifications from your apps and contacts), Priority (see only selected notifications from a priority list that you customize, and send the rest to your action center), and Alarms only (hide all notifications, except for alarms).
You can also choose to automatically turn this feature on during certain hours, or when you're playing a game.
For more Windows 10 laptop tips and tricks, check out Don't put up with a slow PC, fix it yourself and 6 simple security changes all Windows 10 users need to make.
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Originally published earlier this year.
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