outdoors

Scott Mead's adventure in beach photography started back in 1975 when his grandfather gave him a Kodak Instamatic and sent him off on the sands of Maui. Since then, he has been creating striking images of sand, sea, and sun. Here are some tips for taking full photographic advantage of your next trip to the beach.What do you look for in a good shooting spot on the beach?

Usually, exposing a 4x5-inch negative requires an relatively elaborate process that involves a giant camera, a dark cloth and more preparation that most of us are used to here in the age of the DSLR. Artist Aaron Gustafson, however, attached his 4x5 camera to a helmet and flung himself out of a plane in order to capture some extremely unique landscape photos.

We were pretty amused when we came across Mealsnap, an iPhone app that could estimate the number of calories in a meal just by taking a photo of it. Now, the concept has expanded to identifying trees. 

This winter seems to have turned America into a big white seamless. Snow after snow has smoothed the edges of the great outdoors into a cyclorama, complete with built-in reflectors and abundant fill light. All it takes to use it is the courage to step into the unrelenting cold, camera in hand.