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Mark Denney
@markdenneyphoto
Mark Denney is a professional landscape and outdoor photographer based in North Carolina, United States. After a 17-year career in the corporate world, he took a radical turn in his life in July 2018 to dedicate himself completely to nature photography and content creation. He describes himself as a naturally anxious person who found landscape photography a form of "Zen meditation," a tool that allows him to practice patience and disconnect from the fast pace while waiting for the precise moment when the right light appears to capture an image.
As an educator and lecturer, his work focuses on teaching the narrative capacity of photographs, encouraging his followers not to obsess over the final result, but to appreciate the photographic experience in its entirety. He is widely recognized for his YouTube channel, where he shares editing tutorials, composition tips, and vlogs of his van trips under the banner "Cameras, Vans, & The Great Outdoors." In addition to his teaching at workshops and his weekly newsletter The Morning Blaze, he is an ambassador for brands such as NiSi Optics and f-stop Gear, and his content has been featured in prestigious publications such as Outdoor Photographer Magazine and ShutterBug.
Previous videos
19
Why Your Landscape Edits Don’t Look 3D (And How to Fix It)
Published: Oct 7, 2026 · Duration: 12 min 32 sec · 71K views
Take your landscape editing further with my complete Lightroom course, The Art of Shaping Light Learn how to create more depth, mood, direction, and atmosphere while keeping your edits natural. Knowing where to brighten and where to darken can change the way you edit landscape photos. In this Lightroom tutorial, I’ll show you how I shape light to create depth, guide the viewer’s eye, and bring out the subject while…
Why I Chose This Gear for Fall Photography
Published: Sep 30, 2026 · Duration: 12 min 23 sec · 39K views
Colorado is one of my favorite places in the world to photograph in the fall. Along the way, I’ll share autumn images and explain how the equipment fits into my photography, so you can see the purpose behind what I pack. Whether you’re planning a fall photography trip or reconsidering your own setup, I hope this gives you a few useful ideas.
Tired of Paying Monthly to Edit Photos? Try This Instead
Published: Sep 23, 2026 · Duration: 16 min 10 sec · 28K views
Try DxO PhotoLab 10 FREE for 30 days, no credit card required* Save 15% with code DENNEY - new DxO customers only:* Tired of paying monthly to edit your photos? After 11 years of using Lightroom, I’m exploring DxO PhotoLab 10, a photo editor you can buy without a subscription. I already use DxO PureRAW 6, but their full editing software is new territory for me.
Adobe Is Finally Listening to Us
Published: Sep 16, 2026 · Duration: 19 min 3 sec · 52K views
I’ve wanted Adobe to add something like this for years. Having used the Orton effect for a long time, I was curious to see how the new Glow tool in Adobe Camera Raw would compare to my usual approach. After a couple of weeks of testing, there’s a lot I like and a few things I wish Adobe had done differently.
The Most Addictive Photography Advice I Wish I'd Ignored
Published: Sep 9, 2026 · Duration: 9 min 20 sec · 47K views
Manual mode is one of the first camera settings photographers are told they must master, and for years, I believed using anything else was taking a shortcut. In this video, I explain how that advice became a habit and why Manual mode isn’t always the best choice. I’ll walk through when I use Manual mode, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, and Auto ISO, along with how I decide which option will keep the camera out…
I Never Edit in Lightroom Alone
Published: Sep 2, 2026 · Duration: 11 min 10 sec · 35K views
After last week’s video about the changes to Luminar, I received a ton question I get almost every time I make a video using something other than Lightroom: Did I switch? Lightroom is still my main photo editor, but I never edit an entire photograph in Lightroom alone. On average, every image I finish passes through five different editing programs.
Luminar Neo Is Officially Gone — Here’s What Replaced It
Published: Aug 26, 2026 · Duration: 12 min 54 sec · 51K views
Existing Luminar users: Pre-order the upcoming upgrade by *August 31* at the lowest upgrade price of the year. Luminar Neo is officially gone, but the software isn’t. Luminar Neo has become simply Luminar, bringing everything together under one unified brand.
Every Photographer Needs a Camera They Don’t Need
Published: Aug 19, 2026 · Duration: 13 min 13 sec · 24K views
On paper, the Fujifilm X100VI loses to my Nikon Z8 in almost every measurable category. It has a smaller sensor, one fixed lens, less flexibility, and doesn’t fill an obvious gap in my professional landscape photography setup. So why did I keep a camera I clearly don’t need?
Lightroom Can Finally Do This
Published: Aug 12, 2026 · Duration: 11 min 43 sec · 29K views
Stop Guessing Your Way Through Every Edit* Adobe’s August Lightroom update finally addresses one of its most annoying masking problems: hard, unnatural edges that can make an otherwise good adjustment look obvious. The new Edge and Feather controls give you much greater control over how smoothly a mask blends into the rest of the photograph. In this video, I demonstrate the problem, explain why the usual workarounds…
This Tiny Camera Fixed Something I Broke
Published: Aug 5, 2026 · Duration: 12 min 45 sec · 55K views
Four years ago, I tested the Fuji X100V, enjoyed every minute with it, and then sent it back because I couldn’t figure out where it fit into my photography. I regretted that decision for years. So after spending 12 months trying to find the new X100VI, I took one to the Faroe Islands to finally answer the question: would I buy it, or make the same decision all over again?
This Popular Focus Setting Makes Photography Harder
Published: Jul 29, 2026 · Duration: 9 min 56 sec · 16K views
One of the most popular autofocus settings in landscape photography may actually be making the entire process more difficult than it needs to be. In this video, I'll explain why I've moved away from relying on the smallest autofocus point, what I've been using instead, and how it helps me focus faster without sacrificing image sharpness. More importantly, it allows me to spend less time managing my camera and more…
Pro vs Beginner: The Same RAW Photo
Published: Jul 22, 2026 · Duration: 14 min 51 sec · 16K views
Learn how I approach editing my RAW photos from start to finish in my free RAW Editing Guide:* Have you ever looked back at an old photo edit and thought, “What was I thinking?” In this video, I revisit a landscape photo I edited nearly seven years ago, compare it to the original RAW file, and re-edit it from scratch using the way I approach Lightroom today. Along the way, I’ll explain how my editing style has…
One Thing Changed How I Edit Every Photo
Published: Jul 15, 2026 · Duration: 11 min 28 sec · 24K views
Free 2026 Photo Editing Guide: Before you move a single slider, follow this simple workflow to start every edit with a plan.* After editing thousands of landscape photos over the last decade, I’ve realized the biggest improvement in my photography had very little to do with Lightroom itself. It came from changing the way I think while editing. In this video, I’ll show you the single mindset shift that changed how I…
"Lightroom" Couldn’t Do This - Until Now
Published: Jul 8, 2026 · Duration: 11 min 14 sec · 49K views
Use this link to get $25 off your PPA membership today! About a month ago, Adobe added two new editing features, and I made a video covering both of them. At the time, I thought one of those features was the clear winner.
Most Landscape Photographers Focus on the Wrong Things
Published: Jul 1, 2026 · Duration: 11 min 49 sec · 12K views
FREE Lightroom Colors Course🌟* Learn the exact color workflow I use to create natural, vibrant landscape photos in Lightroom.* Over the last 10 years, there are a lot of things I’ve stopped caring about as a landscape photographer. Not because they don’t matter, but because I’ve realized we often spend too much time focusing on the wrong things. I’d love to hear from you in the comments.
Don’t Press The Shutter Until You Check This
Published: Jun 24, 2026 · Duration: 15 min 7 sec · 14K views
Avoid The Small Mistakes That Ruin Great Photos — Download My Free 10-Second Checklist:* Have you ever gotten home from a shoot, opened a photo you were excited about, and immediately spotted something you should have seen in the field? A distraction near the edge of the frame, a missed focus point, or a composition that could have been stronger with a small adjustment. In this video, I’ll share the simple routine I…
Photography Rules I Followed for Too Long
Published: Jun 17, 2026 · Duration: 13 min 32 sec · 15K views
Want sharper landscape photos? Download my Free Focus Stacking Guide* When I first started learning landscape photography, there were a handful of rules I never questioned. I followed them because they were repeated so often by photographers I respected that I simply assumed they had to be true.
I Ignored This RAW Editing Step for Years
Published: Jun 10, 2026 · Duration: 14 min 2 sec · 32K views
👉 Check out DxO PureRAW 6 and save 15% with.
I Think We Got Back Button Focus Wrong
Published: Jun 3, 2026 · Duration: 9 min 12 sec · 29K views
Back button focus has become one of the most recommended camera settings in photography, especially for landscape photographers. But after using it for years, I started wondering whether I was using it because it actually improved my photography, or simply because I thought that’s what “serious” photographers were supposed to do. In this video, we’ll talk about where back button focus came from, why it became so…
