Landscapes

 

For landscape photography the "rules of photography" and composition that we covered earlier are very important. When you look at a vista you are sensing the space, the weather, the wind, the sunshine (or otherwise) and you need to capture that sense in a dynamic and interesting way. Composition will really help you create a captivating image.

The best landscape photographs will show depth through by including three key elements:

Foreground

 

A foreground: typically at the base of the picture. This may be as simple as a plain of grass or include a strong object such as rocks on a beach.

Midground

 

The midground: probably the key aspect of your image. This would be some feature: a road, a fence, a lake, a forest. In a shot of mountains it would the mountains themselves; in a beach shot it would be the ocean.

Background

 

The background: For those mountains or ocean the sky is the background. For the road, fence, trees it might be the sky, or it might be hills and mountains rising behind.

Rule of Thirds in Landscapes

 

You want to place those three elements on the rule of thirds, going up the frame. Consider each third. If the sky is bland then maybe push it all the way to the top so there is just a small sliver of sky - or remove it altogether. The same if the foreground is dull. You only want to put interesting things in your picture.

Look for leading lines, natural lines in the scene which will lead the eye across the image.

Patterns in the Landscape

 

Landscapes are also about patterns. A ploughed field can be interesting in its own right, in which case you would crop out everything else and just leave the abstract pattern.

Or the patterns might be the lovely curves of desert dunes. The shapes are reminiscent of oceans or even the female form. Look for the graphical shapes, think of them as simple lines - are they interesting?

Get Out of the Car!

 

I have been involved with judging national competitions for over 10 years. Every year there will be shots of Lindisfarne Boats and Bamburgh Castle, both in Northumberland. They are always shot from the same viewpoint. When I visited these locations last year I discovered that those shots I had seen time and time again were taken from the car park. I'm willing to bet for a number of them the photographer never even stepped out of the car.

Now don't get me wrong, they are perfectly fine pictures, seen on their own they are worthy of hanging on the wall. It is only when you know that each time they are stepping in the tripod points of every other photographer that the shine is lost.

So when you get to a spectacular view. By all means take the instant and obvious vista. But then move around; see if there are other ways of shooting the scene.

The best landscape photographs have often involved long hikes or hours (or even days) to find that perfect scene. For those photographers often the journey is as important as the final image.

Location Planning

 

If you know you are going to a particular location then research it on the web. See what photographs have been taken; find out where the most interesting places are. It would be silly to travel 100's of miles then miss the most interesting view because it was just around the next bend.

Look at the time of the day those pictures were taken. The scene may only come alive when the sun is shining in the right direction. Check on a map of the area, where will the sun rise and set (remember your best pictures will be in the "Golden Hours" of sunrise or sunset).

Weather

 

Midday sun is usually a killer for landscapes, when the sun shines right down you lose all the shadows and crucially all the texture in your scene. The sunrise, sunset hours are more interesting because of the golden tones and the longer shadows.

Bad weather can be your friend - a dark, glowering, thunderous sky can be magnificent. Think of light shining through clouds, revealing landscapes like God's own torchlight.

Fog and mist are your friends. A light mist across a landscape is fascinating in its own right. A little fog and haze will add a huge sense of recession into far away objects - creating a strong sense of depth to an image.

Season

 

Camera Setup

 

You want to set a moderate aperture (f/11) to give a good depth-of-field. Keep your ISO low (ISO 100) for best quality. This is likely to lead to slower shutter speeds, so mount your camera on a tripod.

If this is a walking holiday then a monopod will work nearly as well.

Bright skies and dark landscapes are the worst combination for cameras. Bracket your shots at different exposures. One exposure may be perfect, or you may need to composite exposures later.

Use HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography to really get the best of the tones.

Use RAW as the file format - this captures a much wider dynamic range than JPEG files and will give you much more flexibility when processing in software.

Landscape Check List

 

Shooting Water

 

There are two key methods for shooting water. The first uses a fast shutter speed to freeze the water. The second uses a slow shutter speed to blur the water for a silky, milky look.

To freeze water you want a shutter speed of 1/100th or faster. Set ISO 100 and use aperture to control overall exposure. A tripod is a benefit, but not a necessity at these shutter speeds. A polarising filter will cut down reflections in the water, but may leave it looking muddy and removing its sparkle.

A long exposure of lake water will make the water look more still even if there are some ripples. This will help any reflected shoreline look more detailed.

Shooting seas, especially as they come into shore around rocks, at slow shutter speeds can produce some very interesting shots. Looking out to sea produces a very soft and muted look.