The breathtaking landscape before you is just begging to be photographed. The only problem is that you don’t know how to do it. You try taking a few images, but upon reviewing them your disappointment sinks in. They don’t hold a candle to the real thing — and they certainly don’t look like those gorgeous landscape images that show up Continue Reading
The post Landscape Photography: Complete Guide for Beginners; Equipment, Settings, and Tricks appeared first on Photodoto.
The post 12 Tips to Help You Capture Stunning Landscape Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kav Dadfar.
Whether you are an experienced photographer or just getting started, the amazing landscape photographs you see have all got a few things in common. The reality of landscape photography is that not only are you reliant on your own ability and skill of seeing and composing an image, but also on Mother Nature. But regardless of whatever weather you encounter, there are countless opportunities to be able to capture spectacular landscape photographs.
Here are 12 tips that you can follow if you want to capture stunning landscape photos.
Landscape photography is as much about planning as it is about the actual process of photography. You should always have a clear idea of where you are planning to go, and at what time of the day you will be able to capture the best photograph. Learn how to read maps, and understand how you can utilize them to find the perfect location. By planning your exact location, you will be able to maximize your time there, and ensure not only that you get to your location safely and in plenty of time, but also that you find your way back (usually after sunset).
It’s amazing the number of times that the elements conspire to ruin a perfectly composed photograph. Landscape photography requires patience, just in case that white cloudy sky disperses just long enough to allow the sun to break through for you to take your shot. The key is to always allow yourself enough time at a location so that you are able to wait if you need to. Forward planning can also help you hugely, so make sure to check weather forecasts before leaving, maximizing your opportunity for the weather you require.
One of the reasons we are often stunned by impressive landscape photos is because it is a view taken in a way that we have never seen before. A photo taken from the top of a mountain which requires a huge amount of time and effort to get to is a view that most people won’t get to see for themselves. So don’t rely on easily accessible viewpoints that everyone else can just pull up to and see. Instead, look for those unique spots (provided they are safe to get to) that offer amazing scenes, even if they require determination to get there.
Light is one of the most important factors in any photograph, but even more so in landscape photography. It really doesn’t matter how great the location, is or how you compose your photo – if the light doesn’t do the scene justice, then the image will fail. The best light for landscape photography is early in the morning or late afternoon, with the midday sun offering the harshest light.
But part of the challenge of landscape photography is about being able to adapt and cope with different lighting conditions; for example, great landscape photos can be captured even on stormy or cloudy days. The key is to use the best light as much as possible, and be able to influence the look and feel of your photos with it.
Simply put, if you want to capture the best photographs, at the best time of the day, at the highest quality possible, then a tripod is an essential piece of equipment. Photography in low light conditions (e.g. early morning or early evening) without a tripod would require an increase in ISO to be able to avoid camera shake, which in turn means more noise in your images. If you want to capture a scene using a slow shutter speed or long exposure (for example, to capture the movement of clouds or water) then without a tripod you simply won’t be able to hold the camera steady enough to avoid blurred images from camera shake.
Choosing your depth of field is an important part of capturing stunning landscapes. Landscape photos usually require the vast majority of the photo to be sharp (the foreground and background) so you need a deeper depth of field than if you are taking a portrait of someone. But a shallower depth of field can also be a powerful creative tool if used correctly, as it can isolate the subject by keeping it sharp, while the rest of the image is blurred. As a starting point, if you are looking to keep the majority of the photo sharp, set your camera to Aperture Priority (A or Av) mode so you can take control of the aperture. Start at around f/8 and work up (f/11 or higher) until you get the desired effect.
As much as possible you should always aim to get your composition right when taking the photo, rather than relying on post-production. If the scene doesn’t look right when you look at it through your viewfinder, then it won’t look good in the final output. There are several techniques that you can use to help your composition (such as the rule of thirds), but ultimately you need to train yourself to be able to see a scene, and analyze it in your mind. With practice this will become second nature, but the important thing is to take your time.
Neutral Density filters and polarizers are an essential piece of kit for any landscape photographer. Often you will need to manipulate the available light, or even try to enhance the natural elements. For example, if you are taking photos which include water, you may find you get unwanted reflections from the sun, which is where a polarizing filter can help by minimizing the reflections and also enhancing the colors (greens and blues). But remember, polarizing filters often have little or no effect on a scene if you’re directly facing the sun, or it’s behind you. For best results position yourself between 45° and 90° to the sun.
One of the other big challenges of landscape photography is getting a balanced exposure between the foreground, which is usually darker, and a bright sky. Graduated ND filters help to compensate for this by darkening the sky, while keeping the foreground brighter. This can be replicated in post-production, but it is always best to try and capture the photo as perfectly as possible in-camera.
Histograms are an essential tool in photography, which you should aim to learn how to read and utilize the findings to improve your photos. A histogram is a simple graph that shows the different tonal distribution in your image. The left side of the graph is for dark tones and the right side of the graph represents bright tones.
For instance, if you find that the majority of the graph is shifted to one side, this is an indication that your photo is too light or dark (overexposed or underexposed). This isn’t always a bad thing, and some images work perfectly well either way. However, if you find that your graph extends beyond the left or right edge, this shows that you have parts of the photo with lost detail (pure black areas if the histogram extends beyond the left edge and pure white if it extends beyond the right edge). This is something you should avoid, so by seeing the evidence in the histogram, you are able to correct it by either recomposing the image or compensating for the exposure.
This is true of any photograph that you are taking. It doesn’t matter if it is a landscape or a portrait; if you can do it better, then you should. But often because of the time and effort that landscape photography requires, people settle for a good photo, rather than waiting or coming back to take a better one. You should always aim to photograph anything at the best possible time, in the best possible way, even if that means waiting or coming back later.
Simply put, if your camera is capable of capturing photos in RAW format, then I recommend that you always capture RAW files. They contain much more detail and information, and give far greater flexibility in post-production without losing quality. Remember, you can always save RAW files in whatever other formats you require, but you will not be able to save JPEGs as RAW files, so ultimately you are limited to the quality at which the JPEG was shot.
For all the techniques and rules that exist to help aid composition and the process of taking the photo, there is always room to experiment. Digital photography means that taking a photo isn’t wasting a negative (and costing money), so there is ample opportunity to break the rules and your own style sometimes. Even if the majority of the time it doesn’t work and the image doesn’t look great, every now and again you might uncover a gem.
Landscape photography is one of the most common genres that amateur and professional photographers get into. With practice, hard work, and patience you can capture stunning landscape photos that will look great in your portfolio.
So come on, show us your great landscape shots, and don’t forget to share your tips and experiences below.
The post 12 Tips to Help You Capture Stunning Landscape Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kav Dadfar.
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The winning photographs and commended shots of the inaugural World Landscape Photographer competition have been announced, showcasing incredible scenery captured around the world.
The World Landscape Photographer competition is the brainchild of professional landscape photographer Nigel Danson. Determined to help those affected by people affected by COVID-19 and inspired by browsing through his own photo catalog, Danson conceptualized the competition and eventually brought it to life.
The premise was simple — share five of your best landscape photos captured from before March 1, 2020 for an entry fee of just £10. ‘At least 90%’ of the entry fees would go to a COVID-19 charity, with the remaining 10% going towards ‘CC fees and costs associated with sending the prizes to the winners.’ According to Danson, he ‘never thought over 1000 people would enter,’ but sure enough, he and six other judges pored over 4,838 images from more than 1,000 entrants to whittle it down to one 1st place winner, seven prize winners and 50 commended images.
The 1st place prize in the inaugural World Landscape Photography competition went to Neil Burnell from England with his ‘stunning mystical image of Wistman’s Wood in Devon entitled Wise.’ For winning the coveted 1st place prize, Burnell is receiving a Nikon Z50 camera and two lenses, which were donated by Nikon. Other items from Benro, Fotospeed, Kase and Tenba were given out to the remaining six winners.
In total, more than £10K went to a Unicef coronavirus appeal that is ‘raising money to help children affected by the outbreak by working to provide handwashing campaigns as well as providing essential health worker supplies, such as surgical gloves, soap and clean water facilities.’
In this gallery, we’re presenting the 1st place winner and the remaining six prize-winning photos. You can view all 50 of the commended images and words from each of the judges on the World Landscape Photographer website.
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Gear & Settings:
www.neilburnell.com
About the photo: I’ve been shooting Wistmans now for four years and have had the composition of this shot in mind for a little while. The shot required extremely thick fog to give the centre trees a touch of separation in what is a very condensed and complex area of the woodland. After several unsuccessful shots of this scene, I finally got lucky with a full day of fog in January this year, I have to say this is probably my favourite image I’ve taken from this wonderful woodland.
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Gear & Settings:
About the photo: Living in the Eden Valley, all I have to do normally to see if its misty is look out of the window. Thus was the case this particular morning. Thick mist sat across the Eden Valley. With my Sony A7 in for repair I was left with a small Sony Compact and my Fujifilm XT1 which had been converted to Infra Red.
I waited for the sun to rise over the Pennines for the magic to happen. For a glorious 20 minutes I scurried about in my local woodland at Edenhall. I captured some lovely images but then as I came along the road I saw this copse of trees emerging from the mist. It looked majestic. With some blue sky above.
I knew Infra Red would work well. As soon as I looked through the eyepiece I saw the potential for this image. I short the image handheld. The capture needed very little processing, other than an infra red preset in Silver Efex that I use and a touch of Gaussian blur to soften it.
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Gear & Settings:
www.andrewbaruffiphoto.com
About the photo: I’ve only been practicing photography for a couple years. In that time I’ve always assumed that subjects, composition, and conditions outweighed the importance of light. In some cases that can still be true for me, but even the littlest amount of light can make a scene truly special. This image spans across two days. In areas of Zion’s east side, patches of ice can be found tucked between the boulders of the washes in the winter months. Those patches tend to fade as more of the water and ice seeps into the sand or simply melts and evaporates on a hotter day. I arrived to a section of the main wash on a chilly day that has the more rare attribute of a pool at a certain bend. The pool was fairly iced over, and the intricacies in the ice patterns were supported by delicate fallen leaves here and there. One leaf in particular caught my eye, a golden oak that bent upwards from the center as the tip and stem were fused into the ice. I sat at that pool for a few hours trying to find the best composition, and eventually found exactly what I wanted. It was such a beautiful scene, I knew that I had to make sure that I got it right before it all vanished.
The next day I arrived to an even colder east side. I returned to the same exact composition to see how it transformed over night. The ice took on a more singular pattern with less variation thanks to the freeze, and the oak leaf still sat frozen in place. Even more special was the morning light creeping into the scene. Golden reflected light from the sandstone opposite me kissed the surface of the oak leaf, and made me realize what I was missing. It wasn’t the composition, conditions, patterns, or subjects that defined the moment; just the simplicity of a tiny bit of light.
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Gear & Settings:
www.todcolbert.com
About the photo: I took this at Lower Yosemite Falls in Yosemite National Park this February. It was shot early in the morning and the sun’s position created the rainbow for no more than a minute or so. There were many shots taken before this one as I waited for the sunlight to stream through the falls. Magical it was.
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Gear & Settings:
About the photo: Living only half an hours drive from buttermere in the lake district you could say that i am quite familiar with this location. I cant count how many mornings have been spent here trying to capture something that looked a little different from the images you usually see from here. luckily for me, on this occasion the conditions were simply amazing. fog filtering through the scene, perfectly calm waters and not a breath of wind. all i could hear was the sound of the gravel underfoot. i took several frames here but decided to go with a long exposure so the viewer could see just how the fog was gently moving over the fells behind the infamous pines of buttermere. A morning to remember.
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Gear & Settings:
www.radoslavcernicky.com
About the photo: The photo was taken in the spring during the golden hour using a telephoto lens. It is South Moravia in the Czech Republic near the village Kunkovice. This is an area also known as Moravian Tuscany.
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Gear & Settings:
www.jasonflenniken.com
About the photo: This was an image taken on my first trip to Acadia National Park in October 2019. It was my first time seeing fall color in the northeast, and I was completely blown away. This location is a Tarn right on the side of the road. It was taken mid-morning. For about 30 minutes you get perfect reflections of the hillside colors in the water.
This area was full of small scene compositions, and I was lucky in that some cloud cover created patchy light. It required little editing as does most shots from that time of year in Acada, the colors are almost too vibrant straight from the camera. Shot with a 70–200 f/4 and Sony A7R4, which let me crop in to really narrow down the shapes in the image.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
The post Tips For Editing the Colors in Landscape Photos Using Lightroom (video) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.
In this video from Nigel Danson, you’ll gain some invaluable tips for editing the colors in landscape photos using Lightroom.
While Nigel uses Lightroom Mobile to show you his editing tips, these tips also apply to Lightroom classic.
The features that Nigel discusses to improve the colors in your landscape photos include the:
So try out some of these tips for editing the colors in landscape photos using Lightroom and share your results with us in the comments section! Furthermore, if you have some tips for editing colors in landscape photos, please share those with us too.
The post Tips For Editing the Colors in Landscape Photos Using Lightroom (video) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.
The post Landscape Editing Techniques for Fine Art Photography Using Lightroom appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.
In this video from the photographer, Marvin Grey, you’ll learn some fine art landscape editing techniques in Lightroom that will give you the opportunity to experiment with your landscapes to give them a whole new look and feel.
While the results may not be for everyone, the techniques he uses will teach you some valuable Lightroom editing techniques that you can use in other editing scenarios.
And what better time to tackle and play with our catalogs of landscape photos and learn some new landscape editing techniques while we are at home!
Feel free to share your results with us in the comments below.
The post Landscape Editing Techniques for Fine Art Photography Using Lightroom appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.
The post 5 Ways to Capture More Diverse Landscape Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jeremy Flint.
One of the most challenging things with landscape photography is to capture images that stand out. Planning to get to a destination at the right time is the easy part, and usually requires minimal effort. So when you have arrived at your location, how do you go about capturing more diverse landscape photos?
Well, there are several ways to represent greater diversity in your landscape images. Read on to discover how to make your landscape photos more interesting.
The first thing to consider when you are out in nature doing landscape photography is to decide what you are going to capture.
You may decide to photograph the entire view of the beautiful scenery in front of you. However, while executing a wide-angle shot of everything in the scene is a great way to start, why not try simplifying a scene to make it stand out.
Take a moment to think about what is actually appealing about the landscape. Are there any interesting features on show? What elements help to make the landscape look stunning? Is there an attractive outbuilding or a tree, for example?
I find limiting the number of components in a scene helps to convey the spirit of a place more fluently. Try adopting a “less is more approach” and bring certain elements together, such as a visually enticing cloud formation or evocative mist floating over an alluring landscape. The natural light and components within a scene can play an important part in the overall composition and look of your final image.
Have you ever felt your landscape images are overly complicated or lack impact?
Another great technique to capture more diverse landscape photos that depict a location in a better way is to draw out patterns or details within the environment.
One method to do this is to shoot with a long lens from afar and compress the perspective to reduce the sense of space. A long lens helps to focus on capturing a certain part of the landscape, bringing near and far objects closer together and emphasizing shapes and patterns more effectively. An example of this may be to capture an attractive building with a field.
When looking to capture diverse landscape photos, a great way to alter the perspective of your shots is to vary your viewpoint. Shooting from a high viewpoint provides a great way to capture scenes from an angle that people may not normally see. This can be a good strategy to photograph something new and develop some creative landscape photography.
Elevated views can help to flatten the perspective of your image as it eliminates distance indicators. You can reduce the amount of sky in your photos and concentrate on creating images with interesting shapes. You can achieve aerial views by walking up to a higher vantage point, or shooting from a plane or hot-air balloon, for example.
Don’t limit your landscape photography to sunny days or only wait for perfect light to appear, you can achieve diverse landscape photos in all weathers.
Capturing a scene in overcast conditions can lead to particularly striking results. The flat lighting will remove shadows and help to simplify a scene. Also, the reduced contrast will help to provide a simpler and more minimalist composition.
Overcast skies provide beautiful diffused light that can be really appealing for landscape photography.
Working with light can be a great way to capture remarkable images. With the right amount of light and cloud, you can convert a dull scene into a special scene, taking your photos to the next level.
For example, after a storm has passed, interesting light can transform a photo of the landscape into something incredible. This is especially so where the sun paints the land with magical pockets of light.
The precise combination of light, sky, and atmosphere can be blended to create an incomparable beauty within a frame.
Following a rain shower, keep a lookout for rainbows, as they provide an extraordinary addition to your pictures and help them to stand out. Remember to ensure your gear is kept dry during any rain too. That way, your camera will work well when capturing these great lighting moments after the rain has stopped.
In summary, you can capture more diverse landscape photos by applying a few important techniques. Go for a minimalist look by focussing on attractive elements within the landscape, and extract patterns by using a long lens to compress the perspective.
Shoot from above, shoot in overcast conditions, and capture momentary light and rainbows for more varied landscape images.
Apply these techniques next time you are out with your camera photographing the landscape and share your pictures with us below.
Do you have any other tips for capturing more diverse landscape photos? Share them with us also.
The post 5 Ways to Capture More Diverse Landscape Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jeremy Flint.
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Nearly 1,000 professional and amateur photographers from around the world submitted over 3,400 images to the 6th annual International Landscape Photographer of the Year (ILPOTY) competition. From that pool of entries, 101 were recognized as Top Photographs. Oleg Ershov from Moscow, Russia, is the overall winner.
Ershov started out shooting multi-row, HDR, and vertical panoramas. Inspired by prominent landscape photographers he met, including Joe Cornish, David Ward, Rafael Rojas, and Bruce Percy, he began experimenting more. ‘I didn’t try to copy their styles, rather I took from them what I liked the best and then gradually, I felt that my skills were improving and that my work was becoming more serious.’
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He now enjoys vertical landscapes, as evidenced in all of his winning photographs of Iceland and England. Ershov’s series impressed the panel of judges the most. ‘My passion for landscape photography is based on a love of nature, especially in places where human intervention is not yet visible. Just being on location at dawn and watching the start of a new day gives me tremendous vitality,’ says Ershov, an amateur photographer whose work at a food distribution company funds his passion.
Competition organizers chose the overall winner based on at least four strong photographs rather than a single image. This way, they could determine if a photographer’s vision and skills were consistent. ‘Each year, the Awards have two main prizes. The Photograph of the Year is awarded to the best single landscape photograph, while to be named International Landscape Photographer of the Year requires a set of four images. This is our main prize, acknowledging the additional skill and artistry required to produce a portfolio of landscape photographs,’ says Pete Eastway – the Chairman of Judges.
All the details of the Top 101 photographs can be viewed by visiting the ILPOTY website and download the free eBook embedded halfway down the main page.
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Location: Fleswick Bay, England
About starting out: ‘My interest for photography began in 2007 when I bought my first DSLR camera and signed up for a photo tour to the Southwest USA. I was struck by the tremendous variety of landscapes, colors and textures found in nature. Since then, I spend all my free time improving my skills and knowledge in landscape photography. I usually spend six weeks a year on photo trips, sometimes in groups, often on my own.’
About this photo: A lone pebble sits in the sand along the popular ‘smugglers cove’ in Fleswick Bay.
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Location: Bláfellsá, Iceland
About the equipment: ‘I have always used full-frame Canon EOS 5D-series cameras. Currently it is the Canon EOS 5DSR because the high number of megapixels is very important for landscape photography and for me personally.
‘Regarding lenses, I started with the holy trinity of Canon zooms (16-35mm, 24-70mm and 70-200mm). They were convenient, universal and generally accepted. Then there was a period when I was fascinated with tilt-shift lenses (Canon’s 17mm and 24mm and Schneider- Kreuznach’s 50mm and 90mm), which required much more time to build a frame, but this was compensated by the sharpness and geometry of the image.
‘Today, I use two Canon zooms (24-70mm and 100-400mm) for versatility and three Zeiss Otus prime lenses (28mm, 55mm and 85 mm) due to their unsurpassed quality. Of course, it can be challenging to carry 1.5 kg lenses, but “good glass is heavy glass”.’
About this photo: Ershov captured the textured patterns of a stream in the Southern region of Iceland.
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Location: Kerlingarfjöll, Iceland
About his inspiration: Oleg’s favorite destinations for landscape photography are Iceland, Scotland and the USA’s Southwest. ‘I always return to my favorite places because this allows me to get to know the country better and to find new scenes and places to shoot. When I immerse myself in a familiar environment and slow down the pace, my productivity increases many times over. For example, I have been to Iceland 15 times and it took me 10 years to make my first photo book, but the second book only required two visits in 2019 and it turned out even better than the first!’
About this photo: Mist surrounds this tall mountain located in the Highlands of Iceland.
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Location: Háifoss, Iceland
About his workflow: Oleg says that a photo is only good when it’s on a wall and so his workflow is focused on creating large prints. ‘I make the prints myself on an Epson SC-7000, so megapixels and attention to details are important to me.’
About this photo: Háifoss or ‘high waterfall,’ located in Southern Iceland, is the third tallest on the island.
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Location: Badain Jaran Desert, China
About this photo: A single white cloud is the focal point of this photo captured in China’s third largest desert. Guang won second place for a set of four landscape photos captured in this region.
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Location: Yukon, Canada
About this photo: Randall calls this ‘Grizzly’s Fang’ about his photo of his stormy hike in the Tombstone range of Northern Canada.
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Location: Gruissan, France
About this photo: Chesnel, a self-taught photographer and executive assistant, captured this top-down with a DJI Mavic 2 Pro. ‘I thought it would create an amazing abstract aerial photo, with the white of the salt contrasting against the bright pink colors, thanks to the proliferation of a red alga, the Dunaliella salina. From the ground, this scene doesn’t look glamorous at all, but from a bird’s eye view, it becomes unexpected, beautiful and like a painting.’
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Location: Venezuela
About this photo: Says Grefte of his second place winner: ‘One of the eye-catchers on Bonaire (Dutch Caribbean) is the salty lakes and mountains. When the salt concentration is too high for most bacteria, one survives giving the water a pink color. When composed with a dark blue sky and white ‘mountains’ (17 meters high) you get a surreal landscape.’
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Location: Madeira Natural Park, Portugal
About this photo: Butawitsch focused on a single tree in the vast natural reserve known for its endemic flora and fauna.
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Location: Sierra Nevada, California
About this photo: Yoshizawa captured a ‘once in a lifetime kind of shot’ of this exhaust plume, from a Space X rocket launch, that was visible over the Sierra Nevada mountains.
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Location: Page, Arizona
About this photo: ‘I have seen Antelope Canyon several times in the popular daytime – complete with crowds and noise. In fact, this magical slot canyon is well known for its mid-day shafts of light that creatively penetrate through the curvy sandstone. I had always wondered what this place would be like at night. And when I had a last minute chance to go the first time, I jumped! Although the first night was super clouded and windy, I was allowed to try the next night before my time ran out exploring this desert domain around Page, Arizona. I was lucky, however, to find the next night lacking clouds or wind,’ explains Bill on his website.
‘Finally, there I was, standing in the dark cracks in the earth with the stars peering in from above – no crowds or sounds at all. It was so different at night compared to the day. Here, star and moonlight ricocheted softly around the Navajo sandstone.
In this adventure of a completely dark area of Upper Antelope slot canyon, I softly light painted strategic areas of the canyon with small red LED lights. The red color of the LEDs forced the camera’s color balance to expose the sky with a vivid blue. Along with experimental multi-positioning, long 15 second exposing and light painting, a surreal image of the night sky revealing itself light years above the canyon walls was created.
Even though I was focused on tweaking the camera’s settings and position, I was warned to watch my standing area and the canyon walls for huge Brown Recluse spiders (as one ran under my tripod). Now this sounds like a place in hell for most people, but I couldn’t be more grateful for the night hikes experience into Antelope Canyon.’
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Location: North East Greenland National Park
About this photo: A lone iceberg reflects against the landscape of the world’s largest national park.
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Location: Vestrahorn, Iceland
About this photo: Northern lights illuminate Vestrahorn mountain and the Stokksnes beach shoreline.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
The post 7 Tips for Using a Tripod in Landscape and Travel Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.
In this video from Julian Elliott Photography, he gives you 7 tips for using a tripod in landscape and travel photography.
You may want to know why you need a tripod at all when you do landscape and travel photography? There are times when you will want to use slower shutter speeds. For example, when doing long exposures to get silky smooth waters, shooting in low light situations, or for bracketing exposures.
So watch Julian’s video and find out some invaluable tips on how to get the most out of your tripod, how to keep it in good condition, and how to use it.
The post 7 Tips for Using a Tripod in Landscape and Travel Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.
The post 5 Tips For Mastering Contrast In Your Landscape Photos (video) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.
Okay. So you’ve taken your landscape photos and you are back at the computer with your RAW files, ready to start editing in Lightroom. Before you do, you may want to watch this video by Mark Denney, so you can learn 5 handy tips for mastering contrast in your landscape photos.
You can achieve varying levels of contrast in a number of ways. See which sliders make the most impact and how they work to boost and drop contrast levels to different degrees. In some scenarios, you may want to enhance contrast, when light is flat, for example. At other times, such as when there are already severe contrasting light levels, where you may need to pare it back.
So check out the video, see how you can use the various sliders in Lightroom and try them out on your images. Then, feel free to share your results with us in the comments section.
The post 5 Tips For Mastering Contrast In Your Landscape Photos (video) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.
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| A land that time forgot: Iceland. |
When you think about landscape photography you may not immediately connect it with emotion in the same way as if you see a portrait, documentary photo, wildlife photo or indeed pet photo (that emotion is why my dog, Pebbles, gets more love than me on YouTube!). But as with all art forms, landscape photography should connect with the viewer in a way that means something, and it has the potential to be more than just a gorgeous scene.
I remember when I started photography 35 years ago, a mentor at that time, when I was definitely the youngest in the camera club, 13 years old, said to me, “You photograph how you see and not what you see.” At that point I didn’t really get it but I never forgot it.
It’s interesting as there are thousands of videos and articles on technique, cameras and settings, but the photos that stick in your mind don’t get there because they were really sharp, had good bokeh or were shot on a certain camera. Have you ever looked at Van Gogh and said, “He must have had a good paint brush?” However, there aren’t as many on emotion and feelings in photography.
“A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed.” –Ansel Adams
I think there are two forms of emotion in a photo: the one that the photographer has when they captured the image and the one the viewer has when they look at it.
They don’t have to be the same, but I believe that when you have an emotional response to the landscape that translates into a photo, it’s more likely to create an emotional response in the viewer. It’s why I don’t believe you can create a photo out of nothing. Too often, people say that you can add light and create dramatic impact with Lightroom and Photoshop. But they should be there to enhance what you saw and not create something that didn’t exist. After all how can you ask a viewer to connect with something you didn’t first observe?
What emotions do you feel with landscape photography though?
Sometimes a photo makes you stop in your tracks and look deep into it. It isn’t just perfect exposure or a beautiful scene. It has instant impact and creates a quick emotional response. Take the next image for example:
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| Kalsoy Lighthouse, Faroe Islands |
Other times, you can pass by an image many times and eventually grow to love it and have an increased emotional attachment to it as you see new things and explore the intricacies of the scene.
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| Winter Colour, Lake District |
Unfortunately modern social media favors the first of these two emotional responses. Instagram is all about that five second impact. Take the following photo from my Instagram feed. It got 50% more views than my average photo but it doesn’t really have any long lasting emotional response.
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It’s why I love printed media so much and feel that having an image printed out and on a wall offers so much more value to the photographer and viewer alike. If I show my prints on a workshop or to other photographers then they spend a lot longer looking at each image than they would if I gave them an iPad to view the same shots.
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Let’s look at the photographer’s and viewer’s emotion in more detail.
For me, getting out in the landscape is one of the most relaxing and fulfilling things to do. I love observing the scenes around me and just staying in the moment. Nothing is better than arriving at a location, finding a rock, pouring a coffee and taking in the surroundings.
Taking photographs is part of what I find relaxing. This process of taking in the scene around me, then taking out my camera, setting it up, visualizing the scene and capturing that emotion I have at that time.
“I think that emotional content is an image’s most important element, regardless of the photographic technique. Much of the work I see these days lacks the emotional impact to draw a reaction from viewers, or remain in their hearts.” –Anne Geddes
But emotion in photographs is a personal thing and if I look back at my photos a lot have stories associated with them that others wouldn’t know. I believe this helps to create a better and more emotional response. It is very interesting for me as when I spend longer in a location I find I almost always produce a more interesting photograph.
Emotional response is regarded as a critical element to experiencing all forms of art. Various research such as this by Cupchik et al , ‘Viewing artworks: Contributions of cognitive control and perceptual facilitation to aesthetic experience’, show that the brain regions involved in emotion experience activation when seeing art compared to objects.
But, how do you go about creating something that invokes strong emotion in the landscape? It’s all about connecting with the viewer. Maybe it is through the changing weather or the patterns in the scene. Or maybe a photo leaves something out and the viewer has to get more involved in the image to understand it.
“I like photographs that leave something to the imagination.” –Fay Goodwin
This quote holds a really important element of landscape photography that people often miss out, and that is imagination. We all have amazing imagination, and a landscape photograph that shows less is often more powerful than one that shows the whole scene. It is something that I often say in workshops, leave more out than you put in.
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| The Power of Imagination |
I am dyslexic and reading is difficult, so words have never meant a lot to me and photos have said so much.
“A true photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words.” –Ansel Adams
So I thought it would be interesting to see if people would think differently when they looked at an image with a title compared to without.
The results were really interesting. Here they are for Passing Storm (below) when the title was shown. This was based on 1000 responses (500 had each image / title / no title)
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Passing Storm |
Response with title shown:
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And response when no title was shown:
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First of all, people are different and think differently about a scene. In fact it probably isn’t just about a person but the current circumstances that person is going through. A powerful photo is like a conduit to tapping into that emotion. You can see from above that the title has little impact on the emotion felt by the image.
Watch my video on emotion in landscape photography to see more survey results and detail how to provoke emotion in your art.
How do you react to a image? Do you feel an emotion when you see certain images? Let me know in the comments below.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
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