RSS
 

Posts Tagged ‘Landscapes’

Include Clouds In Your Landscapes

22 Jan

Generally speaking, we all love a sunny day. No too hot. Not a cloud in the sky.

By photographically speaking, clouds can be your best friend. They can add drama. But more importantly, they are often an important photographic element to help balance an image. To show you what I mean, take a look at these two photos taken from roughly the same spot in sunny Orange County, California.

Now, I’ll grant you the argument that the second is more dramatic because of the sunset, but that element aside, can you see how the feel of the image changes when clouds are introduced? The background of the sky is nearly the same, with strong yellows at the horizon transitioning up to deeper blues in both images.

This viewpoint is near my home and I go there often to watch the sunset. On the days with no or very few clouds, the sunset is still impressive. But on the evenings when clouds abound, especially at a variety of altitudes and forms, the sky brings more drama and gives a better show. And that translates to a better photograph.

When you have a favorite subject or location close to where you live, be sure to visit it often when there are even small shifts in the cloud patterns. The results might amaze you.

Not only should you add some clouds, it’s also important to know how the clouds affect the mood of your photo. Here are two more photos, this time from outside Canyonlands National Park near Moab, Utah, of Merrimac Butte. Again, the angle is slightly different and so is the time of day, but both shots were taken on successive days at 2PM and 4PM respectively.

It’s the mistake of beginning photographers to think their one shot of Yosemite or New York or anywhere with a sky is the “one” shot. That’s the wonderful thing about photography and this planet; weather and clouds play a big part in the mood in an image.If the clouds aren’t they way you want them, wait five minutes, an hour, a day or even a season to find the right mood for your image.

 

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

Include Clouds In Your Landscapes


Digital Photography School

 
Comments Off on Include Clouds In Your Landscapes

Posted in Photography

 

Landscapes: Weekly Photography Challenge

19 Jan
Landscape-ForegroundPhoto by OneEighteen

This past week we’ve had a few tutorials on Landscape Photography so I thought it might make a good topic for this week’s challenge.

So – your challenge is to take and share a landscape photo.

Feel free to shoot whatever type of landscape image you like (and have available to you). For many of you it might be a snowscape, for others in the southern hemisphere it could be a http://digital-photography-school.com/5-quick-tips-for-coastal-photography“>beachscape, it could be a cityscape or anything else you like.

Also feel free to photograph your landscape in any way/style – black and white, HDR, sunset – it is totally up to you.

Once you’ve taken and selected your best landscape shot upload it to your favourite photo sharing site and either share a link to it or – embed it in the comments using the our new tool to do so.

If you tag your photos on Flickr, Instagram, Twitter or other sites with Tagging tag them as #DPSLANDSCAPE to help others find them. Linking back to this page might also help others know what you’re doing so that they can share in the fun.

Also – don’t forget to check out some of the great shots posted in our last challenge – Best Shot of 2012 challenge where there were some beautiful shots submitted.

Further Reading on Landscape Photography

  • 11 Surefire Tips for Improving Your Landscape Photography
  • 4 Rules of Composition for Landscape Photography
  • 5 Tips for Shooting Landscapes with Greater Impact
  • 10 Landscape Composition Tips: Illustrated with Pictures from Eastern Washington
  • What Everybody Ought to Know about Landscape Photography

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

Landscapes: Weekly Photography Challenge


Digital Photography School

 
Comments Off on Landscapes: Weekly Photography Challenge

Posted in Photography

 

Adding Scale to Your Landscapes

13 Jan

We often think of landscapes as sweeping vistas fading away into the distance, taking our eyes on a journey through flower strewn fields, cascading mountain peaks, skyscraper speckled skylines and rolling waters. When you’re standing behind the camera capturing that magical view it’s easy to see and understand the immense scope of what you’re viewing. However, that sense of size doesn’t always translate to the photo you’re viewing later on your computer screen.

That’s because our eyes scale down those big peaks we’re looking at in your image without any frame of reference – we weren’t there with you after all – of the scope of what we’re looking at. One way to help create scale is by adding in people or other very recognizable sized subjects to your landscape images.

Below – these rafters help give scale to the river scenery and depth through layering.

Distant Scale

One of the better ways to show scale in your landscape is by adding in a person (or persons) in the mid to far distance. Their comparatively small size in a larger frame shows the expansiveness of the surrounding scenery. We visually know roughly how large a person should be and judge from there the scope of everything around them.

Above – this kite surfer helps size up the beach scene and cars add a secondary frame of reference.

Foreground Scale

It can be difficult to add scale to a landscape with a distant person when the nearest point they could be in the distance is inaccessible or just too far away to make out. The next best thing is to add context to that image with a person in the foreground. Look to frame the landscape around that person; making them stare into the distance helps involve them in the landscape without arresting away all the focus onto them. Use a part of their body, half body perspective or the whole thing walking along in the foreground – it’s all up to you as long as it’s adding context.

Below – this Chinese man scoping into the distance adds scale and interest.

Objects as Scale

Common objects like cars can sometimes serve as objects of scale. This can be tricky though. It has to be an object you and your audience knows intuitively well. Do you really know how big that truck or building is in the distance? Your eyes can judge it, but it’s not as familiar as a person, making it harder for you brain to create an accurate scale. When people simply aren’t available however try adding scale with familiar objects.

Above – this boat adds a reference point, but do I really know how large it is?

 

No matter how you frame it, adding people to your landscape imagery can help create a scale and depth you might find yourself missing. Grab a friend on your next explorations and give it a shot.

 

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

Adding Scale to Your Landscapes


Digital Photography School

 
Comments Off on Adding Scale to Your Landscapes

Posted in Photography

 

Urban Landscapes Transformed: 23 Stunning Urban Murals

09 Nov

[ By Marc in Art & Street Art & Graffiti. ]

Alleyways and city streets are often criss crossed with urban art, though it usually takes the form of paint out of a can. Thankfully this is not always the case, as urban property owners team up with exceptionally talented artists to create murals so realistic and interesting, that they could easily hang in a gallery, but so large that they hang on it, instead.

(Images via idesignarch, rentalcarmomma, darkroastedblend)

Artist John Pugh created this tear away painting revealing the skeleton of Roman architecture peeking out of a modern building. A gorgeous tunnel going through a building may serve as quality art and a fantastic view in Lyon, France, but it does pose a danger to the errant driver who decides to ride into the sunset. Meanwhile, in Toronto, the back of the Gooderham Flat Iron building serves as a city artistic staple, depicting the facade of gorgeous old architecture peeling away from a modern edifice.

(Images via northendwaterfront, moillusions, joshuawiner)

The Salem Street Power Building serves as a beautiful backdrop to an old gate and some very real bikes. One feels like they are peering into an expansive hall full of workers and wooden cask barrels, instead of a flat wall. At Boston’s Old City Hall, the trompe l’oeil style painting reveals a gorgeous entrance that doesn’t actually exist; displaying the depth of the history, without taking up the space.

(Images via urbanartcore, brooklynstreetart, laughingsquid, weburbanist)

The Giant of Boston was a uniquely controversial addition to the city, by Os Gemeos graffitit artists, that has since become a staple of the downtown outdoor art scene. “Liberation and Revolution” is the name of a gigantic mural painted by the artist Ever, which, early though this picture is, portrays a stirring scene about life’s complexities, tempered by the image of laser-eyed cats frolicking on the side of a large building. Swiatecki created this 12 story masterpiece, in a solid 3 months of hard work.

(Images via mymodernmet, art-is-fun, cleveland, telegraph)

Escif, a Valencia-based artist, created this gigantic on/off switch to turn a few heads during an arts festival in Poland. Anat Ronen created a mural that is a bet meta, as it photographs you taking a photograph of it. Columbus, Ohio features this play on the famous American painting “American Gothic” with an outdoor twist. Famous mural artist John Pugh created this depiction of the final monarch of the Hawaiian islands, Queen Lili’uokalani.

(Images via naturamurals, art-is-fun, postersandprintsblog)

The Beasley Building in Philadelphia holds this trompe l’oeil masterpiece, turning a once non-descript corner into a bustling construction zone. Kobra makes one feel like they stepped back in time, as a tall building holds a testament to the neighborhood’s past. Artists Saber and Shepard Fairey collaborated on this art piece, featuring two incarnations of the American flag in abstract.

(Images via themetapicture, buzzfeed, dullneon)

This gorgeous mural changes the entire landscape, turning it into a seaside view along the coast. In Vienna, Austria, an artist brought their vision to life in a thought-provoking piece brimming with sad emotion. Miles MacGregor created “FlowerPower Girl” which is both realistic and brighter than life. His other work can be found at Elmac.net.

(Images of streetsofbeige, gigi-rose, moillusions)

D*face put together this Los Angeles mural as an homage to pulp comics and posters of the past, with a darker edge. Artist John Pena put together this cloudscape, showing the transformation from nothing to something, to nothing. This final photograph is of a mural that wisely used the existing landscape to create a much different, and rural, feel for this city block.


Want More? Click for Great Related Content on WebUrbanist:

Trompe L’oeil: Artistic Wall Murals that Bend & Twist Reality

Trompe L’oeil, french for “deceive the eye,” is the art of creating two dimensional images with such realism that they appear to be in three dimensions.
2 Comments – Click Here to Read More »»



3D Architectural Illusions: Amazing Paintings, Murals and Mosaics

Inside a home, on the outside of a building or even in a swimming pool, the illusion of 3D can transform a space, giving the appearance of depth, texture and place.
36 Comments – Click Here to Read More »»



Share on Facebook





[ By Marc in Art & Street Art & Graffiti. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on Urban Landscapes Transformed: 23 Stunning Urban Murals

Posted in Creativity

 

5 Tips for Great Landscapes

28 Oct

In this video Kai goes back to his photographic roots and the whole team goes out for a nice and early sunrise shoot to give some top tips on how to shoot landscapes. Pricing Reference: Nikon D700 – www.digitalrev.com Nikon PC-E 24mm f/3.5D – www.digitalrev.com
Video Rating: 4 / 5

 
Comments Off on 5 Tips for Great Landscapes

Posted in Nikon Videos

 

Microsonic Landscapes: What Music Looks Like in 3D

25 Aug

What would your favorite album look like in three dimensions? Mexico City-based research and experimentation studio Realität proposes “a new spatial and unique journey” by transforming the sounds of five albums into physical matter. ‘Microsonic Landscapes’ translate sound waves into 3D-printed visualizations that resemble circular cityscapes, mountain ranges or volcanic craters.

Realität chose ‘Arvo Part’ by Für Alina, ‘Third’ by Portishead, ‘Another World’ by Antony & The Johnsons, ‘Pink Moon’ by Nick Drake and ‘Jewels’ by Einstürzende Neubaten, quite a broad range of musical varieties ranging from gentle classical tunes on the piano to pounding German industrial music.

This array of albums has produced dramatic variations in physical representations. While ‘Arvo Part’ is gently inverted like a colosseum, Portishead’s ‘Third’ is spiky, like a series of towers. ‘Another World’ looks like a spiraling staircase. Nick Drake’s ‘Pink Moon’ starts out slanting upward and then falls down steadily in a series of concentric circles. ‘Jewels’ is the most dramatic of all, with its pinnacle calling to mind a dark tower from a fantasy novel.

According to Creative Applications, ‘Microsonic Landscapes’ was created using the open-source three-dimensional data visualization programming language Processing, and printed with MakerBot, a machine that can be programmed to print out anything you want in plastic.


Want More? Click for Great Related Content on WebUrbanist:

Literary Landscapes: Carved Books by Guy Laramee

Encyclopedias in English and Chinese are eroded into landscapes by artist Guy Laramee, in a narrative about a dystopian vision of the 23rd century.
6 Comments – Click Here to Read More »»



Incredible Underwater Landscapes Made with Swirling Ink

Italian photographer Alberto Seveso captures incredible swirling landscapes with high-speed photography of underwater ink swirls.
1 Comment – Click Here to Read More
»»




WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on Microsonic Landscapes: What Music Looks Like in 3D

Posted in Creativity