Innehållsförteckning för Issue 1 från Landscape Photography The Complete Manual

GEAR UP FOR LANDSCAPES! Gear up for landscapes! Choosing a camera system, lenses or accessories for landscape photography may seem daunting at first because there is so much choice out there. Manufacturers inundate us with features and gadgets that they tell us make their camera so much better than everyone else’s. Beneath all the marketing babble, there is a wealth of choice available for every budget and skill level. With a little research and keeping a budget in mind, there is some great photography gear to be had out there. The following pages will give you a head start on where to begin and what to keep in mind as you search for your gear. It’s worth noting as well that the cost of the camera is secondary to the skill…

THE TRIPOD The tripod An essential purchase for the landscape photographer If you want to take better landscape photographs, the single most useful accessory you can buy is a good quality tripod. By using a tripod you can completely eliminate camera shake, the number one cause of unsatisfactory photos. A tripod is also essential when using long exposures, powerful telephoto lenses or when shooting in low light conditions. There are many different makes and types of tripod, from cheap budget models costing under £15 up to professional grade tripods made of carbon fibre and magnesium alloy which cost hundreds of pounds. They come in all sizes too, from pocket sized mini tripods suitable for small compact cameras, to heavy studio tripods mounted on castors. The type that you should buy…

UNDERSTANDING YOUR CAMERA Understanding your camera Let’s brush up on our camera craft File format Where your camera allows, always select Raw not Jpeg. Raw is an uncompressed format that gives you much more scope when it comes to the post-processing of your images. You would be surprised how much you can recover a shot that at first glance looks either too overexposed or vice versa. It is fairly common to be able to recover up to 2-stops of exposure information before the image starts to become degraded. Focus It can be all too easy to rely on your camera’s autofocus but try and get yourself into the routine of setting it to manual focus. You may think it is ok to focus on the immediate foreground but that will…

ISO, APERTURE AND SHUTTER SPEED ISO, aperture and shutter speed Our at a glance guide Although the previous pages deal in the general principles of how ISO, shutter speed and f-stop settings interact with each other. We have another diagram that gives a simple overview of how those individual settings affect the look and quality of your images. We’ve laid out, in a more visual form, the basic effect of wide and narrow apertures, slow or fast shutter speeds and high or low ISO settings. Learning the interplay of these three basic values can appear daunting at first but with practice you will see how one setting affects your image and how the other settings need to work in balanced combination to give you the shots you require. “We’ve laid…

TOP 30 LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS Top 30 landscape photography tips A guide to getting the most from your landscape photography For many people new to the world of photography, one of the easiest and most accessible areas first explored is the great outdoors and why not? You don’t need a studio or masses of expensive equipment. There is plenty of available light, unless you’re feeling adventurous and want to try night photography and beautiful seaside or countryside scenes are usually not too far away by car or a brisk walk. Landscape photography is an amazing and rewarding experience for both novice and seasoned professional. Whether it’s just a record of a day trip you’ve made to a new location with the family or a more serious professional endeavour, landscapes when…

CRYSTAL BALL LANDSCAPES Crystal ball landscapes A unique way to capture the world Finding a new way to capture a landscape or any scene in general is always exciting and quite invigorating. It can be helpful in getting you out of a creative rut and sparking new ideas and thoughts on how to see the world in a fresh way. One such way is crystal ball photography. In case you were wondering, it’s nothing to do with fortune telling but rather the use of a crystal ball as an additional lens in your shots. How you use it in those shots dictates its effect on the final image. Using it very close to the camera so it fills the frame means it almost acts like a fisheye lens, whilst having…

SUNRISE AND SUNSET Sunrise and sunset Capturing images during the golden hour As the sun arcs across the sky in daytime, the light is harsh and creates hard, deep shadows, which is why landscape photographers tend not to shoot during the main part of the day. When the sun starts to approach the horizon however, that is a different matter. The closer the sun is to the horizon, the more atmosphere it has to shine through. This has a softening effect on the quality of the light and reduces overall contrast in the scene. Shadows are long but softer and colours are enriched. The light of a sunrise has quite a cool bluish colour temperature, whilst the light of a sunset, particularly if there is a lot of dust in…

RURAL AND NATURAL LANDSCAPES Rural and natural landscapes Capture the countryside in all its rugged beauty There is often a misconception among budding photographers that landscape photography is something of an easy option when deciding on a subject to capture. Sometimes it only takes a twenty minute drive to transport you from your local town and put you among the marvels and beauty of the natural world. While it is certainly true that the natural world is very accessible, it can be another thing altogether to create memorable landscape images. It isn’t just a case of arriving at a destination, firing up your DSLR and snapping away like a mad thing. The skills you may have that enable you to operate your camera are quite distinct from those that allow…

MAGIC CLOTH TECHNIQUE Magic cloth technique A low tech alternative to filter systems If you have ever shot landscapes to any great degree, you have no doubt encountered the particular exposure challenges that go with them. Scenes with your beautiful foreground interest and far off mountains and dramatic skies are perfect landscape subjects. When you take your shots, you realise that certain factors come into play. The main one being that your camera, no matter how new and expensive, cannot see all the subtle tones and variations in light and dark that the human eye can. A typical daytime landscape of foreground and bright sky has such a large dynamic range from the brightest highlights to the deepest shadows and is far beyond the scope of your camera. You can…

INTRODUCTION TO LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY Introduction to landscape photography What is landscape photography? This is a more complex question than you might at first assume. There are numerous definitions out there that try to sum up what landscape photography actually is. It can range from such matter-of-fact definitions as: “The dominant use of the term is in reference to photography of naturally occurring scenery in open spaces” to a more simple and broader: “Photographs taken outside”. Many regard a landscape to be a representation of a place that has little or preferably no sign of human activity. It is meant to be an untouched and pure depiction of nature. For others the inclusion of man-made objects that range from walls, fields, gardens and structures is just as valid a landscape image…

CAMERAS FOR LANDSCAPES Cameras for landscapes Looking for a camera to shoot landscapes? Is there such a thing as the perfect landscape camera? The answer is going to have to be no. It’s hard to imagine that there is a single camera out there that is perfect for one specific purpose. Certainly some cameras are more suited to landscape photography than others and there are a few key factors that are worth mentioning. Sensor size is not necessarily a prime consideration as you are most likely going to demand as much depth of field as possible in your shots anyway. Megapixel size is also not a major concern unless you are going to be producing enormous prints well in excess of A2 sizes. To be honest the idea of a…

FILTERS AND FILTER SYSTEMS Filters and filter systems Some must have filters for your landscapes Filters have been an essential part of photography since its very beginnings. Used creatively they can improve a hard-to-capture scene, add an extra artistic element to an image or just provide a bit of fun. Modern digital photo editing has provided an almost too easy method to add filter effects to an image after it has been taken; some effects are better when applied by actual physical filters fitted to the camera when the photo is taken and this is particularly true with black and white photography. Let’s take a look at some of the different types of filter and how they can help to improve your photos. 1. UV filter This screw-on filter was…

THE EXPOSURE TRIANGLE The exposure triangle Don’t get lost in the triangle If you are keen to express your creativity and learn more about the nature of photography, then you will need to be daring and take your camera out of fully automatic mode and explore the skills required for shooting in manual mode. When you shoot fully manual, you have to be aware of the interplay between each of your camera’s main settings of ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed. Connect them up The exposure triangle is a popular visual method to connect the three main variables of aperture, shutter speed and ISO amplification that govern the final look of your image. Photography is a balancing act of these three elements when you capture an image. Once you have your…

UNDERSTANDING HYPERFOCAL DISTANCE Understanding hyperfocal distance Calculating the best depth of field A very important part of photography in general and landscape photography in particular is to ensure that your prime point of interest, your main elements are in sharp focus. Nothing ruins a shot more than the image being fuzzy and blurry when you need it to be tack sharp. The problem however, is that in many cases in landscape photography you have a foreground element as well as a distant object that you want to be in as sharp focus as possible at the same time. Shooting with a wide angle lens and setting a very narrow aperture of f/22 or even f/32 will yield greater depth of field but you will also run into the optical phenomenon…

INSPIRATIONAL IMAGES Very long exposure The use of a neutral density filter at dusk can result in some amazing images. Instead of shutter durations of fractions of seconds, you can achieve exposures that are minutes long. This scene was shot with a 4-stop ND, the lowest ISO the camera was capable of and an aperture of f/22. The shutter was open for 120s which gave the clouds plenty of time to pass through the frame of the composition to make what would have been dense fluffy clouds more wispy and conveying a sense of movement. Long exposure sunrise With the aid of a 10-stop neutral density filter, you can slow down your shutter speeds to soften moving elements in your shots such as water and clouds. On a crisp morning,…

NIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY Night photography Some tips for quality night shots Whether it’s the lure of bright city lights, barren moorland bathed in moonlight or a tumbledown barn in the country under a starry sky, night-time photography is a big draw for many photographers. It can be challenging, it can be very frustrating and time-consuming, but once you get the bug for it and get those first few ‘wow!’ images under your belt, it’s a hard habit to break. There are a lot of photographers who find the whole process very relaxing. As you are normally dealing with much longer exposures than usual and having to carefully compose and focus your shots, it forces you to slow it all down and take a much more considered approach. After all, if you…

SUPER WIDE PANORAMAS Super wide panoramas Capture extreme panoramic landscapes “The process is pretty straightforward and just requires a little bit of thought regarding the approach to the sequence.” There will come a time when your widest lens just won’t be wide enough to capture the scale and grandeur of a particular landscape. This is where the ability to capture a panoramic sequence of shots and combine them into a much wider or higher resolution image comes in very handy. The process is pretty straightforward and just requires a little bit of thought regarding the approach to the sequence you are about to capture. Essentially you are going to take a number of stills, rotating the camera a few degrees left to right with each shot taken, while allowing enough…

FILTERS FOR LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY Filters for landscape photography Using filters in your landscape shots You are out and about happily taking photographs, with gorgeous sunshine to brighten the experience. It’s your last day before venturing off home and you happen upon a scene that you want to capture. The sun is directly in your eyes but the sun’s position is creating a dramatic lighting effect. What can you do to get the most from the opportunity? The problem is that the dynamic range of the scene before you is very extreme because the sun itself is part of the shot. You have options of course. If you had the time you could wait until the next day when the sun is in a different part of the sky but then…

COASTAL AND SEASIDE LANDSCAPES Coastal and seaside landscapes A popular and dramatic subject Coastal and seaside landscapes have always been an extremely popular subject for both artists and photographers. There is a certain something that lures us to the sea. It is both benign and unpredictable, powerful and awe inspiring. Coastal areas have a wealth of interesting features, from large flat expanses of sand, rocky pools and coves, as well as soaring cliffs and sand dunes. There are also the man made influences, ports and towns that spring up around key coastal areas. The photographic potential is vast. The coast and the sea have some of the best image capture potential that you could ever hope for. A unique environment If you are lucky enough to live near the sea,…

AERIAL LANDSCAPES Aerial landscapes Radically changing your point of view For many years, if you wanted to indulge in aerial photography, you had no choice but to hire an aircraft of some description to get you, and your expensive camera gear, aloft. Helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft are hideously expensive to hire. Basically aerial photography was strictly off-limits to your average casual photographer. This was a shame, as aerial work provides such a rare view of the landscape. For the rest of us would be aerial photographers, the ability to shoot from this unique perspective presents some obvious problems. However there are some alternatives to hiring a helicopter or aircraft that are well within the ability and price range, of the enthusiastic amateur. Some methods allow you to lift your current…

IMAGE EDITING PROJECTS Image editing projects There was a time not that long ago, when image editing meant producing a print in a darkroom under an enlarger; when the image was processed and fixed, breaking out the brush and ink and physically painting on the print to ‘retouch’ it to enhance it or remove blemishes. Things have changed quite a lot since then. One of the great things about digital images is that it’s very easy to improve or alter them using the right computer software. There are dozens of image editing packages available, ranging from simple, easy-to-use programs costing under £20, all the way up to the professional standard Adobe Photoshop. It can be easy to rely too much on image editing to save a badly executed photograph. It…

TYPES OF LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY Types of landscape photography There’s more to a landscape than you might imagine The word ‘landscape’ is thought to have entered the English language around the 17th century as the word ‘landskip’ and is derived from the Dutch ‘landschap’. It was originally used as a general term for any work of art. With the passing of time, it eventually became a term to describe a scene as used in poetry and then as a term for real views. In terms of types of landscape photography, there are several main styles. The first is known as representational, also called descriptive style. These types are the most natural looking of all the various types of landscape photography. There are no additional unwanted components or artificial elements. There is…

LENSES FOR LANDSCAPES Lenses for landscapes What you need to know about choosing a lens It is an accepted fact that if there is one lens that is inextricably linked to landscape photography, it is the wide-angle lens. It is often said that the lens influences the shot, not the camera. That is particularly true of the wide-angle lens in landscape photography. As the name implies, a wide-angle lens captures a very wide field of view. This is ideal for capturing the broad expanse of the scene the photographer is in. It also draws in the viewer of the final image in ways that a zoomed narrow angle image does not. Good wide-angle lenses are also sharp and capture great detail. With the advent of digital cameras and their various…

GET MORE FROM YOUR LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY Get more from your landscape photography If you are new to photography in general or perhaps you are stepping up from a modest point and shoot camera to a more fully featured DSLR, it can often be intimidating for the beginner when faced with getting to grips with the knowledge and jargon that is required to shoot more creatively. Landscape photography makes it easy to get outside and shoot straight away; it is more challenging however to do it well and consistently. Even though you may be itching to get out and shoot, take the time to explore the settings of your camera. More importantly you need to have an understanding of the relationships between aperture, shutter speed and ISO sensitivity. Things like knowing…

WHAT IS AN F-STOP? What is an f-stop? The mathematical bit Let’s get some of the mathematical theory out of the way. In photography an f-stop is a unit to quantify ratios of exposure. Each added stop of exposure means a doubling or increase by a factor of two. A subtracted stop is a factor of one half. So in simple terms an f-stop, or one EV (exposure value), is halving or doubling your exposure. As an example of how an f-number is calculated, we need to look at the equation N=f/D. The f-number (N) is calculated by the lens’ focal length (f) divided by the diameter of the lens aperture (D). As an example, if a 100mm lens (f) has a maximum aperture diameter (D) of 50mm, its f-number…

SOFTWARE AND APPS Software and apps Helpful and essential, the software you need Whether it’s something to calculate hyperfocal distance or a handy app that can control your camera like an intervalometer, there are a vast number of apps out there to aid the landscape photographer while they are out in the field. From iPad to iPhone, and Android phones and tablets, you are well catered for when it comes to the next handy application to make your job of capturing the perfect landscape that much easier. 1weather Android Track and view weather forecasts and current conditions to get real time updates wherever you go, or add any location you choose. Accuweather Platinum iOS/Android Detailed current local weather conditions that are updated every 15 minutes. Comprehensive forecasts with day and…

LANDSCAPE PROJECTS, TIPS AND TECHNIQUES Landscape projects, tips and techniques Landscape photography is like playing a musical instrument. It takes an afternoon to learn the rudiments but it can take the rest of your life to really master it. It is a vast and rewarding field, as well as a lifelong hobby. Landscape art is not restricted to photography. People have been drawing and painting the world around them since prehistoric times. A walk around any art gallery or a quick search on Google will demonstrate that the landscape has always been a major source of inspiration to the world’s greatest artists and even a brief study of their work will show that there are as many different approaches to landscape art as there are artists. Studying how different painters…

ABSTRACT AND SURREAL LANDSCAPES Abstract and surreal landscapes Turn the concept of a typical landscape on its head Your typical landscape image is normally recognisable for what it is. There are an infinite number of beautiful images to be captured out in the world, and that is absolutely fine by all landscape photographers. Now and again though, it is refreshing to see beyond the grand vista, to capture something more than what mother nature has placed in front of us. There is much debate as to whether a photograph can be classed as art. Digital photography does at least enable us to express ourselves and set our imagination free. With that in mind, let’s put the landscape photography rulebook away for a spell and uncover some interesting techniques to elevate your…

ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY AND SKYSCAPES Astrophotography and skyscapes Some handy information about shooting the night sky Shooting the night sky is not just the reserve of astronomers and large telescopes. Although you are not going to be imaging deep-sky nebulae and planets in extreme close-up, there is still plenty of scope for any photographer to create memorable and creative images of the night sky. It is a fascinating subject and with care, you can produce some stunning images of the heavens with just a digital camera, a tripod, and perhaps a useful app on your phone. Your options include twilight images, and photos of the sky long after the sun has set. Not only that, you also have some options to capture the stars in creative ways too. Have you ever wondered…

URBAN LANDSCAPES The urban landscape See the city in a new light Trying to pin down what an urban landscape actually is, might depend on who you ask. There are those that don’t actually count the urban environment as valid landscape material in the first place, opting for landscapes that are untouched by people and the modern world. Fair enough, it’s not for everyone but there are many who find the city full of photographic potential. From dark alleys to towering city skylines, the city has much to offer. It isn’t necessarily a thing of beauty, it isn’t always that clean but it can’t be denied that it has character by the bucket load. It’s this character that many photographers try to capture. Humans are incidental in urban landscapes, the…

DECONSTRUCTED LANDSCAPES Deconstructed landscapes Distilling a landscape into its component elements Landscapes are great, they are often the one thing new photographers will go and shoot first. Landscapes are just so accessible, you usually don’t need to go too far before you find a local beauty spot, there is plenty of ambient light so you don’t need additional lighting, and they are great places to explore camera craft at your leisure. You will normally arrive at your destination and try and shoot the widest angle possible, feeling the need to get everything in shot. Not a bad idea, wide panoramic landscapes are beautiful. How about putting that wide-angle lens away, and for your next journey out, try something a little different. How about trying a deconstructed landscape? “…think about what…