Part 4 – Landscape Specifics

And now, the tutorial for the specifics of shooting landscapes… The previous parts of this series can be found at the bottom of my journal. By now you’ll know everything you need to about composition and other things, and these are guides to creating amazing landscapes. I do go into a lot of detail here, but if you want to shoot landscapes properly, you need to know this.

Again, I’d just like to say: Please fav this article and post links in your journals, as this will help more people to see it!

Some equipment that can help:

1. Wide angle lens:

a. For a crop sensor, you can go as wide as 10mm. Personally, I shoot with a Sigma 10-20mm. I have found it to be a great lens and is relatively cheap.

b. For a FF, there are lots of options. I’ve seen great stuff at 24mm, and 16mm.

c. Generally speaking, the wider the better. Though it does depend upon your situation.

d. Some have to be at a certain aperture to get the best out of them in terms of sharpness. I find f8 for mine is about perfect.

2. Circular Polariser – Very useful piece of kit. Those of you with multiple lenses should get the biggest filter size that you have. Then use step rings. The polariser cuts reflection out of water and gives more definition to clouds. It also darkens blue skies and cuts out 2 stops of light. In short, it’s excellent for landscapes.

3. Graduated filters – Practically essential. Your shots will not be right without them (unless your doing HDRs). They cut out light from parts of your shot allowing your cameras sensor to capture all of the detail in the shot. I’ll explain how to use them below.

4. Neutral Density filters – A non-essential, but still worth the investment. I ordered my 10 stop ND filter on the 23rd of June… Still no sign of it though. They basically cut out light without affecting the colour balance. This allows you to create amazing long exposures during daylight, and opens up a wealth of creative opportunities, not necessarily just for landscapes.

5. Tripod and remote release – Essential to get everything sharp and shake free. Some people use the mirror lock up function as well for added safety. The remote is particularly useful for long exposures.

Some examples of long exposures using ND filters:



Using Grad filters:

In order to use a grad filter you may need to use a filter holder. This will help you to keep the filter steady. There are a few ways to decide what strength filter to use. Ideally you want the ground to be within 5 stops of light of the sky. To check this, take a reading from the ground, and a reading from the sky, and see what the difference is. [link] has a great article written by *AndyMumford that tells you all the details of this method.

For me, my method is slightly different. This is due to the fact, I am a broke ex-student and could only afford one neutral density grad. I therefore bought a 3-stop soft grad, which is probably the best compromise I could get. I tend to use my experience and judge the scene in front of me, without metering anything (partly because I don’t have a choice in which grad I use). I then use exposure compensation with the grad, which gives me my final exposure (in Av mode.) This method works well for me, but isn’t perfect.

Foreground Interest

Foreground interest is a compositional technique used to give a better sense of depth to a photograph. It also allows the eye of the viewer to be led into the photo… It works exceptionally well when combined with a wide-angle shot.

Some examples of using foreground interest:




Aperture control:

Personally, I always shoot in Av mode when shooting landscapes. The more you stop down the lens, the greater DOF you’ll get. However, on crop bodies in particular, going to f16 and beyond can cause softness at the edge of your image due to diffraction. I usually stick to f8 but will go to f11. The wider your lens, the greater DOF you’ll get anyway…

Landscapes in general are sharp (in focus) from front to back.

Panoramics:

Personally, I like doing panoramics vertically. That means I shoot them portrait and stitch them in PS.

The method:

1. Use a tripod. Always.

2. Set your camera to manual.

3. Take a reading of the scene around you. Ideally you don’t want to change the exposure through the scene, so avoid shooting into the sun if you can.

4. Choose an exposure that works. (no blown highlights, and minimal loss of detail in shadows.)

5. Keep a constant horizon, and use a filter holder to hold your grads. (and don’t touch the zoom barrel…

6. Always focus your scene first, then adjust to manual focus, so that the focusing distance doesn’t change.

7. Overlap your images by about a third of the frame.

8. You can do however many shots you want. (I’d suggest between 3 and 9).

9. Stitch them together one at a time, and if RAW processing first, then do the same to each shot.

And here are some examples: (because I know you love them)




Landscapes can be very difficult to capture. The first thing to bear in mind is the situation in front of you. Look at the light conditions you are presented with. Also scour around for foreground interest or any particular things you want in your final composition. Some pros believe the best time to shoot is at dawn and dusk only… Therefore if you choose to do this, make sure you know your location and have an idea of what you want to capture.

And remember, in order to capture a stunning landscape, you have to be in the right place at the right time. I live in Coventry, UK now. It’s about as picturesque as a colonoscopy. So no great landscapes from me…