Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
My experiences have given me plenty of insights.
I'm making strong images.
Whilst there is plenty of shooting advice out there
today we are going to look at some classic tips and techniques
as well as some less conventional techniques for making strong images.
The first thing I'll do is to remove this strap
because I don't want any movement from the strap
vibrating around over the couple of seconds of exposure.
That's the first thing I'll do before doing anything else.
Now we're down to the basics.
We just have the camera system, the back, and a lens
so there's no strap to be flapping around
as I try slightly longer exposures here on this beach.
The foreground is the crucial element of any landscape photograph
and I'm always looking for an S-shape.
If I can find a beautiful S-shaped curve to lead through the foreground into the photograph.
As these waves recede I'm getting a beautiful S-shape through a stream,
using a shutter speed of about a second to capture as much movement as possible.
It curves around a little stream which was here a few minutes ago.
I bring 5 accesories with me on nearly every shoot I do.
I'm using a carbon fiber tripod, a circular polarizer, a filter holder,
which takes various neutral density filters and graduated neutral density filters,
a small compact ball head and I've also got my cable release.
Planning is essential to nearly every landscape photographic shoot that I do.
Before I've left home I've used an app called the Photographer's Ephemeris
which allows me to work out when and where the sun is going to
rise and set on any given day of the year.
So if I have a specific location in mind
where I need the sun to drop in, say ,between two rocks,
it could work out exactly when that would happen.
It also cross-references that with online tide tables
to work out which section of the beach is going to be exposed.
I can have my shot perfectly planned before I've even left the door.
Quite often, especially with beginners,
you feel like you have to get everything you see into a photograph
and here is a good example of that.
It's simple to look out behind me here
and think you have to fit everything in to get the photograph
but often just picking out small sections of it
and working with a longer lens will more often than not
present you with the best photographs.
Investing in the best quality camera gear
from the beginning is really important.
I often look back at the files from my first DSLR and think
that the files are too small,
and I wish I had had something more substantial in the first place.
I think fitting yourself out with the best camera system
and the best glass to go with that camera right from the start
is crucial to sort of future-proof your collection of images.
If you ever want to come back to them
at a later date to use them professionally,
you know you'll come back to files
that will stand the test of time in terms of image quality.
I upgraded from 35mm into the Phase One system,
medium format digital back system.
Not purely because of the image quality
which is outstanding at even 60 or 80 megapixels now
but 13 stops of dynamic range is incredible and
that's made a huge difference to what I can do
with each individual file
I'm not a fan of blending images
so to be able to work on one file and get everything I can from that
makes a huge difference to me.
Also, 16bit color is incredible.
Another main reason for why I use this system now
is the ability to take the digital back
and put it on a technical camera so that I can achieve images
that I wouldn't be able to do just using the 645.
Using a Linhof M679 and this digital back still gives me the high quality files
while having control over perspective
and depth of field using the movements of the technical camera.
Here we've got this amazing wildflower foreground,
beautiful thrift on the grasses here
coupled with this amazing vista of into the distance.
Powerful waves rolling through in the foreground.
To somehow capture the power of the ocean by giving the image some movement in the water.
It's probably best to retain all the detail
in these flowers as a pinsharp element to the photograph.
I think the best way to do this is to take one exposure using a 4 stop filter
which would capture the movement of these waves
and the distance and then I would probably remove the 4 stop and increase the ISO slightly
so I get one image of all of the wildflowers perfectly sharp
so that I can put the two together
and get the best of both worlds in the final photograph.
When it comes to achieving the best quality files possible,
there are three things you can do in camera
that will make a huge difference.
The first is always, especially on a tripod, shooting with mirror lock-up.
It's particularly easy on a Phase One,
just moving a lever and one touch of the button
and the mirror is locked up before I press the cable release to actually fire.
Eliminating any camera shake and in that way increasing image quality.
I also like to shoot in manual.
I like to be in complete control
over exposure rather than photographing in Av.
We've just been down on a beach where we had white foam coming in
and when that recedes you're left with a black beach.
The difference in the metering there is huge.
Just by being in constant control over the settings makes another massive difference.
Photographing with the optimal ISO for every individual system will make
a large difference to the final image quality.
It's not always the lowest ISO setting that will produce the cleanest files
and get you the best result.
So that's worth taking some time to investigate
before you start using your camera really seriously in the field.
One of the things I've found myself doing
over the past 3-4 years since I've been photographing professionally
is to do whatever it takes,
to go wherever I need to be to make the images I want to make.
In Scandinavia I travelled from the Norwegian coast
into Finland and down into Sweden
just to find clear skies to be able to photograph the Northern Lights
and the same with chasing storms across Tornado Alley.
You're covering such vast landscapes
to get one tiny element that may only occur in one small region.
Also photographing closer to home, pushing yourself to get away
from the main and photographically well-trodden locations
and getting into the backcountry to create images
that people don't see or haven't seen.
Anything that is new and unique will help elevate anybody
that's striving to stand out as a landscape photographer.