This article will explore some of the main things to bear in mind when planning to take landscape photographs, and by that we mean photographs of nature and the outdoors, not the orientation of the camera. It will focus on planning, composition, depth of field and camera settings.
Planning a Great Landscape Photograph
Before photographing any landscape you should be aware that just because you are shooting an outdoors that is always there and unchanging, does not mean you do not need to plan. Nothing could be farther from the truth, since landscapes look very different at different times of year, during different seasons, and also during different times of day. Often the best landscape photography can be achieved during the dawn or dusk hours, as the golden glow of the sky lights the subject in a moody, atmospheric way. Any good photography course will cover the basics of landscape photography, and they will all point out that careful planning, even for the amateur photographer, will result in better pictures.
Today we have so many tools at our fingertips, and with the technological advances in satellite imaging offered by the Google Earth project, you can visit your landscape subject without leaving the comfort of your home. Google Earth may even give you enough detail to allow you to compose your shots before turning up. The least you should know before going to photograph a landscape is the time the sun rises and sets, so you are not turning up to a bland and evenly lit sky. Aim to shoot at a dramatic time of day, when colour and light combine to make the setting interesting and unusual. Use the internet to research the area you want to shoot, and aim to turn up when the scene is at its most artistically pleasing.
Isn’t anything I shoot outdoors going to be interesting?
Yes, but you can make it more interesting by considering composition and framing. Some things just look better, are innately more beautiful to the human eye, and it is a good idea to apply some sort of artistic principle to your photographs. Two good examples of this are the rule of thirds, and the idea of perspective. The rule of thirds is a composition guideline which divides an image into nine equally sized parts, horizontally and vertically, and determines that objects which touch or come near the lines of intersection are more dramatically charged, more energetic and hold the viewer’s interest more closely. Try to imagine a horizon coming a third of the way up your picture, and the top of a subject in the foreground coming two thirds of the way up. Then imagine your shot divided into three vertically, and position your camera so as to capture objects, near or far, to collide with the intersections, and you will see how the principle works. At worst, you will have an interesting, detail-filled picture, with plenty of viewer interest; at best you may tap into a universal human love of order and control.
Using perspective in a photograph means finding lines in the landscape that draw the viewer’s eye into the picture towards whatever focal point you want them to linger on. It can be a very powerful technique to introduce into a landscape photo, and can include anything which occurs naturally in your shot; telegraph lines, a road, a fence or the outline of a mountain or a tree. Thinking about these compositional elements will save you time at the computer later, framing your work, or cropping out the parts which you don’t want included in your image.
Depth of Field
Having planned carefully and given consideration to composition, you should now think about what settings to apply to your DSLR camera. The advice many photographers give is to use a small aperture setting to increase your Depth of Field. The smaller the aperture, the greater will be the depth of field. The best way to think about depth of field is to think about the area of a picture where sharpness and clear focus is at its most acceptable. Altering the aperture size (measured in f/ stop sizes, where the highest number is the smallest aperture size) is the best way to achieve changes in depth of field as this setting controls the size of the hole that light comes through to cast the image onto your camera’s sensor. Together with which lens you are using (the focal length of the lens interacts with aperture size to create different depths of field.) If you are trying to achieve a clear focus in a landscape scene from the foreground right back to the furthest visible element in the photo, set the highest aperture setting your camera can go to, with acceptable results in a trial shot.
As for lens length, you should know that a wide-angle lens will give you greater depth of field. If you are trying to create an effect where objects in the distance are not as sharply focused, use a telephoto lens.
Keep it Steady
Of course, as always, you will want to eliminate blurring caused by a shaky camera (even the act of pressing a shutter button can bring shake and blur into your shots) it is usually recommended to use a tripod, or other stable object (a rock, a fence post) to steady your camera for those lingering shots of a sunset or sunrise, without trails and blur lines to detract from the subject.
Enjoy Yourself!
The most important advice to anyone who wants to shoot great landscape pictures is to have fun experimenting with your camera and its settings. There just is no substitute for learning by doing, and since digital images are stored on a card, there is almost no limit to how many shots, or how many settings you can experiment with. Even if you are just a beginner, you will benefit from joining a photography course, from a good training provider, to eliminate as much lost time as possible while trying new techniques out with your new camera. If you don’t like the thought of going back to school, think about doing an online photography course with a well-known provider, such as www.institute-of-photography.com, where landscape photography is a unit in the Diploma in Photography they offer.
