Beginners
1. Use a tripod: When I take a landscape shot like the one to the left, I use a tripod. A tripod ensures that I don't get softness from camera shake, something that happens with a hand-held shot.
2. Use Av mode: I set my camera to Av mode so the camera sets the shutter speed and I control the aperture.
3. Set a narrow aperture (high f/stop): I set my aperture to about f/8-f/14 for daytime shots. At that aperture, I get a large depth of field, or large area of the image (from foreground to background) remaining sharp.
4. Use a polarizer filter. This is a glass cover that you place over your lens. It takes away some of the haze (there's lots of that in California) and makes the sky bluer.
5. Use the Rule of Thirds: Have the sky extend about 1/3 from the top of your frame, or if it's breathtaking, have it cover 2/3 and frame the land so it is only 1/3 of the frame. These are general rules. They can be broken if you find a more compelling way to take the landscape. Happy landscape shooting!
1. Find something compelling in the shot.
2. Shoot at sunrise or sunset.
3. Use long exposures with a tripod.
4. Look for interesting light.
5. Find something more than just sky and land. Look for interesting cloud formations, coastal areas. water, beaches, boats, roads, mountains/hills, telephone poles, buildings, animals, birds and other isolated elements in the landscape that add to the shot.
I think your post about Landscape Photography is poor and uninformative. Landscape photography is easy to make candid and boring photographs, which you have clearly shown us with that dull photograph. Photography is never about the equipment and "general rules" but about how you use what you have and creativley. I use Manual not AV because you have more control over how you expose your image, Using Av means you are being lazy and not taking your time with a landscape. You don't have to use a high F/stop it depends on what image you are trying to make. There is no general rule in the Rule of thirds, Again it depends on what you want to show in the image. The sky sometimes can cover 2/3 of the image because the sky is the strongest part of the image.
ReplyDeleteLandscape photography is hard to make breath taking photographs, you need to understand light, wake up really early or late to get best types of lighting. Find locations worth visiting and understand your limitations with your own camera.
Sorry if you find this offensive but I do not like it when someone gives "Tips" to people who may learn bad habits. I suggest that you should research photography techniques.
Hi Mattias,
ReplyDeleteYou are correct, but I don't suggest Manual mode for beginners. I mostly write for beginning photographers.
Your other comments are great. I updated the post, taking them into consideration.