Features and better landscapes

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No news is good news

For the first time in ages, there is no big news from Nikon to talk about. So as a result we are going to do our mini feature of all the latest great works of art that have made it into our features gallery.
Please take the time to take a look at these as they all demonstrate fantastic use of a Nikon camera as well as showing particular skill and/or creativity in their interpretation of their chosen subject.
Sunset in Retezat Mountains by rott-man Space Rift by DismayedSense Slipknot - Corey Taylor by onkami Alice's World by dkokdemir Everyday life... 3-3 by moszkito F R E E D O M by pelacurseni Canary Wharf by Krynicki Tree line by PhotoSph-Eric Volksfest - Wasen at Night by rayxearl:thumb255922720: This is how it makes me feel by Usayed Path by Raylau 'Double Domes' by Exception-Ali-ty:thumb278269438: Matin brumeux sur le port de Rouen 9 by Jbuth the beach by Alexios78 Dubai Hilton Penthouse by VerticalDubai:thumb286249950::thumb288567543: Gypsy by DracoAlbastru Bumblebee portrait by andreimogan Amazon Sunset by thankyoujames:thumb304499653: Morning Activity by allanddharmawan:thumb303712283: hungry by Turqoose I Found it First by MichelLalonde Trapped by AdnanWolf:thumb310686965:

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Getting your landscapes nailed

A nice simple one this month that will give a few pointers to any budding landscape photographers.
A good 60% of the photographs submitted to our group are landscapes of one form or another and although most are good in their own right, some would have benefited from some if not all of these pointers to make a good landscape into an excellent one.
First, if you don't already own and use a tripod, get one and use it! You gain two things from doing this. First of all you have a stable platform from where you can take blur free photographs at any exposure. Secondly and you could say more importantly, a tripod will slow you down. This will help you perform the first and most important photographic skill, thinking. It may seem patronising but taking a second to stop and think could prevent you making some very basic mistakes from having a finger over the lens on a compact to not turning your auto flash off.
It will take some time to build up but if you have a mental check list it will help you nail every photograph you take. Here is a rough example that I try to use (with some modifications) to every situation;
  1. reset camera settings
  2. Light
  3. Situation
  4. Subject
  5. Background
  6. kit choice
  7. DOF
  8. stability – shutter speed
  9. Settings
  10. focus
  11. is now the best time to shoot?
  12. shoot
  13. review (if possible)

You need to be constantly asking yourself questions of this kind to get you from what you can see to what you want your camera to capture. One obvious advantage to shooting digital is that you are able to shoot and review on your lcd screen so this will seem less important but can help prevent you making silly mistakes like doing a whole shoot in the wrong white balance mode. Normally when shooting landscapes you have a reasonable amount of time to play around if you have gotten to your location in good time but even so, the sun isn't just going to sit on that horizon or that perfectly placed cloud may drift across your frame to the wrong spot so don't be complacent either.
Lets look a little deeper at some of the check list points we mentioned.

Light


As important in landscape as in any other form of photography. Lighting can make or break a landscape. Light direction, angle and strength are all important considerations. It is rare to see the photographer introducing artificial light to a landscape but always keep it in your back pocket and if you do use it, don't forget to get the light temperature to match ambient lighting.
Landscape photographers talk allot about the 'golden hour' this can be found early morning, post sun rise and pre sun set. You get roughly an hour of warm light and low, dynamic lighting for long shadows to really show off textures in your landscape. This may not suit every landscape so think about what effect you want to show.

kit choice


Are you going for the big sky, foreground landscape or are you picking out details? Picking the right focal length for the job can be as simple as a twist of the barrel but don't fall into the trap of seeing something you like and going for the big landscape when the thing you found that made you take the photograph in the first place gets lost in the image.
Filters are often forgotten about on digital cameras but something as simple as a gradient ND filter could save a photograph on a cloudy day from the blown sky vs under exposed ground dilemma. Polarising filters are useful for removing undesirable reflections and a hood could help sort out lens flare.

DOF


depth of field is normally more of a subjective matter but clever use of DOF can add to a landscape photograph. Normally however we would suggest having your lens set to somewhere in the middle, say f8 for a good visible depth of field (although you will most likely be shooting at infinity anyway) as well as representing everything sharply.

subject and background


We have grouped these two as it is all to common to get one without the other. A stunning landscape, when captured with a camera will just be a documentary of space in time without a subject just as much as an interesting subject without a suitable background will just leave the viewer moving on to the next image.
Finding this combination can be a result of good planning, previous scouting or just luck but for a successful landscape you will need both.
Lets look at some examples:
A lake leading into a mountain range ticks all the boxes of the foreground, background, big sky landscape bar one. We need a subject to sin nicely in the for-midground. A walk along the shore may find us a group of stones near the shore. Having these set on one of the bottom third cross over points (see rule of thirds in previous journals if you don't know what we are going on about) will really make the difference here.
Another example here shows another mountain scene. In this one the photographer has been lucky enough to be in a stunning landscape during the golden hour, just before sunset. This in itself is almost enough to get snapping rite away but taking the time to scout out this little white house has added an interesting foreground subject to keep draw the viewer into the image and encourage them to explore the image beyond the obvious main point of interest, the mountain.

Settings


Here we will talk about the cameras settings and your set up. Choosing the ISO, white balance and image format that best suits what you want are obvious things to check but often forgotten about till it is to late. A common killer of a landscape photograph for us is the wonky horizon. You can take the best landscape of your life but if you have a straight line in it that is at an angle that it shouldn't be, this will be very off putting as well as not looking very professional. Use the grid guide on your viewfinder if your camera supports it. You will either find this as a choice under camera settings or you may have to purchase an alternative viewfinder ground glass insert. Your cameras manual will tell you what you need to do. Some cameras come with an artificial horizon that is a fun alternative. On a more basic level, many tripods have a spirit level built into them, allowing you to set your tripod level before mounting your camera. Be warned here though as in our experience, the slight slack between the tripod legs and mounting plate can cause the camera not to sit level so your tripod may well be level but your camera will take photographs at a slightly jaunty angle.  

is now the best time to shoot?


This can be a matter of seconds to years. Some photographers will find the perfect spot and revisit many times till they get the conditions they wanted to take the perfect photograph. Others may need something as simple as a cloud to be in the rite spot or a walker to trundle out of the frame. It will only add work to sort this out later in post production and will never get the same results of just getting it rite in the first place. You may get to the perfect location just to find the weather just isn't playing ball that day. My suggestion would be to take a quick snap of what you have seen and take a note to revisit this location when the weather improves. There is always the possibility that you could change tactic and move to a more subjective style of photography if its cloudy or exploit harsh lighting by exploiting its uneasy feel. Making the viewer wonder what is hidden in those short, dark shadows.

These basic steps are going to help you take high quality landscapes on their own. Trends in landscape photography change all the time but do keep an open mind when you think of what you are trying to show to your end customer.
Today’s standard of big sky, big forground etc is all well and good but if what you are trying to show is a relatively small part of this, then zoom in and pick it out. Use techniques you already know like the rule of thirds, subjects in groups of three, lead in lines, layers and even group portrait techniques may come to play. Anything to organise what you see in such a way that the end viewer will take pleasure in exploring your image. Most of all though make it your own. Go out there and put your mark on your art. There are allot of artists out there trying to replicate their idols. They will never become tomorrows future star photographers in the shadow of someone else so be creative and experiment with different compositions and techniques.
We would be very interested to hear of your ideas and pointers in the world of landscape photography. So please do share with us your experiences and examples on here and our Poll.

in-my-viewfinder

In review of last months Journal

We hope you enjoyed last months tutorial that aimed to help you understand what your lenses are doing to the shape of your photographs and how best to use this creatively or avoid it all together. From the Poll we could see that allot of you rate your cameras ability to not bother you with distortion to much anyway but equally many of you are using your lenses creative distortion to good use.
Take a look at last months journal and Poll for further details

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ADotInTheUniverse's avatar
"For the first time in ages, there is no big news from Nikon to talk about."
Allow me to disagree... :) there's a lovely D600 (FX) coming on our way very soon...