shooting landscapes

Shooting landscapes
i am sure that everyone has their own way of working so i will just talk you through the way i work as requested.

First things first... take a peek out of the window, is the sky looking interesting? if not then i don't tend to bother going out ... i am looking for any of the following, foreboding clouds, blue skies, sunsets, sunrises, mists, and rain,
So presuming i am doing the usual sunrise shot i set off with my tripod, shutter switch, camera and lenses, and filters

i already before i set off have a idea of the shot i want more often than not! this comes from knowing your subject or the area you are shooting, this is not always possible but knowing what makes a good/great images helps!
so i want a photo of the castle on the hill for instance, where is the sun? i don't want the sun in my image as sunspots and glare ruin a perfectly good image, so i have one of two choices i can move my carcass and find a angle where the sun will not be in shot or wait for the sun to move out of my frame...
now im looking for a lead in line to draw my eye to the castle on the hill... a fence or maybe a line of trees.. a hedge row, a path,.. your lead in line does not have to be straight! it can be interesting too have zig zags or a windy path.
i have now found my line.. i'm using a fence so i set up my tripod so that the fence is just off to my right a little and the castle is centre frame and i have set my , my camera is now on the tripod and the shutter switch attached. I set my camera to bulb but you can equally use AV, my ISO is set to 50 but 100 will do just fine, my polarizer and my ND filter (neutral density ) are in my filter holder or in most peoples case screwed on the front of the lens i have chosen a ND 4 filter ( different ND filters for long exposures the darker the filter the longer the exposure) i have set my camera to f11. zooming in and out until i have what i want in the frame and making sure that dog poo bins etc are not in the image! i press my shutter switch.
That is a typical me day shooting landscapes not at all spontaneous but gets some good images.
a few quick notes here.. i do not always stick to the rule of thirds .. but more often than not a better image will result in using it!
the rule of thirds is not as complicated as it first seems imagine 3 lines across your view finder... your sky is in the top then you have the castle and then lower you have your foreground interest.. well thats as basic as i'm going to manage to put it!

i appreciate some of this will sound like another language to some people just starting out and i cannot state enough that no matter how boring a manual is life is so much easier when read and tested!

can i just mention which i seem to have forgotten when using your camera on a low ISO and tripod mounted you will not get the strange squiggly lights and blurred images in low light, when taking a photo on a long exposure your hand does not stay still long enough so the shutters still open capturing the detail so movement = blur
hence when tripod mounted this is not an issue
right if that sounded like the rantings of a mad woman ... it probably was
i have just realized how hard it is to write a tutorial or a rant based on what i do on a daily basis and do not need to think about so much now haha.. so feel free to say utter rubbish and throw bananas at me.
As usual my ranting is subject to copyright.. so ask before using elsewhere etc thank you

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http://cardifftog.wordpress.com/

a very intersting and easy read (as was the one on shooting RAW) i thank you very much Genese - this is really useful information, especially about leading in lines. also the info on filters, i dont have any except the uv to protect my lens. do you recommend forking out for expensive ones or are the cheaper (a tenner)ones any good - i notice the price ranges quite a bit on them.

i notice you mentioned f.11 for your castle shot. because i've been using a tripod of late i've been using f.22 to get clarity throughout, thinking that is important - but maybe its not. do you use the whole range of f stops in your landscapes? is there one number you use more than others?

anyway, thanks again - look forward to reading more.
philippa

Thank you Genese, this will be a great help to our members.

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Paul

www.phrphotography.com

Hi Genese ... Thank you .. more information to print out and read over ..many times .. lol .. and try a few things that you have suggested ..It really is an easy read ..
Cheers
Else

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© "Whatt I See"

"Everything has it's beauty, but not everyone sees it"
Confucius

hi philippa each piece (filter) of glass you put in front of your lens will degrade your images ever so slightly... The more expensive filters tend to be better quality and thinner glass, if you like shooting landscapes i would recommend a polarizer for your blue skies and excellent contrast and Nd graduation filters for longer exposure..
when shooting landscapes i tend to use f8 upwards depending on the result i am after if you have a look through the galleries at some of the images you like and look at the exif tab under the picture you can see what f number was used to get the required dof. alot can be learn't from others exif info

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No problem paul it good to be able to help

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thats great else im chuffed you are enjoying them.. glad they are easy to read the idea was anyone could pick it up and read from beginner to advanced.

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I like your approach in tutorials and have found them extremely helpful and simple to follow. Your tutorial on RAW inspired me to start taking my shots using a JPeg/RAW format and I'm enjoying experimenting.
I like taking landscapes but can't invest in a tripod just yet so look for walls or anything else that will help me steady my light box. Still a beginner and still getting used to my DSLR since I've not had it long.
Thanks Genese

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Cameras don't lie. Photographers, well that's a different story!


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Adooky

flickr

Hi mausue im so glad they helped ... you can pick tripods up quite cheaply but i would go for a heavier tripod so it doesn't move with the wind when you do invest in one! enjoy photography is a wonderful thing

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