|
Landscape
Photography
The landscape photography is, in my
opinion, the most challenging branch of nature photography. It is
not difficult to master the technical aspects - after all, you just
have to use the tripod to get the maximum sharpness and to pay
attention to the exposure. So, what makes landscapes so difficult?
You need an artistic eye to create
great photos, images that captures a mood and transmit emotions to
the viewer. While the techs can be explained, I can give only
suggestions regarding the artistic side of landscape photography,
then you have to develop you "vision" to capture truly
unique photos.
A
look to the techs
|
Lets begin with the easy things.
First, which lens? While you can take great landscape photos
with every lens, the wide-angles are the preferred
choice. These lenses allows to capture the vastness of the
landscapes, and they gives an exaggerated perspective, that
adds depth to the photos. If you use a DSLR with APS-C sensor,
you can get a dedicate wide-angle as the Sigma 10-20mm; for
fullframe cameras, instead, you can choose between the Sigma
12-24 or the 16-35 and 17-40. The Sigma 12-24 is wildly wide
(indeed, it is the widest rectilinear lens currently
available), while the 16-35 and 17-40 are slightly less wide,
but they have a better optical quality, in particular in the
corners.
These lenses have maximum
apertures that ranges from the f/2.8 or the 16-35 to the f/5.6
or the 12-24, but it doesn't matter much. For landscape
photography, you will almost always use small apertures to get
a large depth of field: I use f/11 or f/16 for nearly all my
landscape photos. I recommend to avoid very small apertures,
as f/32, because they lower the image quality due to diffraction,
a phenomenon that reduces the sharpness and the contrast of
the images.
Of course, the ISO sensitivity
should be set on the lowest sensitivity available, that
usually is ISO 100. I don't recommend to use the ISO 50 option
available through the "expanded ISO" option of
cameras as the Canon 5D and 1Ds MkII - while it gives slightly
less noise than the already excellent ISO 100, it reduces the
dynamic range. Shooting at ISO 100, you have almost noiseless
photos, wide dynamic range and overall excellent image
quality; you can apply the sharpening without fearing to
introduce strong noise artifacts.
The shutter speed: as you can
imagine, by combining small apertures and low ISO you get slow |
 |
|
shutter speeds. Depending by the
light, you might get a shutter speed between a fraction of
second - sometimes even 1/250 or 1/500 - and several seconds,
or minutes. Don't be afraid of very long exposures - with the
recent DSLR, the hot pixels (i.e. the long-exposure noise) are
very well controlled, and it is possible to take exposures of
minutes without any problem.
If you are seriously interested
in landscape photography, you surely understand the importance
of the tripod.
The tripod is essential to take sharp, detailed photos, in
particular at the slow shutter speeds used in landscape
photography. Moreover, it allows to compose carefully the
photo, it gives you more time to think about composition and
techs. With the tripod, you can use special techniques that
allows to capture fantastic images: for sunrises and sunsets,
I often taken two shots of the same scene, one exposed for the
sky and one for the foreground, then I blend them to create an
unique photo with a super-wide dynamic range. If you shoot
handheld, it would be impossible to take two absolutely
identical images of the same composition.
I recommend to avoid filters,
with the exception of the polarizer. UV and
"protective" filters are pretty useless (actually,
they may lower the image quality, reducing sharpness and
increasing the risk of flare), and the "artistic"
filters can be replicated - with much better results and finer
control - using Photoshop. |
The
light
 |
| Sunrise,
Alpe Devero, Italy. The sweet light or sunrise makes
looking beautiful even this harsh landscape. |
|
The light is and
essential element of landscape photography. Great light can transform
even an uninteresting subject into a fantastic place and, conversely,
bad light ruins even beautiful subjects.
A bright sunny day, with a cloudless sky, is one of the
worst light conditions that I can image - ironically, many
beginners consider it excellent. Great light is not the
bright light of mid-day: the best light is at the edges of the
days. At sunrise or sunset, there is a warm, soft light that caress
the landscape. The shadows are bright, and the colors are
warm, strong and very pleasing to the eyes.
You have to get up early and stay up late to capture the
landscapes in that light - but the results are well worth the
efforts. When possible, I do 3/4 days trips, and I place the
tent in panoramic places, or I sleep in huts placed in the
most beautiful areas of the zone that I'm visiting.
Sometimes, you can take fantastic images well before
sunrise - it is actually possible to take landscape
photos even at night. |
| Whenever
possible, I'd recommend to include the moon or the starry sky;
they adds a lot the the photo. Villages and cities are
particularly beautiful at night: few lights into the darkness
creates truly unique images. |
| If you don't have to possibility to
wait for sunrise or sunset, and you have to take the photo
during the central hours of the day, there are some
"strategies" to get the best from the
less-than-ideal light. If there is a flat blue cloudless sky,
crop it out as much as possible. If the sky is interesting,
instead, you can try to include it has part of the
composition. A polarizer filter, here, helps to increase the
contrast between the clouds and the sky, and to darken the
tone of blue.
If there is a subject in the near foreground (for example,
a person), you can try to reduce the contrast and to brighten
up the shadow with some fill-flash - the professional
units, as the Canon 580 EX, covers even super wide angle
lenses, up to 14mm (on a fullframe camera).
Another possibility is to convert the photo to black and
white. In B+W, even photos taken in harsh light may look
great, but not every image can be converted to B+W with good
results. The photos that gives the best results are those that
are rich of textures, lines and graphic elements; other photos
might look just "flat" when converted to B+W. To get
the best results, I'd recommend to use the Photoshop's
"Channel mixer", instead of the
"Desaturate" option: the former allows to get a much
finer and more creative control over the conversion.
Sunrises, night and mid-day are not the only situations
where you can photograph. When the sky is overcast, and even
under heavy rain, it is possible to take excellent photos. The
clouds and the stormy sky adds mood to the photos, and they
allow to take landscape images that are very different from
the classic "touristy" views.
|
 |
The
mood
| The same place has very different
looks. Weather, hour of the day, season and other variables influences
the look of every place - it is never exactly the same.
The two photos on the right shows one of the small
waterfall of Perino, Italy. The first photo is taken in
summer, in a hot sunny day: the waterfall is almost
non-existent, and the light is quite harsh. This is the
classic photo taken by Sunday's tourists.
The second photo was taken in a day where nobody even
thought to visit the waterfalls. It was a cold autumnal day,
there was a strong mist and it was raining since one week. The
heavy rain had enlarged the waterfall, and the mist created a
fascinating mood.
Don't be afraid to photograph under rain or snow - the
professional lenses are weather sealed, and even with
non-sealed lenses and bodies you can photograph in the rain
without many risks (the photo of the waterfall is taken with a
Canon 350D and 17-85 IS). If you want an additional
protection, you can protect the camera with a plastic bag. |
 |
 |
The
rule of thirds (and exceptions)
A good composition is essential for
landscape photography, but it is the most difficult thing to learn.
There are some "rules" that helps to improve the
composition, but you have to develop your own creative vision to
create truly unique images.
The most common error of beginners is
to place the horizon right in the center of the image. Usually, the
result is a static, unbalanced image: the first step to improve the
composition is to frame the landscape according to the "rule or
thirds". What does it mean? Pretty simple: imagine to divide
the frame in "thirds". You can frame the photo with 1/2 of
foreground and 2/3 of sky, or 2/3 of foreground and 1/3 of sky: in
other words, you have to create and asymmetric composition.
The following images are some examples
of photos composed with the rule of thirds. The choice more
foreground/more sky is not arbitrary - you have to analyze the
scene, and decide which area of the landscape you want to emphasize
in your image.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Photo
A |
Photo
B |
Photo
C |
Photo
D |
| |
| The Photo A was taken
nearly one hour before sunrise, when the Moon and some stars
were still visible. The sky had a beautiful gradient of color,
while the foreground was nearly black: for these reasons, I
decided to include more sky and less foreground. The Photo B
is the opposite: to only element of interest in the sky was
the sun; above the sun there was just blue, featureless sky,
while the foreground has beautiful tonalities of blue, green
and red. Thus, I've chosen to include 1/3 of sky and 2/3 of
foreground. |
| The Photo C is similar to Photo A,
while in the Photo D there is no sky, and the
"horizon" line is represented by the border between
water and rock, that is placed in the upper third of the
image.
Of course, the rule of thirds is not the right solution for
every photo. If the subject has a clear symmetry, you
will get the best results placing the line of symmetry in the
center of the image.
The most common symmetric subject are reflections: placing
the horizon line in the centers usually creates a well
balanced composition, and the symmetry gives a strong,
eye-catching composition. The photo on the left is a good
example of symmetric composition: one half of the image is
occupied by the mountains and the sky, and the other half by
their reflection.
Other than reflection, many man-made objects and buildings
have some symmetries or graphic elements. Look carefully your
subject from different points of view to find to most
attractive composition. |
 |
Foreground
and perspective
 |
One of the most effective ways to
create a strong composition is to photograph with a wide-angle
and to place something in the near foreground: a flower, a
rock, or any other interesting object. The object into
foreground, combined with the exaggerate perspective of the
wide-angle, gives a sense of depth and a "3-D" look
to the photo.
The photo on the left is an example of this concept. The
flowers in the foreground were at few centimeter from the lens
(a 17mm wide-angle), while the mountains into background are
hundred of meters away. I used a very small aperture, f/20, to
get everything in sharp focus.
In landscape photography, you should always use manual
focus, and when you use wide angles to frame a subject in the
near foreground, the manual focus is even more important.
Usually, I focus on 1-1.5 meters when the closest object is
few centimeters from the lens, or 2-3 meters when the closes
objects is at 50-70cm from the lens. I stop down to f/16 and I
take the photo: usually, the depth of field is enough to have
everything in focus, and even if the very first foreground is
slightly out of focus, it doesn't detract too much from the
photo. I'd recommend to avoid f/22 or f/32 unless it is
strictly necessary, since at these apertures you lose image
quality (sharpness and contrast) due to diffraction.
If you specialize in landscape photography, you might
consider a very special lens: the Canon EF 24mm f/3.5 TS-E
(tilt and shift). The shift movement allows to avoid the
converging lines when you photograph something from a
"low to high" perspective. The till allows to
control the depth of field: by tilting the lens parallel to
the subject, you can increase the depth (very useful for
landscapes where you want to get a sharp photo from the close
foreground to the
|
background).
You can even use this lens creatively, tilting the lens in the
opposite direction respect the subject: the DOF becomes
incredibly shallow, and it allows to create very original
image.
Pay attention to the legs of the tripod: with ultra-wide
angles, it is easy to include unwanted elements, in particular
when you photograph close to the ground and the tripod's leg
are spread wide open.
|
|
Other
elements of the composition: leading lines, diagonals and textures
There are many elements in nature
that helps to create a powerful composition: the diagonals are
one of the most important. You can use diagonal lines to led
the eye towards the subject, or to create graphical elements
and symmetries. If you look carefully to the landscape, you
will notice that there are are both "explicit"
diagonals (as the slope of a mountain) and
"implicit" diagonals (for example, a series of
objects placed diagonally). You can frame these diagonals as
you want, but usually they should not intersect with the
corners of the image, otherwise the photo looks a bit
"artificial" and studied.
Sometimes you don't need diagonals to create "leading
lines": even a curve or a straight line can be used to
lead the observer through the frame. Roads and trails are an
excellent example of "leading lines" for your
composition, in particular when you photograph with a
wide-angle and the beginning of the road is in the close
foreground.
"S", "Z" o "V" curves, and
other graphic elements, helps to create strong composition.
When you observe the landscape, pay attention to these lines
and shapes, and try to use them in your composition.
The patterns (repeated shapes) and the textures are other
elements for your composition. While it is difficult to see
patterns in nature, you can often see textures: the fine grain
of the sand, the bark of a tree, the rocks and many other subjects have interesting
textures.
|
 |
Do you have
comments or questions?
If you have comments or questions about this
article, feel free to ask in the Juza
Nature Photography Discussion Forum!
|
