Nature has abundant beauty and some landscape scenes are just meant to be captured and preserved. While nothing can really live up to the real thing, you can come very close with a decent camera and some photography skills. If you want to capture the beauty of a landscape as effectively as possible, you should consider these tips:
#1 The ‘Magic Hour’
The ‘Magic Hour‘ or the ‘Golden Hour’ is the term used for a short period of time just after sunrise and just before sunset. At this point, the natural light is soft and often adds a golden glow to the picture. This is perhaps the most flattering lighting for photography and is commonly utilised by professionals to add a little bit of magic to their images.
#2 Composition – Rule Of Thirds
The rule of thirds is one of the first and most important lessons new photographers learn. You need to imagine breaking the landscape down to thirds vertically and horizontally. You’ll form a grid over the image which has 9 parts. This helps you determine the most important aspects of the picture as well as the most useful position for all elements in the picture.
#3 Make the Effort To Get Out There And Explore
Great shots won’t always magically come to you. You need to go out and seek them out and that requires exploration of the landscape. Most professional photographers observes the landscape, considers the direction of the lighting, look at foreground interest and plan their shot accordingly. They will also often come back repeatedly to the same location, until conditions are perfect.
#4 Using Graduated Neutral Density Filters To Reduce Bright Skies
Skies can be blindly bright and that can have an impact on the quality of the pictures. A graduated neutral density (ND) filter will reduce the brightness in the sky and add light to an otherwise dark foreground. A graduated ND is a very easy filter to use and delivers great results, especially in outdoor landscape photography. The same effect can be created post-production, using software programs such as Adobe Lightroom.
#5 Foreground Detail
You can make an image much more interesting if you have some foreground detail. While pictures of a beautiful sky can be stunning, foreground details like rocks, trees, etc., can add depth and character to the image. That can make for more interesting and compelling landscape scenery.
#6 Shoot Using RAW
Most professional photographers shoot pictures in the RAW format because that allows them to retain all of the image data collected. Formats like JPEG compress the image data, which can lead to loss of certain details and that can have an impact on the overall image quality. RAW ensures more detail is captured in-camera and that can be edited according to your preferences later.
#7 Slower Shutter Speeds For That ‘Milky Water’ Effect
Slow shutter speeds allow you to create that ‘Milky Water’ effect for waterfalls and cascades. A sturdy tripod is recommended, along with a remote or cable release, for guaranteed stability.
#8 Use A Sturdy Tripod To Minimize ‘Camera Shake’
A shaky tripod doesn’t deliver satisfactory results and compromises the image quality, often resulting in a blurry image. A sturdy tripod reduces the amount of shake and allows you to take sharp, focused landscape images.
If you have a passion for wildlife, nature or travel photography and would love to go on a small-number, professional photography adventure, please get in touch with Michael Snedic at WildNature Photo Expeditions. You can call him on 0408 941 965 or fill in this Contact Form and he will get back to you ASAP.
