While looking for tips on improving my landscape photography, I came across a useful article on the Nikon website. Featuring tips from fine-art photographer Tony Sweet, I noted the following:
- The earlier I get to my location, the more time I’ll have to let the light play with the scene
- Sidelight on a scene serves to separate elements
- Not all landscapes have to be taken with wide-angle lenses
- Pick and choose, zoom and crop, get a high or low angle
- Search out the stalwarts of composition:
- S-curves
- Leading lines
- Repetitions
- Patterns
- Rule of Thirds
- Textures
- Colours
- Juxtapositions
- Contrast
- Shapes found in nature
- Things connected to those shapes
- But remember, there are no rules; it’s all about what attracts me
- Why does it attract me?
- The answer to that will help me frame and compose my picture or pick out from the larger scene the essence of what it is I want to convey
- What I see in front of me isn’t enough
- Pick and choose, zoom and crop, get a high or low angle
- This is where landscape becomes a macro landscape, an abstract landscape, a landscape of elements
- Develop a style, not a repetitive approach
I noted the following in greater detail to remind me of some of the key information:
Light – The Key Element
The article asked what should be looked for to make effective landscape images, to which Tony replied:
“Light,” Tony says without hesitation. “See the same scene in great light and lousy light, and it’s like you’re in a different part of the world. If you want to do it right, whatever it is, you have to get the light right.”
For Tony, the right light starts with scouting. “You have to know the time and the circumstances that will give you the best light. The issue is not where the action is, it’s when.”
For Tony, the best time is during the morning. Why?
Morning Light
- Get up and out early for first light
- Morning gives more time to shoot various levels of light
- Gets lighter slower than it goes dark
- More light slowly showing up to work with from pre-dawn to sunrise
- Morning long exposures work better
- Morning time is quality shooting time
The other aspect Tony covered was ‘shooting where you live’. As I had already taken that decision, I thought it pertinent to note ‘why’.
Why Shoot Where You Live
- A favored landscape nearby gives the benefit of a quicker early-morning journey
- The advantage of this is being able to get there year-round to catch the changes the seasons bring
Tony states that “The same landscape scene in four seasons is a great, under-shot project”. Something that I have already considered in relation to this project and going forwards.
With this information in mind and the information on aspect ratio, it was time for me to put it into practice.
References
“Landscape”, W., 2020. Want Better Landscape Photos? First Check Your Definition Of “Landscape” | Nikon. [online] Nikonusa.com. Available at: <https://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/a/tips-and-techniques/want-better-landscape-photos-first-check-your-definition-of-landscape.html> [Accessed 2 December 2020].
Jennie Meadows MA Photography 