How to take a beautiful landscape photo? How to photograph a landscape: tips How to photograph landscapes with a DSLR
At first glance, landscape photography is a very simple type of photography. It seems that it is enough just to go outside with the camera, choose a worthy object and press the shutter button. However, after seeing your first footage, you may be disappointed. Find out below about what to pay attention to when shooting landscapes and how to get great shots.
Landscape lens
Let's start with the fact that there are no lenses designed exclusively for landscape photography. A picture taken with a long-focus lens has less geometric distortion, but, unfortunately, a smaller viewing angle. Short-focus (wide-angle) optics are suitable when you need to get a larger viewing angle, depth of perspective transmission, or build a panoramic image. At the same time, the geometric perspective distortions inherent in such lenses can be used as an artistic effect. For landscape photography, you can purchase wide-angle prime lenses such as 14mm or 18mm. An alternative and cheaper option would be to purchase a zoom lens (10-20mm, 12-24mm, 18-35mm). Finally, a kit lens (18-55mm) can also be used, which gives you more flexibility in choosing your subject and is a great choice for a beginner photographer.
It should be noted that lenses designed for narrow format cameras have a focal length scale in terms of the angle of view for a standard 35 mm film frame. Therefore, in order to estimate the angle of view of a lens for your digital camera, it is necessary to take into account its crop factor .
Light filters
In addition to the lens, you will need filters for landscape photography. They will greatly improve your pictures. For landscape photography, it is best to use gradient and polarizing filters.
A gradient filter whose top is darkened and the bottom is completely transparent. Gradient filter allows you to reduce the brightness of a washed out, inexpressive sky or emphasize its texture in cloudy weather.
A polarizing filter is used when you need to highlight the blue sky, clouds against its background, or emphasize the reflections in the water.
When choosing filters, it is important to keep in mind that their use on ultra-wide-angle lenses (18 mm or less) can lead to an undesirable effect of uneven frame illumination and vignetting.
Composition
Before you start shooting, you need to remember the basic rules for building a composition. Try not to position the horizon exactly in the middle of the frame. It is desirable to build the composition in such a way that it is closer to the upper or lower third of the frame. Avoid the central layout of the objects you are focusing on. Since ancient times, the rules have been well known, according to which an object located near the point of the "golden section" has the most harmonious perception. Having mentally divided the frame into three equal parts with two vertical and two horizontal lines, compose your frame so that the accented object is in the area of one of the points of their intersection. If there are several such objects, never place them on the same line.
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When shooting a landscape, divide the frame into three well-defined shots - front, middle and back. With this construction of the composition, your picture will acquire the necessary volume.
Light
Watch out for lighting. The most favorable time for shooting is before 10 am and after 5 pm (in autumn and winter, these boundaries naturally narrow). At this time, the lighting is the softest and most even. Use a polarizing filter to expose clear, cloudless skies. With it, you can achieve a deep and soft gradient, from light smoky to deep, velvety shades (Photo 1).
Use a gradient filter to reduce the brightness of overcast, colorless skies and bring out the texture of clouds. This will give your picture extra dimension. When blue sky fragments are turned on in a cloud break, the effect of the gradient filter on them will be equivalent to the effect of the polarizing filter (Photo 2).
Try not to overload your frame with unnecessary details. Sometimes the simplest composition can add volume to a frame. For example, in this frame (Photo 3), with the help of people, it was possible to revive the composition, and with the help of just one detail - a stone in the foreground, arranged near the point of the "golden section", - to achieve volume.
Feel free to experiment with metering, especially in difficult lighting conditions. In landscape photography, maximum depth of field is very important, so when shooting handheld, it is preferable to set the aperture to F8-11, and if you have a tripod, you can reduce it to F22.
panoramas
Finally, practice shooting panoramas. Here you should be guided by several rules. All future frames of your panorama should have the same scale of the subject being photographed, so do not focus closer or further than it. The aperture value should be left constant. Frames need to be done with some overlap on each other. Otherwise, due to the lack of information at the edges of the frames, the panorama stitching program will not be able to assemble the final image. You can use your camera's bracketing feature to avoid exposure errors.
As an example (Photo 4), we can cite a panorama assembled from two frames with a relative aperture of F8 and a lens focal length of 28 mm. At the same time, the lens was focused to infinity, and the shutter speed for all frames was 1/125 second.
Exist Golden Rule photographing landscapes, and no matter how much advice you are given, without following this rule exactly, you will never achieve results comparable to the pictures of professionals. Landscape photographers can only take pictures twice a day. First, at dawn: it's best to start shooting 15-30 minutes before sunrise and 30 minutes to an hour (depending on the brightness of the light) after sunrise. Secondly, at sunset. Why only twice a day? That's the rule. The fact is that only at dawn and at sunset can you catch soft warm light and light shadows that allow you to get lighting. professional quality for shooting landscapes.
The tripod is your best friend
Now you know the schedule of a professional landscape photographer: you need to get up before dawn and skip almost every dinner. If you have no problems with this, then it's time to reveal another one. important secret Note: Because you will be taking pictures in low light, you should always use a tripod. Every day. Constantly. AT landscape photography There are no pictures taken without a tripod. I must warn you that one morning you will definitely see an amateur next to you taking the same pictures as you, but without a tripod. He doesn't know yet that he will get the most blurry, overexposed and fuzzy photos of his entire life.
Tripods: The Benefits of Carbon Fiber
Latest Models tripods are made of carbon fiber. Such tripods have two advantages: firstly, they are much lighter than traditional metal tripods, and are not inferior to them in stability, and secondly, carbon fiber tripods do not resonate like metal ones, i.e. the risk of vibration is reduced. But there is also a drawback. As you might expect, these tripods are not cheap.
Aperture priority mode
For professional landscape photographers, the main shooting mode is aperture-priority mode (on the dial switch it corresponds to the A or Av setting). The reason for its popularity lies in the fact that it allows you to solve creative problems. What I mean? Let's say you're photographing a tiger with a wide-angle lens and want to make the tiger (in the foreground) in focus and the background blurred. In aperture priority mode, it's easy enough: set the smallest aperture value available for your lens (for example, f/2.8, f/4, or f/5.6) and focus on the tiger. That's all! The camera and wide-angle lens will do the rest: you will get a sharp photo of a tiger with a completely blurred background. Thus, you have just mastered one of the three main techniques for using the aperture. Low aperture values (plus a wide-angle lens) allow you to focus on the foreground subject and blur the background. But how do you get a sharp image of both the tiger and the background if you want to see the tiger in the photo in the surroundings? The aperture should be set to f/8 or f/11. These two values are best when you want to capture a scene as our eyes see it (without creative background blur). Distant objects in the background will be slightly out of focus, but not too much. This is the second method of working in aperture priority mode. The third technique is when you need to get the maximum clarity of the entire image: the foreground, the environment ( medium shot) and background. Just choose the maximum aperture value (f/22 or f/36).
Correct composition
The next time you buy a travel magazine with beautiful landscapes or study the work of the masters of digital landscape photography, pay attention to the pictures with endless expanses. You will find that in almost every photo there are three elements. The first one is the foreground. For example, if the sun sets in the sea in a sunset photo, then the image does not begin with the water surface, but on the shore. The coast becomes the foreground. The second element is the main subject. In the case of a sunset photograph, it could be the sea reflecting the setting sun, or the sun itself. The last, third element is the background. In the sunset photo, it is the sky and clouds. All three elements are needed to create an impressive landscape photograph. The next time you shoot, ask yourself: "What should I choose as the foreground?" This nuance is often forgotten by amateur photographers. Always remember the three elements of a landscape, and you will be able to convey its beauty and scale.
Another reason to take pictures at dawn
An additional advantage of photographing at dawn (and not at sunset) is that the water in the lake, river, sea, etc. will be calmer, as it is always less windy in the morning than in the late afternoon. Therefore, if you want to get a mirror image on the water surface of the lake, then it is better to take a picture in the early morning, and not late in the evening.
Shooting waterfalls
Want to get a picture of the silky streams of a waterfall or stream like a pro? The secret is to leave the lens shutter open for at least one or two seconds. Water will flow, and everything else (stones and trees near a waterfall or stream) will remain unchanged. The procedure is as follows: select the shutter priority mode (set the dial to S OR TV) and set the shutter speed to one or two seconds. Even when shooting on a cloudy day, the shutter open for a few seconds will let in enough light to give you a completely blown out image. This is why professional photographers take pictures of waterfalls at dawn or just after sunset, when there is much less light. In addition, they use a neutral density filter. This is a special filter that is screwed onto the lens and reduces the amount of light entering the camera. Under these conditions, you can leave the shutter open for a few seconds. There is so little light coming through the lens that you get a sharply focused photo of the flowing water flow. If you do not have such a filter, but the waterfall or stream you are interested in is located deep in the forest (i.e. hidden in dense shade), then a similar effect can be achieved using a simple trick. Mount your camera on a tripod, set aperture priority mode, and choose the largest aperture available (f/22 or f/36, obviously). The lens shutter will stay open longer than usual (in dense shade, this is not a problem), and you will get the same effect of a "silky" stream of water.
Use a polarizing filter
When shooting waterfalls, you can use a polarizing filter instead of a neutral density filter. This allows, firstly, to remove reflections in the waterfall and on the stones, and secondly, to reduce the amount of light entering the lens, which makes it possible to use large shutter speeds. High shutter speeds increase the silky effect, so try different settings (4,6,10s, etc.) and see which one gives you the best result.
Want some great advice on how to photograph a forest? Don't take pictures of the ground. The ground in the forest is often not very attractive (fallen branches, rotten leaves - all this does not add to the aesthetics), which is why many professional photographers do not shoot the ground - it contrasts too much with the beauty of the trees. Of course, if the forest flooring looks normal, it can be added to the frame, if not, it is better to save the frame. And one more piece of advice. It is better to photograph in the forest on cloudy days, as it is very difficult to take a forest shot in bright sunshine. However, there is one exception to this rule: if there is fog in the forest on a sunny day, then the sun's rays breaking through the haze can be very impressive.
Skyline
The answer to the question "Where should the horizon line be?" simple enough. Do not repeat the mistakes of amateurs and do not place the horizon line strictly in the center of the photo, otherwise your landscapes will always look like Polaroid shots. First, decide for yourself what you want to focus on: on the ground or in the sky. If the sky looks great, make sure the horizon line is in the bottom third of the photo (emphasis on the sky). If land or water looks more interesting, then the horizon line should be in the top third of the photo. Most importantly, any of these methods will give your photo more depth and color.
Boring sky? Changing the rules
If there is nothing interesting in the sky when shooting a landscape, you can abandon the one-third rule and leave the minimum necessary part of the sky in the frame. Capture 7/8 of the land or water and only 1/8 of the sky. As a result, the audience's attention will be drawn to a more interesting foreground.
Landscape photography is an incredibly fascinating type of photography that requires the photographer to know the basics of not only photography, but also painting. Landscape photography has always been and remains a popular and interesting genre. Photos of architecture and nature are in great demand in the photography market.
Landscape photography with filters
Horizon level in landscape photography
When shooting landscapes, it's important to keep the horizon level in mind, and to keep the horizon line level and clear. This is especially important when photographing seascapes. There is a grid in the camera's viewfinder and display during Live View shooting to help you create the right horizon.
Clear photos in the landscape
Author: Xin Hua Depth of field is an important factor when shooting landscapes. In landscape photography, photos are welcome where most of the frame is clear and sharp. To increase the depth of field, you need to photograph with a narrow aperture.
telephoto lens
To achieve the widest angle of view, you should use the appropriate lens, or focal length, but a telephoto lens will also be useful when shooting landscapes. The telephoto lens allows you to compress the elements of the scene, bringing the foreground and background closer to each other. Thus, the mountain range and the foreground background will appear closer to each other, the picture will be more saturated. Telephoto lenses also help to focus on a particular subject.
Landscape shooting HDR
Exposure in landscape photography
Long exposure in landscape photography will allow you to take beautiful photos of moving elements. Waterfalls, waves and trees in the wind, and much more will look more alive and interesting when shooting with a shutter speed of a few seconds. It is known that the use of long exposures during the day can lead to exposure of the frame. It is required to set the aperture to f16, or even narrower. For best results, you may need to use a neutral density filter. Powerful filters such as the Lee Filters Big Stopper will allow you to use extremely slow shutter speeds even on the clearest day.
Tilt-shift in landscape photography
Photo by: Arnar Birgisson Tilt-shift allows you to combine photos with large and shallow depth of field. The effect is achieved by using lens shift and tilt. Due to Tilt-shift, the elements of the frame will resemble miniature models. This effect will look beautiful in landscape photography. If you do not have such a lens, tilt-shift effect can be achieved with a graphics editor, in addition, this effect is provided in some cameras.
Black and white landscapes
If you have never photographed black and white landscapes before, but really want to try your hand at such shooting, then it is better to start by photographing in color. Once you've taken a good shot, convert it to black and white using Lightroom or Photoshop. This gives you full control over how you edit your shot, and you can fine-tune your photo to create a truly beautiful black and white photo.
Panorama
To create a panoramic photo, do not shoot in the wide-angle position of the lens, this will distort the frame. Take pictures at a distance of 30-50mm. Yes, you will have to take more shots than with wide-angle coverage, but the panorama will turn out beautiful and natural. Many camera tripods have a tripod head for panning, but this is not always necessary in practice, especially if you plan to use software later on. The latest version of Photomerge for Photoshop will be especially effective in the process of creating a panorama. Panorama experts recommend using manual settings - manual exposure, focus and white balance - to ensure maximum photo quality, and the same type of all created photos.
infrared photography
There are several ways to create infrared photos in Photoshop, but nothing beats creating them yourself. Infrared landscapes in black or white, allow you to look at the world around you in a different way. To create such pictures, you need a special filter.
Yes, planning a trip is also a job that will help you create beautiful pictures. Wherever you are going to go, you need to properly prepare and collect as much information as possible about these places. Check out satellite imagery and maps of the area - they will help you understand which mountain peaks, if any, will be highlighted at sunrise or sunset. For example, I shot in Abkhazia:
Look for photos of the same area taken by other people. It doesn't matter what camera they were taken with. Even soapbox shots can help you get a rough idea of where you're going. Try to highlight the features of the area that are interesting for you, which can be captured in the pictures - a tree of an unusual shape on the shore of a reservoir, for example.
Explore the area
At landscape photography it often happens that a person tries to capture a beautiful natural event too late. For example, you saw an amazing sunset and began to fuss, trying to somehow photograph it. This is the wrong approach, and it will be difficult for you to get good shots.
Therefore, always try to pre-investigate the surrounding area. For example, if you are staying on the shore of a body of water, spend your time exploring the surrounding area, look for interesting angles, unusual rocks, streams, or something else like that.
Walk through the forest along the pond, find a higher slope and climb it - so you can find something really worthy to shoot. Do not forget to take test shots during your walks, which you can watch in the evening and choose the most interesting places - a kind of backstage. And the next time the sun goes down, you'll already be in the right place with your camera ready to take great photos without fuss.
Remember that the landscape is first and foremost light!
One of the main mistakes of amateurs is shooting at noon, when the sun is shining at full power, and the lighting is very harsh. Such pictures always come out quite flat, and the colors are dirty. Therefore, the ideal time for landscape photography Sunrise and sunset count. During these hours, the lighting is especially soft, and the photos begin to play with other colors.
Take a compass with you when you're out and about picking out locations to shoot, it will help you determine where the sunrise and sunset will be.
Choice of photographic equipment
Always take a tripod with you. Better to take it with you than another lens. A tripod turns even an ordinary camera into a powerful tool that can take beautiful landscapes in any conditions. It is important that with the help of a tripod the camera can be set to any height - at least 20 cm, at least 2 meters. The weight of the tripod will only matter to you if you decide to shoot in gales.
In any case, the tripods have a hook on which you can hang a couple of stones in a bag for stability. The lens is best used wide-angle. It is best suited for landscape photography.
Don't be afraid to shoot from a low position
For example, if you like interesting flowers or moss-covered rocks, lower your camera on a tripod.
This way you can focus on the foreground, and the photo will become more expressive.
What depth of field to use?
AT landscape photography it is important that the whole shot is sharp - both the grass in front and the mountains in the distance. To achieve the desired depth of field, you need to use large apertures: from f / 8 to about f / 16. Know that the larger this value, the sharper the image will be. But do not forget that at large apertures, sharpness may become worse due to possible photo defects.
How to avoid problems with dynamic range?
Dynamic range is a parameter that refers to the difference in brightness between the darkest and brightest parts of a scene. When you shoot sunrises or sunsets, the camera often can't handle the high dynamic range, resulting in overexposed areas or dark spots in the photo.
To avoid this, simply do not shoot in backlighting. For example, instead of shooting the sunset itself, rotate the camera 90 degrees and try to capture mountain peaks or a clearing flooded with sunset rays.
How to make a landscape voluminous?
We always see a three-dimensional image because we have two eyes. But the camera has only one "eye", and to create volume, you need to make an effort.
The three-dimensional effect in the picture is created due to the tonal and spatial perspective. You can enhance the volume with the help of light. The most voluminous landscapes are obtained with side and back lighting.
Try to choose a point for landscape photography so that in the photo there are both close objects and distant ones. It is good if there is a smooth transition between the foreground and background, for example, in the form of a stream flowing between them.
Stay up late and get up early
This is actually very important advice. Always get up an hour before sunrise and go take pictures, no matter the weather. Yes, sometimes getting out of a warm sleeping bag at 4 am is quite difficult, but it's worth it. Do the same thing an hour before sunset.
Don't forget that after the rain, there are stunningly beautiful sunsets with rainbows, and you'll have to get wet to capture them.
Show patience
Beautiful lighting is quite rare, and you will have to be patient to wait for it. Successful shots are rare, and you still won't be able to churn out hundreds of successful landscapes a month, and no amount of advice will help here. The best photographers involved shooting landscapes, sometimes spend 10 days to take a single shot - and all this time they are waiting for the right light.
Therefore, always calculate the time of your trip. If, for example, you stay in one place for only a couple of days, then getting a good shot will be quite difficult, but it's worth a try!
Now, dear readers, you know how to shoot a landscape and if you don't want to miss new articles about photography, please subscribe to the blog.
by Sophie Ouch
For many beginners, learning to photograph begins with mastering landscape photography. Maybe this is due to the silence and slowness, which is conducive to better mastering the technique, understanding the exposure in photography and mastering photography lessons on how to photograph correctly - the same landscape.
Photography lessons are varied, tips can be found for every taste and preparedness. But it has long been known that there is never enough information, it never turns out to be superfluous for neophytes, and "repetition is the mother of learning", so we remember the important!
Tips for landscape photography, or How to photograph nature correctly
1. Making the Most of Depth of Field
Marc Adamus
Although photographers sometimes want to experience more creative approaches and experimenting with shallow depth of field, however, a classic landscape photography technique is when most of the image is in focus. The easiest way to get more DOF is to use the lowest possible f-stop available for your compact or lens. The smaller the aperture, the greater the depth of field of the image.
However, be aware that a smaller aperture requires more time or a higher ISO. And sometimes both at the same time.
2. Use a tripod
Leif Erik Smith
A mandatory attribute in the arsenal of a landscape photographer is. You may need slow shutter speeds to compensate for the selected small aperture, and therefore additional camera stabilization. Not with every shutter speed, shooting handheld, you can get technically perfect shots. Moreover, a tripod will be useful when the photographer uses remote control to release the shutter.
3. Look for the semantic center of the composition
Mitchell Krog
Every photograph needs a visual center of composition. Landscape shots are no exception, because when shooting nature, the lack of a semantic point results in a boring and rather empty shot, in which, as they say, "there is nothing to catch the eye."
pkarwski
Anything can be the focus - a building or structure, an interestingly shaped tree, a boulder or a mountain peak. Just remember to keep track not only of focus, but also of where you have a significant object. Although the reference rule of thirds is violated periodically, no one has canceled it yet!
4. Think Foreground
Daniel Rericha
One of the elements that helps your landscape take shape is a shaped foreground. Place your meaning points on the front of the picture, and you can convey the depth of the image.
5. Don't forget to turn on the sky
Trevor Cole
Another almost inseparable element of the answer to the question of how to shoot a landscape is the sky and its reflection in the water. The secret of landscape photography in most cases is that the sky or foreground dominates the picture. Look at your images, if they are not, then most likely they are considered boring and of little interest.
Ryan Dyar
If during your photo session the sky turned out to be uninteresting, don't let it prevail - move the horizon line to the upper third of the picture, first make sure that the photo does not lose even more from this.
Andrei Baciu
But when the sky is full of dramatic clouds or littered with out-of-character hues, airspace can be your ally. Give him more space in your picture, and you will see how winning such a deviation from the rules can be.
Remember filters. Using polarizers can add color and contrast to a photo.
6. Operate the lines!
myredcar
The most important question that landscape photographers usually ask themselves is: "Will the viewer see the picture in full, as I see it?"
There are many ways to convey the natural beauty of nature through static image capture. To do this, there is a technique by which active lines are included in the composition of the image. Due to them, the photographer can redirect the viewer's gaze from one point of the frame to another, rather than create a kind of closed space, "looping".
The use of lines gives a certain algorithm and adds scale and volume to the photo image. The lines themselves can be an attraction and create their own "patterns" in the photo.
Danskie Dijamco
7. Fix the movement!
Most people, when thinking about landscape photography, most often imagine a calm and passive picture. However, the landscape is different from the landscape, and you can convey the movement (of the same water, for example), which will fill the picture with dynamics and create a mood that is interesting to many viewers who will be happy to admire not only relaxing landscapes, but also consider the riot of the elements and the fury of nature.
Andrea Pozzi
For example, try to "catch" the breath of wind in the trees, the movement of waves on the beach, the stirring of water flowing under a waterfall, fix in the dynamics of flying birds and floating clouds above your head.
Carol Dorion
"Locking" means that the photographer must use slower shutter speeds (sometimes on the order of a few seconds). Of course, high shutter speeds will cause more light to enter the photosensitive element of the camera, but for correct use Of this fact, you have options: choosing an aperture value or taking pictures at the beginning of the day or in the evening, when, in principle, there is less light outside.
8. Work in tandem with weather and time
The golden rule of landscape photography is: "A scene can change drastically at any given time, depending on the weather."
Andrei Baciu
Many aspiring photographers tend to go on a photo walk on a sunny day because they think that this is the best time to create photo masterpieces. In fact, a cloudy day or even a rainy and thundery day, in addition to the possibility of getting the camera wet and feet wet, gives the widest opportunities to get beautiful photos filled with mood and ominous overtones.
Bill Church
How to shoot a landscape in such weather? Look for storms, wind, fog, dramatic clouds, sun through dark dark skies, rainbows, sunsets and sunrises, and work with these changes in weather and conditions rather than waiting for the next sunny day with dull blue skies.
Greg Gibbs
And another wonderful piece of advice from a professional landscape photographer: "Never shoot during the day. There is no duller photo. Your golden time is at dawn or dusk. There is no better light when landscapes come alive."
9. Praise for the horizon
Christian Bothner
The oldest advice, but it is good because it does not lose its relevance today. Before finally pressing the camera shutter, check the horizon line.
It should not divide the frame clearly in half, it should not be tilted, it should not be completely absent from the landscape shot. Of course, rules are there to be broken, but in the case of the horizon, the rule of thirds works like never before.
Tramont_ana
10. Change your point of view!
Even when there are vast expanses of unprecedented beauty before your eyes and it seems that you just need to raise the camera and a beautiful image will appear in it by itself ... stop. And think. Look at the area through the lens, turn back and forth, change the angle, shift the horizon line, or try to include additional elements in the composition.
Auttapon Nunti
Do not rush to press the shutter button, you always have time to do it when photographing a landscape!