Archive for the ‘Landscape’ Category
So you’re you’ve bought your camera gear, your tripod, your filters, your step ladder; you’ve found the perfect beauty spot and you know when the light is best. All that’s left now is the most important aspect of photography, which is to compose your image so that you produce a well balanced, striking picture.
Sometimes the “shot” leaps out at the photographer the moment he sees the subject, but usually you will need to apply some compositional techniques in order to make sense of the landscape in front of you. By this I mean that you will be able to focus in on what makes the landscape beautiful or unique – what is the most striking feature of the landscape.
It is often said that the first rule of photography is that there are no rules and how true this is. The world we live in so varied that it would be impossible to apply rules to the way we view it (either as photographer or viewer).
There are infinite ways of looking at any subject and no right or wrong way – the most important thing is that the photographer has studied his subject and taken a conscious decision as to how he wants to compose the image. A great photo is rarely taken at random – the photographer might get lucky when a lion makes a kill right in the middle of his African panorama, but blithely pressing the shutter at random will rarely produce anything half decent.
Anyway, so what compositional techniques can we apply? Read on.
The Rule of Thirds
I use the word rule loosely as this is a technique not an obligation. The rule of thirds is probably the best-known technique in landscape photography. It’s also the easiest to apply. If you divide your image into a grid of 3 rows by 3 columns, simply place dividing lines (sea/sky etc) along these lines to produce a more balanced, harmonious picture. The points where vertical and horizontal lines cross have particular “power” as it were and placing important objects along these points will also enhance an image’s composition. Apparently Westerners view images like they read (i.e. left to right), Asians would tend to view images from top to bottom and Arabic readers from right to left
The Divine Proportion.
This is basically a more sophisticated rule of thirds. If you have read Dan Brown (and I haven’t) you’ll now all about an Italian mathematician called Fibonacci and his series of numbers. Fibonacci discovered a ratio, known as the golden ration, the divine ratio and a host of other names, which seem to occur in a staggering range of instances in the natural world. The proportions of our faces, limbs, butterflies’ wings, and seashells are all determined by this ratio (the scientific name for the number is phi).
The ratio is approximately 1:0.618 and can be used for an almost endless variety of purposes – even to predict movements in the financial markets (I wonder if Lehman Bros knew about phi?). Luckily for the humble landscape photographer we can also use phi to aid the composition of our photographs.
You can produce a grid of lines using phi, in much the same way as one does for the rule of thirds and placing divisions and objects along these lines will improve the balance and harmony of our photographs.
If you really want to be a smarty-pants, you can use a Fibonacci spiral to aid your composition or you can use a series of triangles, all conforming to the golden ratio. There is a very good software available called Phimatrix which allows you to superimpose phi grids etc onto images to aid in the cropping of images in PhotoShop. Otherwise a piece of acetate with a golden grid drawn on it will help when out in the field.
Using Lines
A line represents a “path” between two points and can be straight, curved, vertical, horizontal, diagonal, or zigzag. Lines can give a sense of motion and suggest direction or orientation. Sometimes placing four dots on a page in the shape of a square can imply the points are linked, as your mind will search for recognizable patterns.
The direction and orientation of lines also imply certain feelings. Horizontal lines imply tranquility, whereas vertical lines imply power and strength. Oblique lines imply movement or action. Curved lines or S shaped lines imply quiet, calm and sensual feelings. Lines that converge give a sense of depth, scale and distance – a fence or roadway converges into the distance provides the illusion that a flat two-dimensional image has three-dimensional depth. A line is an effective element of composition because it can lead the viewer’s eye. Look at how lines flow through your intended image – it’s often a good idea to have roads or rivers appearing out of the corner of the image.
Using Color
Color as a compositional technique is a huge subject – colors close to each other on the spectrum (yellow and green) are harmonious and colors opposite on a spectrum (green and violet) provide good contrast. Colors can be warm or cold, signify danger, sex, safety, the possibilities are endless but look for color patterns and contrast in your photographs. You can also use black and white (light and dark) to great effect.
Dominance and Subordination
This is nothing to do with whips and chains but is where the photographer attempts to control the sequence in which visual events in the frame are observed and the amount of attention each element receives. You can make an element dominant through size and color. Large objects dominate smaller ones and warm colored objects dominate cooler pale colored objects.
You can also place the dominant object in or near the center of the image. Another method to achieve dominance is through convergence or radiation or lines. The eye will tend to follow these lines to the point where they converge. For example the veins of a leaf converging to the stem.
Dominance can also be achieved through nonconformity and if all the elements are similar and one is different in colour, tone or shape it will stand out and become dominant.
Coherence
Coherence is where an image is made up of similar shapes, colors and textures – for example pebbles on a beach. This can be quite soothing on the eye, but at the risk of being boring so use carefully!
Balance and Rhythm.
Viewers will tend to interpret the center of an image as if it were a fulcrum – if you put a large object on one side, a smaller object will need to be far away for the image to appear balanced (think of how you would balance different weights on a scale). If you a shooting a beach, having a rock in one corner of the foreground can therefore add depth and balance to the cliffs in the distance. Rhythm is a series of repeating patterns like fence posts and can give an image depth and interest, drawing the eye along the pattern.
Borders
Use elements of the image to frame or part frame your photograph, a line of rocks along the bottom of an image of ate coast adds stability, maybe that Norman spire would look nice framed by the leaves and branches of the oak tree you’re standing next to. A good border complements and enhances the main subject of the photograph.
Conclusion
As you can see there are a whole host of techniques you can apply to landscape photography – which ones work on different occasions will depend on what you are shooting. The most important thing is to look at the subject, and try to make sense of it – look at the colors, shapes patterns. How can you make different elements of the image contrast or complement each other, are there identifiable patterns, where is that river going, what can I add to the foreground to give more depth, etc., etc., etc. A famous photographer once said you should close your eyes for ten minutes and then take another look – that’s probably not a bad way to end this article!
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Ten Tips to Take Better Landscape Photographs with Your DSLR Camera.
Here are ten tips to take better and sharper landscape photographs when using your digital SLR camera.
1) Use a tripod and make sure that it is stable. This prevents camera movement; essential when working at slow shutter speeds and low light levels.
2) Use a cable release or self-timer to prevent camera shake when you press the shutter. Cable releases enable you to respond quicker to changes in light than using your camera’s timer function.
3) Use your lowest ISO setting. The higher the ISO setting, the more digital graininess is present in the image. Setting the camera’s lowest ISO setting keeps graininess to a minimum and ensures that picture quality is at its best.
4) Set a small aperture (reasonably high F number – such as F16) and focus approximately one third into the scene.
This helps you achieve a deep depth of field, whilst maintaining image quality, thereby making the image look sharp from foreground to background.
5) Take your photographs early in the morning and at sunset. The time around dawn and dusk are known as the ‘golden hours’ as the light quality is often warmer and more interesting.
6) Set your white balance setting to ‘cloudy’. This will warm up the look of your photographs in a similar way to a ‘warm up’ filter.
7) Don’t rush to take photos. Take time to look around and think about your composition. Get into the ‘creative zone’. Observe how the scenery is being illuminated by the light.
Compose your photograph in a way that will take the viewer’s eyes on a visual journey through your photograph. Think: foreground, middle ground, background. Use lead in lines, such as walls, fences and footpaths to draw your viewer’s eyes into the scene.
9) Use your camera’s mirror lock up function. This locks up your camera’s internal mirror and prevents camera vibration when taking photos. It prevents camera shake, which can result from the movement of your camera’s mirror.
10) Invest in a selection of neutral density filters and a polarising filter. Neutral density filters prevent ‘blown out’ skies; polarising filters reduce glare on water, enrich colours and can make skies look more impressive. Buy the best quality filters that you can afford. Cheap filters reduce image quality.
If you have a house that you’ve really spent a lot of money for building and want it to look at its best, for you only deserve the best things in life, then I bet you want to know some backyard landscaping ideas that will make your dream a reality. Here are some of the best front yard landscaping ideas that you can use to make your home look gorgeous:
A tropical backyard would really sound very nice and if you want to consider getting one, you should know that it mainly consists of many shapely elements and of nice bright colors. The tropics are very abundant in sun and this make them to be very diverse when it comes to the flora and fauna. Because of this, you will need to choose some flowers that are very colored and have different shapes.
Venous stems, big leaves, thick roots and so on are just a few of the elements that you will be able to incorporate in the design of your backyard.
Yes, I bet that you know the fact that the rain is very abundant in the tropics, so you will have to make sure that you will get plenty of water to keep them moisturized properly. But even though you will have a very nice and colored backyard, you can expect uninvited guests, like different types of bugs and insects.
Opting for a bamboo backyard is a very good choice as they will never die and will be evergreen all year long. You will also never have to worry about them losing their colors, their leaves or anything close to that. Having a bamboo, you will definitely attract people’s attention and one thing you should know is that they can grow up to a few feet high, so make sure to plant them in an adequate space. When you will see that they just got too big, cutting them and making chopsticks out of them is just a funny and also good idea!
A bonsai backyard is a rare thing indeed and you will have to take very special care of them. Bonsais are originally from Japan, and they are grown in small pots. You will need to have a special care for them, as they are a little more sensitive than other plants and trees out there.
Because of their size, you will definitely feel like a giant when you will walk into your backyard between them. These trees can also produce fruits, thus taking a spring flower landscape picture and also a hillside landscaping picture after everything will be done, will be just a great idea!
The main purpose of an irrigation system is functionality. It keeps your plants and lawn well nourished during times where you do not get any rain, and it gives you the ability to regulate the amount of water certain plants or parts of the lawn is getting. The installation process of an irrigation system is environmentally safe and it won’t mean that your lawn will get destroyed from installing the pipes. Drawing up a plan and keeping it on hand is very important when having an irrigation system installed in case there is a leak.
Having an irrigation system that properly waters your landscape in the long run will save you money. It is more efficient than using a hose to water your lawn and shrubbery, and it lets you better keep track on how much water you are using on a monthly basis. When you can’t control the amount of water you are using, your water bill will go up.
Some might think you are using more water with an irrigation system, but it is actually the opposite. The water that is being applied to your landscape is evenly distributed and does not over water your property. When you water each plant with a hose you are wasting gallons and gallons of water.
Having the convenience of setting up your irrigation system to turn on at certain times will save you the trouble of going outside and doing it yourself. Your system will automatically come on for when you set it to come on, meaning you do not have to be around while it is running. This gives you time to do other things with your weekends or spare time.
If you put a lot of money and care into your lawn, bushes, plants, trees, and flowers, it only makes sense to have an irrigation system installed to keep everything alive and looking great.
Keeping everything looking natural and vibrant is important to the overall look of the exterior of your home. Having an irrigation system also actually reduces the amount of weeds that grow in your landscape, which is something most people don’t know. This is because the water is regulated and directed to the lawn and specific shrubbery, and not randomly dumped in areas if you were to try and water your landscape by hand. Lastly, the value of a home with a properly installed irrigation will always be higher than a home without a irrigation system installed.
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