Landscapes
How to capture the soul of the landscape?
So when you ask someone, ‘what kind of photography do you want to do?" I would say roughly 90% will say Landscape, why? Because it is easy to do but is it? Anybody can pick up a camera and point and shoot at a pretty landscape, post it on their social media site for about 50 people to go ‘WOW’ but what turns an average Landscape photograph into a mind blowing landscape photograph.
This is what I want to explore!
I will admit, I am not a landscape photographer by trade. There are many exceptionally talented photographers out there who display their work in galleries, are commissioned by those commercial businesses to capture the essence of areas of natural beauty for advertisement for tourism but since being forced to slow down due to the Covid-19 pandemic, gave me the opportunity to start exploring new areas of photography by going back to the very basics of which everyone including myself, started out with and now I want a greater understanding of this genre.
My first lesson- SLOW DOWN 101!
It may be the most basic class but is the most essential. I could never slow down. Everything had to be done quickly, because that’s what editorial photography is all about, thinking on your feet capturing that ‘Decisive Moment’. Looking back on Landscapes I have taken in the past reflects this and what I feel does not represent tranquility.
It may be a cliche but in order to photograph peace, you need to be at peace, just like with weddings, I find being in love allows you to capture love which is reflected within the imagery and I am not meaning in love with your partner but with life, what you do. It shows! Landscape photography allows you to let the world fade away and be one with your thoughts.
I still love this image today which I took back in 2013 because I was so relaxed and this image reflects the mood I was feeling at that particular time.
And so how do we do this?
Here I used a long exposure to convey the sense of movement on the tree with the use of a slow shutter and an ND filter in order to maintain detail without over exposure.
A 30 second exposure using a 10 stop ND filter calms the choppy water.
Using a long exposure, a medium aperture to take in the detail of the area and a beautiful still water allowed me to create a reflection in the water.
“Knowledge of a subject leads to more openness, more recognition and more opportunities for strong photographs.”
This was taken over my local lake in Northampton after a beautiful sunset whilst waiting for the supermoon to rise back in March 2020.
That perfect moment when a Kestrel decides to hover in front of you creating more interest within an image.
Beautiful colour contrast over Old John Tower.
A lonely tree setting after sunset at Surprise View in the Peak District.
“Creativity is about two things, the way we think and the way we turn thoughts into reality!”
They say that rules are meant to be broken. Usually the rule of third would be used on an image like this with the sun in in the corner but I felt that the sun would be more striking in the centre making the sun just as vocal as the sun flowers.
By using the low sun I was able to use the flare to create a striking extra visual over the valley.
Silhouette after sunset of a young buck at Bradgate Park.
A striking sun flare peaks through the clouds of an autumnal sky over St Johns Tower at Bradegate Park.
Black and White conversion on an overexposed bright and misty sky on one of the Tributaries of the Yangtzee River in China.
Check out my forever growing portfolio of landscape images at www.perfectcapturesphotography.com/Landscape
