3 Sensational Ideas For Landscape Photography
There Are Many Ideas, Sensational Or Not. Here Are 3 Of Mine.
I am by no means a landscape genius. Over time I have developed a few ideas that allow me to get the most out of my photographs.
Those ideas are:
- Shooting HDR (high dynamic range) is often advantageous.
- Understanding the value of selective visibility yields terrific results.
- You are allowed to rework your photo to make it more appealing.
Shooting HDR is often advantageous.
Also see my post specifically on basic HDR.
Not to repeat my previous post, but to emphasize, when you shoot the same landscape with three or more exposures, you will capture more shadow and more light spots.
Light backgrounds will not be washed out.
Objects in front of light backgrounds will not be hidden in shadows.
Yes, you can adjust a single shot by under or over exposing to suit, and that certainly requires less work.
Once you create an HDR image, post processing, however, you will notice the results.
While top end software like Photomatix and Aurora HDR allow you to create all sorts of custom, creative or artistic outputs, more often than not I opt for one of the basic photo realistic end results. I can still tweak that in the HDR software or in Lightrooom.
The photo below is a single shot of Mt. Everest, with some cropping, in the late afternoon. I tried to bring out the best of in Lightroom.
The second photo is the same shot from three different exposures, then combined into one HDR. More of the colors and deeper colors are evident.
Understanding the value of selective visibility yields terrific results.
Sometimes you want to capture the entire scene, fully understanding that the camera will never capture what your eye can see.
Sometimes, however, the better shot is just a piece of the beautiful scene. Sure you could crop the photo post processing, like my Mt. Everest.
If you are standing there anyway, after you take the wide shot, look to see if a narrower view may be even more eye catching. Then you will get full resolution on both photos.
Yeah, sometimes I miss that opportunity and need to crop, post processing. With today’s cameras and post processing software, however, there need not be any significant loss of resolution.
Below is a cropped version of Mt. Everest.
Below that are two photos of Six Mile Slough in Ft. Meyers, Florida. Point made.
Finally, I have never been a fan of “the photo you take in then camera needs to be the final version.”
My approach has always been, “If I can make the photo more appealing, more creative, better looking or something enhanced solely for my own enjoyment, I will.”
To that end, here is my enhanced version of Mt. Everest. How did I get to this? Oh my, pick from your favorite software options and you will surely find: Photoshop, Lightroom, Gimp (free), Topaz Labs, ON1, Skylum, Landscape Pro, etc.
Glenn Abelson
Comments are welcome, below
Setting The Scene For Landscape Photography
About The Author
