Plan out your photo shoot in advance but be flexible enough to
allow for last minute changes.
Yes, you can be in the right place at the right time but you can
also create your own luck.
Story board what you want to shoot, sketch out what you plan to
get and visualize the final photograph.
Never stop looking at all the different angles to find the best composition.
Do not focus on the center of the scene too much a painter would
not ignore the detail in the edges.
Know how different lenses will help tell your story differently by changing
your perspective.
Get low to the ground and include interesting foreground.
Use a tripod, small apertures and use mirror lockup are essential for sharp
images.
Look for the ‘Z’ or ‘S’ curves, look for lead in lines, look for diagonal and
intersecting lines.
Use negative space.
A photograph is not taken it is created, it is not an exact copy of what you
see but your personal representation of that scene. You can choose to
represent the scene from a wide angle perspective or a compressed
telephoto point of view.
Seek out patterns in the landscape, use a telephoto lens to isolate these
patterns.
Shoot from an elevated position to reveal details and character not possible
from ground level.
Reconnaissance is crucial to establish your ‘firing point’.
Photograph the moment where light and land converge, paint with natural
light.
The camera looks both ways - outwardly into the landscape and inwardly to
the mind and personality of the photographer.
Be original, approach each location with a new eye, try something different
if it does not work then ‘no loss’.
Be inspired by the classic artists from the past, but try not to copy, developer
your own style and let it evolve and change as you progress through your
photography.
Side lighting a landscape will reveal extra detail in the foreground and
background as well as giving you a sense of depth and clarity.
Try to get the image right in camera as this will reduce your processing time.
Post production in Lightroom pay attention to the black and white points,
tonal and contrast adjustments, highlight and shadows.
Post processing is about balancing lighting an image - darken highlights,
brighten shadows, add vignetting to concentrate an image.
Use exposure compensation instead of filters and combine the images
later in post processing for more natural looking transitions between the
land and the sky.
Most used post processing tool - Focus stacking.
Be spontaneous - be responsive to the location, situation, conditions and
how to make the most out of an opportunity should it arise.
Balance is part of life, the struggle between light and dark, growth and
decay, ebb and flow...life and death, landscape pictures can reflect these
contrasts.
Post production - Do as little as possible and only as much as is necessary.
Always aim for an image that could be both a painting and a photograph.
Ingredients rather than composition will determine how an image is
experienced or percived, compose your image for the way it looks best.
Create three dimensional images where the viewer is carried into and through
a scene.
Look for transitions through the entire frame, from everything that is not the focal
point to the actual focal point, from everything that’s near to everything that’s far
away, from in focus to out of focus, from big to small, dark to light, cool to warm,
high contrast to no contrast.
If you have to use your zoom lens then you are not close enough.
Enjoy taking photographs,enjoy the whole ritual of setting up, composing,
metering, selecting filters, focusing and the final releasing of the shutter.
Treat every scene as a stage, your subject is the main actor, any other
objects in the scene are the supporting actors and are there to complement
the main subject but not to over power or subdue and the background is your
stage backdrop.
Get up early, stay out late - photograph an hour before sunrise and keep
photographing into the blue hour twilight an hour after sunset.