photo:landscape
landscape photography
introduction
great landscape photography is a challenge as it generally requires:
a nice landscape scene with nice composition
what is the focal point for the viewer's eye to keep coming back to?
compositional elements - walk around and search of a point of view that gives the ambience you want
water or cloud movement - freeze it or let it flow
pre-visualise the scene - perhaps it will work better in monochrome?
level horizon and where do you put it - 1/3rd from top, from bottom or in the middle?
planning - when is the best light direction for the location? do you need to worry about tides?
think creatively for plan B if weather doesn't turn out as expected - go with the flow
safety - don't get struck by lightning, fall off a cliff, get caught by rising tides, step on a snake, break an ankle or get lost or mugged
protect your gear from the weather
nice lighting
this requires planning, timing and patience
many photographers only shoot the “Golden Hour” around sunrise and sunset
a complimentary sky - this requires planning, timing, patience and some luck
avoidance of subject blur unless it is flowing water:
minimal wind is usually desirable to avoid plants and trees moving
camera tripod or at least an image stabiliser or a fast shutter speed
self-timer or remote control to reduce camera shake further if using a tripod
maximal detail across the whole image including foreground to background:
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relatively small aperture
consider focusing one third into the scene, although some consider focusing on the distant subject gives the better subject detail
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avoidance of too small an aperture that diffraction effects reduce image sharpness
avoidance of camera shake
avoidance of noise reduction - use base ISO where possible
excellent optics with minimal aberrations edge to edge at the desired aperture
avoidance of internal lens flare - coated lenses, the best filters, lens hoods, etc
management of high contrast scenes, options include:
shoot in RAW mode to attain best control over high contrast and tweak white balance if needed
avoid high contrast scenes (eg. eliminate a featureless cloudy sky from the composition)
use a camera with the best dynamic range (eg. the latest full frame or medium format camera)
use ND gradient filters to darken the bright sky - but avoid if tall objects such as mountains
HDR techniques although rarely give realistic, nice landscape imagery - can the camera do exposure bracketing such as 5 or 7 shots at 1EV increments?
professional landscape photographers can generally afford to resort to super expensive medium format digital cameras or perhaps wide panoramic medium format film cameras or even large format film cameras
high resolution cameras are ideal for landscapes but you won't get the high resolution unless you use a sturdy tripod, avoid mirror camera shake, and have a optically superb lens - if you are shooting hand held, you may as well have a 10-20mp camera not a 40-50mp one
larger sensor cameras can offer better image quality but will require smaller apertures for the same
depth of field (DOF) and thus higher ISO if you need a faster shutter speed for windy days
every camera kit will be a compromise and have challenges
best image quality for studio and landscapes as long as you don't need high ISO
super expensive (>$50,000)
heavy and large, and requires heavy, expensive tripods and tripod heads as well as expensive, large filters and filter holders
requires mirror lockup
no 16:9 panorama option other than by cropping
not an option for backpacking overnight unless you have a team of sherpas
not an option for including in cabin luggage on air flights - you will need expensive, special insurance to cover this kit
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expensive (>$10,000 for kit), large, heavy and requires relatively heavy, expensive tripods and tripod heads as well as relatively expensive and large filters and filter holders
travel issues as for medium format digital
only get a few shots per roll of film - shots are expensive and you need to change rolls of film on location
potential issues with film - eg. airport Xrays, need to process professional film as soon as possible, cannot change film to another type mid-way, cannot check to see if you got the shot while on location, etc
requires a special central ND filter to address the severe vignetting which occurs
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high resolution full frame dSLR
expensive (>$10,000 for kit), large, heavy and requires relatively heavy, expensive tripods and tripod heads as well as relatively expensive and large filters and filter holders
requires mirror lockup
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no 16:9 panorama option other than by cropping
not an option for backpacking overnight unless you have a sherpa
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high resolution full frame mirrorless
Micro Four Thirds
has major advantages in terms of:
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size
weight
airline travel
backpacking
your health
can use a smaller, lighter, less expensive tripod and tripod head as lower weight
smaller, less expensive lens filters
more portable size encourages one to seek out alternate points of view and perspectives - the flip out live view allows easier, more comfortable, camera on close to ground shots
potentially better edge-to-edge image optical quality
can use faster shutter speed (and less wind blur) at base ISO as best aperture to use is f/5.6-f/8 rather than f/11-16 as on full frame (full frame can address this by increasing ISO 2 stops but that defeats some of the advantages of sensor image quality)
can use slower shutter speed hand held as they generally have the best
image stabiliser
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Olympus cameras have awesome weathersealing - heavy rain is not an issue
disadvantages include:
slightly less sensor dynamic range but similar to color film - use a ND gradient filter or be careful with composition
less megapixels although the latest Olympus cameras can get you to 50mp in
HiRes mode but this requires a static scene and tripod
smaller camera controls can make use with gloves in cold weather difficult
smaller battery means battery life in cold conditions can be problematic - may need to take a few!
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dynamic range of some current cameras (DxOMark tests)
camera | megapixels | dynamic range |
Nikon D810 | 34mp | 14.8EV |
Sony a7R II | 42mp | 13.9EV |
Canon 5D Mark IV | | 13.6EV |
Phase One IQ180 | mp | 13.6EV |
Canon 1DX mark II | 20mp | 13.5EV |
Canon 80D | | 13.2EV |
4“x5” large format color film | 200-400mp | 12-13EV |
medium format color film | 50-80mp | 12-13EV |
Phase One P65 Plus | 65mp | 13EV |
Olympus E-M1 Mark II | 20/50mp | >12.7EV |
Olympus E-M1 Mark I | 16mp | 12.7EV |
35mm color film | 7-16mp | 12-13EV |
Canon 5DS R | 50mp | 12.4EV |
Olympus E-M5 Mark I | 16mp | 12.3EV |
Canon 1D mark III | 10mp | 11.7EV |
photo/landscape.txt · Last modified: 2018/05/28 22:27 by gary1