The poetry and prose of landscape photography: Part 4

Continuing to talk in detail about landscape photography. Let us now look at how to use different combinations of shutter speed and aperture. One and the same exposure can be achieved using a wide variety of combinations of exposure settings, but the effects they produce will be different…

Anton Petrus Ukraine . “Multicolored Morning.”.

Canon EOS 500D, f/11, 1/13 sec,

First autumn frosts combined with red leaves – a perfect photo subject. Foggy haze emphasizes the dreamlike nature of the scene.

Aperture priority

I won’t dwell on such notions as the depth of field or DOF and the hyperfocal distance HFD , which are described in details in the appropriate literature.

If we start from the necessity to provide in a landscape picture as much depth of field as possible, then theoretically we should set the largest aperture number of all possible for this lens , calculate the hyperfocal distance and use wide-angle optics to enhance the effect.

In practice the conditions become more complicated: firstly, we have to use different focal lengths, secondly, we might not have enough time to calculate the hyperfocal distance and, thirdly, we know that if the aperture is closed too much the image quality deteriorates.

For the first time the best solution is to calculate the focal length and aperture number in advance for the most frequently used focal lengths and aperture numbers you can easily find GFR calculation tables on the Internet .

If you take the time to analyze the resulting GIF calculations, you get a feel for the regularity of them, in time you won’t need to make repeated calculations and the choice of focus distance will be made instinctively, almost by intuition.

An entirely different task is posed when using a wide aperture. The shallow depth of field emphasizes the volume of the image, while at the same time emphasizing the important elements of the scene. In this case it’s better to make the important elements of the scene sharpness and contrast as much as possible.

Shutter Priority

Whereas aperture is primarily a technical element, shutter speed is of a more complicated nature. Shutter speed is not only a determining factor for the amount of light hitting the light receptor, but also for the creation of a particular effect in a picture for example, expressing movement , and often – just the possibility of getting a picture as such for example, when shooting handheld in low light, etc. . d. .

I think everybody has faced difficulties with windy conditions and low light when you need a fast shutter speed to “freeze” the movement of branches, leaves and grass, but it is not technically possible.

The real miracle of photography is in capturing motion in a still picture. The most common “moving” object in landscape photography is water in its different states: flowing river, sea swell, falling from height waterfalls, snow, rain .

As an example, let’s consider fast-flowing water as the most dynamic and spectacular in terms of photography. Of course we start with choosing the scene and composition of the shot. Once the final composition is determined, it’s worth pondering what effect is needed.

If we want to convey swiftness, shutter speed should be chosen so that the flying drops of water turn into peculiar strips and pass their way, having points of beginning and end of movement this method is also used for shooting flying snow .

The length of this path, and hence the shutter speed, is determined experimentally, because we can’t predict or measure the speed of water. Quite a different effect we get, if we “freeze” the movement, t. e. if each droplet is frozen in its place. The shutter speed in this case should be minimal and the phrase “freeze, a moment” will come in handy.

The third variant of exposure time is the most interesting and unusual for the viewer: using a long exposure time a fabulous transformation of moving water into a kind of milky sour cream fog takes place. The peculiarity of this kind of photography is the need for neutral filters to achieve some kind of blurring effect on moving water.

Let’s dwell a bit more on the technical nuances. In a landscape in case of using long shutter speeds a tripod is obligatory. Optionally need a cable switch or remote control to eliminate the oscillation of the camera. If there is no possibility to use remote control of the camera use the function of time-lapse photography with preliminary rise of the mirror to reduce the vibrations when “slamming” in SLR cameras .

You need to put something on your tripod to make it more stable a bag of things, etc. when it is windy or the shutter speed is very slow. d. . Be careful when placing your tripod on snow or unstable ground: when the exposure time is long its subsidence is not excluded.

If you take photos during daylight hours it is not possible to get slow shutter speeds without using light filters, so you should use a neutral gray filter we already mentioned it in our article, but here we would like to add: don’t forget that you can use several neutral gray filters at the same time .

A combination of two polarizing filters is also used by adjusting the degree of polarization it is possible to reduce the amount of light hitting the light receptor to almost zero . After definition of necessary size of an exposure before shooting close a window of a viewfinder with something.

Anton Petrus Ukraine . “Foggy star”.

Canon EOS 500D,

f/8, 1/250

Willy-nilly after seeing dense fog and sunrise you start to believe in miracles when you look at materialized sunrays.

Alexander Kitsenko Ukraine .

In a winter forest

Canon EOS 350D, EF-S

17-85/4.0-5.6 IS USM, f/10, 1/320 c

It turns out that all the snow in the winter forest is completely different: silvery. white, covered with shade and even emitting a cold light.

Leonid Titus Ukraine . “Dawn on the Dnestr”.

Canon EOS 400D,

EF 17-40L/4,0 USM

What could be nicer and more beautiful than the morning riverbank and the road leading to new beauty!

In our next post, let’s talk about panoramic shots, what light should be in landscape photography, and the seasons for the photographer.