LANDSCAPE
PHOTOGRAPHY
In this section:
Have you tried your hand at landscape photography only to find that truly evocative images remain just out of your reach? There's plenty to learn, but the secrets of successful landscape photography are not too mysterious...
Iceland
photographed for the Sunday Times. © Philip Dunn
Skill
It is all too easy for inexperienced photographers to be so get
carried away with the natural splendour of a scene - especially
when visiting exotic locations - that they forget to see things
as the camera will see them. This is one of the root causes of
uninspiring landscape photographs. The untrained human eye can
be very forgiving, your camera lens can not, and your camera
skills must be well practised if the splendour is to be properly
captured on film.
Light
The first essential for any would-be landscape photographer is
the ability to get out of bed early. This is so often the time
to capture the countryside at its best. Low sun light, early
morning mists, they are frequently all yours at dawn. Imaginative
use of light plays a key role in the ability to produce good
landscape.
People in landscape
People are naturally curious about other people, so when a figure
appears in a landscape photograph, someone looking at it will
want to know what that person is doing and what he or she looks
like. This can be used to great advantage when a focal point
is needed in a landscape, but if the intention is simply to portray
the splendour of a scene, the figure can be distracting - even
if it is used to give a sense of scale.
Dyed-in-the-wool landscape photographers might tell you that true landscape photography should not contain human figures. It is one way of looking at things, but we are intent on creating interesting and evocative photographs - so any labels we attach to different types of photography will be easily torn off.
However, it is worth noting that, in general, if your photograph contains a person and you can see that person's facial expression, then he or she becomes the subject of the photograph. Bear that in mind, then go and take the pictures you enjoy taking.
