Ashanali Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 (edited) A very talented and generous photographer has given us DOLers a bit of an exclusive. This is an article that is to be published in the next issue of Better Photography magazine so we get to read it here first. Tom apologised for it being so detailed but I said that the people here would love it. UPDATED WITH THE CHALLENGE: THIS IS LANDSCAPE MONTH The Psychology of Shooting LandscapesBy Tom Putt Is shooting a landscape image that hard? Does it really require any great amount of skill? I mean the scene is there, all you have to do is point your camera in the general direction and you’ll have the winning shot right? Like anything in life, the easier it looks, the harder it is. I mean, if shooting landscapes was really that easy, we’d all be opening galleries, a la Peter Lik, and watching the money roll in. But I must confess, I’m often amazed when people comment favourably on my work and then make this statement: “I wish I could take landscapes. Mine just always seem to not work.” On the one hand I do find shooting landscapes relatively easy (that’s what 10 years of practice is good for). But I can also see where they are coming from. Identifying the right landscape to capture in itself is important, framing the subject can be challenging, and capturing the right light can mean waiting for hours (which most people aren’t prepared to do). So I sat down recently and prepare a presentation for my workshops titled “My Thought Processes when shooting a landscape image.” Here are the thoughts that I have when coming to take a landscape image. This series of ten steps often happens subconciously and in a matter of seconds, however it’s not something that I skip over. I would say that for every image I take, I go through this process to give me the best chance in capturing that winning landscape image. 1. Is the subject appealing? This is the first, and most important, question I ask myself when shooting a landscape. I’m always looking for the WOW factor. If I’m standing on the edge of cliff, looking at this amazing scene before me, and I’m saying either to myself, or to my workshop participants, “WOW! Look at that!” I know I should have my camera in hand and banging off the frames. Often this means that the scenery is spectacular, the light is amazing, and that all the elements for a fantastic landscape image are there. This leads into my next question. 2. Is the light perfect? Sometimes you arrive at a scene, it’s got the WOW factor and the light is going off. But how often does this happen? (I wish it happened more often, especially around APPA time!). With experience, I’ve come to analyse a scene carefully to determine if the light is good now, or perhaps anticipate that the light will be better in a few minutes or a few hours time. This might mean waiting til the sun gets a little lower near the horizon for sunset, or waiting for a break in the weather for that shaft of golden light. However, I usually take an ‘insurance’ frame to at least have something (even if it’s just captured for visual reference later on when I want to revisit the location). But waiting for the right light can make the image come to life. Now I’m not on for waiting forever, so I’ll often say to myself, “Right, this would look good in about an hour, so I’m going to scout around for other potential shots then come back here when the time is right.” That way I get to occupy myself for the hour, but I often find equally good, if not better, locations than my initial one, by looking for other shots. 3. Can I previsualize what I want the final image to be? If I can do this, it certainly makes my work a little easier. What do I mean by previsualisation? Having an idea in my mind as to what the image should look like – being able to see if before I’ve even captured it. This is particularly important for me in composing the image. If I see in mind what the image should be, with the beauty of digital, I can then compare this to what’s on the back of the camera. I may choose to then crop in a little tighter, exclude more from the image, or conversely, include more to help tell the story. This leads into the next point. 4. What do I need to include in the image? This is where I ask myself, “What is it about this scene that makes it so special?” It may well be the brooding sky, the stillness of the water, the graduating colour of the sky, or the cascading water over the series of rock falls. Being able to identify what it is that attracted me to the scene and making sure I include this will ensure that I don’t take a look at my images later and be disappointed. I think this is why so many photographers don’t like their landscape shots. They haven’t adequately looked at what they liked about the shot then included that in their final image (or included it without a strong composition). 5. What do I need to EXCLUDE from the image? This is perhaps more important than what to include. Why? Because most of the time it’s pretty obviously what to include. However, our eyes see what we want to see but often miss seeing that little piece of bush sticking into the frame or the power line running through the top of the frame. More often than not, the most common mistake I see in the participant’s images on my workshops is that their trying to include too much in their images. Their looking to cram it all in, thinking that more is better. I find the opposite is true – less is more. Simplifying your images so that only two of three elements make up the final image can help draw the eye to the most appealing parts of the landscape. 6. What is the best framing? Horizontal? Vertical? Panoramic? Square format? Deciding on what to include and exclude from the shot should automatically answer this one for you. I shoot a lot of panoramic images, so naturally the key two or three elements in my images run horizontally across the frame. Australia being a relatively flat country means that the panoramic format suits our landscapes. Hwoever, sometimes the scene works better as a vertically panoramic where the elements in the frame run from top to bottom. Waterfalls are perfect for this. Moving away from panoramics and more on to the 35mm ratio, often I see a scene that suits horizontal framing. However, I always look to shoot it vertically as well – why not get two images for the price of one! Sometimes, the alternative framing may well be just as impressive, if not more so, than the one you originally saw in the first place! 7. What camera and lens do I best use to capture the scene? I’ve already talked about my fetish for panoramics, but I’m always carrying a 35mm digital on me also. I’ve now started shooting digital to stitch my panos together along side my panoramic film camera. So I have two formats. But many of you have multiple lenses also that you use for your landscapes. A wide angle lens used wisely will help create distortion that creates a real sense of being there, such as Peter Dombrovskis images with foregrounds so close the lens that really invited the viewer into the frame. Telephoto lenses, on the other hand, compress elements therefore making them appear closer than they really are. 8. Exposure – do I want it spot on, underexposed or overexposed? Obviously capturing the right is exposure is crucial to a winning image. But notice my use of words here – the right exposure. Not the ‘correct’ one. There’s isn’t a correct exposure in my eyes. A slightly under or overexposed image can help add to the mood of an image and add to the feeling and emotion that one feels when viewing the image. We’ve all got carried away with shooting to the right and having our histograms looking ‘perfect’ however not every scene has white in it. So a landscape image with mood and darkness will have a histogram further to the left. Just like previsualising an image to ‘see’ what it should look like in the LCD, we need to previsualize our histograms so that we get the right exposure for the image we want to create. 9. Check the histogram. Following on from the last point, there would be no point in going through all of these points and having your histogram falling off the edge, clipping either your highlights or your shadows. If this is your case, either you don’t have the right exposure, or the tonal range of the image exceeds that of the camera, in which case you may want to shoot two or more images with varying exposures and combining them in Photoshop. 10. Shoot it again with an alternative orientation. Just like I mentioned in point 6, always look to see if works as a vertical as well as a horizontal, or vice versa. Don’t just shoot the obvious frame. So as you can see, shooting landscapes don’t come easy however taking the time to work through these 10 steps may well help you achieve better landscape images. This is a short version of information about the author/photographer (taken from here: http://www.tomputtphotographicworkshops.co...amp;pageID=5136 Tom Putt (AAIPP) Tom Putt is one of Australia's leading new generation panoramic landscape photographers. He is an associate member of the Australian Institute of Professional Photography (AAIPP) and the winner of over 20 AIPP Australian & Victorian Photographer of the Year Awards. In 2005 Tom was the only Australian photographer to be awarded in the prestigious BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition. He has a Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment. Passionate and wildly enthusiastic about his photography, Tom exposed his first roll of film at age 13. Since then he has spent his time exploring all parts of Australia photographing stunning panoramic images. Tom has led over 50 weekend and one day workshops in the past four years across Australia. His workshops are now regarded as the best in the country. Tom Putt is renowned for his unique ability to see the landscape in a different light, putting his own unique spin on a well-known subject to bring it to life. His photographic eye produces eye-catching images that come to life in the almost larger-than-life landscape prints. If you would like to see some of Tom's work or read more details about him or his workshops, visit www.tomputt.com Also if you visit his blog, there is a recent video interview with him there... and yes, that is what he's like. Thanks for your patience everyone. Tom's been sick the last couple of days and has pretty much sent me this first thing this morning. He's very passionate about sharing his knowledge, so was only too happy to help out for this challenge. Happy shooting for the month everyone! Edited September 2, 2009 by Ashanali Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becandcharch Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 I have had to push back the planned challenge for this month as I like to road test challenges before I post them and I haven't had a chance to roadtest what I had in mind.This month will also be another topic that I don't shoot... however I have had a chat to a 'surprise guest speaker' who is going to see if he can give me some appropriate information for the September challenge. If he comes through for us, I'll also put up a bit of a profile about him. Not long now everyone... Oooh very mysterious.... looking forward to it. Im going to try and have a proper crack this month! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlc Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Oh I only just seen this, I just posted in the August Challenge cant wait till later!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bow Wow Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Ooooooooh, a mystery!!!! Cant wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anniek Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 are we there yet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White_Shadow Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Waiting very patiently here...NOT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashanali Posted August 31, 2009 Author Share Posted August 31, 2009 Sorry guys... the very lovely photographer who is contributing sent me an email without anything in it. I'm assuming it was meant to contain an attachment but he's left it out. He is home now, but I'll give him a call tomorrow and see if he can send it again. Please don't hate me for making you wait an extra day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bow Wow Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Nah thats okay, suspense is good for the soul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raz Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Ooh can you stick his profile up anyway please Ash? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashanali Posted August 31, 2009 Author Share Posted August 31, 2009 Ooh can you stick his profile up anyway please Ash? I would except he's a very busy man and I still don't know if he'll have time to send me the information. I don't want to jump the gun. Alex will be calling him a bit later so I'll just find out whether the email he sent me was meant to have something attached. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raz Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 No probs. I'll just have to learn a bit of patience. Thanks Ash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White_Shadow Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anniek Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 aaaaaaaakkkkk you bitch just got home, logged on - straight to the photo thread - saw this at the top - raced in and Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashanali Posted September 1, 2009 Author Share Posted September 1, 2009 Sorry guys... had an email from his wife this morning. He is home sick. However I will launch the month and hopefully he will be able to give me something for you all when he's feeling better. off to update the OP... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ripley Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 (edited) Let me guess what it is. It's nudes isn't it. ETA: saw your update (I wasn't serious re the above ) Edited September 1, 2009 by Ripley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashanali Posted September 1, 2009 Author Share Posted September 1, 2009 UPDATED: No nudes... landscapes Although I have seen nude landscapes before. Very clever and creative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruthless Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 I suckkkkkk at landscapes, I'm good at early morning starts though, so I might try and participate. Don't be surprised to see a dog or two on my landscape! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julesluvscavs Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 UPDATED:No nudes... landscapes Although I have seen nude landscapes before. Very clever and creative. Same here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerraNik Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 (edited) Oh dear, I have no (usual) interest in landscapes at all!! Probably because I suck so badly!! Edited September 1, 2009 by TerraNik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pandii Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Sounds great, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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