Landscape Photography Step 1: (For the keen amature who has never done landscapes)

M.A.Gibson

M.A.Gibson

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Hi All,

Looking at trying my hand at landscape photography and would like some simple pointers/suggestions to get me going. Anything from tech/settings to , first kit to buy etc etc

Im a keen amature and would say i am very familiar with my gear (See Signature) its just i've never landscape'd .... :)

Hoping this may also help others.

Thanks
 
Only advice I have is don't be tempted to go too wide-angle - you will just end up with empty, boring vistas. Your 50 mm is probably ideal.
 
Ultra wide lenses are great for landscapes but you need to know how to use them. A good foreground is essential.
Just taking a photo of the lovely scenery isn't going to produce a good image.

TBH, any lens is a good landscape lens.
 
M.A.Gibson said:
Hi All,

Looking at trying my hand at landscape photography and would like some simple pointers/suggestions to get me going. Anything from tech/settings to , first kit to buy etc etc

Im a keen amature and would say i am very familiar with my gear (See Signature) its just i've never landscape'd .... :)

Hoping this may also help others.

Thanks
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Spend all of your cash on going places. Don't buy any new kit. Chase the best light.

What you need to be a landscape photographer,

1. landscapes
2. interesting light
 
Looking at your signature, you've got everything you need in the 24-70 & the 70-200. The 24-70 will give you nice vistas and the 70-200 will allow you to pinpoint parts of the landscape, giving you many options from the same spot. Very wide angles give you just one or two shots from your location and can limit creativity. The telephoto will allow you to pick out things from your view nicely.

I'd suggest investing in a fotovue book that's near to your location, and a fair bit of research into some of the more famous landscape photographers. Then it's a case of getting to your location when the light is right and experimenting! Alternatively, if travel/time is limited, explore your local area. I'm a firm believer that you don't need to go to Iceland/Lake District/Insert-Popular-Location-Here to get fab images.
 
EightBitTony said:
Spend all of your cash on going places. Don't buy any new kit. Chase the best light.

What you need to be a landscape photographer,

1. landscapes
2. interesting light
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What he said.
You've got great kit already. I'd just go out with the camera, 24-70 and a tripod and forget the rest for the moment. Concentrate on composition and light.
Spend sometime on youtube watching a few landscape photographers and pickup some pointers about what to look for and about what sort of landscape images you like.
Thomas Heaton is a good landscape photography youtuber to start with. And there's loads more, Simon Baxter, First Man Photography......

What's in your local area or where can you drive to easily?
If there's a place you can get to easily to make the most of the evening light, then go there and try to come back with one image.

As for settings, if you believe the youtubers, most landscape images are going to be taken at f11, ISO100 and shutter speeds varying from 1/2 sec to 30 secs. But it obviously varies.

And what @GreenNinja67 says
GreenNinja67 said:
3. Composition.

Not all nice views make good photographs.
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Your two zoom lenses should cover most situations although a little wider can very occasionally be just right.

There's some good advice above but don't be seduced into thinking that landscapes are only worth taking in the golden hour before sunset or after sunrise. That is fine if you want orange light plastered over everything. If you want to show the landscape in all it's colourful glory then look at using a polariser and a ND grad. About 2.5 hours before sunset/ after sunrise is a bit of a sweet spot for that combination.

Do you want to glamorise the landscape or be honest about it? There's room for both but if the latter maybe cloudy conditions and even light overall might be preferable.
 
Really appreciate the responses, hopefully it helps out someone else in the same situ.

Thanks again... will try get out in the next few weeks and take some shots..
 
Where abouts are you based?
 
Get a hotshoe mounted spirit level, you are going to need it when using a ballhead. About £3 on ebay.
 
seaodyssey said:
Get a hotshoe mounted spirit level, you are going to need it when using a ballhead. About £3 on ebay.
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That's a waste of £3 when the camera already has an Electronic Level indicator

But, buy a book on Landscape Photographer - far easier to get the idea from a book, and it'll help make more sense of tutorials or even advice given here :)

Dave
 
The thing is that the sun rises and sets in different places on the horizon depending on time of year so some shots are only available at crack-of-sparrow-fart in June, mid summer sunrise at Stone Henge being a classic example.
 
AgentOrange76 said:
thats my plan, although sunsets are at a little more acceptable time at the moment
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Landscape is really the only kind of photography that interests me (from a taking standpoint), so it's either suck it up and get up at 2.30, or have a 3 month hiatus. My shutter finger gets too itchy for the latter!

I actually like getting up very early - you have the world all to your self for a little while. And after having kids I don't sleep through the night anyway so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
M.A.Gibson said:
Stevenage, Hertfordshire.
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Probably just plan a few weekends in Chamonix, Glencoe + Skye, North Wales and Cornwall, in that order. All pain in the backside but doable.

edit: or just make the use of airport proximity and presumably some very cheap flights.
 
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LongLensPhotography said:
Probably just plan a few weekends in Chamonix, Glencoe + Skye, North Wales and Cornwall, in that order. All pain in the backside but doable.

edit: or just make the use of airport proximity and presumably some very cheap flights.
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I'd suggest that @M.A.Gibson takes some local landscapes until he has a good idea of what he's doing, otherwise he may visit amazing places and spend a lot of money & time doing so only to be disappointed later

Landscapes are everywhere, not just hundreds of miles away

Dave
 
DG Phototraining said:
I'd suggest that @M.A.Gibson takes some local landscapes until he has a good idea of what he's doing, otherwise he may visit amazing places and spend a lot of money & time doing so only to be disappointed later

Landscapes are everywhere, not just hundreds of miles away

Dave
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I like this idea and also a previous suggestion of just going with what ive got.... simply to get the skills of the basics rather than worrying about getting the 1 magic shot.


Brilliant advice all thanks and really appreciated
 
M.A.Gibson said:
I like this idea and also a previous suggestion of just going with what ive got.... simply to get the skills of the basics rather than worrying about getting the 1 magic shot.


Brilliant advice all thanks and really appreciated
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I went to Uni in Hatfield near you, and while its not dramatic countryside its enough to get you going with learning about light & composition etc. and you already have enough gear for it too, so don't buy anything until you know what you're "missing"; which is nothing btw, I did a shoot with Digital Camera Mag on Monday/Tuesday in the Lake District using only a 50mm f1.8, no filters, no tripod and I mostly shot at f2.8 or wider too, so don't fall into believing landscapes need to be f16 all the time :)

Here's a link to my Facebook Page with a selection of what I shot, mostly in the rain, on a 50mm to give you an idea - https://www.facebook.com/davidgoodierphotography/ that's just a selection to go to the mag, I shot over 400 wet images with that 50mm :)

Just start off with a decent book and learn the basics, which they will illustrate in the book - this makes it far easier to grasp in my opinion, and its obviously what I did too - no internet in those days lol

Just get out, shoot stuff and learn from it - you don't need to go abroad or travel far to learn - enjoy :)

Dave
 
DG Phototraining said:
I'd suggest that @M.A.Gibson takes some local landscapes until he has a good idea of what he's doing, otherwise he may visit amazing places and spend a lot of money & time doing so only to be disappointed later

Landscapes are everywhere, not just hundreds of miles away

Dave
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I'm not 100% sure about that. I only got into the landscape game because I went to amazing locations. When I lived in Coventry and had no car I had jack all to shoot. All I did was portraits and flower macros. It wasn't very productive at all. Right now I live not too far off from that hole and the scenery is just as bland mostly despite multi-million pound countryside estate scattered all over the place. It just is boring. I have Broadway Tower, lavender field, a few villages, and Maleverns a little further. While not completely hopeless certainly not an exciting place at all. I can imagine how bland the industrial South East must be most of the time. Just get out and enjoy the nature and scenery away from the every day misery.
 
LongLensPhotography said:
I can imagine how bland the industrial South East must be most of the time. Just get out and enjoy the nature and scenery away from the every day misery.
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Yes, the south east is dreadful - imagine having to live somewhere like Brighton - nowhere to take landscapes. Oh, hang on... http://www.finnhopson.com/. Finn seems do do OK!
 
Bythesea said:
Yes, the south east is dreadful - imagine having to live somewhere like Brighton - nowhere to take landscapes. Oh, hang on... http://www.finnhopson.com/. Finn seems do do OK!
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Seven sisters and in 1-1:30h you can get yourself to jurassic coast, corfe castle. It is not the worst bit of the south east.
 
LongLensPhotography said:
Seven sisters and in 1-1:30h you can get yourself to jurassic coast, corfe castle. It is not the worst bit of the south east.
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The South Downs National Park runs from Kent to Hampshire - Brighton isn't just Seven Sisters. So many landscape photographers seem to think that you have to go places to get sweeping vistas, mountains, lakes, etc., etc. to get decent landscapes. That is one aspect of the genre but by no means the only one. I would suspect that most people could get good landscape photographs within five miles of where they live. They might not be the style you enjoy taking but they are there. Think "intimate" landscapes and not the big views.
 
Bythesea said:
The South Downs National Park runs from Kent to Hampshire - Brighton isn't just Seven Sisters. So many landscape photographers seem to think that you have to go places to get sweeping vistas, mountains, lakes, etc., etc. to get decent landscapes. That is one aspect of the genre but by no means the only one. I would suspect that most people could get good landscape photographs within five miles of where they live. They might not be the style you enjoy taking but they are there. Think "intimate" landscapes and not the big views.
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Totes :agree:

Dave
 
Bythesea said:
They might not be the style you enjoy taking but they are there. Think "intimate" landscapes and not the big views.
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Yes and almost without exception I find that style of landscape the perfect cure for insomnia.

Whilst they are “there” doesn’t mean they should be pursued - particularly if someone doesn’t want to pursue them.

A lot like these boring little pictures mind you. I’m not one of them and I never will be.

The world is your oyster, so why restrict yourself to your own bit?
 
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Wow, don't hold back, tell us what you really think.....:eek:

I think ye have strayed from your argument re sweeping vistas or "boring little pictures"

the original suggestion was to go out locally as a learning exercise, ie learn some landscape composition, light, perspective etc etc
 
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