Photo Talk

I have written for club magazines over a long period. I'm helping with a magazine now, and will post the articles.

Getting the best out of Landscapes

Most of us have found that taking good landscapes is a lot harder than it looks. Generally, we get a very few good shots amid a host of mediocre ones. Let's have a look at some of the problems, and try to work out solutions:

Unless you go out specifically to take landscapes, the usual scenario goes something like this: you are driving from A to B on the highway-or perhaps down a back road on a Sunday drive. You come round a bend, and there before you is a wonderful country vista. Wow. Stop the car, dig your camera out of the bag and look for a shot.

If you are well-disciplined, you might take a reasonable time to do this. However, most of us are either running to a timetable, or perhaps the Significant Other in the car is starting to become restive. So you take a shot, or perhaps several, then press on down the road. You process the film and look at the shots, and the odds are that your result is not what you hoped for. There was a picture there, but somehow it eluded you.

This scenario is also encountered when on an overseas bus tour. Photo stops are usually few, and the bus driver must follow his schedule if you are to get to your destination on time. There is little one can do, other than to do the best you can and not hope for an honours shot each time. However, some of the following comments may be helpful in such circumstances:

Lighting
Murphy's Law says the best time for landscape photography is never when you're there. Travel takes place during the day; the sun shines brightly to produce harsh contrasts, or the rain falls to cause problems with gear.The best photographers will assess the view and make notes for a possible future return at a better time. Look at the lie of the land: would an early morning or a sunset shot be more appropriate?

Investigate other viewpoints which may place the sun in a better position. Perhaps the subject would be better suited to a hazy or overcast light. Successful landscape photographers carry a notebook and use it. They may not be back that way for years, but the notes will still be ready to hand.

Above all, the would-be landscape photographer needs patience. Patience will allow waiting until the light is right. Patience will permit deferring photography until a more auspicious time. Patience will not notice the time taken to set up and move tripods about to get the best viewpoint.

Subject
Consider how best to do justice to your view. Do you need a wide panorama, or would a telephoto be more useful to pick out distant detail? Is there an interesting foreground which might be used to contrast with more distant views? One thing is certain: the more and varied you make your shots, the more likely that one of them will do what you want.

Most successful landscape prints have been carefully cropped, either in the viewfinder or subsequently, to minimise clutter and enhance the composition. Watch particularly for extraneous objects in the fore ground: the rubbish bin at the side, the piece of newspaper stuck in a shrub, a sign that can be eliminated by re-framing.

Equipment
A sturdy tripod is your prime necessity. Shaky hand-held shots of distant scenes may or may not be useable; a tripod will at least eliminate one of the most common problems. The longer your lens's focal length, the more essential a tripod becomes. Yes, professionals curse their weight and unwieldy shape too! But if necessary, they would leave other gear rather than go without a tripod.

Remember to use a cable release; if your modern wonder camera doesn't have a release socket, use the self-timer to release the shutter-after a delay to let vibration subside.

Consider your lenses: the shorter the focal length, the more view you can fit in-but the smaller it looks on your print or slide. A 16 or 18mm lens will cover almost a 100 degree arc, but your subjects should be big, bold and reasonably close. A shot of nearby mountains from a saddle would be the sort of thing to look for. Generally, I find a 24mm lens provides good coverage without reducing the image size too much.

If your mountains are distant, it's time to get out the telephoto. These cut down the view angle, but the magnification lets us see detail. Of course, a couple of zoom lenses will allow you to choose just the right focal length to achieve your desired framing. This is most important if you are taking slides; prints can always be over-matted later. Sometimes the 'compression' effect of a telephoto can enhance a view, but can also diminish the feeling of depth among mountain peaks.

Filters
Particularly in summer, or if you are at high altitude, you should at least have an ultra-violet filter on the lens to minimise the 'blueing' of distant shots. A polarising filter will darken the sky-this effect alters when the camera is pointed in different directions. Make sure you have a circular polarising filter for modern cameras; older plain filters cause problems with exposure. Remember that the polarizing effect may fool the camera electronics as well, so it pays to bracket exposures if taking slides.

Another very useful accessory is the graduated filter. These are usually square to fit the 'Cokin' type holders, and vary from a deep tint at one side to colourless at the other. They come in varying colours; the most useful is a graduated grey. Careful adjustment in the holder while looking through the finder, can reduce an over-bright sky without affecting the foreground. Graduated blue can work wonders on an overcast day, and a graduated tobacco (orange) can lift an otherwise mediocre sunset.

Some may like to try rotating the camera on its tripod to take a number of overlapping shots, with the object of matching them up later. Make sure the camera is level (use a spirit level) over the whole range before you start. There is a better way to do this, but you need a sliding rail or specially fabricated mount to move the camera backwards in relation to the tripod pivot-this reduces distortion.

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