great,’ but none was to be seen. For your own photograph, find a landscape with a broad view that pleases you, but no specific focal point; estuaries, forests and agricultural land are good places to look. 1/350 second at f11, 120mm, 400 ISO. JG
A FOCAL POINT FROM THE LIBRARY
This boat picture is a perfect match because it was shot in very similar light conditions to John’s seascape. It’s a good idea to collect pictures such as moons, boats, clouds, cottages and so forth for inserting into landscapes that just lack that little something. GH
RETOUCHING THE SHOT
The colour of the boat has been changed using Hue/Saturation in Photoshop to match the colour in the original shot; this made the retouching easier because we didn’t have to cut out the boat too accurately. I think it has improved the seascape, and it’s fun to see your picture transformed like this. If you take care to match the colour, light and tone, your own added focal point should sit comfortably in the landscape. JG
PROJECT 2: WOODLAND AND WEATHER
There’s a tendency to think that bright sunlight and strong colours are the ideal conditions in which to take attention-grabbing landscape photographs, but this is far from the truth.
One apparently fine spring morning I set out to photograph some bluebells – but luckily I had packed wet-weather gear, for after I had been walking and shooting for half an hour the weather turned bad. Rather than race back to the car, I covered the camera with a plastic bag and hid under the small umbrella I had with me. I also had a large plastic bin bag so that I didn’t have to kneel on the wet ground. I kept shooting, the rain smudged the details in the woods and it looked great. I had to mop the camera often with tissues, but it survived the session.
It was a poor season as far as bluebells were concerned, but a photographer who has travelled to a certain spot in search of a picture has to make the best of what he or she can find. This was where a telephoto lens and a low angle could help – the flattened perspective that the lens gave meant that I was able to compress the bluebells and make them look more dense than they actually were.
The first picture for this assignment is a rainy-day landscape such as some woodland. Put on your wet-weather gear, cover your camera and use the rain to capture the atmosphere – here you are looking for misty effects rather than angles of light.
For the second task, shoot with both front and rear focus using a wide aperture such as f4 or f5.6, then focus in the middle of the subject, stop the aperture down to about f16 and get the whole scene in focus. There’s no better way of gaining an almost instinctive grasp of the aperture that will give you what you want. If you have a telephoto lens, use it for this project as it will emphasize the shallow-focus effect.
By focusing on the flowers in the foreground I have created a descriptive shot which has the emphasis on the bluebells, showing that they are in a woodland setting. The long telephoto setting on the zoom at widest aperture has enabled me to isolate the flowers in the foreground and throw the rest out of focus. You may not find flowers in your woodland, but leaves, mushrooms, pine cones and so on will perform the same function of giving your own shot something of interest in the foreground. Camera on tripod, 1/80 second at f5.6, 200mm, 400 ISO. GH
Changing the focus to the trees in the background has altered the mood of the picture completely. Now we have a woodland scene with a blush of flower colour in the foreground leading the eye to the trees beyond. Once again the telephoto lens has done its job, this time throwing the bluebells out of focus and emphasizing the background. As the foreground is now out of focus and is no longer the main point of the shot it should not occupy too much of the picture, so tilt the camera upwards slightly to place it lower in the frame. Camera on tripod, 1/80 second at f5.6, 200mm, 400 ISO. GH
SHOOTING IN THE RAIN
Weather conditions can greatly affect the way our pictures look. This photograph was taken in the pouring rain, giving it a soft, dreamy quality, very atmospheric and quite like an Impressionist painting. Use a slower speed to prevent the raindrops being sharply caught, turning them into a mist instead. 1/8 second at f8, 40mm, ISO 400. GH
SUNLIT WOODLAND
Later in the afternoon the weather improved and the sun came out. This is remarkably different from the rainy picture; it’s just a nice shot of the woodland that doesn’t evoke any atmosphere, whereas the other is more a work of art, with a much greater degree of interest to be found in it. Although good weather may be more comfortable to work in it doesn’t necessarily produce the most eye-catching shots, so be prepared to get a bit wet and cold sometimes. 1/200 second at f8, 46mm, ISO 400. GH
PROJECT 3: THE MAGIC OF LIGHT
Throughout the book, we talk about light as that magic ingredient. Staying with friends in Provence, I was lucky enough to have a bedroom that looked over the hills to the Mediterranean Sea. This view provided a perfect demonstration of how light transforms a landscape.
This is a good project to do on holiday when your time is your own and the chances are you will have some beautiful countryside or seaside to shoot. Find a landscape you like near where you are staying and photograph it in different light conditions. The most interesting light will probably prove to be in early morning or late afternoon, or during stormy weather conditions.
On a fine day, it’s a good idea to start at dawn, taking shots periodically as the light gets stronger and the sun rises. The light will be clear, and there will be long shadows because of the low angle of the sun. Around midday, when the sun is directly overhead, shadows will be minimal, the light will be harsher and generally speaking there is less of interest for the photographer until the shadows of late afternoon lengthen, giving graphic shapes. As the day moves into evening, the reddening of the sky caused by atmospheric conditions creates a warm, mellow light quite different from that of early morning.
You can manipulate the colour balance either in the camera using WB or with the computer, but the highlights and shadows in the picture may make it obvious that the picture was not shot at the time the colour implies. It is better to let the natural time of day provide the colour balance.
Stormy weather will give you the drama of strong tonal contrasts, with heavy cloud and gleams of sun lighting up parts of the landscape. Where the clouds are scudding fast, you’ll be able to get a range of shots showing different light in a very short space of time. Don’t forget to take some sky shots – they may be useful for Photoshopping into another scene where the sky isn’t so interesting.
THE BASIC SHOT
This is the view from my room on an overcast day. It’s flat and grey, lacking in interest, and I only shot the picture to use as an example here. While extra shots don’t cost anything on a digital camera, it’s still worth exercising some discipline as you would be more inclined to do if you were paying for film and processing: they still have to be sorted through and thrown away, and it’s far better to just keep your finger off the shutter release button and wait for a more interesting shot. 1/500 second at f8, 105mm, 400 ISO. JG