Technique19 Compress
thescene
Tryusinga longfocallength
tocompresstheperspective- a telephotolenscan
compresslayersof mistson
distanthillsveryeffectively.
Anothergoodtipis toselect
theDaylightwhitebalance
setting,ratherthanAutoor
Cloudy,topreservethecool
blueof a mistymorning.
Shootingrawgivesyou
maximumeditingflexibility
with white balance.
18 Mistopportunities
Mistandfogarelessdramaticphenomena,butcanalso
reallymakea picture.Aswithsnow,thecamerais likelyto
underexpose,sodialin 1/2EV-1EVexposurecompensation,
orusebracketing(in-cameraorin software).Although
theviewthrougha landscapecanoftenbelimited,usea
longerdepthof fieldandcarefulfocusing to ensure what
objects can be seen really stand out.20 Zoomin
Tomaintaina safe
distance,usea long
telephotolenstoget
closetothestormy
seascapeaction.Zooms
aremoreversatilethan
primes.It’simportantto
keepsomecontext,
however,suchasa pier
ora lighthouse,sodon’t
zoomin somuchthat
theviewerlosesthe
biggerpicture of what’s
going on.15 Capturing
stormyseascapes
Apartfromtakingsensible
precautionsandavoidgetting
tooclosetothesea,ensure
yourcamerasarecoveredin
betweentakingphotos,or
betterstill,investin somebody
andlenssleevesorcoversto
protectthemfromthe
elements.Thecombinationof
windandwaveswillproducea
lotof sprayfromthesea,which
camerasand tripods don’t take
kindly to.21 Don’tforgetgoodcomposition
A rainbowin itselfwon’tmaketheshot– it’salsohowit relates
to otherelementsin theframe.MelvinNicholsoncarefully
positionedhiscamerato getthe‘fogbow’overthetreewhile
alsoincludingsomeforegroundinterest.Makefulluseof
leadinglinesandif therainbowis archingarounda famous
landmark,allthebetter,asin thisimagebyaward-winning
landscape photographer, Michelle Cowbourne.16 Thinkwherethe
lightiscomingfrom
Simplyexposingcorrectlyforsnowor
preservinghighlightandshadowdetailwill
notin themselvesmakea greatpicture.
Thinkwherethelightis comingfromin
ordertoilluminatekeypartsof your
snowyscene.Forthisimage,GarethMon
Jonesmadesurethesunlightwascoming
in frombehindhimandlightingupthe
mountains.‘Beefficientif youhave
travelleda longwaybycarefullyworking
outwherethelightwillbeat itsbest,
rather than just blasting away,’ he says.17 Bestableandopen
Whenshootinglightning,ensure
thattheapertureis wideenoughto
accommodateforthelackof ambient
lightbutalsoproducea depthof field
thatcouldkeepmostlightningstrikes
in focus.Youwilloftenusea slower
shutterspeedin ordertocapture
lightningin thelandscapesoa
tripodis usuallya must.It’sa big
enoughchallengewithout worrying
about camera shake.© BASTIAN WERNER© MICHELLE COWBOURNE© BASTIAN WERNER
© GARETH MON JONES