Practical Photography - UK (2020-02)

PRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY.COM 39

Winter Landscapes

Mystyleis probablybestdescribedas ‘coastal
el egance’.I liveby theseaandon thesouth
coast,thewintermonthsarethebesttimeof
year,as thesunsetsandrisesoverthesea.
I’ mdrawnto orderandsimplicityandlook
fo r sceneswithclearfocalpointsandstrong
shapesandlinesthatcanbe usedto guidethe
eye aroundtheframe.To simplifyscenes,
I’ ll oftenuselongexposures,butI think
there’sa carefulbalanceto be struckbetween
smoothingthewaterenoughto removeany
di stractions,butnotso muchthattextureis
removedaltogether.

Mostimportantis a setof neutraldensity
(ND)filters.I usuallycarrya 4-stop,6-stop
and 10-stopNDwithme,whichallowsme to
manipulateexposuretimesso thatI cangetthe
preciseeffectI’mlookingfor.A remoterelease
isalsoessential,as youdon’twantto risk
camerashakeby pressingtheshutterbutton
and usinga delaywon’twork,as precisetiming
isnecessaryto capturethewavemovement.
Protectingyourkit fromsprayis alsoimportant
soa raincoverof somedescriptionis another
usefulaccessory.I usea chamoisleatherheld
inplacewitha clothespeg.

The key is being able to control shutter speeds
by using ND filters and changing ISO. I select
an aperture to provide the depth-of-fieldthat
I need, so this will usually remain fixed. Ithen
need to set a shutter speed to give the effecton
the water that I want. To achieve this while
st ill getting correct exposure, I use a suitable
ND filter and sometimes tweak the ISO, too.
Timing is also important for some effects.
Often, I’ll want to generate some foreground
in terest with waves on the shore. One wayto
do this is to shoot a wave as it draws backoutto

sea, using an exposure of around 2-5secs,

depending on how big the wave is. Releasing

the shutter at the right moment is crucial to

creating the effect I want.

I start by selecting a background focal point.

This will be placed in a key part of the frame,

such as an intersection of thirds. I then build

the composition around that, seeking out

foreground elements to complement and

highlight it. I look at how waves are breaking

and how other moving elements such as clouds

could be used to direct attention around the

frame. I like to keep compositions as simple as

possible, so will decide which elements don’t

add anything and can therefore be excluded

from the frame. Finally, I check around the

frame to make sure I’ve not let anything

unwanted creep into the corners and that

there’s enough separation between the key

elements. Moving just a couple of inches can

make a huge difference to a composition, in

terms of the main components being in the

right amount of space.

Planning is always important in landscape

photography but especially when it comes to

winter seascapes, as there are safety concerns.

Having chosen a location, use an app such as

The Photographer’s Ephemeris to check the

direction of the light at different times of day.

Shooting towards a colourful sky is good for

sunrise and sunset, but if you have a location

with lots of texture in rocks and cliffs, then low

side lighting can also work well. If possible,

scout the location in advance and work out

roughly what tide height will suit it. For some

locations, a high tide will be useful to cover

a cluttered foreshore, whereas in others, a low

tide can reveal an interesting foreground.

On the day of your shoot, check the tide times

and weather forecast carefully.

Since becoming a

full-time landscape

photographer in

2003, Mark Bauer

has authored seven

books and written

countless articles on

technique. His work

has won awards in

a number of major

competitions and

he co-owns Dawn 2

Dusk Photography,

a company that

specialises in

landscape photography

workshops and tours

in the UK and overseas.

markbauer

photography.com

USE SELECTIVE EDITING

EDITING ADVICE

I use Lightroom for almost all of my editing. My basic workflow

consists of selecting a suitable profile – Adobe Landscape

works well for vibrant colour and Standard is good for

something more subtle – then setting white balance to suit.

When making tonal adjustments, I like to stretch the tones

across the whole width of the histogram to make sure the

full tonal range is exploited, then I tweak the shadows and

highlights to ensure there’s good detail throughout the image.

If necessary, I make local adjustments using the Graduated

Filter, Radial Filter and Adjustment Brush. If there are waves in

the shot, then I’ll enhance the texture by selecting areas with

the adjustment brush and increasing Clarity and Contrast.