46 PRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY
Winter Landscapes
I stay as fluid as I can. Unlike a lot of landscape
photographers, I only use a tripod when I needto.
The tripod supports your idea, and it also provides
‘t echnical support’ when you want to achieve
a specific style, like a long exposure, for example.
I move around the subject calculating the exact
position for the camera before supporting thatidea
with a tripod. It’s a classic rookie mistake, putting
the tripod up comfortably high and hoping thatan
image will crash into the camera. If I can’t achieve
the required shutter speed, I will increase theISO
until the quality of picture is compromised without
the tripod. Snowy landscapes are always high-key,
requiring a lift in the camera’s exposure to render
the snow white and fresh so I always ensure the
pi cture is correctly exposed.Timing, lighting and tonal depth are critical to
the success of the image. I pride myself in staying
on location until I can literally see no more, as the
camera is very capable of picking up tones and
colours long after our eyes are failing to do the same.
Winter twilight landscapes are some of the most
beautiful, as there is often a deep glow that lingers
on as the day gives way to night with a sparkling
clarity. This soft light often has deep shadows,
especially in snow, that render the landscape in
an otherworldly way with deep blues and hints of
magenta. Shooting into the dark usually makes for
a more uncomfortable and tricky walk home than it
would otherwise be, but the results are usually so
unusual and stunning that it’s worth every second
of the arduous return.BLEND EXPOSURES
EDITING ADVICE
I prefer to do all my editing in Photoshop. It’s infinitely more
creative than Lightroom, and it defines my professional look.
When you think about it, we all start with the same camera
equipment – it’s our eye and the software that defines our
identity. I rarely use graduated filters as I’ve been exposure-
blending images since 2006 when I abandoned them... into the
English Channel by accident! Most of these blends are manual,
as plug-ins often have a certain look to them that hands over
ownership of the photograph to the computer. I develop my
wintry snow scenes so that the whites are fresh and clean,
just on the edge of losing detail.Above David
wears a Rab
Expedition
Jacket when
shooting in
extreme cold.
Mývatn in Iceland
is an area of active
volcanoes and vast
snow-covered
landscapes.