50 PRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY
Winter Landscapes
sometimesvaryfromshotto shot,evenif thelighting
it selfhasn’tchanged.I tendto focusmanuallywith
Live View, usually opting to focus around a thirdof
the way into the scene for maximum depth-of-field.
By using the magnifying button combined with the
depth-of-field preview button, it’s easy to quickly
check that the foreground and background are
rendered nice and sharp.
With a flatter landscape I always look to add a bit
of extra interest and height. Subjects I tend to look
out for are trees, windmills or drainage mills,
lighthouses, cottages and church towers. When
shooting these subjects, I always try to make suremy
images continue to be about the landscape itselfand
not just the subject. The main focal point can often
be quite small and subtle in my shots, with lots of
in terest elsewhere in the frame for the eye to explore.
When I initially look at composing an image, I’m
al ways heavily influenced by the sky and light and
this will often dictate the compositions I choose.
I would rather compromise on the best angle of
a subject if it meant I could make more use of a great
sky or some fantastic light. No matter the landscape
subject I’m shooting, I always try to explore the
potential for images in both landscape and portrait
fo rmat. It’s very easy to forget to frame up andshoot
in the upright portrait format, but these can often
have the most impact, especially when it comesto
bi g sky images.
I like to be out early for the majority of my winter
photography, as this is when the landscape looksat
it s best following snowfall or a heavy frost. Just like
when shooting at the beach with sand, it’s easy to
walk through the scene leaving footprints in the
snow or frosty grass, so extra care is always required
here. Paying careful attention to the weather forecast
maximises opportunities during winter photography.
My favourite of all winter weather conditions is
following an overnight hoar frost. This occurs asa
result of freezing fog or mist – as the water droplets
fr eeze, they leave tiny delicate ice crystals behind.
High pressure and a still, clear, freezing night will
of ten result in a good chance of a morning hoar frost,
especially around riverbanks. It’s important to work
fa st as once the sun is up the delicate crystals quickly
lo se their texture as they begin to melt.LINE UP YOUR HORIZONS
EDITING ADVICE
I keep my post-production work quite streamlined and basic.
Initially, once I open my images in Lightroom, the first thing I do
is click the Enable Profile Corrections box in the Lens Corrections
Tab. This automatically applies minor corrections to distortion
and vignetting. I then set about straightening any horizons and
applying any crop adjustments. The next steps involve small
adjustments to white balance, exposure, clarity and saturation.
I leave my images unsharpened and then remove any sensor dust
spots using the Patch Tool in Photoshop.Above left Chris’
landscapes often
feature subtle
focal points and
plenty of interest
across the frame.Above Use the
upright portrait
format to make
the most of
scenes with big
skies and tall
focal points.