Practical Photography - UK (2020-02)

Know

Your Stuf f

All yourtechnique andgearquestions answeredby

our teamof [email protected]

Timsays:Whenit comesto

la ndscapephotography,there’s

nosuchthingas badweather,

onlydifferentkindsof good

weather.If we onlyeverworked

ingoldeneveninglightunder

cl earskies,we wouldnever

capturetheominousapproach

ofa stormor theeerinessof

lo w-lyingautumnmist.Our

portfolioswouldbe a tedious

monotonyof thesameclassic

la ndscapeshot,andwe would

neverflexourcreativemuscles

orseewell-troddenlocations

ina differentlight.

Notonlythat,butpositioned

atthe easternedgeof a large

ocean,Britaingetsmorethan

it s fairshareof cloudandrain,

soit’san importantskillto be

ableto adaptyourshootingstyle

todifficultor unfavourable

conditions.In fact,landscape

imagestakenon cloudyor

rainydayscanbe morevisually

arrestingandatmosphericthan

thoseshotin sunnyconditions.

Workin mono

It’sfairto saythatundercloudy

skies,somelandscapescanlook

drabandcolourless,andin this

casea black&whitetreatment

can be a saviour.Whenshooting,

set yourcamerato recordRAW

filesto preservethecolour

information,butthenby setting

yourcamera’spicturestyleto

monochrome,yourshotswill

showin monoon theLCD–

thatwayyoucanseeif they’re

workingas youshoot,then

convertthemto black&white

laterin theedit.

Moodyskiesworkwellas an

el ementin monolandscapes,

and framingup you’llwantto

fo cusyourattentionon tone,

shapeandtexturewithinthe

shot.If youdo optto workin

colour,considerembracingthe

scene’ssombre,mutedpalette

and keepingyourcolourssubtle

when processingyourshots.

Don’ttryto squeezeyour

imagesintothemouldof the

‘c lassiclandscape’shotby

addingcolourto emulate

a sunnyday.Instead,embrace

the weatherconditionsand

li ght,workwithit whenever

you can,andenjoybeingout

therecreatinguniqueimages

thatwillreallystandoutfrom

the crowd.

I can nevermakecloudydaylandscapeimageslookany

good.Is it evenworthventuringoutto shootwhenthe

sun isn’tout,or shouldI waitforbetterconditions?

Ni ckBenton,Exeter

Can I get great

landscapes on

a cl oudyday?

72 PRACtICALPhOtOgRAPhy

TimBerry

Formerdeputy

editorTimis a pro

photographerand

jo urnalistwith

anencyclopedic

photoknowledge.

AdamAtkins

PP’s features

writeris an

accomplished

pr ofessional

sportandtravel

photographer.

KirkSchwarz

AsPP’stechnique

andgeareditor

Ki rkknowsthe

bestkit,andhow

togetthemost

out of it.

emphasisetones

Goingmonofocuses

at tentionontexture.

LeeFilters

LEE100

Landscape

Ki t £148

Suitablefor

full-frame

cameraswith

wi de-anglelenses,thiskit

in cludesan ND6gradwith

fil terholder.Adapterring

notincluded.

Cokin

P Series

Gradual

NDKit £27

Includesthree

di fferentND

gr adswithfilter

holder,thoughwithoutadapter

ri ng.SuitableforAPS-Cbodies

wi thfocallengthsover18mm.

darkenskies

AnND gradhelpsto

adddramato thesky.