Digital Photographer - UK (2020-06)

Landscapesceneswithcarpetsof

flowersorbrightlycolouredplants

areapopularsubjectforoutdoor

photographers.Whilethelowerportionof

woodlandscenesoftenneedtobemanaged

withcare,oronoccasionexcludedentirelydue

tonumerousdistractions,thosewithflower

carpetsarefullofdepthandpleasingbalance.

Thesenseofthefieldofdetailextending

beyondtheframeisapowerfultoolasit

encouragestheviewertoexploretheimage

andaddstotheimmersiveexperience.Ithelps

ouraudiencetofeelasiftheyarewithinthe

scenethemselves,whichisultimatelythegoal

ofanyphotographwetake.

Therearesomechallengestoaddress,

however,namelytheperspectiverequiredto

complementthespatialdistributionofthe

high-frequencyflowerdetail.Whileitmay

betemptingtousethewidestfocallength

available,thiscanstretchtheforegroundto

revealtoomuchspaceinbetweeneachflower

head.Thisbreaksthe‘endless’illusionand

disruptsthebalance.Similarly,cameraheight

canimpacttheunbrokenappearanceofthe

naturalcarpet,aselevationcontrolstheangle

atwhichweseeeachflower.

Inthistutorialweexplorehowbestto

captureafloralwoodlandscenebycontrolling

distractingextraneousdetail,usingonly

cameraposition,lenspitchandfocallength.

Inset

Disrupted

continuity

While this is a

peaceful scene,

the area of visible

ground at the

bottom of the frame

breaks the sense of

a continuous carpet

of white flowers

Discoverhowtoshootlandscapescenes

withrepeatingfeaturestomaximisethe

feelingofdepthandcontinuity

‘FIELD’

1

FindasceneLookforalocationwhere

thereisarelativelyflatareaofterrain

coveredbybrightfoliage.Ideally,haveaflatter

areaintheforegroundandascendingground

inthedistancetoshowmultipleangles.

2

SelectfocallengthStartwide,andzoom

inuntilthereissufficientcompression. Aim

forafocallengthbetween20mmand70mm

(infull-frameterms)toretaintheenvironment

whilepreventingforegroundstretching.

3

AltercameraheightAdjust the tripod

to set the optimal camera elevation. Aim

to avoid the average standing level, while

preventing much of the flower stems from

becoming visible in the extreme foreground.

All images © Peter Fenech

BEFORE

MANAGE

PATTERNS

SHOOTING SKILLS