10

CHAPTER
NIGHT AND LOW-LIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY / Low-Light Landscapes

gives the viewer something to focus on and

will help with the composition. Although

wide-angle lenses are often used for landscape

photography to show the sweeping views,

these lenses also tend to exaggerate the dis-

tances between the foreground and the back-

ground. You can reduce this effect by shooting

from a lower angle, which can cause the mid-

dle ground to be compressed.

    ■   Leading lines and curves. If you look around,

you will see that there are lines everywhere.

These lines can be man-made or appear natu-

rally, but they are there. The really great part

about these lines is that you can use them in

your images to lead the viewer’s eye where

you want it to go. You can use lines to lead

the eye into the image, lead it out of the

image, and to keep the viewer looking at the

image. By training yourself to look for these

types of lines in your images, you can improve

your compositions immeasurably:

> Straight lines. Straight lines can run verti-

cally and horizontally through your image.

Examples of vertical lines include build-

ings, trees, and even people. When photo-

graphing vertical lines, adjust the angle so

that you are shooting slightly upward, and

the lines will seem stronger. The easiest

horizontal line is the horizon, but, as

described in the Rule of Thirds, you want

to keep that out of the center of your

image. Other horizontal lines include

bridges, tops of buildings, and piers.

> Diagonal lines. These are lines that come

from the corners into the image, and they

can be some of the strongest compositional

elements. Diagonal lines can draw the

viewer’s attention from the edge of the

image into the center. The downside is

that they can do the opposite as well —

draw the eye from the center of the image

Photographing Landscapes in Low Light

Photographing landscapes in low light does not
mean that you can ignore composition. Because
you usually have time to set up the photograph,
there are no excuses for sloppy composition.
Before tackling the exposures, here is a refresher
of some guidelines and suggestions to keep in
mind (they’re not hard and fast rules, even
though the first one is called a rule):

■   The Rule of Thirds. One of the most used

rules in composition is the Rule of Thirds. This
rule states that the best placement for the sub-
ject in your image is not in the center but
instead at one of the intersecting points when
you divide the frame into thirds. Imagine a tic-
tac-toe board superimposed over the frame, and
then place the main subject at one of the
points where the lines intersect. When it
comes to landscape photography, the same rule
applies, but instead of placing the subject on a
point, you place the horizon line one-third in
from either the top or the bottom. If you place
the horizon line directly in the middle of the
image, then the sky and the land are both
treated equally, which doesn’t have the same
tension as when one is given two-thirds and
the other one-third of the compositional space.

When in doubt, try all three compositions,
with the horizon line one-third from the bot-
tom, then one-third from the top, and finally
right in the middle. As you shoot more land-
scapes, you will start to see what works for
you. As you can see from Figures 10-2 and
10-3, the horizon line was placed one-third of
the way in from the top of the frame, which
matches up to the Rule of Thirds grid.

■   Background/foreground. When shooting

landscapes, foreground elements give the
scene a sense of depth. A foreground subject