26 DigitalSLR PhotographyOctober 2019
Coastal reflections
1
FOCUSANDCOMPOSEA rockin theshallowwaterwasusedhereas
foregroundinterestandpositionedin thebottomright,according
totherule-of-thirds,becausethewaterandreflectionextendallthe
wayfromthefronttothebackof theshot.Onceyou’vecomposedthe
imagetoemphasisethereflection,manuallyfocusone-third of the
distance into the scene beyond the foreground.3
USEFILTERSIf youhaveNDgradsyoumayfindthattheseareuseful
forretainingskydetail,sousethemostappropriatestrengthand
graduationforthescene.Themostimportantfilter,however,is a
polariser;dependingonyourangletothesunandthereflectionin
thewater,byrotatingthefilteryoucanaccentuateorremovethe
reflection. Obviously, we want to make it stronger for this image.5
KEEPCOMPLETELYSTILLIf youfindyourselfstandingin thewater
you’reshootingforthereflection,it’simperativethatyouremainstill
toavoidcreatingripples– eventhesmallestripplewillruinyourperfect
reflection.If youhavea wirelessremote,steppingoutof thewaterand
waitingforit tosettlebeforereleasingtheshutteris onewaytoavoid
this, but if you’re using a remote release or self-timer stay very still.2
CAMERASETTINGSForthistypeof shot,normallandscapesettings
apply,sosetISO 100 andshootin aperture-priorityormanual
mode.Settheaperturetof/11if shootingonanAPS-Ccamera,orf/13
if shootingfull-frame.Forthelatter,thisgivesyoua touchmoredepth-
of-fieldwithoutintroducingdiffraction.If shootingin aperture-priority
mode the camera will select an appropriate shutter speed.4
TAKE THESHOTWiththecompositionandfiltersin place,andall
thesettingsdialledin,it’snowtimeforthemostimportantpart–
takingtheshot.If you’reshootingin conditionsthatarefavourable
tolandscapephotography,chancesarethattheshutterspeedwill
betooslowtoreleasetheshutterbypressingtheshutterbutton,
so you’ll need to use a remote release or the camera’s self-timer.Polarisingfiltersareincredibly
versatile– theycandeepenblue
skies,reduceorincreasereflections,
removeglarefromshinysurfaces
andevenactasanNDfilter.In this
situation,theirusefulnessfallsin
beingabletohelpaccentuatethe
reflectionyou’reshooting.Quite
often,youcanobtaina fantastic
reflectionwithoutusinga polarising
filterbutsometimestheycanbe
usefulif thereflectionin the
foregroundis lacking.Simplyrotate
thefilteruntilthereflectionlooksits
strongestbuttakecarenotto
over-polarisethesky.Thisisn’tso
muchof a problemif it’scloudy,butif
there’sbluein theskywatchforan
uneven or dark blue areas in the sky.USING A POLARISINGFILTER