July 2019 - 57can be great for landscape photography.
Lenses on the other hand are
a completely different ball game.
Choosing the correct lens is extremely
difficult and requires careful thought. A
wide angle zoom lens is generally the
preferred choice for most landscape
photographers. Several parameters
such as performance of the lens at low
light, chromatic abberation, sharpness
at a narrow aperture and most
importantly distortion need to be kept
in mind before investing in a lens. Some
landscape images might look great with
distortions, but most don’t. Distortions
and chromatic abberations make the
image look unnatural and thus draw
the viewer’s attention away. A 24mm or
a 35mm prime lens can also be used
depending on the sensor size of your
cameras. Going wider than 18mm will
however cause distortions.Selecting the right accessory
Accessories play a major role in
landscape photography as well. When
shooting landscape one of the biggest
problem one faces is keeping the
overexposed sky and the underexposed
landscape exposed perfectly. This is
where an ND filter comes in. An ND filter
or a Neutral Density filter reduces or
modifies the intensity of all wavelengths
of light equally. There are several types of
ND filters, so study which one you need
before investing in one. Other accessories
that one might need are remote shutters
to avoid camera shake and a sturdy
tripod for those long exposures. You can
also download an app called the sun
surveyer which shows you the placement
of the sun depending on the time of the
day. This app is available on both Android
as well as iOS platforms.Composing the frame
Now that we have understood the
basics of getting the right gear and
selecting the location, let’s get into
the compositions. The best way to
understand compositions and grow a
sense of how to compose is to look at
other legendary photographers’ work.
Photographers like Ansel Adams, Trey
Ratcliff, Chris Burkard etc have paved
the way for landscape photography.