Amateur Photographer – 16 August 2019

20 10 August 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

▲

Technique

withtreeshadows,butmakesure
yourtreesareevenlyseparated
otherwisethecompositioncanlook
toocluttered.Finally,makesureyou
compensateforshootingintothesunby
increasingyourexposurebyatleast1 stop,
asyourcamera’smeterwillwant to
underexposetheimage.

Makeitmonochrome
Ialwayssay,‘Ifyoudon’thavethelight,
makeit black&white.’Butevenwhenthe
sunis highyoucancreateimageswith
impact.Whenthereisn’tanydistraction
fromcolour,thescenereliesonline,shape,
texture,lightandshadow.I switchmy
cameradisplaytomonochrome– inthe
settingsunderpicturecontrolorstyle– so
I canseehowthetoneswillworkinblack
&white.ThenI processthe raw fi le in
Nik’s Silver Efex Pro 2.

Whyitworks

Photographingin harshsunlightnormally

producesflat,boringimages,butwhenI

wasin theCaribbeanI shotthisDiviDivitree

underthestrong,middaysun.I hadnoidea

it wouldturnouttobemybestsellingimage,

appearingin magazines,cards,calendars,

puzzlesandin IKEAasa canvasprintforfive

years.I actuallyphotographedit at sunrise

andsunsetaswell,butneitherimage

producedtheappealthisonehas.I used

a FujifilmGX619panoramiccamerawith

Velviatocreatedeep,saturatedcolours.

A polariserprovidedthefinishingtouchby

removingtheglareonthesurfaceof the

waterallowingtheturquoisecolourtocome

through.It alsodarkeneddownthebluesky

givinga contrasttothewhitecloudsthat

seemingly emanate from the tree.

HDRforextremes

Whenlightingconditionsareextremely

harsh,it canbedifficulttocopewith

thewideexposurelatitudespresentedby

thescene.Onewaytocombatthisis to

createmultipleimages,exposingforthe

highlights,midtonesandshadowsand

thencombinethemusingLightroomor

theprocessingsoftwareofyourchoice.

AsI usetheNikonD850withitswide

latitudesensor,I findthatI seldomneed

todothisasI cancontroltheexposure

rangeofa stronglylitscenebyexposing

forthehighlightsandthenlightenthe

shadowsinpostprocessing.

Sothenexttimeyouareconfrontedwith

harshlighting,eitherathomeoraway,

keepyourcameraatthereadyand

considertryingsomeofthesesimple

techniquestocreate images with

instant impact.

Cottagebythebay,

CountyDonegal,

Ireland

NikonD850,24-70mm,

567sec at f/18, ISO 200