A
BEAUTIFULVISTALAID
out in frontof you,camera
inhand...commonsense
di ctatesyoufix on a wide-
anglelensto presentthe
scenein all itssplendour.
Butthereis anotherway.Thewiderend
ofthefocallengthspectrumis usedso
fr equentlyforlandscapesit’sbecome
run-of-the-millandpedestrianforall
but themoststrikingscenes.Longlens
la ndscapesaremuchscarcercreatures.
Fewandfarbetween,theystillpack
the punchof a uniqueviewpoint.So try
grabbinga telephotolens,zoomingin on
the detailsanddistillingtheimagedown
toitssimplestformforgreaterimpact.
Finda goodview
There’san oldtruismin photography
- a goodviewisn’talwaysa good
photograph.We viewphotographsand
realscenesdifferently.Photographs
are viewedas a whole,a self-contained
commenton whatwasbeforeus atthe
ti me.In therealworld,youropinion
ofa scenecomesfromlotsof smaller
detailswhichyouweaveintoan overall
experienceof a place.Moreoftenthan
not, goingwidewillhelpcapturethe
fe elingof thescene,butsometimesit
paysto breaktherulesandgo long.
Too manyconflictingdetailscanbe
distracting,anda longerfocallength
helpsto removetheunnecessary
el ementsthatarecompetingfor
the viewer’sattention,focusing
insteadon theheartof theimage.Composeyourshot
Asyoumightexpect,thestandardrules
ofcompositionarejustas important
fo r telephotolandscapesas theyarefor
ul tra-wide.Keepan eyeoutforstrong
le ad-inlinesto drawyoureyethrough
the image.Adistinctfocalpointis
importanttoo,in orderto givethelead-in
li nesa pay-off.Positioningthisfocal
pointon or neara thirdlinewillhelp
createa morepleasingimage.Where
theydiffer,though,is in focus.Lookto
is olateinterestingpartsof thescene
and composearoundtheseelements
insteadof tryingforan overallview.Setup yourcamera
You’llneeda sturdytripod,especially
if there’sanythingresemblingwindto
contendwith.Thelongerfocallengths
magnifytheeffectof camerashake.
Couplethiswithwindbuffetingthe
camera,andit’sa recipeforblurred
images.Thankfully,a lotof long
le nslandscapescanbenefitfroma
shallowerdepth-of-field,allowingfor
a fa stershutterspeed.Alwaysaimto
keepyourshutterspeedfasterthan
about1/200sec.If in doubt,checkthe
imageon yourLCDscreenandretry.62 PRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY
Break The RulesAboveThewide-angleshotfailsto engage.
Zoomin on thedetailfora strongerimage.HONE IN ON DETAIL
FOR STRIKING LONG
LE NS LANDSCAPES
PROJECT #1
Above Choosing a lens with afocallength
in excess of 135mm will giveyouthebest
re sults here.The rain, backlit by the sun, creates
thelead-inlineshere,guidingthe
viewer’seyetowardsthebirds.TIP
REDUCETHE
RI SKOF BLUR
Alwaysswitchanyimage
stabilisationoff whenusing
a tripod,as IS will actually
introduceunwanted
motionblur.