1. Maximize Depth of Field (DoF)

The standard normal concept of a landscape photography is “Sharp from front to the end”. This basic “oldies” concept says that a landscape photo must be as sharp as possible. To get the widest sharpness or get the widest depth of focus (DOF) as possible, we can use the smallest aparture (big f number), such as f14,f16,f18,f22,f32, and so on. And of course the smaller the aparture is, the slower the exposure is.

And due to the lens capabality (which can reach an f32 or f64 aparture) or our spot position that we are standing is not well supported, other approach can be use for it, such as hyper-focal, to get an “optimize” focus dimension based on the scene that we are facing. The point of hyper-focal is to put the focus point in an exact location to get the widest focus dimension so that it can be sharp from FG to BG.

2. Use tripod dan cable release

From #1 above, due to the widest DOF that makes a long exposure, we might need a tripod to make a long exposure to guarantee that the photo is sharp. Cable release is also very helpful in this situation. If your camera has a mirror-lock up, you can use that function to avoid micro-shake that might happen due to the first mirror shake.

3. Find Focal point atau focus point

The focus point here is not the point that focus from where the camera is placed, but it is more to the point where viewer will make an eye-contact for the first time when the viewer views the photo.

Almost all food photo has focal point, or focus point or it is usually said as POI (point of interest). Actually a landscape photo needs a focal point to attract eyes when our eyes is exploring the overall details.

Focal point is not a must be a POI in a photo. A photo without focal point, will make eyes wandering without having a chance to stop.

Focal point can be a building(a small or unique object in an empty landscape), tree (the one stands alone), rock(or rocks), people or animals, or maybe a silhouette that forms from a contrast BG, etc.

We must be very careful where to put the focal point , we must use the “oldies” Rule of Third.Third bermain.

For example, the photo on the left has a focal point of a person with red dress holding umbrella

Below, the photo point of the pic is a guy who is paddling his boat.

4. Find Foreground (FG)

Foreground can be a focal point and it even can be a POI (Point of Interest) in a landscape photo. Due to that, try to find a strong foreground. sometimes a good FG can make a photo a good photo or not. An object or a pattern in FG can make a “sense of scale” from the photo itself.

anything can make a strong foreground

5. Choose sky or land

A colorful sky or a sunset/sunrise can make an interesting photo but we must choose whether we want patly to shoot the sky or partly shoot the land.

No matter how nice is the land or the sky we face when we shoot, dividing equal composition of sky and land will make the photo unfocus, this happens because both land and sky are both beautiful.

Compose with the “oldies” Rule of Third will help. Put a horizon in 1/3 from top if we wan tu emphasize the FG, or put in bellow if we want to emphasize the sky. Of course the rule of third can be break. And if the break you did makes the focal point even better, you should break the rule.

6. Look for Lines/Pattern

a line or pattern can make a good focal that can leads eyes to explore the photo further more. Some time leading lines or pattern can be a POI.

Lines also gives a sense of scale or image depth. Lines or patter can be anything, trees, shadows, walking line, stairs, etc.

7. Capture moment & movement

a landscape photo does not mean to capture sky, earth, mountain, but all nature element, such as waterfall, flowing river, etc. They can make the photos even better. A landscape photo does not mean that it’s a whole big empty land,but it’s detailed isolated, for a static object or dynamic.

8. Work together with nature & weather

a scene can easily change. That’s why deciding when to shoot is very important. Sometime the best weather is not when the sun shines but instead when it’s gonna rain or storm or after rain or storm, where the sky and cloud is very dramatic.

Other than waiting moment, setting in gears and the way looking of a focal point, ROL, rainbow,etc.

9. Golden Hours & Blue hours

In a normal color landscape photography, the best time to shoot is before the sunsets or after the sunrise. Golden hours is the time around 1-2 hours before the sunsets until 30 minutes before the sunsets, and 1-3 hours after the sunrise where “golden lights” or sun ray will make a golden color in the object. Other than that, when the golden hours make a shadow on an object, such as trees, or when a person shadows makes a long shadows that can make a leading lines. If we shoot after the golden hours passes, or when the sun really shines, usually the result will be flat or harsh.

For IR landscape, it does not know golden hours when there is not enough lighting.

Blue hours is after 20-30 minutes after the sunsets, where the sun actually is set already, but the sky is not dark. At this time, the sky is blue.

golden hours

blue hours

10. Cek Horizon

Even though this kind of mistake can be easily repaired in image editor, i still think that the word “get it right the first time” is useful since to optimize the photo. There are 2 things we must do before we press the shutter.

• Is the horizon balanced ??? there are a few ways to get a balance horizon.
• is the horizon composed well ??? use the rule of third to compose/

For example, the photo below is a photo that i took safely for the horizon position when executed. Thta’s why i took the horizon in the middle, so that i can crop later.

is the horizon balanced???

11. Change your angle of view

Sometime we just think of a standard angle, or maybe when we visit a place that we usually visit such as websites or forums, and we wanted the same angle and so on. there are lots of waays to get a fresh point of view. not forever that eye level angle is the best way to make a photo. Try to get a high angle, waist level angle, low leve, etc, try to get a few horizontal format or even vertical.

one thing that must be understood, trying a angle view is not always a better way to get a good picture, but once you get a good one, guaranteed the pic is different with others. Do lots of experiments by moving a few meter a side or forward, it will make lots of different. try to get 3-5 exposures in an angle and move on, change spot, change orientation, look back, change lens…

and if u dont mind, try to lay down and shoot wit the unique angle….

12. Use helpful gears

- CPL filter
- ND filter
- Graduated ND filter, view Graduated Natural Density (Grad ND): What, How, & When
- Graduated color filter
- Bubble level if there’s no grid in the viewfinder.

grad ND

13. Lenses

Landscape photography does not means that we need a wide lens… Choose your lens wisely to make the poi more interesting

FL :200mm

fl 300mm

14. Prepare yourself and your gears

Event though that this does not relates to photography, but sometimes we need to make a research first, googling or ask your friends, etc.

Recheck and test all your gears that you are going to bring. It will be better if u bring all of it in a clean condition, lens, filters, and the camera itself.

Bring your GPS if u have one…

This article is originally made by Mr Yadi Yasin whom is one of my favorite photographers. This article was originally made in Indonesian language ”Bahasa Indonesia” and i translate it so that you can also enjoys his tips… All pictures are photographed by Yadi Yasin

if u find it useful, please leave a comment….

cheers,

Faizal

I use to ask to photographers… How you choose when to use A,S,P,M ??? Most of them answers “i follow my instinct….”

It is a correct answer for those who understand when to use them. But it’s not the correct answer for newbies like me. Now i know when to use them and i’d like to share with you guys.

Aparture Priority

Use this if you want to maximize your DOF/bokeh in a circumtances. I use this most of the time if i want to maximize my DOF/bokeh. It’s like this, you want to get a very nice bokeh in your pictures. Just turn the camera into aparture priority, and set diafragma to the smallest number in it. for example. i use a 50mm f/1.8 and i want to maximize the DOF/bokeh. It means that you just turn your aparture priority to F1.8.

Remember, the lesser your F is, the more DOF/bokeh you will get & vice versa.

this picture was taken with Nikon D300, 85mm f/1.8, 1/60s

Shutter priority

I usually use shutter priority to make a panning picture or a moving object that i don’t want it to be freezes or vice versa. If I’m not mistaken, the normal human hand shaking is 1/60s. It means that there’s a possibility that your pictures will not be as sharp as it suppose to be if your speed is under 1/60s. With shutter priority mode, you can actually make this simple mistake correct by setting your shutter speed to 1/60s.

For example, on the pic i wanted to make all those people moving. so, i set the shutter priority to 1/6s and let the camera works its magic to set the aparture. The pictures was taken with Nikon D300, 10mm, f/4, iso 640.

Manual mode

I use this mode when i shoot an event or any other stuff that needs this mode. In my nikon D300, when i use this manual mode, there’s a tiny little bar that tells whether the pic is going to be over expose or under. this manual mode is important when the difference between shadow and highlight of a picture has a lot difference rather than using shutter priority or aparture priority that only look for a contrast in an object.

The pictures above was taken with manual mode, D300, f/4, 1/60s. I used Manual mode to get a richer color and to avoid over expose on the foreground object (leaf) cause im using my SB-800 in the pic

Programme mode

Use this when you just want to shoot without thinking aparture or shutter speed.

I already edited the pic there. I use P mode in this pic cause it’s a daylight ad i’d like to make an effort out of it. With this P mode, the camera will give its best result in sharpness, color, and everything.

Use programme mode in day light where the sun is really shining the world

I hope this article helps you to choose when to use this / that mode….

if you find it useful, please leave a comment

Cheers,

Faizal Azfar Al-Edrus

Turn your night portrait better

This kind of portraits is very easy to do…

just a keyword for this kind of portrait… SHAKE,

Set your camera to Shutter priority and set the shutter speed to 1/10s. Set the flash into a rear sync mode.

after you made the set up, just shake the camera while you focus or before you press the shutter button.

Here is the pics exif :

Camera : D300

focal length : 11mm

exposure time : 1/10

exposure program : Shutter priority

ISO speed : 640

metering mode : spot

flash mode : rear sync

cheers,

Faizal