WE’RE BACK OUT SHOOTING!
With long days and stunning light at sunrise and sunset summer is a fantastic season for photography – follow our top tips to learn how to take your Canon skills up a level
As restrictions ease we’re back out with our Canon cameras capturing summer landscapes – 15 top tips for you now on
1 DO YOUR HOMEWORK Make use of popular apps as well as traditional maps to make your pre-shoot preparation count
FORWARD PLANNING is key for landscape photography, as you’re reliant on the weather and light direction being just right. By researching locations thoroughly at home, you’re more likely to be rewarded with favourable conditions when you arrive with your camera. The Photographer’s Ephemeris (TPE) and The Photographer’s Transit (TPT) are two apps that are ideal planning companions. TPE displays how the light will fall on the land at any time of day in any location, so use it to work out the time and direction of sunrise and sunset. TPT also provides a great way to check if your planned focal length will capture your scene effectively. Also Google maps on your smartphone, or actual OS maps, although not as pocketable, can be spread out to help you visualize a landscape in more detail, and spot potential photo ops.
2 THE RIGHT KIT For the best chance of success you need to look, feel and dress the part
IT DOES pay to invest in some practical outdoor clothing, helping you feel comfortable and allowing you to concentrate on taking photos. The right clothing will protect you against the elements and enable you to shoot for longer in comfort. Summer isn’t always sunny, so think about dressing for wet and stormy weather, as well as heat and humidity. Whatever your budget, opt for versatile, water-resistant and lightweight clothes. Look at how well ventilated they are and whether they can be packed away in a camera bag. Pockets are a great asset too, providing easy access to filters, cards and smaller lenses.
3 SEEK INSPIRATION Where can you look for new shooting locations? Be inspired, but try to be original too…
THE WORLD is a big place, and while holiday destinations are likely to be ruled out this year, somewhere closer to home can still offer bountiful photo ops. If your local area bores you, try looking at it from another point of view. What spots would you recommend to a photographer if they were visiting? If you’re able and willing to head somewhere further up country, make use of online photo communities for inspiration too. Social media pages of beauty spots are good starting points, while the Flickr World Map (www.flickr.com/map) allows you to scroll around and find photos that have been uploaded and geotagged, and you can enter your own location to narrow the results down. 500px (www.500px.com) is a stunning inspiration source, but don’t feel like you have to travel to far-flung places for great results!
4 USE THE WHOLE DAY There’s more to shooting in the summer than getting up early and staying out late
THE GREAT thing about shooting in the summer months is the long days and amount of daylight available for you to take advantage of. During the day, however, metering can become tricky. Have you ever looked at a brightly-lit landscape, shot it with your camera, and been disappointed by the result? This is because the human eye can see the equivalent of about 14 f-stops of dynamic range, while Canon DSLRS are limited to around eight. Don’t be disheartened though. As long as you choose the right scene and techniques, the season can be just as rewarding as any other. We’d encourage you to use the whole of the day – including the harsh, high and bright midday light. It’s time to make friends with midday…
5 SHOOT A SUNRISE Set the alarm clock and be on location to capture the sun rising in your landscape
THE REWARD of capturing the sun rising over the horizon almost always makes up for the lack of sleep. Research carefully to check the direction of sunrise, and scout your location beforehand, so you can set up a good composition without delay. Arrive at least 30 mins before sunrise, and mount your Canon camera onto a tripod. Opt for a low ISO, an aperture of around f/11 and a shutter speed to compensate for the lower light levels. Enjoy!
6 THE SUNNY 16 RULE Learn the benefit of this clever trick while shooting in a narrow aperture
THE SUNNY 16 rule is a way to meter for a correct exposure during the middle of the day without using your Canon’s light meter. The basic idea is that, in daylight at an aperture of f/16, the correct exposure can be achieved with a reciprocal shutter speed to the ISO speed you’re using – eg ISO200 would require 1/200 sec. Also at f/16 it means more depth of field for sharp sunny scenes from foreground to background. As the conditions change, you simply alter the aperture. Use this table as a guide and try it out on your next shoot, as even the latest camera meters can be fooled in certain conditions.
7 PRO TIPS Take an alternative approach to your summer scenic shots
ON A lovely sunny day, shooting at noon can be a photographer’s nightmare, as the sun is highest in the sky, and this generates high contrast between the foreground and the sky. If you meter for the land, you’ll usually find the sky is completely blown out, whereas exposing for the sky leaves the land too dark. Use the AEB (Auto Exposure Bracketing) mode on your EOS camera to bracket your exposures during these situations.
With your Raw images, you can either create a HDR image for a better range of tones. Or take two images, one exposed for the darker land, and one exposed for the brighter sky; then merge them together using Photoshop and layers to create a more balance image. Another great solution during bright midday sunshine is to use a polarizing filter, these will boost the blues in skies and capture a higher-contrast scene with less glare, as we did for the shot of the flowery fields (see above left).
If you have to shoot at midday, try zooming in on the scene with a telephoto lens. This way, you’ll eliminate the large amount of contrast that’s evident in broader compositions, plus it compresses the perspective of the landscape, and focuses on specific parts of a scene.
8 EMBRACE BAD WEATHER Too inclement to go out shooting? There’s no such thing! Change your outlook for more moody and striking images
THERE’S NO such thing as bad weather (for landscape photography, at least). Even in the rain, it’s possible to capture stunning images that still have a hint of summer about them. Try to include seasonal clues in the foreground of your images, such as floral details or vegetation. Poppies and sunflowers are quintessential summer blooms, which will add a bold splash of colour. Despite its sunny disposition, the summer season also has a darker side – thunderstorms. Lightning presents dynamic photo ops, but only if you can act fast enough. The specific camera settings needed depend on the time of day and your location, but as a general rule, set your lens to manual focus and focus it at infinity. In Bulb mode, start with an aperture of about f/8 and ISO of 100. Then, keep the shutter open long enough to capture the strike! 9 SHOOT AFTER RAIN The conditions following a rain storm can often create unique photographic opportunities for landscapes
WHEN CAUGHT in a rainstorm, start shooting after the rain stops. As the sun emerges and peeks through darker storm clouds, you’ll be presented with stunning photo ops. Clouds after rain are dramatic, and the still air will give way to pristine reflections in puddles. Many camera bags come with a waterproof cover, so use them. You can protect your lenses to a certain degree with a lens hood, but it’s worth investing in a rain cover so that you can carry on shooting. In torrential weather, though, don’t get carried away and damage your kit in the process.
10 HIT THE COAST Go beyond traditional beach images next time you’re beside the seaside
SUMMER DAYS can seem endless and dreamy, reminiscent of childhoods spent roaming the beach under a hot sky. A wideangle lens is the go-to choice for photographing coastal scenes, and even a kit lens can be put to good use here. Don’t feel limited to expansive views of sand and sea, including piers and rocks will make more interesting seaside photos. Also your shooting angle will effect the result. Crouching low near the water’s edge with a wide focal length, to fill the foreground with waves and rocks, will capture a more intimate result.
11 SUMMER SCENES
LEARN TO look for different photos in the summer season, whether it’s heading to the coast, including seaside scenes or people in your landscapes…
12 IMPROVING EXPOSURES Follow our hints and tips to really get the most from tricky landscape lighting situations…
IT WOULD seem as if everything is on your side in summer: fair weather, clear skies and long days. However, as soon as the sun does rise, it rises high and fast in the sky. The morning shadows quickly retreat, and this diminishes any sense of depth in the landscape. At the same time, contrast can be a big challenge for accurate exposures. There’s nothing inherently wrong with photographing in high-contrast conditions, but they can be very hard to meter for. In an Evaluative metering mode your Canon’s meter will measure the light intensity across the whole frame, then come up with an average value. In bright, contrasty conditions, this often renders your actual subject too bright or dark. If you switch to Spot or Partial metering mode, bear in mind that you’ll need to be able to judge tones accurately to get the most from them. Follow the three steps below to take back control of the way you expose such scenes. 13 HIGH-CONTRAST SCENES Try taking several readings then shoot with the average
01 CAMERA SETTINGS
Switch to Manual mode for full control of your exposure and Spot metering. Dial in your desired ISO and aperture. These values will depend on the scene, but start at around f/10 and ISO200.
02 TAKE THE READINGS
Use a manual AF point selection, and start by positioning the focus point over an area of shadow. Note the given shutter speed. Repeat this step to meter the brightest point of the scene.
03 FIND THE AVERAGE
Find the middle shutter speed between the two readings. For example, between 1/160 sec and 1/640 sec would be 1/320 sec. Shoot at this exposure and then review the image histogram.
14 AVOID DUST SPOTS
DUST SPOTS become very obvious when you’ve stopped down to narrow apertures (higher f-numbers) and are shooting a bright sky. Make sure that your lens, filters and sensor are clean. This way you won’t spend hours removing dust spots in post-processing.
15 FILTERS Know your ND from your UV? Here’s our quick guide to using filters
HIGH-QUALITY filters are a must-have accessory for improving your landscapes in-camera. When used properly, a filter not only enhances scenes, but saves you time editing your shots later, and is also useful for protecting your expensive lens’s front element from accidental damage. We’ve listed the most important filters for photographing summer landscapes below, explaining the conditions where you’ll want to use each one. Companies like Lee Filters (www.leefilters.com) offer premium options – at premium prices – but choose a filter system that matches your budget.
ULTRAVIOLET FILTER
A UV filter is often overlooked, but as ultraviolet radiation can create haziness in photographic images it’s a handy accessory to keep on your lens in summer. UV radiation increases with altitude, so use a filter if you’re going to be climbing. A UV filter also protects the front of a lens – it’s a lot cheaper to replace a filter than a scratched front lens element…
NEUTRAL-DENSITY FILTER
Neutral-density filters, such as the Lee Big Stopper, reduce the amount of light entering the lens across the whole frame. This means you can use much slower shutter speeds than normal. Attach a 10-stop ND filter if you want to use a wide aperture, or really long exposure for creative effect on a bright summer’s day, such as blurring moving water.
GRADUATED NEUTRAL DENSITY FILTER
Graduated neutral density filters have a dark or grey coating at the top, and blend to clear at the bottom. By placing the dark part over the sky, you can bring its exposure value closer to that of the landscape below. These filters therefore becomes very useful when you’re shooting very bright skies against a darker foreground, and you need to balance the two.
CIRCULAR POLARIZER
A polarizer is highly effective on sunny days, adding a rich and velvety quality to blue skies. Once attached to your lens, simply rotate the front section to increase or decrease the effect. A polarizer will also boost contrast on damp, overcast days. On a shoot, you can judge the strength of the effect by rotating the filter slowly as you look through the viewfinder.