Chris Rutter
From preparation to post-processing, Chris Rutter is your allknowing guide to shooting your best-ever landscape images
From planning and preparation to post-processing and everything in-between, join Chris on a landscapes masterclass.
When we talk about landscape photography, the landscape itself only plays a part in shooting successful and striking outdoor images. The light, weather, composition and photographic technique that you use all play a huge role in the success of any shots in this genre of photography. You’ll have to know how to predict the weather, tides, and sun
position, as this will better your chances of being in the right place at the right time. Then there needs to be an understanding of how the settings and controls on your Nikon affect the end result. You will also need to know how to compose shots to make the most of every opportunity that mother nature presents you on your trip.
With any outdoor shoot that’s not the whole story, as ‘lady luck’ also plays a decent part in the process… For all of the planning, knowledge, and gear, there’s still a chance you won’t get the results you were expecting – but that’s all part of the challenge of landscape photography.
Despite this, you’ll find that the more prepared and knowledgable you are, the ‘luckier’ you will be been when it comes to shooting magnificent landscapes. So while mother nature and luck can never be completely overlooked, there are plenty of ways that you can help improve your strike rate for getting splendid photos and also make the most of every shooting opportunity presented.
Before we investigate how to shoot landscapes, we need to start by looking at how best to plan and prepare for a landscape shoot…
Planning and Preparation
The first step to improve your chances of capturing the best landscape photos comes down to being prepared. There’s little point in simply going out in the hope that you will find a great location, in the perfect light, and be able to shoot a stunning landscape – the odds of all these variables aligning is just too low. A little bit of research and planning about when and where to go will massively help you improve your chances of success, however.
Sun position
The position of the sun plays a key role in the appearance and shooting possibilities in any location – there’s no point going to a spot where the sunlight won’t reach the elements you want. Understanding if the sunlight will fall on a specific area of the landscape at different times of the day will allow you to plan when it’s worth exploring these locations and when to look elsewhere.
If you are shooting close to home the chances are that you will have a good idea of where the sun will rise and set at different times of year, but it’s still worth using an app such as The Photographer’s Ephemeris (www.photoephemeris.com) to pinpoint the exact position and timing of the sun’s position.
tides
The decision of which tide is best at any location will be influenced by the type of shore or beach, along with the type of shot that you want to achieve. At low tide it may reveal pristine sands, or stunning rock formations that you can use as foreground. While at other locations it can mean messy, seaweed-covered shores, or perhaps the sea is barely visible from the upper shore. Unlike the sun position the timing of the tides varies a lot day to day, making them harder to predict. For the UK I use www.tidetimes.co.uk as it has an easy-to-use map to find the nearest location, or for the USA try www.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov.
Whether you shoot at high or low tide, remember that the sea can be unpredictable and dangerous, so along with the tide you need to pay particular attention to the wave and sea swell conditions to be sure that you don’t put yourself or others in danger.
Scout out locations
No matter how many maps, apps or other photos you look at, nothing beats physically visiting a location in broad daylight to give you a sense of its potential and possibilities. This is particularly useful for sunrise and night-time locations, as you would otherwise arrive in the dark and have to
A little bit of research and planning about when and where to go will massively help you improve your chances of success
No matter how good your planning or how well you’ve recced a location, successful landscapes are all down to your skills
navigate your way and find a viewpoint faced with limited visibility. This is far from ideal and could even be downright dangerous
Clothing
Dressing for the conditions may seem obvious, but it’s not just a case of dressing for the weather when you leave. It’s also about being prepared for changes during the day. It’s best to use several different layers of clothes, allowing you to remove or put on extra layers as the temperature changes. Even on a sunny day it’s worth taking an extra layer or two, and a waterproof, especially if you’re planning on staying out until sunset – the temperature can drop surprisingly quickly after the sun goes down.
Killer Compositions
No matter how good your planning, or how well you’ve recced a location, successful landscapes are all down to your skills at translating the scene in front of you into a two-dimensional image. Understanding how to compose your shots is fundamental to this process.
There are many simple techniques and tricks, like the rule of thirds, where you position elements of the frame on imaginary lines dividing the vertical and horizontal axis into three, or using foreground lines to lead the eye into the frame. However the landscape will rarely conform to these exact rules, as such you need to be able to adapt and adjust how you position the main elements of the scene to produce the best results.
High and low viewpoint
To avoid shooting from head (or tripod) height, it’s always worth taking some time beforehand to look for the best viewpoints and how the different elements of the scene will work together. When assessing a scene it’s often worth thinking about whether a high or low viewpoint will work best.
Using a high viewpoint gives a greater sense of the space between the foreground and the background elements. This can work well if there are interesting features in this middle ground, but can also lead to large empty areas, particularly when shooting seascapes. Using a lower viewpoint reduces this sense of space, which will help to add emphasis to a foreground or avoid unfortunate empty areas in the middle ground of a composition.
This choice of viewpoint will be influenced by which elements in the scene you want to include, so take your time to explore the different options before even thinking about setting up a tripod or taking a shot.
Balancing different elements of the scene
Where the main elements of your scene are positioned is one of the primary decisions you’ll make when composing. You can use the rule of thirds to help, but this positioning is more to do with balance than exact position of the frame.
For example, if there is a focal point in the right of the background, don’t place the main foreground interest on the same side, as this will produce a lop-sided and unbalanced result. Simply changing your viewpoint so that one is on the left, and the other is on the right, will almost immediately produce a much more aesthetically pleasing frame.
When working with multiple elements, it can take a little time, and a few changes in viewpoint, to achieve a balance left to right and top to bottom of the shot. Also avoid large empty or plain-looking areas on one side, or at the top or bottom of your photograph, as without something to keep the interest of the viewer it’s all too easy for their eye to just wander out of the frame.
Simplicity and symmetry
Having said that you should avoid empty space, it can also be a useful composition tool when used correctly. The old adage ‘it’s what you leave out rather than what you include’ is a great philosophy when you are looking for a simpler, more minimalist composition.
This simplicity is usually achieved by concentrating on one or two elements of the scene, and choosing a solid viewpoint, focal length and even exposure to exclude as many other elements as you possibly can. A single, strong focal point can often work when positioned centrally in the frame, or using symmetry to give a calm, balanced composition within the photo.
Utilizing a long shutter speed can help remove or minimize distracting elements such as ripples on water, or unsightly clouds in the sky, and add an abstract quality, blurring plants blown by the wind.
nailing exposure
No matter how good your location, lighting and composition, burnt-out skies or dark, underexposed foregrounds will produce disappointing photos. The first thing to understand is that your Nikon doesn’t react in the same way as your eyes. Your eyes and brain can adapt to the brightest highlights and darkest shadows, but your Nikon simply records all of these tones in one image. But in many landscapes there is a greater range of tones than the sensor can record, so you need to be able to recognize and then compensate for this. You may be able to see from the image displayed on screen that it’s over- or underexposed, but it’s not the most reliable or accurate way to assess exposure.
Histograms
Every Nikon has the option to display a histogram along with a simple preview of the shot. This is a
graphic representation of the tones in an image, with the shadows on the left and highlights on the right. If the graph overlaps either end it means that you have lost detail in either the highlights (right) or the shadows (left).
One of the most common problems with landscapes is that there is too much contrast between the sky and the foreground to keep detail in both. In these situations it’s usually more important to keep highlight detail, rather than shadows (these can be recovered in post). First, check whether the right-hand side of the histogram just reaches the end of the graph. If it goes over the right you need to reduce the exposure, while if it doesn’t reach you will need to increase it.
nd grad filters
While there are ways to adjust the exposure to retain detail in the sky and foreground using high dynamic range (HDR) techniques, and also using Active D-lighting, the traditional ND grad filter is still a quick and simple way of correcting this problem in-camera.
These square filters are half clear and half dark, and you just position the darker area over the sky to reduce the contrast, and allow your Nikon to keep detail in both the sky and the foreground.
Simplicity is usually achieved by concentrating on one or two elements of the scene, and choosing a solid viewpoint
long exposures
Using a slow shutter speed and blurring moving elements, such as water in your photo, is often simply a by-product of the lighting conditions.
If you want to use a low ISO and narrow aperture in low-light conditions, such as dawn or dusk, then you will have to use a long shutter speed to expose the composition correctly.
Choosing to do this at other times can be a more contentious issue, but it simply comes down to your personal preference and how you want to portray the scene. If you want to use a long shutter speed in brighter conditions you will need to fit a solid ND filter over the lens of your Nikon. These come in different strengths, depending on the effect that you want to achieve. For small changes a one-, two- or three-stop filter will allow you to use a slightly longer shutter speed. Stronger filters, such as the six- or 10-stop (Lee Little and Big Stoppers), will let you use longer exposures, even in bright conditions.
dealing with the weather
The success (or failure) of a landscape shoot depends as much on the weather as the location, composition and light, so the more you can understand how and why the different weather conditions occur, the more likely you’ll be to get the results that you want. You also need to be able to adapt your ideas or expectations when things don’t go quite to plan.
don’t avoid ‘bad’ weather
While we all yearn for the ideal cloud, light and weather conditions, mother nature rarely provides these for every landscape shoot. Most people avoid going out in rain, snow and storms, but if you dress to cope with the elements and learn how to make the most of these conditions, they can produce the most dramatic and rewarding images.
Look out for weather systems that have some breaks or changes forecast, rather than persistent rain, as these breaks will allow you to shoot without getting both yourself and your camera soaked. Then try to capture the rain sweeping across the landscape or dark, moody clouds looming over the sea. Even when there are breaks in the weather you’ll need a waterproof cover to protect your gear; this can be as simple as a strong plastic bag or a dedicated cover that allows access to the controls.
what to shoot on overcast days
The weather doesn’t have to be dramatic to shoot landscapes, but you will have to adapt your ideas to get the best results. In overcast conditions, when the sky is monotone and lacking any detail, you should concentrate more on the details and subtlety of the landscape, rather than the wider views. These are the perfect conditions for capturing waterfalls, as the soft light will help you to avoid dark shadows and blown highlights. It’s also a great time to shoot woodlands or forests, especially if there’s mist, drizzle or fog to add atmosphere to the images.
Predict the weather for perfect sunsets/sunrises
Forecasting the basic weather, let alone the perfect sunrise or sunset, isn’t an exact science. But you should look for weather conditions with broken clouds to the east for sunrise and west for sunset, to allow the sun to break through and light up the landscape and add colour to the sky. I will often try to head out when a weather front is either about to arrive or has just passed, as these can produce some of the most dramatic-looking clouds.
While we all yearn for the ideal cloud, light and weather conditions, mother nature rarely provides these for every landscape shoot
Your processing journey doesn’t start in Photoshop, or Lightroom, it actually starts before you even press the shutter on your Nikon
These will usually occur more often when there are low pressure systems nearby, rather than high pressure, as the latter will usually produce more settled, calm conditions with less cloud. The placid, clear conditions during high pressure can be great for mist and fog, which can be great for shooting landscapes, particularly at sunrise
Post-processing
Processing and tweaking your landscape images isn’t about saving lost causes or altering the image. No, it’s all about matching your final photo to the image of the scene that you envisaged when you initially took the shot. So, your processing journey doesn’t start in Photoshop or Lightroom, it actually starts before you even press the shutter on your Nikon.
When you are looking at a landscape you need to understand how the settings and techniques that you use will translate into your final product. This process starts with the exposure, as you’ll need detail in the highlights and shadows of your Raw image to allow you to bring out the detail when you process it.
white balance
Even though you should have set the appropriate white balance when you took your shots, you can still adjust the settings when you process Raw files. This is
usually the first adjustment that I make to any photograph, mainly because it can have an effect on how to adjust the exposure and other settings later. Once you have set the white balance you can adjust the exposure with the main Highlights and Shadows sliders, along with the White and Black sliders, and the Curves controls.
graduated Filter in lightroom or acr
Even if you have used an ND grad when shooting your landscapes, it’s not always possible to balance the exposure across the whole scene in-camera. This is where the Graduated Filter in both Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw can help you to fine-tune the contrast in your photographs.
The most common adjustment is to lighten the foreground by dragging the filter up from the bottom of the image. Then adjusting the Exposure and Shadows sliders to bring out the detail. With this foreground adjustment you can also add a little warmth to the foreground in dusk or dawn shots, where the foreground is in shadow, by dragging the Temperature slider to the right.
The advantage of this tool, compared to traditional filters, is that in recent versions you can also add or erase areas affected by the filter, to take account of mountains, buildings or other irregular objects.
dodging/burning with the adjustment Brush
Along with the graduated filter tools, you can also alter the brightness, exposure and contrast of individual areas using the Adjustment Brush in Lightroom or ACR. Rather than adjusting set areas, even with the ability to add or erase the effect, these tools allow you to paint over areas that you want to lighten or darken. This was traditionally a black-andwhite darkroom technique, but in Lightroom or ACR it’s just as useful for colour as it is mono images.