The Canon Guide To Landscape Photography PDF
The Canon Guide To Landscape Photography PDF
The Canon Guide To Landscape Photography PDF
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PHOTOGRAPHY
LAND5CAPE
PHOTOGRAPHY
EXPEPTADVICEONTHE
E5TCAMEPA5ETTING5
TAKECONTROL
OFYOURCANON!
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All our experts are regular contributors to D|g|ta| S|P Pnotograpny nagazine. or expert advice
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CONTNT5
1ANNGUDL1LANDSCAPLPH1GRAPHY
7Introductonto|andscapes
Bepreparedtolearnandexploit the
fundanentals of landscapephotography
8Composton
1hekeytechniques youneedtonaster totake
perfect landscapes, includinglead-inlines,
foregroundinterest andnatural franes
20xposure
Master thesesinpletechniques andyou'll beon
your waytowell-exposedlandscapes
24 PPTTUTOPIL APLR1URL-PRR1Y
26XPPTTUTOPIL SHU11LRSPLLDS
28XPPTTUTOPIL WA1LRNLANDSCAPLS
31 5harpness
1hebest techniques for super-sharpscenics
32XPPTTUTOPIL HYPLRCALCUSNG
34XPPTTUTOPIL CUSRSHARPNLSS
36Lghtng
Learnhowtonakethenost of anylighting
condition, fronsunrisethroughtosunset
38XPPTVI 1MLDAY
40XPPTVI MAGCHURoSUNSL1S
42XPPTVI WLA1HLR
44XPPTVI SLASNALLGH1
48Raw8|andscapes
MaxiniseinagequalitybyshootinginRaw
50XPPTVI N1RDUC1N1RAW
52XPPTVI UNDLRS1ANDNGACR
54XPPTTUTOPIL PRCLSSNGRAWLLS
56XPPTTUTOPIL MLRGNGRAWLLS
58 XPPTTUTOPIL LXPSNG11HLRGH1
60F|ters
Uselters toinproveandenhanceyour results
62XPPTVI USNGANNDGRAD
64XPPTVI USNGAPLARSLR
66XPPTVI USNGANNDL1LR
68XPPTVI 1HL1LN-S1PNDL1LR
71Co|our
Learntherelationships of colour olandscapes
72XPPTVI CLUR1HLRY
74XPPTVI WH1LBALANCL
76|ack8whte
Master theart of shootingnonochrone
78XPPTVI 1HLBASCSBoW
80XPPTVI LGH1NGoWLA1HLR
82XPPTVI MNCHRMLCAS1LNLS
84XPPTVI LANDSCAPLS
86PHOTO5HOPTUTOPIL CNvLR1NG1BoW
88XPPTVI PRLD1NG1LCHNULS
91Landscapeprojects
antastictechniques leadingtostunningscenics
92XPPTTUTOPIL S11CHAPANRAMA
94XPPTTUTOPIL SUMMLRLANDSCAPLS
96XPPTTUTOPIL LAvLNDLRLANDSCAPLS
98XPPTTUTOPIL HLA1HLRLANDSCAPLS
100XPPTTUTOPIL CAP1URL1HL
102 XPPTTUTOPIL MS1YMRNNGS
104 XPPTTUTOPIL RCPLRLLLC1NS
106 XPPTTUTOPIL SH1RLALS1CWAvLS
108 XPPTTUTOPIL SH1RUNNNGWA1LR
110 XPPTTUTOPIL ABS1RAC1BLACHSCLNL
112 XPPTTUTOPIL SH1S1AR1RALS
114 XPPTTUTOPIL MNL1LANDSCAPLS
117Photoshoptechnques
SinplePhotoshopstep-by-steps that canbeused
toinproveandenhanceyour landscapeinages
118 PHOTO5HOPTUTOPIL BS1CN1RAS1
120PHOTO5HOPTUTOPIL CN1RLCLUR
122PHOTO5HOPTUTOPIL DRAWU1DL1AL
124PHOTO5HOPTUTOPIL SLLLC1vLLD1NG
126PHOTO5HOPTUTOPIL ADDMS1oMD
128PHOTO5HOPTUTOPIL CLURULSLS
130PHOTO5HOPTUTOPIL DU1NL
132PHOTO5HOPTUTOPIL RLPLACLASY
134PHOTO5HOPTUTOPIL 1LN-S1PLLC1
136PHOTO5HOPTUTOPIL SLASNALBLUR
TURNTOPAG90TOFINDOUTAOUT
OURFANTA5TIC5U5CRIPTIONOFFR5
136Landscapegear
1hebest equipnent for outdoor photography
136ILKIT5FOPPOUIPMNT5
142 OMPPHN5IVLN5T5T5
150XPPTTUTOPIL WDL-ANGLLLLNSLS
152XPPTTUTOPIL 1LLLZMS
154FILTP55TM5PN5
158HOO5INGTHPIGHTTPIPO
160 HOO5INGTHPIGHTG
162Perfect exposures
Cut out anduseour freegreycardl
OFEXPEPT
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CP1URLS1UNNNGLNDSCPLS -weall want tobeableto
doit. antasticlandscapes inspirenorephotographers thanany
other typeof inageandonthefaceof it, well, it shouldbeeasy to
do. indanawesonevista andpoint your canera at it, press the
shutter andthat shoulddothetrick. 1his sinpleapproachwill
probably bagyoua decent snap, but oftentheinageyoucapture
will not dojusticetotheglorious sceneinfront of you. We'veall
beena littlebit disappointedby a photothat doesn't quiteliveup
toour great expectations. 1hediherencebetweena decent snap
anda stunninginageis oftendowntoa fewversatileideas, sone
easily learnedexpert knowledge, theright equipnent choiceand
careful planning. 1his inspirational guidewill provideyouwithan
excellent graspof thesefundanentals andhelpyoutransforn
your shots frontheordinary intosonethingvery special indeed.
TH5IC5
Thebascs HCNONGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
hebascs: omposton
1HNONGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
Thebascs: omposton
TheruIe-of-thirds
his is a sinpleway of organisingtheelenents inthe
franesothat they createa balancedconposition. s a
conpositional tool, it's beenaroundfor a fewcenturies
andis a sinpliedversionof the'goldensection', which
is usedinart andarchitecture.
naginetwovertical lines dividingtheviewnder into
thirds. Nowdothesanewithtwohorizontal lines. You
thenorganisethenainelenents of thepicturewithin
this grid. or exanple, witha sinplelandscape, place
thehorizonononeof thelines sothat youhave
two-thirds landandone-thirdsky, or viceversa.
f youhavea strongfocal point, suchas a treeor
building, youcanplaceit ononeof thepoints wherethe
horizontal andvertical lines intersect. his will nakea
nuchnoredynanicconpositionthanif youwereto
placethefocal point centrally, whichcannakea picture
look rather static. nexperiencedphotographers often
put thesubject right intheniddleandit rarely works.
Movinganelenent of a scenetoa diherent
intersectioncancreatea startlingly diherent inage,
suchis thepower of therule-of-thirds. on't beafraid
toexperinent withdiherent variations ona thene.
PULE-OF-THIPD5GPID: This imagefoIIows theruIe-of-
thirds quitecIoseIy. Thereis approximateIytwo-thirds Iandl
seaandone-thirdsky. TheIighthouseandobeIiskaredivided
bytheIeft verticaI, eachequidistant fromit.
MRNNYother factor, conpositioncanturnan
averageinageintoa nasterpiece. herearea snall
nunber of techniques that, oncelearned, will serveyou
well innany diherent situations.
onposingtheelenents inthefraneis aninportant
skill of takinggreat pictures. Youneedtocarefully
consider howpoints of interest arearrangedandhow
they relatetoeachother inthescene.
Placinga subject centrally inthefraneusually results
ina staticrather thandynanicconposition. Placingthe
subject oh-centreencourages theeyetonovearound
thefranenore. neway of dividingthefraneupto
achieveharnony is tousetherule-of-thirds (see
below). hereis researchtosuggest that our brains are
wiredtondthesearrangenents noreattractive.
omposton
earntheart of conpositionandyou'll be
halfwaytheretotakingbrilliant photos
1HNONGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
Thebascs: omposton
utt
s thewo s thee-nenson ut photogphs two-
nenson, oneo thennesons tht nscpenges s tht
they ont convey thesenseo epththt ou eyes see. otuntey,
theee ewconposton tcks tht wecnenpoy toget oun
ths the usttngttepoen.
vey ehectvewy toceteepthn photogphs toncue
stongoegoun, otennconunctonwth we-ngeens.
nphssngtheoegoun nths wy w epthtothepctuey
cetngnenty-pont o theeye, pungthevewe ntothescene
ngvngthepctue senseo stncensce.
e-ngeenses hepths technqueecusethey stetch
pespectve, exggetngtheeenents cosetotheens nopenng
uptheveweyontheoegoun.
But eceu, ths cnesut nthenestnceookngenpty
n ckngnnteest sothetck s toshoot onowe vewpont.
hs conpesses thenestnce, sotht theesnt toonuch
enpty spcentheconposton. ou soneetousesn petue
n ocus ceuy tonxnseepth-o-e, keepngoegoun
n stnt oects nocus (we expnhowtooths te).
Lead-inIines
Lines represent depthina pictureandcanbeusedtoleadyour eyeinto
thepictureandguideit aroundthescene. Lines areeverywhere.
nan-nade, suchas roads, paths andhedgerows, or natural, suchas
rivers or thecoastline. ll will adddynanisntoyour photographs. Lines
don't havetobereal, they canbeinpliedlikethepatterns createdby
waves over a longishexposure, or objects pointingintothefrane.
Lots of things canbringlinear energy intoyour work.
Straight, converginglines arevery dynanicandcangivea lot of inpact
toa picture, but thereis always thedanger that theeyefollows thelines into
andthenvery quickly out of thefraneagain. Pictures withonly converging
lines night haveinnediateinpact, but canstill beunsatisfying. t's a good
idea totry toplacesoneobject of interest withinthefrane-a gureor a
tree, for exanple-togivetheeyesonethingtosettleonwithinthescene.
Lines that curvegently inan'S' shapelack theinnediateinpact of
straight, converginglines, but canresult ina noresatisfyinginage.
1hey canleadtheeyegently throughthewholepicture, allowingthe
viewer totakeinother elenents withintheconposition.
Layers andpIanes
nother in-canera techniquethat canbeusedtoadddepthtoan
inageis thecreationof a layers. Layers inaninagecanbecreatedby
havinga series of overlappingshapes, likethehills inthis inage, right,
or by strongside-lighting, creatingalternatebands of light andshade
that cancreatetheehect of layers of light.
1his kindof techniqueworks particularly well withlonger lenses that
conpress perspectiveandstack overlappingforns. achlayer, or
plane, appears thinner andcloser tothenext, exaggeratingtheehect.
Just renenber longer lenses produceless depth-of-eldsoyou'll
needtousesnaller apertures, suchas fiI6, if elenents areinthe
foregroundor near theniddledistance.
1his shot was takenat dawnnear LyneRegis usinga/0-200nn
zoonat aroundI00nn. 1helonger focal lengthconpresses the
distances betweenthelayers andthestrong, directional light helps
enphasisethelayers -theearlynorningnist adds bags of atnosphere.
GETTINGITPIGHT: ThecowparsIeyandgorsemakeattractiveforegrounds to
IeadtheeyeintothesceneandprovidesuitabIeframes for theviewbeyond.
Awide-angIeIens andasmaII apertureof fl22providepIentyof depth-of-eId.
IGFOPEGPOUNDOP5MALLDETAIL: It's not aIways necessarytohavea
Iargeforeground, coIour, textureandpatterncanprovideforegroundinterest.
This carpet of owers is as ehectiveas thestrongshapes of rocks, opposite.
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Conpositionis all about
what youchoose toinclude
inthe frane -andalso
what youchoose toleave
out. ften, less is nore and
conpositions that are
unclutteredcanbe the
nost successful
Thebascs: omposton
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Thk dheret|y
LWCvs nnrov
tnt nttoyour ns
turs s w s nns
Wnyoutn of nns wt
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nvrnnro ny strn Wt
out sows footrnts ous t
ostn wnows rs rs ts or
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turor towrs fo ont ttr
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ytosttwtntsn ut otn
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ostrt ntotntrof ttur
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nny vrtons tt nvjust s nu
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strt ns quy rwtytot
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troutn rt ns sot fron
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tort of tur s tts wrt
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ntsnrton ts vry nortnt to
try totnnts wtnsn
onnt s ny r ntfowof the
linewill leavetheconpositionfeeling
disjointedandallowtheviewer's gazeto
wander ainlessly inandout of thefrane.
Youcanenhanceyour lead-inlines
dependingonwhat viewpoint andlens you
choose, as bothcaneither fattenor stretch
perspective. 1henost dynanicdistortionof
lead-inlines is convergingverticals.
Convergingdiagonal lines createapowerful
inpressionof distanceanddepth, especially
if they convergeintothecentreof thefrane
andrunparallel toeachother. By standingin
theniddleof then, you'll ndthat the
further thelines areaway fronthecanera,
thecloser they get toeachother, creating
what's knownas avanishingpoint when
they join. wide-anglelens cangreatly
enhancethis ehect as it stretches
perspective-sothelines seenwider at the
start andnarrower inthedistance-whereas
atelephotolens conpresses perspective
andhinders thefeelingof depth.
Lead-inIines don't haetobestraight or Iead
toafocaI oint: theIinecanaIsobetheinterest
intheicture. Notehowyour eyeis Iedthrough
thescenebythewintrytree-Iinedroad.
2) WhenusingconergingerticaIs, youneed
toget theentiresceneinfocus. 5et thecamera
onatriod, seIect asmaII aerture(fl11-fl22) and
focus onthehyerfocaI distancefor maximum
deth-of-eId.
3) 5imIecomositions cansometimes bethe
most ehectie. Thinkabout creatingagrahic
coastaI Iandscaewithnothingmorethan
groynes or aier as aIead-inIine. yconnecting
it tothehorizon, too, it means theiewer's gaze
is Iedintothefar reaches of thesceneandIed
out of theframebythehorizonIine.
4) DiagonaI Iines canbeusedtodrawthegaze
frombottomIeft totoright, wheretheeye
naturaIIygraitates, as inthis coastaI Iandscae
wheretheIines of rocks conergetowards the
stunningsunset sky.
5) Thefenceinthis ictureis usedas aneat
deicetodrawtheeyeintowards thefocaI oint:
theeIeatedcastIeinthedistance.
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Lead-|es
Master oneof thenost inportant
conpositional tools. lead-inlines
Thebascs: mst
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1
5hadows Texture Footrints
1ryphotographinglead-inlines frondiherent
angles. Younayndthat photographingthelines
enteringthefraneat anangleworks better than
if youcapturedthenstartingwithinthefrane.
1heoppositecanbetrue, too. 1rydiherent
perspectives. get lowtothegroundfor extrene
convergingverticals. 1ilt thecanerauptosee
what vertical lines youcanndandtrytoelevate
your positionbystandingonabridge, for instance.
boveall, keepyour eyes andyour nindopenfor
less obvious linear aspects anddon't forget the
other guidelines for conposition, including
foregroundinterest andtherule-of-thirds.
1HNONGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
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xmsedepth-of-fe|d
1here's nopoint includingfantastic
foregroundif it's out of focus, what youneed
is enoughdepth-of-eldfor front-to-back
sharpness. s aruleof thunb, if youusea
canerawithanPS-Csensor withafocal
lengtharoundI6-I8nn, focus thelens ona
point I.5nfronthecanera, stopdownto
fiII andeverythingwill besharpfronaround
/5cntoinnity. or wider focal lengths inthe
I0-I5nnrange, focus onapoint onenetre
away, stopdowntofiII andeverythingwill
besharpfronaround50cntoinnity. or
full-franeDSLRs withafocal lengthinthe
24-28nnrange, focus onapoint I.5n
away, stopdowntofiI6anddepth-of-eld
will extendfronaround/5cntoinnity. or
wider lenses intheI6-20nnrange, focus
onIn, stopdowntofiI6andyou'll get
depth-of-eldfronaround50cntoinnity.
Basically, tonaxinisedepth-of-eldwith
wide-anglelenses, youneedtofocus ona
point relativelyclosetothecanera, nany
photographers focus further intothescene,
resultinginanunsharpinage.
, but theyaIways IendthemseIves
beautifuIIytoframeafocaI oint. It works
articuIarIyweII withthis churchbecausethe
detaiI intheframecomIements thesubject.
2) Thinkabout symmetrywhenIookingfor
naturaI frames, it is aIways Ieasingtotheeye.
Eventhemost simIeof arrangements can
createimact, as seenhere.
3) UsingnaturaI frames is agreat wayof adding
foregroundinterest toascene. WhiIethecastIeis
thefocaI oint inthis image, it's thedramatic
sikes that addimact for theviewer.
4) Your subject doesn't havetoII theframetobe
striking-heretheextrasaceinfact heIs to
frameanddrawemhasis tothesmaII chaeI. Try
usingsubtIebut grahicshaes intheIandscae,
suchas cIouds or hiIIs, toimroveyour
comosition-simIycentringthechurchwouId
faiI tocreatethesameenergyas it does here.
Thinkoutsidetheboxandyou'II begintosee
frames inthemost unIikeIyIaces.
5) Thedarkframehereis astrikingcontrast tothe
Iighter scenebeyond. Lookfor diherences in
coIour toemhasiseyour frameandaddimact.
ehectiveways to
produceatight, structuredconpositionis by
franingthesceneor subject you'reshooting.
Not onlydoes this helptodirect theviewer's
eyetowards thenost inportant part of the
picture, but franes canalsobeusedtohide
uninterestingareas, suchas abroadexpanse
of enptysky. Natural franes canbeusedin
all types of photography, but areaboundin
thelandscapeif youkeepyour eyes peeled.
Whenyouthink of natural franes, what
cones tonind 1heoverhangingbranches
of atreeareperhaps thenost obvious. gap
betweentrees that franes adistant focal
point Howabout overhangingclihs or the
entrancetoacave nthecoast, thegaps
betweenrock outcrops or clihs canbeused
tofranethebeachandseabeyond.
1heseareall fairly obvious options, but if
youstart tothink laterally, other ideas will
present thenselves. or exanple, theshape
of ahillsideor nountaincanbeusedto
franefeatures positionedinfront of it.
louds inthesky canact likeafrane, too
-containingelenents onthegroundand
forcingtheeyedowntowards then.
Whenshootingusingafraneandthesun
is behindyou, light will fall ontotheentire
scene, soeverythingwill beof asinilar
brightness andshouldrecordnoreor less as
youseeit. f you'reshootingintothelight,
however, or thesunis tothesideof the
canera's position, thenainpart of thescene
nay bewell lit, but littleor nolight will fall
directly ontothefraneandit will recorddark
or evenas asilhouette. f thefraneandthe
scenebeyondit is evenly lit, youshouldn't
experienceany problens obtaining
well-exposedinages. f you'restandingin
theshadowof thefrane, however,
overexposureis likely. f this proves tobethe
case, stepbeyondthefraneandout of the
shade, takeanexposurereading, set it on
your canerausingtheL-ock or by
shootinginnanual exposurenode, and
don't changeanythingonceyoureconpose
withthefraneincluded. lternatively, takea
shot fronyour shootingposition, check the
previewinageandhistogran, thenapply
negativeor positiveexposureconpensation
as requiredandretakeyour exposure.
inally, if youwant thefraneandthe
scenebeyondtoberenderedinfocus,
select a snall lens aperture, suchas fiI3, and
usehyperfocal focusingtonaxinise
depth-of-eld(seepage32for details).
lternatively, by settinga wideaperturesuch
as fi4andfocusingonthescenebeyondthe
frane, depth-of-eldwill bereducedso
that thefraneitself is thrownout of focus
andall attentionis directedtowards your
nainsubject.
or ideas, inspirationandinfornationonhowtoinproveyour
landscapepictures byusingenvironnental franes, readon...
Howoenaa| fame
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Wde-ang|eoe|ephoo?
1heehect thefranehas onthe
conpositionis partlydeterninedbyyour
lens choice. Wide-anglelenses stretch
perspectivesotheapparent distance
betweentheelenents inasceneis
increased. f younoveclosetoanatural
frane, youcanincludeit intheshot, but
you'll still get aclear viewof thescene
beyond. 1elephotolenses havethe
oppositeehect -theyconpress
perspectivesotheelenents inascene
appear closer together. 1his nakes then
less suitedtoshootingnatural franes,
thoughtheycanbehandyat tines if
you'reunabletoget closetoanehective
franeandyou'rehappyfor thescene
beyondthefranetobenoreselective.
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Wide-angIe
1HNONGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
Thebascs: xsure
xsure
LRs haveextrenelyaccurate, nulti-zoneneteringsystens withahistogranfunctiontohelpus
checkaccurateexposure, sogettingit right has never beeneasier. However, totakenorecreativecontrol,
youneedtotakethings intoyour ownhands. Hereareafewtechniques for perfect exposures
1 his is ha hecaeras Ii-eeer
caepih, ih heaid aIrai. he
sceeis highicras, adhecaerahas
srggIedcapreaII heaI irai.
p eer readigs rhease hecrss
adheskreeaIedadiereceirighess
a 4.5sps. eigaepsrer heIad,
I eda.9grad(hreesps adpIIedi
deIhehriheedge hedarkes
shadarea. I sedas gradsha i Id
c aIieihecrss. s hereis seIss
deaiI iherigher pars hesk, I redcedhe
epsrehirds aspadresh.
3 heresI is ha heiagehas ee
'epsedherigh (seeer hepager
deaiIs, ih 'cIippig hehighIighs. he
hisgrashs ha herearesiII darkes,
aIspIe iraiihepseci, ad
cIippedshads.
4 sraigh cersi heaIeIks dII,
hepicreIacks cras. r heaI ersi, Ie
rgh heepsredsIighIadadded
recras, especiaIIiheshads,
recreaehedraa herigiaI scee. IeaIs
eakedhehieaIaceaddarhad
icreasedhesarai.
5 r cparisprpses, I aIskash ha
as derepsedesp. s casee, is
Ie heshads ddadIackigideaiI.
Markaer
was lookingfor anunusual viewof
CorfeCastleinDorset, so sauntered
alongtothis graveyardinthevillage.
Havingfoundaconpositionbased
aroundoneof thecrosses, thenext
problenwas sortingout theexposure. Here's
how tackledthechallenge.
MI-TONMTRIN
Meteringsystens indigital caneras are
calibratedtoanI8grey nid-tone. Basing
exposurereadings onanid-tonesuchas grass
is agoodstartingpoint for accurateexposures
xse crrect|y
hads
1hesetwoexanples onthe
right showwhyit's not a
goodideatounderexpose
your shot andthentryto
openuptheshadows
duringpost-processing.
1henearest inageis around
onestopunderexposed(to
naintainhighlight detail)
andtheshadowcurvehas
beenpulleduptonatchthe
exposureinthecorrectly
exposedversiononthe
right. s youcansee, not
onlyis thereposterisationin
theshadows, rather than
snoothtonal transitions,
andtons of noise, but also
thesensor has recorded
signicantlyless detail.
Uderepsed rrec epsre
1HNONGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
4 5
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Thebascs: xposure
posurefor ostI Indspes
chivinthcoct posuincoastal shots canba bit ticki
thanfo inlandlandscaps, as thasval thins that canfool th
canas ntinsstn-fo anpl, biht hihlihts onat o
biht hitfoan avs canladtoundposu. nthoth
hand, if ouhavchosna la, dak ock fo ou foound, this
couldcausthcana toovpos. oundtokpanout
fo an laaas of paticulal biht o dak tons andappl
posuconpnsationaccodinl. t is oodpactictochck th
histoanaft achshot andbppadtoshoot if ncssa.
1hcanalsobahuanof contast ithinan onscn, ith
biht skis, dak ocks andbiht hihlihts onat. utal nsit
() aduatlts assntial, anddpndinonthconditions and
thbihtnss of thsk andsalativtoou foound, ouna
ndtopull thaddonv lointhfan. 1his couldvnb
blothhoion, tothtopof ou foound. f oudont, ou
niht ndupithacoctl posdsk andfooundithaband
of ov-biht at inthniddlof thpictu. Sowhenneteringthe
scenetochoosethestrengthandplacenent of thelter, renenber to
takereadings frontheforeground, sky andsea.
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Longexposures
posingtocapturemovement
neof thegreat things about takingphotos
bytheseais theopportunities it gives for
capturingthenovenent of waves and
addingatnosphere. nlowlight, withthe
lens stoppeddowntoextenddepth-of-eld,
longexposures areanecessity. 1heynay
rangefronseveral seconds toninutes,
dependingonlightingconditions. s waves
washaroundrocks or upanddownthe
shorewhiletheshutter is open, theywill
recordas aronantic, nysterious nist. 1o
capturethedranaof waves breakingonthe
shore, speeds of Ii4secor slower workwell.
1HNONGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
Tbac: xpu 1HNONGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
ta: atccxpu
ranis a two-dinensional graph, oftenresenblinga rangeof nountain
peaks, whichrepresents aninage's tonal extent. While, at rst glance, histograns night appear
conplex andconfusing, they'reactually very sinpletoread. 1hey areanessential aidfor digital
photographers strivingtoachieveconsistently correct exposures in-canera andarea nore
accuratenethodof assessingexposurethanlookingat inages you'vetakenonthenonitor.
1herefore, if you'renot already inthehabit of regularly reviewingyour inages' histograns, it is tine
youdidso. Withour guide, youwill soonfeel condent assessinghistograns.
What is ahistogram?histogranis a visual representationof aninage's tonal range. 1he
horizontal axis indicates thepicture's extent fronpureblack (0, far left) topurewhite(225, far right).
1hevertical axis shows hownany pixels havethat particular value. ookingat aninage's
histogran, youcantell whether thepictureis nadeupof predoninantly light, dark or nid-tones.
lthoughits appearanceis alsodictatedby thecolour andtoneof thesubject, a histogranwitha
largenunber of pixels (or a sharppeak) groupedat either edgeis anindicationof poor exposure.
or exanple, a histogranwitha largenunber of black pixels (groupedtotheleft) oftensignies
underexposureandthat subject detail will beobscuredintheshadowareas. largenunber of
pixels groupedtotheright of thehistogrannornally indicates anoverexposedinage. 1heinage's
highlights will burnout (or 'clip') andthis detail is irretrievable. graphwitha narrowpeak inthe
niddleandno(or few) black or whitepixels indicates aninagelackingcontrast.
5owhat shouIdahistogramIookIike?1his is a tricky onetoanswer. espitewhat sonepeople
nay say, thereis nosuchthingas theperfect histogran. t sinply tells us howa pictureis exposed,
allowingphotographers todecidewhether -andhow-toadjust exposuresettings. 1herefore, a
histogranof a light scenewill bevery diherent frononewithpredoninantly black tones or one
witha nix of both. owever, generally speaking, a histogranshouldshowa goodspreadof tones
across thehorizontal axis, withthenajority of pixels positionednear totheniddle(I00,
nid-point). Nornally, it is desirabletoavoidpeaks totheright-handsideof thegraph, as this is
usually anindicationof 'burnt out' (overexposed) highlights, resultinginlost detail.
Whenassessinga histogran, it is inportant toconsider thebrightness of thesubject itself. or
exanple, a sceneor subject boastinga largepercentageof light or dark tones -likesnowor a
silhouette-will naturally haveanehect ontheoverall look of theresultinggraph. 1herefore, while
it is possibletonakereconnendations, it is inpossibletogeneraliseabout what is andisn't a good
histogran. Whileanevenspreadof pixels throughout thegreyscaleis oftenconsidereddesirable,
youwill alsoneedtouseyour ownknowledgegainedthroughexperience.
HowdoI checkanimage's histogram?Most anondigital SRs allowyoutoviewthehistogran
onthenonitor duringplayback. 1odothis, press theplayback buttontoviewtheinageand
thencyclethroughtheadditional photoinfoscreens until thehistogranis displayed. Makethis
your default settingsoyoucanquickly access thehistogranandassess exposureinnediately
after takingthepicturewhenrequired. f thehistogranindicates underexposure, apply positive
exposureconpensation. f pixels aregroupedtotheright-handsideandtheinageappears
overexposed, dial innegativeconpensation. Usingthehistogranis a far norereliablenethodof
assessingexposurethanlookingat inages onthe screen, particularly whentryingtoview
inages outdoors inbright light whenthelight refectingfronthecanprovedeceptive.
Peaks totheIeft: Thehistogramis skewedtothe
Ieft. Thedarkbackdropmeans manyof thepixeIs
areinshadowareas, but theimageis weII exposed.
Perfect exposure: typicaI Iandscapescenegives
aso-caIIed'perfect histogram' as it has agood
spreadof tones andpeaks throughthemid-tones.
Peaks totheright: weII-exposedshot of anoverIy
Iight scenegives ahistogramskewedtotheright,
muchIikethat of anoverexposedimage.
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Most SRs aredesignedwithaplayback
functionknownas the'highlights screen'.
Whilehistograns provideagraphic
illustrationof aninage's tonal extent,
helpingyouassess exposureoverall, the
highlights screen-or highlights alert -helps
photographers toavoidhighlights burning
out. Whiteor verylight subjects indirect
sunlight areespeciallypronetothis.
histogranwithasharppeaktothefar right
nornallyindicates areas of overexposure.
owever, thehighlights alert actually
identies thepixels that exceedthevaluefor
purewhite(255). 1hosepixels arenot givena
value, neaningtheycannot beprocessed
andareehectivelydiscarded, havingno
detail or infornationrecorded. Whenthe
inageis reviewedonthe, thepixels
fallingoutsidethecanera's dynanicrange
fashor blink, providingaquickandgraphic
illustrationof wherepicturedetail is 'burned
out' anddevoidof detail. 1orectifythis, set
negativeexposureconpensationsothat the
next inageis recordeddarker. canera's
highlights alert is not always switchedonby
default. onsult your nanual andswitchit
onwhenyoufeel this typeof exposure
warningwouldproveuseful, nornallyit's via
thecanera's PlaybackMenu.
Thebascs: xposure 1HNONGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
xposetotherght
'Exposingtotheright' is fast becomingawidely acceptedapproachtohelp
maximiseimagequality -althoughit only applies if youshoot inRaw. Withthis
techniqueyouenectively pushexposuresettings as closetooverexposureas
possiblewithout actually clippingthehighlights. Theresult is ahistogramwith
themajority of pixels groupedtotheright of themid-point -hencethename
'exposetotheright'. So, whenyou'reconhdent youunderstandexposures
well enough, givethis techniqueatry andpushtheexposureas far totheright
of thehistogramas youcan, without clippingthehighlights. Theimagewill
probably lookalittlelight onceintheRawconverter, but this is easily
correctedwiththebrightness andcontrast controls, andwill givemuchbetter
results thantryingtolightenadarker image.
CCDandCMOSsensors count light inalinear fashion. Most digital SLRs
recorda12-bit imagecapableof recording4,096tonal values over six stops.
8ut thetonal values arenot spreadevenly across thesix stops, eachstop
records half thelight of theprevious one. So, half of thelevels aredevotedto
thebrightest stop(2,048, half of theremainder (1,024levels aredevotedto
thenext stopandsoon. As aresult, thelast anddarkest of thesix stops only
boasts 64levels. This might seemconfusingbut, simply, if youdonot properly
usetheright sideof thehistogram, whichrepresents themajority of tonal
values, youarewastinguptohalf of theavailableencodinglevels. If you
deliberately underexposetoensuredetail is areretainedinthehighlights -
acommonpracticeamongmany digital photographers -youarepotentially
losingalargepercentageof thedatathat canbecaptured.
ainimageinset: Exposuretotheright of thehistogramwiII
capturemaximumdetaiI andminimumnoise. OnceinthePaw
converter, theimagewiII IooktooIight andwashedout, sousethe
rightness andContrast controIs toadjust theimage's appearance.
R
TOPTIP
CoIour histograms
Sone SLRs allowyouthe
optiontoviewseparate
histograns for the red,
greenandblue channels.
You're better ohignoring
this optionandusing the
standardgreyscale
histogran
1HGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
ts ts nnust
llows youtowprtur(inunr) youwnt
toustotk potorp wltnr
utontlly sts torrsponnsuttr sp
sonlt lvls tovtorrt xposur. n
otr wors t lts youprortstprturslton
nt ooss tsuttr spornly.
s tlns prturs tnost nfuential factor over
depth-of-eld(thezoneof focus) ina photograph,
aperture-priority nodeis thenost practical shooting
nodeif youarephotographinga subject or situationin
whichcontrol over depth-of-eldis inportant.
Landscapephotography is thebest exanple. Generally,
whenshootinglandscapes, you'll want tonakesureyour
depth-of-eldis broadenoughtorecordthewhole
sceneinfocus, frontheinnediateforegroundtoinnity,
whichneans that you'll needtoset a snall aperture, such
as fiII. perture-priority nodelets youdothis easily,
becauseyouhavetoactively set therequiredaperture.
Whenshootingportraits, theoppositetends toapply
-youwant shallowdepth-of-eldsothat your subject is
recordedinfocus but thebackgroundis thrownout of
focus. 1hat neans nakingsureyoutakethepicturewitha
wideaperturesuchas fi4or fi2.8, whichagainis easy
whenshootinginaperture-priority nodebecauseit's you
andnot thecanera that decides whichaperturetouse.
1hat said, youcanstill control whichapertureis set
usingother exposurenodes, but it just requires a slightly
diherent (andlonger) way of working. nshutter-priority
(1v) node, for exanple, youneedtochangetheshutter
speeduntil thecanera sets theapertureyouwant. n
progrannode, youcanusetheprogranshift functionto
changetheapertureandshutter conbinationthat the
canera has set until youget theright aperture.
Whereaperture-prioritynodetrunps other nodes is
that onceyou'veset anaperture, thecanerawon't change
it, evenif light levels fuctuate. nstead, theshutter speed
adjusts tonaintainthecorrect exposure. 1his wouldn't be
thecaseif youset shutter-priority-if light levels change,
your caneragives shutter speedpriority, autonatically
adjustingtheaperturetonaintaincorrect exposure, andso
your control over depth-of-eldis dininished. Sinilarly, in
progrannode, thecanerawouldchangetheaperturei
shutter speedconbinationinresponsetochanginglight.
perture-priority nodeis alsohandy for general use, ie
whenyou'rewandering, shootinganythingthat takes
your fancy, suchas architecture, details, abstracts or
candids. epth-of-eldrequirenents will vary depending
ontheshot -oneninuteyouneedlots, thenext as little
as possible-but youcanalter it quickly withthefick of
thecanera's input dial, andtheviewnder display will
keepyouinfornedof exactly whichaperture(and
correspondingshutter speed) you'reusing.
!
OFPEPTUPE5: Withdepth-of-eIdhaingsuchanehect onthenaI image, it's
nosurprisethat manyexperiencedphotographersrateaperture-prioritymodeastheir faourite
mode. Thesetwoshots showhowdiherent apertures canproduceerydiherent resuIts.
Sowhat is it that nakes aperture-priority
nodenoreuseful thananyof theother
exposurenodes for takingpictures of
landscapesReadon-all will berevealed
Howother
exposure
nodes work
We'vealready established
that inaperture-priority
node, youset thedesired
apertureandthecanera
sets theacconpanying
shutter speedtogivethe
correct exposure. Here's
a quick rundownof how
theother nodes work.
FuII-automode
1hecanerasets the
shutter speedand
aperturetoachievethe
correct exposure.
Youcan't changethe
conbinationtousea
specicapertureor
shutter speed.
Programmode
Progranworks ina
sinilar waytofull auto,
but youcanusuallyalter
theapertureishutter
speedconbinationif
youneedtousea
specicapertureor
shutter speed.
5hutter-priority
Youset theshutter
speedandyour
canerasets the
appropriateaperture.
f light levels change,
thesaneshutter
speedis usedandthe
aperturechanged.
MeteredmanuaI
Younanuallyset both
theapertureand
shutter speed
independentlyof
eachother, soneither
changes unless you
adjust then, evenif
light levels fall or rise.
5ubject modes
1heseprogran
nodes aretailoredto
suit aspecicsubject,
withvarious canera
functions likethe
, fashand
exposuresystens
set accordingly.
fl4 fl22
5ettgaerture-rrtymde
hoosingaperture-priority nodeis sinple-all youneedto
dois turnyour exposuredial (or insonecases pushthe
exposurenodebutton) andselect v. Your anonS SLR
will thenbeset toaperture-priority nodeandall youneedto
dois rotatethesnall adjustnent dial (foundeither onthe
handgripor onthetop-right corner of therear of your canera)
tochangeyour aperture. f youlightly depress theshutter
buttontoactivatetheexposuresysten, youcankeepa check
ontheshutter speedthecanera has selected.
R
t at fl22
ioritymode
aIIows photographers to
controI howmuchof the
sceneis sharpIyinfocus.
TOPTIP
pertureincrements
Most caneras allowyouto
change the apertures in
Ii2-stopincrenents. Check
the custonfunctionnenu
inyour canera -nany
nodels alsoallowyoutoset
it toIi3-stopincrenents
if yousowish
hebascs: xposure
LNDSCPP1RPRS understndly ivepriority to
apertures, but insonesituations, theshutter speedis just as inportant to
capturetheehect of novenent withina scene. Duetotherelationship
betweenapertures andshutter speeds, youcanprioritisea slowshutter
speedandstill naintainsharpness by naxinisingdepth-of-eldwitha
snaller aperture. 1ypically thenarrower theaperture, thelonger the
shutter speed. By settingyour canera toshutter-priority (1) node, you
canselect your desiredlengthof tine, whileyour canera adjusts the
apertureaccordingly for a correct exposure. Sowhy choosetheshutter
speedrather thantheaperture Well, settingtheslower speedneans
anythingnovingwhenyouretheshutter, suchas fowingwater or
foliageblowinginthewind, is capturedas a soft blur, whileanything
static, likea fenceor rock, renains infocus. 1heehect of settinga long
exposureis togiveinages extra depthanddinensionwhileillustratinga
senseof novenent. 1heresult is usually closer tohowyourenenber
thescene, rather thana lifeless inageof grass withevery bladeinfocus.
But renenber. evendigital caneras canbefooled. Becareful not to
overexposeaninagewhenshooting, for exanple, a eldof golden
sweepinggrass intheeveningsun. s youlower theshutter speed, the
canera's chosenaperturewill eventually fash, indicatingthat theinage
will beoverexposed. Youcan, of course, check theinageandthe
histogranontheLCDnonitor for blown-out highlights.
or evenslower shutter speeds andtoelevateyour photography to
another level, uselters. polariser cuts out refections anddarkens blue
skies togiveclouds that 'wow' factor, as well as reduces theanount of
light reachingyour sensor by twostops. Youcanenhancenovenent
andblur by usinga Neutral Density lter. a neutral grey lter that doesn't
ahect colour balancebut has theehect of reducingtheanount of light
passingthroughit, allowingyoutoselect slower shutter speeds.
or optinunresults, shoot at dawnanddusk andusea tripod. Shoot
ondarker, cloudy days, andlet naturework for you-less light neans
slower shutter speeds. nwindy days, hangyour canera bagfronthe
tripodtokeepyour outt stable, andusea renotereleaseiself-tiner and
nirror lock-uptoavoidcontact withthecanera duringtheexposure.
Wait for thewind, opentheshutter andwatchyoudon't get blownawayl
5hutter speeds
8|andscapes
ariser adNDgrad:
Here, apariser adaNDgradter
has beeusedthdbacthebright
syadesureawe-baaced, g
expsure. Thesef-tier was usedt
reducetherisf caerashae.
5hutter speedcparis:
Thees (10-22set t13) was
fcusedthegrass ithefregrud,
thetheshutter speedwas chagedi
asequecefr1l50sect1.6
secds. Ntehwthegrass gets re
burryas theshutter speedbeces
swer. Our favuriteiagefrthe
sequeceis thegest expsure, 1.6
secds, as it captures thest
reaisticsesef veet.
Fna| mage
DustaburghCaste, Nrthuberad.
Theveet ithefregrudadds
ttheipact f theiage. Usethe
histgraadtheiagetheLCD
previewscreetchectheexpsure
adfr aycippedhighights.
Expsure: I.3seconds at fi29(S0I00).
Learnhowslowshutters speedcanaddenergy
andnovenent toyour landscapeinages
1l50sec 1l20sec 1l10sec
l5sec 0.3sec 0.8sec 1.6seconds
hbscs pos 1HGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
1sutt spyouustocaptuwat wll
pnona nub o actos ts ovn,
owqucly ts ovn, owuco t t
s, anwt youwant tostopt ato
zts ovnt o lt t blu.
o bwatalls anbanwavs a
sutt spo IiI000Ii200scwll
uaantyouzvy oplt. o
astfownvs ansall watalls l
ts onpctu ty Ii200Ii500sc
wlo slow vs anstas
IiI25Ii250scsoulottc.
Wnt cos toblun onsconwll
ava ooct onbwatalls o ty two
scons o sall watalls. Rvs an
stas na slow spo twotoou
scons touyoucanoucslow
tnto20scons youl.
vxposucanba poblwnla
volus o wat aconcntatnctan
aas sopanyontstoaanus
a slow sp youstat toclptlts.
o coastal scns ontotwoscons wll
blu wavs wl20to30scons wll
pouca ly ct.
WLRLN1SURL youvv notc but t
ajoty o stunnnlanscapas usually
avsooo wat ntscn. Wt
ts as subtlas a sall v tclntouo
as obvous as a onatnsa na coastal
sascap wat psnts a y lnt n
any lanscapas.
no tanasons o ts s bcaus
wat s suca potoapcally plabl
lnt. By usnlts anio anpulatn
tsutt sp ts possbltocowat
nall ann o ways oznts
ovnt sooplts asuspnna
tousna lonxposutotansot ntoan
tal st. Wlpotntally causn
pobls wtou xposu tfctv
natuo wat alsoplays ts pat npovn
as too. nays wts lttlo no
wn by antoa la svo o any
ot laboy o wat ts possblto
pouca stnsult by captuna clan
fctono tscnonts suac. 1
possblts ont stoptvs canb
usas stonlanlns toutscn
o alonwttls o scluocpools
anannstas lttwtocs
canoly ctvoounntst.
1lst s nlss but wcov t
bascs o sutt sps wnsootnwat
as wll as ta tat soulat asy to
taonou lanscappojcts statnonpa
9I. Wat ayouwatno Gt xplon
hbscsk||sfor shootng
water n|andscapes
ts all about tcnquantt a wnsootnstunnnwat
scncs bppaboyouantotat outoos
ssenta| gear
hoosngshutter speeds
Tripod: Wn
sootnwat youll
bloontous
sall aptus
toaxspto
lantslowsutt
sps quyouto
ptcaa stabl
toavosa. Cc out tssntal t
sctonlat nts uo avcont
bst tpos tobuy o outoo potoapy
watv you but.
5pirit IeveI: you
tpot as a spt
lvl ust tonsu
ozons avnyou
ont want tospn
as nPotosop
lvllnt youcan
avot at tpctu
tansta. tws buy a bascI0
spt lvl toslpntoa otsoo tat
yousl toa uny 30Sculncton
vl (www.nto2020.co.u).
Wide-angIezoom:
nultawzool
a I22o sla s
al as t allows youto
ll toounwt
wat anlv plnty
o ptolo
scns tat asap
touout. 1Sa I020lns
costnaoun00 s uly popula u
tots xcllnt poancanvaluo
ony pcta.
Photobackpack:
Wnyouwalno
ls anls onn a
cnt potocat
bacpac s a a btt
(anco)opton
o potctnyou
pscous potot tan
a otall at ba. 1oswtan
allwat cov wll o supo
potctonowat antot
lnts. 1untopaI0o ou top
baconatons.
CIothing: 1s
notnwostan
slppnntoa v an
avntospntay
nwt clots. Wa
cnt ootwa o
putablbans sucas
Baus ancons
watpoo touss o ats
obans sucas Paao as ty
allowyoutostpntovs anstay y.
FiIters: you
sous about lanscap
potoapy tll pay to
nvst na slotnlt
syst. Cons Psyst
(www.nto2020.co.u)
psnts at valuo
ony wl qualty s
paaount lootolts supbI00
systtcoco tpossonals
(www.llts.co). polas lps
boost bluss anlv cla fctons
otwats suac. 0.o 0.9NDlt
(not NDa) s alsowotconsn as
t wll allowyoutouslonsutt sps n
aylt toblu ovnwat.
1l20sec
1l60sec
0.4seconds
water |ke a pro
iccoastIines aretheperfect
pIacetoput theoryintopracticewhen
it comes tophotographingscenes
withwater. FoIIowour adviceonthe
gear touse, thetechniques totryand
thesettings tomakeandyou'II soon
betakingIandscapeimages Iikeapro.
hss: hrpnss
hefundanentals of focusing, depth-of-eldandcanerashaketovastlyinproveyour photography
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MGNLYU'vLCUSLDonanobject that is venetres away. How
sharpwill sonethingbeat sixnetresr evenve-and-a-half netres
1heanswer is governedbythedepth-of-eld. thedistanceeither sideof
thepoint of focus that is deenedtobeacceptablyinfocus. s longas
youcontrol theapertureyouareshootingat, you'reincontrol of
depth-of-eld, andyoucanuseit creatively. 1herewill beoccasions
whenyoudon't want nuchof it at all, andyou'll get that ehect by
shootingwithalargeaperturelikefi4. However, for nost of thetinethat
you'reshootinglandscapes you'll want tonaxinisedepth-of-eldto
get as nuchof asceneinfocus as youpossiblycan.
oregrounddetail is inportant andhas tobeinfocus, but sodoes the
rest of thescene. 1his neans usingsnall apertures toget good
sharpness either sideof thefocus point. But just consider this last phrase
for anonent, andthenthinkabout whereyounight focus when
shootingalandscape. Manynovicelandscapephotographers arehappy
focusingat innitywhenshootingalandscape, but don't forget that
depth-of-eldextends either sideof thepoint of focus. nfact, thearea
rnhowtopturshrpms|kpro
of depth-of-eldextends one-thirdinfront of thefocusedpoint and
two-thirds behind. inother words, youget noredepth-of-eldbehind
thesubject thaninfront of it. bviouslythereis nobenet tohaving
acceptablesharpness extendingbeyondinnity, but youcanpull the
point of focus backtowards you, soit's theendof thedepth-of-eld
zonethat is at innityinstead. 1his wayyou'll get noreof thescenesharp.
1his is calledhyperfocal focusingandhas beenusedbyprolandscape
photographers for decades. 1heoptinunpoint of focus for anyscene
relies onthechoiceof aperturesettingandthefocal lengthof thelens
youuse-andchanges for full-franeandPS-C-sensor DSLRsl 1here
arecalculators andpocket referencetables youcanstashinyour canera
bag, or youcanuseadependableruleof thunbthat suggests youaina
thirdof thewayintothepicturewithyour lens set toasnall aperture.
We'll becoveringbothfocusingtechniques, as well as providingyouwith
advicetoensureyounaxiniseinagesharpness. 1his includes revealing
whyusingthesnallest aperturewon't necessarilyproducethesharpest
results, eventhoughit gives thenost depth-of-eldl
1HNNGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
NL1HLfundaenals of landscapephoography
is beingableoconrol andassess deph-of-eldo
ensureha heiageis sharpfrofron obac.
perure-prioriy odehelps youoachievehis, no
only by forcingyouohin abou your aperure, bu
alsoby aingsureha oncese, heaperurewon'
changeif ligh levels fucuaeor if youuselers. f he
exposurehas obeadjusedwhenshooinginaperure-
prioriy ode, hecaeradoes i by changingshuer
speed, soheaperurereains consan. 1his is vially
iporan becauseachievingexensivedeph-of-eldis
no jus abou aperureselecion, bu alsofocusing
disance, andacareful balancingac beweenhewois
required. Youcouldalways shoo a fiwihhelens
se oinniy andos shos wouldbesharpfrofron
obac. Unforunaely, his sipleapproachwon'
always wor -soyou'reno goingoge hebes resuls.
Wide-angles andzoos endobea heir wors,
opically, a iniuaperureandheir bes around
fiII, soideally youshouldshoo as closeofiII as you
canfor opiuopical qualiy, andfocus helens a a
disanceha axiises deph-of-elda ha aperure.
y favourieechniqueis basedaroundsoehing
nownas hyperfocal focusing, whichinvolves focusing
onapoin nownas hehyperfocal disance, where
deph-of-eldis axiisedfor heaperureinuse.
Lenses usedofeaureahyperfocal disancescaleon
hebarrel bu virually nonedooday. 1hereis an
equaionfor calculainghyperfocal disancefor any lens
andaperure, soinrueBluePeer fashion, 'vecreaeda
hyperfocal disancechar, whichyoucancopy andrefer
owhenyou'reonlocaion. 1hedisances infee (f)
represen hehyperfocal disances for eachfocal lengh
andaperure. f youfocus your lens onha disanceand
se hecorrespondingaperure, deph-of-eldwill
exendfrohalf hehyperfocal disanceoinniy. So,
if you'reusingaCanonLSwihanPS-C-sizedsensor,
shooinga 4andfiII, focus onapoin 9f away
anddeph-of-eldwill exendfro4.5f oinniy -
orehanenoughdeph-of-eldinos siuaions.
Focusngwththehyperfoca| dstance
Leeros explains howousehehyperfocal focusingdisanceandaperure-prioriyfor super-sharpscenics
I I5 I 4 8 5 5 I I5
fi8 .f 5f .4f 8.9f I.f If f 55f I5f I8f 95f
fiII .f .5f 4.5f .f 9f If I9f 9f 5f I55f 8f
fiI I.f .5f .f 4.4f .4f 8.f I4.5f f 54f IIf I98f
fi I.f .9f .f .f 4.5f f 9.5f I9.f 8f f I4f
Hyperfocal distance: PS-Csensors
I 4 8 5 5 I I5
fi8 .8f 5.f 8.f IIf If 5f 8f I8f 5f
fiII .f .9f 5.8f .8f If 5f 48f 98f I8f
fiI I.9f .9f 4.f 5.5f 8.5f I.5f 4f f I5f
fi .4f .f .9f .9f f I.5f 4f 49f 89f
Hyperfocal distance: ull-fraesensors
fl2.8
fl11
fl4
fl16
fl8
fl22
Technque watch!
perture-priorityandmuIti-zonemetering:
Beforenallygoingdigial' bacinhespringof
8, 'dspen years shooingwihl
caeras ha hadnoinernal eering, so useda
handheldspo eer odeerinecorrec
exposure-whichhenhadobeanuallyse on
hecaera. 1hanfully, hosedays arelonggone.
DSLRs havefanasicinegral eeringsyses
ha arecapableof producingperfeclyexposed
iages inall bu heos deandingsiuaions,
so can' seehepoin inaingylifeore
coplicaedhani needs obe. 1hesedays y
digial SLRis se oaperure-prioriyodeand
uli-zoneeeringandgenerallysays ha way.
Cobinedwihhefeedbacprovidedbyhe
caera's previewiageandheiagehisogra,
'vego all needoensure ge perfec exposures
inanyshooingsiuaion. 1hesaeapplies oyou.
1HNONGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
na| mage
f you'reanabsoIutebeginner, start
ohbyshootingat fl11 if youcanto
optimiseimagequaIity, andonIyusea
smaIIer apertureif youneedtoget
moredepth-of-eId. Howeasyis that!
Exposure: Ii4secat fiII (SI00)
TOPTIP
f youwant toshoot
great landscapes ingood
light, without conpronising
inage quality, nount your
canera ona tripodsoyou
don't have toworry about
slowshutter speeds
causing canera shake
5harpness
|urry vewnder
henusingthehyperfocal distance
nethod, you'll noticethat the
viewnder inagelooks unsharp
whenyou'vefocusedathirdof the
way intothefrane. 1his is because
your lens is always set tothewidest
aperturetoprovideabright
viewnder inage-depth-of-eld
will benininal. Usethedepth-of-eldpreviewbuttonor takeashot at
your chosenapertureandyou'll seethat theinagereally has far nore
depth-of-eld, becausethelens has closeddownfor theexposure.
5OFTKGPOUN
FocusingonthecobbIes
ket theforeground
sharbut thebuiIdings in
thedistancearesoft.
Innityfocus
5OFTFOPGPOUN
Focusingoninnity,
as manybeginners do,
gives asoft-Iooking
foreground.
TKINGTH5HOT5: HeIensets uatriod, essentiaI for reventingbIurredshots
causedbyshake, thenuses LiveViewtocheckthedeth-of-eIdof theshot onher
Lmonitor whiIeseIectingtheaerture. fter takingtheshot, shecanthencheck
theimage's sharness ontheLmonitor bymagnifyingarts of theframe.
1HLNRMLPRC1CLfor beginners shootinglandscapes is toplacetheir
DSLRonatripod, focus oninnity andset avery snall aperturetogive
enoughdepth-of-eldtokeepnost or all of thesceneinfocus. t's a
tried-and-testednethodthat works well, but canbeinproveduponby
ne-tuningfocusingtechniqueandthechoiceof aperture.
Lookingat focusingrst, whenyoufocus on'innity' -ieonthedistance
-thedepth-of-eldwill extendathirdof theway infront of thefocusing
point andtwothirds behind. Sowhilepart of theforegroundis sharp, the
areaclosest toyounay well beout of focus. lso, you'll havewasted
two-thirds of theavailabledepth-of-eld, whichstretches beyondinnity.
nstead, by focusingpart of theway intothefrane, youcannaxinise
depth-of-eldsothat it covers theforegroundandthedistance.
1heoptinundistanceat whichyoushouldfocus is ternedthehyperfocal
distanceandtherearevarious elaborateways of calculatingit. 1hesinplest
nethodfor focusingbyfar (andonethat works 99of thetine) is tofocus
one-thirdof thewayintothescene. Bydoingthis, andsettingasnall
aperture, you'reensuringthat thedepth-of-eldinfront of thefocusing
point covers nost, if not all, of theforeground, whiletheareabehindis kept
sharpbytheother two-thirds of thedepth-of-eld. f youwant tobeas
precisewithyour focusingas possible, usethetableontheprevious page.
Withthefocusingtechniquetakencareof, we'll noveontoyour choice
of aperture. Whilesettingthesnallest aperture(egfi32) gives thenost
depth-of-eld, it doesn't necessarily givethesharpest results. 1hat's dueto
twonainreasons. nost lenses areoptically designedtogivethesharpest
results at apertures of aroundfi8tofiI3, whileat snaller apertures the
ehects of dihractionsoftentheinage, negatingany benets providedby
depth-of-eld. 1heoptinunaperturevaries fronlens tolens, sotheonly
way todiscover for yourself is throughtrial anderror, shootingat diherent
apertures andconparingthesharpness onyour LCDnonitor or ideally at
honeonyour conputer, whereyoucannagnify inages for closescrutiny.
or thesharpest results, usinghyperfocal distanceas explainedonthe
previous pages is best. But this process canbetine-consuningand, for
nost, ny techniqueis ideal. 1heseinages wereshot usingadoninant
foregroundtoenphasisetheehect of changingthefocusingdistance.
1heaperturewas fiI3for all threeinages.
Focusathrdof theway
nforsharpresu|ts!
Lnsuredepth-of-eldandsharpness withthis verysinple
andehectivetechnique, says HelenDixon
1HCNONGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
YPRALUS
singathirdof the
wayintothesceneand
usingfiI3ensured
naxinunsharpness.
BLS1ML1HD
cusingathirdof the
wayintothesceneand
usingfl13ensured
maximumsharpness.
1HGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
N5P
LTN
LGHHsssta rt tat
aows us toratapotorapa.
But t atao ay ors t a
aror sot stroor wa waror o
aavaratoas aproout
ot oy otooaaratr o t
asap ut tsuss o vry
potorapwta. o ay a
watr otos arttwoaators
tat at tquaty o ayt. row
sasoa varatos ayouavsy
ss prutatos tat aroo
uttotxt. s aota
ssaaurs. Wts aro
topa ayt s tost aazt
sourtrs. But wyouraw out o
to tt rvtr
ours arss toraaoatoor
surs oy torty t ou
a rzzwyouay t tr t a
asotost rustrat.
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1HNONGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
of day
irst light usually appears
30-40ninutes beforesunrise. deally, arrive
anhour beforesun-uptonda viewpoint,
set upyour gear andstart shootingas soon
as colour appears. ny light onthelandscape
is refectedfronthesky, soit's soft and
shadowless, andtends tohavea strong,
cool cast. 1his contrasts well withthewarn
glowover theeasternhorizon.
Water, wet sandandwet rocks pick upthe
colour inthesky, sopredawnis great to
shoot coastal or lakeviews. deally, therewill
besonebrokencloudaddingcolour tothe
sky, but clear nornings canalsobehighly
productive. Light levels arelow, soexpect
longexposures. 1hecontrast betweenthe
sky andlandis highduetothelack of direct
light, sousea 0.9Ngraduatetoretaindetail
andcolour inthesky.
LYIGncethesunis up, you
haveninutes tocapturethelight at its peak
quality beforeit loses warnth. uringthe
sunner, daylight is neutral incolour twohours
after sunriseandits colour tenperature
renains constant for about I2hours. uring
springandautunn, any warnthinthelight will
havegoneby 8anandthecolour tenperature
renains steady until 4pn. nwinter, however,
thecolour tenperaturehardly ever reaches
5500, evenat nidday, becausetheangle
betweenthesunandearthis shallowall day.
1herst twohours after sunrisearethebest
for landscapephotography as theintensity of
thelight is reasonably low, andlongshadows
adddepthandnodelling. polariser is also
ehectivewhenthesunis lowinthesky andat
90 tothecanera.
UIEBy thetinethesunpeeps over
thehorizon, any colour inthesky nay have
gone. nclear nornings, thesunwill be
dazzlingonceit rises, but you'll beableto
shoot intoit for a fewninutes as thesea and
wet sandrefects thelight tokeepcontrast
nanageable. eatures suchas piers, castles
andlighthouses canalsobecapturedin
silhouette. nland, contrast will betoohigh
oncethesunrises intoa clear sky. t this
point, turnandcapturethegoldenlight on
thelandscape. deally, let thesunside-light
thescenesoyoucanincludelong, raking
shadows toadddepthandreveal texture.
1helight is warnat sunrisebecausethe
rays pass throughtheatnosphereat a
shallowangleandthelight is scattered, with
nany of thewavelengths at theblueendof
thespectrunlteredout.
HEIDDLEHUncethesunhas
beenupfor twohours, thequalityof thelight
inclear, sunnyweather begins totail oh. 1he
higher thesunclinbs, thenoreharshand
intensethelight andtheshorter anddenser
theshadows. By9aninsunner, thesunis at
its 'zenith' -its highest point -andstays
thereuntil at least 4pn. 1helandscapelooks
fat, contrast is highandthelight isn't
attractive. 1heurbanlandscapeis better
suitedtostronglight. shoot nodern
architecture, usingapolariser todeepenthe
sky, andlookfor abstracts andcolourful
details. nthecountryside, capturetrees
against theskyfronalowangleandlookfor
refections inwater. nfraredphotography
works inharshlight, especiallyinspringand
sunner whenthere's lushfoliagearound.
LEFEncethesunbegins
its slowdescent andthelight begins to
warnup, its intensity is reduced, and
shadows beconelonger andweaker. Shape
andcharacter returntothelandscape, and
thelonger youwait, thebetter it gets. nthe
norning, thelight falls onacoldearth, but in
theafternoon, theearthis warnsoshadows
appear neutral, not cool. 1heatnosphereis
alsodenser intheafternoon, solight can
appear redder thanit didat thestart of the
day. 1hehour beforesunset is oftenreferred
toas 'thegoldenhour' duetotherichness of
thelight. Longshadows reveal textureand
nodellingtogiveyour pictures depth, and
becausethesunis sinkingandnot rising, it's
easier topredict howthelight is goingso
youcanchooseasuitablelocation.
ronthenonent rst light appears tothetinewhendarkness takes
over, thequalityof light undergoes anyriadof anazingchanges and
nakes ahugediherencetoyour photographs
Lghtng
enasunset seens likely, get to
your location45ninutes beforesoyoucan
choosethebest viewpoint, get set upandtake
avariety of pictures as thesundips. Capture
thelandscapebathedingoldenlight. f the
scenery is relatively fat, thelight will perforn
its nagicliterally until thenonent thesun
sets, whereas inhilly regions, younay losethe
sunhalf anhour before. Shootingintothesun
will recordanythingbetweenthesunandthe
canerainsilhouette. agoodtechniquewhen
shootingwater becausethesun's glowand
colour inthesky will berefected, creatinga
backdroptosilhouettes of boats, islands, piers
andsoon. f fareis aproblen, hidethesun
behindsonethinginthesceneor wait for it to
set. f youwant torecorddetail inthe
foreground, usea0.9NDgrad.
ILIGHTncethesunnally
disappears belowthehorizon, light levels
quicklyfadeandthelight onthelandscapeis
againrefectedfronthesky. f you'relucky,
therewill beavividafterglowinthesky
createdbythesunas it under-lights the
clouds abovethehorizon, but eventhis will
fadequickly. You'll ndthat colours are
nuted, thelight is soft, shadows fadeandlight
levels fall away. Headtothewater's edge
wherethepastel colours left intheskylook
stunningrefectedinlakes andrivers. r use
thosecolours as abackgroundtosilhouettes.
Longexposures recordnovenent. the
swayingof trees inthebreeze, thenovenent
of clouds across thesky, thenotionof thesea
or water fowinginrivers andstreans. eep
shootinguntil thosecolours fade.
MOONLIGHT1henooncanbealovely
natural sourceof light. Winter scenes work
well becausesnowandfrost refect the
noonlight. Coastal views alsowork if you
capturetheshinneringsilver ribbonof light
fronthenoononthesea. By increasing
exposure, youcancreatesurreal shots that
looklikethey'vebeentakenindaylight. 1hey'll
look nornal, but thelight will haveastrange
quality. Youcaneventry recordingstar trails
inthesky createdby therotationof theearth
whilethecanera's shutter is open. bviously,
exposures will belonginlowlight, sousea
tripod, andkeeptheSlow-400or less -
for highinagequality. Whatever youshoot,
unless thenoonis obscuredby cloud, you
shouldkeepit out of franetoavoidit
recordingas anoverexposedwhitesnudgel
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rythng's rosy
ThecoIours andtextures in
theskycanbespectacuIar,
especiaIIyif youpickthe
moment as thesunrises above
or faIIs beIowthehorizon.
NGCPLLf u beforesunrise, which
is oftenintheniddleof thenight, is not nost
people's idea of fun. But if you'repreparedtonake
theehort, youwill reaptherewards. Planningis
essential. Check theweather forecast andthe
sunrisetines ontheinternet. ndcheck thetide
tines if youaretravellingtothesea -a lowtideis
usually thebest tinetovisit. f thelight fails to
naterialise, youcanalways dobeachclose-ups.
try tobeonlocationat least half anhour before
thesunrises -if not earlier -becauseit's often
beforethesunappears that thereal nagic
happens. 1his alsogives netinetoset upthe
canera andtondthebest viewpoint. Don't just
look for clear days, it's better tohavecloudaround
as this creates wonderful colours inthesky as the
cloudrefects thelight of thesun. 1ry topre-visit
andresearchyour locationbeforetheday of the
shoot. userdnanceSurvey naps for detailed
infornationonrights of way andparking. Look for
appealingplaces wheretherewill beopportunities
for shots that includeforegroundinterest.
Mist nainly develops duringa coldnight andit
only lingers for a short tineduringthenorningor
until theheat of thesunburns it away. Sonething
tobear innindis that, duringnisty conditions,
your canera's neteringsystenwill often
underexposethescene, resultingina dull, lifeless
landscape. 1oconpensate, alter theexposureby
+Ii2or +I stop. Check thehistogranonthe
canera's LCDnonitor for overexposure.
1heuseof Neutral Density graduatelters is
pretty nuchstandardinlandscapephotography.
1hey helptocontrol thebrightest part of the
inage, whichis usually thesky. Larly intheday,
thereis a noticeablediherencebetweenthelight in
thesky andthelight ontheland.
Beawareof lens fareif thesunis includedinthe
frane. 1ohelpelininatethis, nakesurethat your
lters andlens optics arespotlessly clean. rarely
useawarn-uplter as theselters nornally nake
any greenfoliageappear ayellow-browncolour.
nstead set ny canera's WhiteBalancetoCloudy
or Shadetohelpwarnupthescene. 1ry toavoid
usingtheutoWhiteBalance(WB) settingas you
aresuretocool downthelight, unless, of course,
this is theehect youwant. 1hereareanunber of
reasons why personally prefer dawnlight over
sunset. liketocaptureatnosphereinny shots if
can, andearly norningis thebest tinetodothis as
youarenorelikely tohaveanisty or frosty start to
theday. 1helight is oftendihusedandsofter at this
tine, but it's alsonoreof achallengetoincludethe
suninthepicture, too, duringthenorningthanin
theevening, becauseat sunset thepollutionlevels
haverisenthroughout theday, whichhelps
todihusethebrightness slightly. nother great
advantageof early norningis that it's sopeaceful,
rarely seeanother soul. 1heworldbelongs tone
-it's sosatisfyingtowatchtheday unfoldand
witness thenagical light of dawn.
ncethesunhas risenandbeconetoostrong
tophotograph, turntothesideor put your back to
thesun, beingcareful not tocast a shadowinthe
foreground. Nowstart usingthewarnlight that's
illuninatingtheland. Light is never staticbut
continually changes -it's thenainingredient that
allows us tocreatesonethingbeautiful.
Get upear|for 'magchour' |ghtng
5hnng through
wit or thsuntorisbovethe
horizon-I usedthesmaII cIumpof
trees toheIpdihusethesunIight.
Exposure: 0.5seconds at fi22(SI00)
Dawnis thebest tineof dayfor takingbeautiful, atnosphericshots, says landscapeexpert HelenDixon
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TOPTIP
Mirror Iock-up
Many digital SLRs have a
facility that allows the
nirror tobe raisedprior to
the exposure, tonininise
shake whenthe shutter is
red. You'll nost likely nd
this is activatedvia a
Custonunction
Ktwatch!
HeIen's magic-hour kit
Whenconsideringwhat
equipnent youwill need,
a necessity is a sturdy
tripod, as at this tineof
theday you'reworking
withlongexposures.
usea ManfrottoM4
carbon-brewith
322RC2head-it's
a lightweight but
stablesupport and
canhangny bag
fronthecentrepost
for extra stability on
really windy days.
always usea renote
releasebut if youdon't
haveone, usethe
self-tiner tostopany
vibrations anduse
nirror lock-upif your
DSLRhas this facility.
ndny ultra
wide-anglezoonand
ny /0-200nntelezoon
particularly useful. 1hese
cover nost of ny requirenents.
usethewide-anglezoonwhen
shootingforegroundelenents. nd
thetelephotozoonis especially good
for conpressingperspectiveand
creatinglayers onnisty nornings.
1HNONGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
L
5a aa
LHGHpoltotklnp
potop t not tn o t y tto
tn nnot lnp tlt ll
vtt ult tt nlt ou o t
y. Wt nk ttn o ypl tt
tlount lono nlp topk
out t tu o tlnp. youout
pno potunt younlo
ptul k tlou lt onlo.
lt utnl t ttn o y n
you pnotnpn onton
o lt ut you ut. o xnpl tout
ot nnt look t t t no t y
t tnt ttt. Hvntt tlt n
tnl ou o t y tn ton n
tunt tlnp otntn
olnlo. lo lt not ot tntn
out unt onptoun tt youont
vtooyoul out o t ulou
ou tonktnot o t. Lt ont not
vyon tllpo n ntuno
un HlnDxon(oppot)
lnot nytypo lnplook oont
nou ut on tu llynt lk
tonuln o okyl. Wntloun
n vytnupnpk out ttxtuo
oknton n tt nt lookull t ny
ot tno ynltout o tony.
Wt lonxllnt ut t t tn
u youvnnttnky youn
oultnpt yunfton. Movn
t npkllk non o ntolu
unlonxpou. n tnount ntyp
o lt llnont tnn tult.
tono tlt nvton
nfunontnoonu o ptu
tknt tnnno no t y. ont
ltn o ntn nlookft t tono
to ont lptopkout t tl o
tlnp. Wttuntoon ov
o lptot ptntptun
vl onntxtu. ltn t you
nt toupol totutolou too t
ll vt tont t tn 90to
tun. Bkltnnvynt ll
ut xpou ult toontol nyoull v
toul tovoln f lt ll tly
ontoyou lt o t ont lnnt o you ln.
Wtll t toon ntt
notooulyunptl onyoutll t
nou ll lvuptoyou xptton
Looknt t ot oo
.nto.ov.uk llnyount
tl ot o pon. nn
tt tlon tno t ot tl
llt ll . Cknt ot tnt
onoot v youtt u.
youvtoyou loton ltntolol o
tton nt t tnntonl on n
kpnyont ppnnntky. o
unt youll ntolooktott t
tunll t nou. Mot o ou
t ont on ontt too oy
kpnnyntt ton t polto
lou lklytokupo tkn. Bno
n ton tpont o tonp n
t pttn ll lpnonoulynyoull
tt toontn o nnonnt.
G c
NDgrad, angIedsoas not tocut
intothecIih, heIps retaindetaiIs inthesky.
Exposure: i5t i(00)
ot nou t unt ppnyoull vl MkBu
M
TOPTIP
WhiteaIance
Wt Bln yout
no t ont
nl ult. voun t
WBttn. youoot n
younty out ll t
ttn lt onyou
onput noo
you vout
Kac
Mark's magic-hour kit
Wnlln tnot
popul o lnpok ut lon
ln nlouul o pkn
out tkno pttn ntxtu
tt tnou vl.
polnlt ll lpyounk
tnot o ltny npovn
ovll tuton ut plly
tvnutluk.
tuy tpo not ntl.
youootnntpo
t unt lt lvl ll lo
nnolnll out o t
uton. But t oopttou
tpotv tltnonton
t ll loyouon t nk you
tnk nt nl youtonknll
ut otnvtl n toonpoton.
Nutl Dnty utlt
lonpotnt plly lou
lt onlont no
t lt ontln. ND lp
ontol ontt.
1HNONGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
htheweather
1LRL' UCthigas badeather,
oy iappropriatecothig, sosaid
coediaBiy Cooy, adheas right f
thesuis't shiigadthesky is't bue,
etedtorefer totheeather as bad', but
photographicay, bad' cabegood
becauseit gives us variatios itheuaity of
ight toork ith, adds draa adcreates
atosphere o-caedgood' eather is
actuay ot sogoodfor photography
becausetheight is badadtheadscape
ooks picture-postcardperfect, hichgets
borigafter a hie
Couds havea draaticehect othe
uaity of dayight becausethey softead
spreadit soitesity is reduced, cotrast
fas adshados becoeeaker Couds
asoadditerest tothesky, adthesky ca
akeor break a great adscape
Days hethesky is a baket of
ootoous grey coudareprobaby the
east excitigfor adscapephotography as
coours appear du aduted, ada ack of
shados eas sceery teds toook fat
aduivitig oever, overcast ight is
idea for capturigdetais itheadscape.
thepatters adtextures irocks, the
soothshapes adsoft coours isea-
orbouders adpebbes, therichcoours
of autua foiageor baks of sprig
foers trogcoours ook itesei
dihuseight becausethere's ogareto
diutesaturatio Du days areasoidea for
soshutter speedshots of aterfas -just
keeptheborigsky out of theshot ad
you' get soegreat resuts
Whitecouds itheir ay shapes ad
fors arehighy photogeicagaist bue
sky, adyouca akethestadout eve
oreby usiga poariser todeepethe
bue eepthesutoyour sidefor the
strogest ehect Watchout for coud
patters otheadscape, too-they ca
addaextra eeet that akes a good
sceegreat, adareeasiest tospot if you're
shootigfroaeevatedviepoit
tory eather creates theost
draaticcoditios for adscape
photography -agry, dark couds rushig
across thesky, strogids boigad
oetary breaks that aorays of
suight tofoodthroughadiuiatethe
sceebeo Youca't pafor such
coditios, but if youvetureoutdoors i
story eather, there's aays thechace
that you' beitheright pacetocapture
the dit i bea bessigif youdo
f thesudoes break throughduriga
stor, theadscapeeds upbrighter tha
thesky, hichis a reversa of theor
What this eas ipracticeis that youca
get aay ithout usigaDgradas the
sky o't overexpose oever, it's sti
orthusiga Dgradtoakethesky
ook eve oredraaticthait reay is
oethigesetoatchout for istory
eather is a raiboarchigacross thesky
Raibos arecreatedhethesushies
throughfaigrai, soif that happes hie
you'reout, turyour back tothesuad
check thesky ahead 1orevea thecoours
of theboat their best, try tocatchit
agaist dark couds adusea teeooto
hoeiopart of thebo terativey,
usea ide-ageooadicudethe
hoebo
ist adfogreducetheadscapetosoft
shapes adhay outies 1hreediesios
becoetoadaeria perspectiveeas
that toes becoebrighter ithdistace
1height is dihuse, shados do't exist ad
edetai is ost cees aresipiedad
your iages shoudrefect that
1eephotoeses ephasisetheehects of
ist adfogbyagifyigthesceead
copressigperspective, sothey'regreat for
shootigtheoverappigfors of his ad
outais, or pickigout eeets ikea
sigetreeor churchspirefadigitothe
goo f youat toreegateist or fogto
thedistace, theuseaide-agees -
visibiitycosetothecaerai beuch
better thafarther aay, soyoucacapture
petyof foregrouddetai adet therest of
eIowIet Far romruininteimae cIous
canaaIIimportant interest tocoastaI views
eIowrit impIescenes suit amistyoutIook
anareivenanetereaI twist
Pight: Pays of Iight shiningthroughstormcIouds
canhaveareaIIydramaticehect.
R
D
D
1
1
L
L
1
Chages ieather haveaevegreater ifueceotheuaity
of ight thathetieof day, soif youat totakestuigshots
everytie, youeedtobepreparedtotakeotheeeets
thesceefadeaay Desefogis heavyad
dap t suhs out coour adturs theord
togrey, soyouaydecidetocovert your
foggyadscapes tobackowhite. Mist is
noredelicate, soinsteadof destroyingcolour,
it tends tonergeall colours together to
createverysoft hues. Mist is alsoneenough
tolet thelight through, soshoot contre-jour
at sunrise, whenyou'renorelikelytondnist
inwoodlandor over water, andcapture
goldenrays of light bleedingthrough. Such
conditions aren't all that connon, but the
qualityof light whenyouget nist andsunrise
coincidingis hardtobeat.
Lghtng
5unny Mist
heck the web
f you'replanninga landscapeshoot,
whether it's toheadout early inthe
norningfor sunriseor togoohintothe
wilds for a week, usetheinternet to
gather infornationthat will helpyou
nakethenost of thelight. Hereare
sonewebsites worthbooknarkingfor
futurereference.
Weather forecast
www.netohce.gov.uk
www.bbc.co.ukiweather
www.xcweather.co.uk
www.netcheck.con
5unrisesunset times
www.tineanddate.coniastrononyi
Tidetimes
www.tidetines.org.uki
http.iieasytide.ukho.gov.uk
PIanningyour shoot
noresophisticatedtool is the
Photographer's Lpheneris (www.
photoepheneris.con). 1his is availableas
afreedownloadfor MacandPC(plus as a
paid-for appfor theiPhone) andallows
youtodeterninesunriseandsunset
tines for anywhereintheworld, anyday
of theyear, as well as theangleof the
sunriseisunset soyoucancheckif the
sun's orbwill beblockedbyhills, say.
Moonriseandset tines arealsoprovided.
1HNONGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
L
1
onditions CoIour temp(K) CoIour cast
(DayIight W)
a bl 0000 bl
a at cl /500 Blue
vercast weather 6000 Slightly cool
veragenoondaylight 5500 None
Morningieveningsunlight 3500 Warn
Sunriseisunset 2000 very warn
ghtng
5tormyskies
xpose correct|y
CoIour temperatureandWhiteaIance
1hecolour of light is referredtoas colour tenperature, whichis neasured
inelvin(). 1hewarner thelight is, thelower its colour tenperature, and
thecooler thelight is, thehigher its tenperature.
ur eyes adapt tochanges inthecolour tenperatureautonatically, so
natural light always looks noreor less white-this is knownas chronatic
adaptation. 1hephotographicequivalent is your canera's utoWhite
Balance(WB) setting. f youuseWB, youwill ndthat it produces pleasing
results innost daylight situations, but theWhiteBalancedoes fuctuateso
younaynot recordthecolour of thelight as it reallyis. f youwant todo
that, youshouldset WhiteBalancetotheaylight preset, whichis 5500.
1his is thecolour tenperatureof 'neannoondaylight', soinnornal
daylight situations, your inages will coneout lookingneutral. owever, at
sunriseandsunset thelight is nuchwarner (lower colour tenperature), so
byusingtheaylight WhiteBalancepreset, your canerawill recordthat
warnth. Sinilarly, if thelight is cool, as is oftenthecaseduringpredawnor
inbadweather, usingtheaylight preset will recordthat coolness.
Renenber, also, that if youshoot inRaw, youcanadjust thecolour
tenperatureof theinagelater. Soif youdon't likethecool cast, you
sinply get ridof it, or if a warninageisn't warnenough, youcanadjust
thecolour tenperaturetonakeit warner.
1HNONGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
P
fully short, withthesunrisingwell
after 8anandsettingbefore4pninJanuary.
Photographically, however, winter is a
fantasticseason. 1herearefewsights nore
nagnicent thanalandscapecoveredin
freshly fallensnowandbathedincrisp
norningsunlight. But evenif you'renot
lucky enoughtoget that, iceandfrost area
certainty at sonepoint as tenperatures
dropwell belowfreezing.
1heshort days areabenet, too, because
youcanshoot sunriseandsunset at civilised
tines. Plus thesunnever clinbs nore
thanabout 2 abovethehorizon, sothe
quality of light renains highfrondawnto
dusk, withlong, weak shadows addingdepth
-onaclear winter's day youcanget eight
hours of goodlight.
eepaclosewatchontheweather
forecast andif aclear night is predicted,
preparefor anearly start thenext day
becausethat usually neans iceandfrost
conethenorning-and, if you'relucky,
freezingnist for thesuntoslowly burnaway.
ncrediblepictures areguaranteed.
Woodlandandwater locations areyour best
bet. s well as shootingwide-angleviews,
look for winter details. cobwebs coveredin
icy beads, thepatterns iniceover ponds and
puddles, frosty leaves ontheground, andso
on. awnonafreezingnorningcanbe
nagical, withthesky full of pastel colours
andthesunrisinglikeagiant orangeball. ts
intensity is oftenreducedby nist or haze, so
youcanincludeit inyour shots without any
risk of fare. Usealonglens tonakeit nice
andbiginyour shots.
Snowis best photographedwhenit has
just fallensoit's pristineandfresh, andideally
insunny weather -aglisteningsnowy
landscapeunder abluesky is hardtobeat.
ndyouneedn't headtonagnicent
countrysidetotakegreat snowshots -avisit
toyour local park canbejust as productiveif
youconcentrateonsinplescenes, likea
singletreestandingintheniddleof a
snow-lledeld.
lthoughseasonal changes havenoreof aphysical ehect onthelandscape, thequalityof daylight also
varies throughout theyear. ere's our guideonhowtohandlelandscapes indiherent seasons.
N
L
S
1
Wnter O8
What shouIdI consider when
shootingsnowscenes?
xposurel ll that whiteness inthe
sceneis likely tofool your canera's
neteringsystenintounderexposure, so
takea shot thencheck thepreviewinage
andthehistogran. Youwill alnost
certainly needtodial inextra exposure
usingtheexposureconpensationfacility
-dothat inIi3-stopincrenents until the
highlight warnings onyour previewinage
start tofashtoindicatetheinageis
overexposed. eletethat shot -the
onebeforeit shouldbeperfect.
Is it okaytouseapoIarisingIter
duringwinter?
enitely, but carefully. Bluesky is
bluer inwinter andbecausenoreof it is
polarised, theehect of a polarisinglter is
noreobvious thanat any other tineof
theyear. nextrenecases, thesky cango
alnost black if youfully polarise, soyou
nay needtowindback theehect a little.
WiII mycameraworkokayin
freezingwinter weather?
Yes, but batteries drainfaster sonake
sureyours is fully chargedandideally
carry a spare. lso, avoidbreathingon
your lens or any lters you'reusingas
they will nist upandtakeages toclear.
1HNONGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
NG
s seasonnarks thedawnof newlifeas
thelandscapeawakens fronthedornant
nonths of winter. Barrentrees burst with
buds andblosson, woodlandfoors,
hedgerows andriverbanks arecarpetedwith
colourful wildfowers, whiledesolateelds
turnintobeautiful patchwork quilts of green.
cenes that lookedgrey anddrabduring
winter aretransfornedwithinafewshort
weeks -especially if theweather turns andis
nildtowards theendof winter. pringis also
tinefor tulips, dahodils, buttercups and
bluebells, turninggardens andneadows
intodazzlingdisplays of colour.
heweather duringspringis changeable
andunpredictable-but this has its
advantages for thephotographer. Brief
showers cleansetheatnosphereandcreate
rainbows archingacross thecountryside,
shafts of sunlight burst throughstorny skies
toilluninatethelandscapebelow, andlight
nists hangover rivers andlakes or invalley
bottons at dawn.
s theweeks pass, thedays alsogrow
longer. hesunrises at around6anduring
theearly days of springandsets at 8pn, but
by nid-June, sunrisecanbeas early as
4.I5anandsunset after I0.30pninthe
northof cotland. onakethenost of
springconditions, riseearly andstay out late.
awnonaperfect springnorningis hardto
beat, withachorus of birdsongperneating
thecool air andtherst rays of sunlight
slowly burningaway thenist. he
opportunity for anazinginages is onethat
shouldn't benissed, andnothingquitebeats
that feelingof gettingintouchwithnature.
heintensity of colour inthespring
landscapecanbeinprovedby usinga
polarisinglter tocut throughatnospheric
hazeandglareonthefoliage. f youwant to
capturecarpets of springfowers, ideally wait
for abright but overcast day whencontrast is
lowandshadows weak. his nakes it easier
torecordthedelicatecolours andne
details of thebloons, especially whentaking
pictures inwoodlandwherethelight is
patchy duringsunny spells.
N
5ummer O8
anI doanythingabout hazyskies
Not really. Hazy skies andovercast grey
skies lack textureor drana -they'rejust a
blanket, boringtone. UsinganNDgrad
nerely darkens that tone, but rarely
nakes it noreinteresting. Lxcludethesky
fronyour conpositions, naybeusea
telezoontoshoot selectivelandscapes or
concentrateonsnaller details.
Is thesummer agoodtimetousemy
infraredmodiedcamera?
Denitely. 1here's plenty of foliageto
showtheghostly infraredehect, andit
doesn't natter howharshthelight is
becauseinfraredphotography suits it. Use
your Rcanera inparks, gardens and
woodland, as well as thecountryside. or
thosewithout anR-nodiedcanera, try
usinganinfraredlter liketheHoya R/2.
Mysummer Iandscapes oftenhavean
unsightIybIuecast. What causes it?
Highcolour tenperature-ona sunny
blue-sky day, thecolour tenperaturecan
hit I0000. f youuseDaylight White
Balance, set for 5500, your canera will
recordthecoolness inthelight. Setting
WhiteBalancetoShadewill get ridof the
cast -evenutoWhiteBalance(WB)
nay work. r, if youshoot inRaw, youcan
correct thecast duringinageprocessing.
M
B
U
R
1
N
1HNONGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
UTUMN
C
dy edeee f,
ded fge ydf
def de eed
ee degdde
dee dee edy
f e Wee
edeed eee d
f dggde e
ee ee dy e
e e, eeed
ee e
Ce, y dy deee
d e ey,
eey dgey gde
feeeg y
dey dee, eey e Wd
de ged
eg e d
eeD dy gg
f yed deede
dd, dey ee dy
eeg f dd e,
eeg ee
d ee edd
e ee, eey
eeedy ge,
geedfge
edf e de eey
ee eeg
e, d e gde
gee, f de ee
e f fe ee
gdee
deegg fey d,
y g, e f g
egged, dgy
y eey dee f
eyg de
dddey f yey, y
y ee gde y f g
ggeegge
e f , e e
dde , edy e
fy g, ey f g e
gg By dy ef e, e
de e ge8anandit won't
set nuchbefore4pn.
htng
H
L
L
L
N
D
X
N
LLLRS1
utumnO8
Wat auss oIatoan
oIour nautumn?
Deciduous trees droptheir leaves in
readiness for winter whenthere's toolittle
light for photosynthesis tooccur, andthey
liveohsugar reserves storedthroughthe
sunner. Chlorophyll, whichgives leaves
their greencolour, is necessary for
photosynthesis totakeplace, but as the
days growshorter andthehours of
darkness increase, theproductionof
chlorophyll slows downandthat's when
thecolour changes start tooccur.
utunnal colours reachtheir peak
whenall thechlorophyll has been
destroyedandother chenicals inthe
leaves arerevealed, suchas carotenoids
andanthocyanins.
Canourommnsomtop
autumnIoatons ntUK?
f thecolours aregood, youcantake
great autunnshots literally anywhereyou
nddeciduous foliage, but check out
Westonbirt rboretuninGloucestershire,
GlenhricinScotland, Stourhead
Gardens inWiltshire, 1heNeworest in
Hanpshire, GrasnereandRydal Water
intheLakeDistrict, Gwydyr orest in
NorthWales andielder orest,
Northunberland.
1HNONGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
|andscapes 1HNONGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
Raw8|andscapes
n't realiseit yet, producing
top-notchinages is easier nowthanat anystageintheentire
historyof photography, thanks todigital technology. Chances are
nanyof youwill haveconeintophotographyduringthedigital
era, inwhichcaseyou'll havelittleor noexperienceof what life
was likepre-pixels. Well takeit fronus -shootingpictures using
digital is awalkintheparkconparedtotakingthenwithln.
Beingabletoseeyour shots seconds after captureis thefast
tracktosuccess becauseyoucanlearnas yougo, correcting
nistakes andnakingchanges sothat youneednever niss agreat
shot. 1his innediacy, andthefact that everypress of thecanera's
shutter buttondoesn't cost noney, alsoencourages youtotake
creativerisks, whichis byfar thebest waytonaster new
techniques andne-tuneyour skills as alandscapephotographer.
f course, trippingtheshutter is just therst stageinthe
creativeprocess as, oncehone, your inages arethen
downloadedtoaconputer whereyoucanturnthosenillions of
coloureddots intoanazingworks of art withtheaidof thelatest
editingsoftware. Successful digital inagingthereforerequires a
conbinationof solidcaneraworkandsynpatheticprocessing.
or nanycreativephotographers, there's onlyonewayto
achieveboth. shootinginRaw. f you'vefavouredJPGuntil now,
andcan't seehowswitchingtoRawwouldbenet you, readonas
weexplainthenanybenets you'll gaingoingRaw.
RW8LN5P5
1HNONGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
1HLMNDLRLNCLbetweenaRawleand
aJPLGis that whenyoushoot inRawfornat,
theinages recordedonyour canera's nenory
cardconsist of therawdatafronthesensor.
Nothingis added, takenaway or changed. f you
shoot inJPLG, thecanerarecords all theraw
datathendevelops thelein-canera, applying
preset paraneters tohiteBalance, sharpening
andcustoncanerastyles etc, deletingany
unnecessary infornationandthenerasingany
renainingrawdataas well.
nlnterns, aRawleis abit likeanegative,
whereas aJPLGis sinilar toacolour slide. Slides
areconvenient becausetheyconebackfron
theprocessinglabnishedandreadytoview.
1hesanecanbesaidfor JPLGs, whichare
supposedlyreadytoprint straight fronthe
canera. However, this convenienceneans that
youneedtoget everythingright in-canera, so
there's less roonfor error. Negatives arenore
tine-consuningthanslides as youneedto
developthenhowyouseet inthedarkroon,
but arenuchnoreversatilewithnorelatitude
for error. Rawles arethesane. 1heyalways
requireprocessingusingsuitablesoftware
beforethey'reconsiderednished, but this
allows youtonakechanges toenhancethe
inages andcorrect in-caneranistakes.
1hekeyparaneters youcancontrol inRaware.
Colour tenperaturecanbeadjustedtoget rid
of unwantedcasts or tochangethenoodof an
inage. 1his canbedonewithJPLGs in
Photoshop, but not withthesaneprecision.
Lxposurecanbecorrected-or adjustedfor
creativereasons -without conpronising
inagequality. hereas if younakeaJPLG
lighter or darker, inagequalitywill beahected.
Youcanalsooptiniseinagequalityby
overexposingRawles in-caneratojust before
thehighlights beconeblown, as shadowdetail
is increasedandtheehects of noisereduced.
1heexposurecanthenbe'pulledback' while
processingtheRawle. 1his is onlypossible
becausetheRawlecontains noredatathan
youneed, whereas aJPLGis already
conpressed, soresidual datahas beendeleted.
f youdoaccidentallyoverexposeaRawleso
thehighlights 'blowout', youcanrecover detail
duringprocessing. 1his isn't possiblewithJPLGs,
soblownhighlights appear whiteandif youtry
todarkenthentheysinplygogrey.
Sharpeningcanbeappliedusingthe
sharpeningtools inRawleprocessingsoftware
or viathird-partyapplications. JPLGs, however,
arealreadysharpenedsoextraworknust be
donecarefullytoavoidspoilingtheinages.
nychanges younaketoaRawleare
nondestructive, becausewhenit's convertedto,
ideally, a1le, theoriginal Rawinage
renains unchanged. 1his neans youcanreturn
tothesaneRawleinthefuturetoprocess it
again. Rawles alsocontainsonuchdatathey
canbeprocessedseveral tines thenconbined
either toaddress exposureandcontrast
problens, or usedas thebasis for creative
techniques suchas HDR(HighDynanicRange),
whichwe'll showyouhowtodolater.
Ultinately, if optinuninagequalityis what
youwant, your best chanceis toshoot Raw.
Rawles support I6-bits of dataper colour
channel, whereas JPLGs support 8-bits. 1he
diherenceininagequalitywon't beobvious
initially, but heavyeditingreduces qualityand
8-bit les will showthis norereadilythanI6-bit.
Manyphotographers areput ohshootingRaw
as theyassuneit's conplicated. But usingRaw
processingsoftwareis veryintuitive(seepanel)
andanychanges younakecaneasilybe
reversedor cancelled. JPLG, ontheother
hand, whileseenas thenoreconvenient fornat
for beginners, actuallyleaves noreroonfor
nistakes, whichbeginners will surelynake.
hat arethedownsides toshootinginRaw
ell, asidefronspendingnoretineat your
conputer processingles, therearen't nany.
ndif youget as nuchright in-caneraas you
can, aRawlecanbeprocessedinanatter of
seconds. Rawles arearoundfour tines bigger
interns of negabytes thanJPLGs, sotakeup
norestoragespace. However, nenorycards
andexternal harddrives arecheapthesedays, so
if you'vespent afortuneonyour canera, it's
falseecononytochooseaninagefornat
sinplytosaveonstoragespace. Bigger inage
les alsoneanyour canera's buher will ll up
faster if youshoot inRaw. hilethis night prove
frustratingwhenshootingsubjects suchas
sports andwildlife, wherelots of shots aretaken
inquicksuccession, it isn't areal concernfor the
landscapephotographer.
hoo P
re initially uneasy about
shooting aw, why not set
your canera torecordevery
inage inbothawandJ
1hat way, while youget used
toprocessing awles, you
knowyou've alsogot Js
of the sane inages, for
reassurance
ZoomTooI: Magniy thinag
tosit innortail.
2) andTooI: Navigataroun
thnagniinag.
3) WhiteaIanceTooI: llows
youtoorrt anst a uston
hitBalany likingon
nutral aras inthprviwinag
suhas whit.
4) oIor 5ampIer TooI: llows
youtoslt a olour toajust y
likingonthat ara o thinag.
5) ropTooI: Ustoropinags.
t thtop-lt ornr o thintraarvarioussynols ahwithaustoit your piturs. CShasawnw
aitionstothCSarsnal whihwoutlinlow ut thnaintoolsyou'll usor vryayRawitingarth
Zoon, Hand, RotateandWhiteBalancetools. thers, suchasColor Sanpler, Crop, StraightenandRetouchtools,
workwell, but unlessyou'reeditingsolelyinRaw, arebest left toPhotoshoponcetheRawleisprocessed. Red-eye
renoval ishandyif youneedit, but you'reunlikelytoprocessnanyportraitsshot inRawthat suher fronred-eyel
6) 5traightenTooI: Correct a
wonky horizonor rotate.
7) PetouchTooI: Gets ridof
sensor spots andother
unwantedblenishes.
8) Ped-EyePemovaI TooI. Click
ontheeyetorenovered-eye.
9) Preferences: Click here
toaccess theCanera Raw
Preferences dialoguebox.
10) PotatecountercIockwise
PotatecIockwisetooIs: Rotate
anti-clockwiseor clockwiseby90.
nceyou'vedoneall
your necessary Raw
editing, press snft to
turntheOpenbutton
toOpenObject to
process your Raw
leinPhotoshopas
a Snart bject. 1he
benet of a Snart
bject is that youcan
double-click onthe
layer inPhotoshop
toreopentheRaw
leandcontinueany
Rawedits inCR.
lternatively, hold
downat toturn
theOpenbuttonto
OpenCopy (soyou
don't work onthe
original Rawlein
Photoshop) andthe
Cance buttonto
Reset torevert your
inageback toits
original state.
11) Targeteddjustment TooI:
nsteadof usingthesliders,
dragthis tool ontheinageto
nakeedits (CS5).
12) djustment rush: Usethis
tool tonakelocalisededits to
theinage(CS5).
13) raduatedFiIter: Drawa line
across your inagetorecreatethe
ehect of a Graduatedilter. You
canthenadjust theLxposure,
Brightness, Contrast, Saturation,
Clarity, Sharpness andColor of the
lter tosuit your picture(CS5).
14
1 2 3 4 11 5 6 7 8 12 13 9 10
15
16
17
1HGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
Understandyour Rawconverter
cess seens conplicted
ndduntingwhenyoutry it for therst tine.
Renenber tkingyour rst digitl photogrph
or 'Photoshopping' your rst inge Chnces
reyoudidn't hvecluewht youwere
doing, but throughtril nderror ndnking
lots of nistkes, yougot thereintheend. t's
thesnewithprocessingyour Rwles in
softwrelikedobeCnerRw.
1heninresonwhy photogrphers stick
toshootinginJPLGis becuseit's quick, esy
ndsfe. thecner does theconplicted
stuhndll you'releft withre fewtweks in
Photoshopor Lightroontonishthejoboh.
ShootinginRw, ontheother hnd,
involves nother steeplerningcurve
becuseevery shot youtkeneeds tobe
workedon. t's thedigitl equivlent of going
frontkingyour lns to high-street lbfor
processingndprinting, tosettingup
drkroonnddoingthejobyourself. Doyou
think it's relly worthll thehssle
n word, yesl 1oreliseyour full potentil
s photogrpher, youneedtotkecontrol
of your photogrphy ndtheonly wy to
relly dothis is toshoot ndprocess Rwles.
ver thenext fewpges, we'll giveyou
rundownof thenincontrols ndtools
vilbleinPhotoshop's Rwconverter
-dobeCner Rw-withnexplntion
of wht they dondhowtousethen, strting
withtheBsics tbwhichfetures everything
youneedfor sinpleconversion.
1ogofronnoriginl Rwletonl inge, 'process' it usingRwconverter likedobeCnerRw
Vibranceand5aturation:
1his tool is nlterntivetotheSturtionslider,
whichdjusts ll thecolours inningeeqully.
1hevibrnce1ool, ontheother hnd, hects
colours tht needboosting, hvingless ehect on
thecolours lredy highinsturtion.
WhiteaIance: ShootinginRwnens tht
youcncontrol theWhiteBlncein
post-production, rther thnhvingtoselect
theright WhiteBlncepreset in-cner.
Under theBsics tb, youhvell thein-
cner WBpresets vilblein drop-down
nenutopick fron(eguto, Dylight, Cloudy
etc). Youcnlsousethe1enperturend
1int sliders tocreteyour ownCustonWB.
lterntively, youcouldusetheWhiteBlnce
1ool, foundinthetoolbr.
Pecovery: 1his is ningesver for nyone
whohs slightly overexposedtheir highlights.
1his nifty tool shouldobviously not be
reliedupon, but is denitely oneof thenost
invlublefetures inCRs it cnrecover
nid-tonedetil fronclippedhighlights. t's
not nircleworker, though. thedetil hs to
betheretobeginwith.
FiII Light: ill Light ttenpts torecover
detils fronshdows without brightening
ny blcks. Sinilr tousingll-infsh, this
tool will cst sonelight intoyour foreground.
Useit longsidetheBlcks slider toddnore
punch, but berelly creful not tooverdoit
for unnturl results.
The basc too|s for
Rawconverson
djustment paneIs: 1henincontrols
you'regoingtousewhenprocessingRwles
retobefoundontheright sideof theRw
nterfce, betweenthehistogrnndthe
control sliders. 1herereeight icons covering
thefollowingset of options (fronleft toright).
Bsic, 1oneCurve, Detil, HSLiGryscle,
Split 1oning, Lens Corrections, Cner
Clibrtions ndPresets.
Most of dobe's Rwcontrols redjusted
vi sliders, nkingthenfst ndesy touse.
Hererethekey fetures loctedunder the
Bsics tb.
Exposure: oundt thetopof theBsics
tb, under WhiteBlnce, theLxposureslider
djusts theoverll brightness of theinge,
withgreter focus onthehighlights. 1he
vlues reinincrenents equivlent to
fistops. or nny photogrphers, this tool is
their svinggrces it llows thentocorrect
their in-cner exposure. Wtchout for noise
ndrtefcts creepinginwhenyoupushthe
exposuretoofr. Useinconjunctionwith
Recovery toreducethehighlight vlues.
Iacks: 1his slider shifts theleft prt of the
histogrnevennoretotheleft, nkingthe
blcks intheinge lot noredoninnt, ndis
useful wy of incresingtheoverll contrst.
rightnesslontrast: Brightness works in
sinilr wy toLxposure. However, insted
of clippingthehighlights ndshdows, it
conpresses ndexpnds theinforntion.
Set theoverll tonl rngerst usingthe
Lxposure, Recovery ndBlcks sliders, then
djust Brightness. 1heContrst slider ninly
hects nid-tones, cusingthentobrighten
or drkentoincresecontrst.
Iarity: dds depthtoningeby
incresinglocl contrst, withthegretest
ehect onthenid-tones. t works sinilr to
lrgerdius UnshrpMsk inPhotoshop.
ZoonintotheingeI00toseetheehects
ndstopwhenyoustrt toseehlos pper
ner theedges intheinge.
Rawnterface
Whenyouopen Rwlein
dobeCner Rw, you're
presentedwiththis interfce.
1hepreviewingeshows the
Rwingeinits originl stte.
14) Zoom: Youcnvry thesizeof
thepreviewingendlsozoon
intoit usingthetbs inthebotton
left-hndcorner of theinterfce.
15) WorkowOption: t the
bottonof thescreenis the
Workfowption. f youclick on
this, diloguebox opens, giving
youvrious options. or Space
(colour spce), AdobeRG8(998
is nost widely used. or Depn,
choose68/s/Cnanne/. or S/e,
gofor theonetht ntches the
pixel resolutionof your cner (no
point pyingfor thosenegpixels
thennot usingthenl). ndfor
Resolution, enter 300pixelsiinch.
16) Histogram: nthetop
right-hndcorner is theinge's
histogrn, whichshows the
distributionof tones intheRed,
GreenndBluechnnels. Where
youseeCyn, it indictes
crossover betweenthegreen
ndbluechnnels, Yellowis the
crossover betweentherednd
greenchnnels, ndMgent
is cross betweenredndblue
chnnels. Whiteshows wherell
threechnnels cross over. Usethe
histogrntojudgetheexposures
youdjust thesliders.
17) Iippingwarning: 1hetwo
tringulr tbs inthetopleft nd
right of thehistogrntell youif
therehs beenny clippingof
thehighlights or shdows. f the
tringles reblck, noclipping
hs occurred. f thetbs chnge
colour, thecolour tells youtht
colour chnnel or conbintionof
chnnels hvebeenclipped. f the
tringleis white, ll threechnnels
reclipped. f youclick onthetbs,
res inthepreviewinges will be
highlightedtoshowwhereclipping
hs occurred-clippedshdows
shows fshingbluendclipped
highlights s fshingred.
Raw8|andscapes 1HNONGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
hcult as thereareonly
threenaindensities tochoosefron.
0.3, 0.6and0.9, whichreducethe
brightness of theskybyone, twoand
threestops respectively. Sone
nanufacturers alsoproduceaI.2
grad, whichtones downtheskybyfour
stops. 1heweakest, 0.3, is onlyof
usewhenyouneedaverysubtleehect,
whilethestronger 0.9is nainlyused
at dawnandduskwhenthesky's really
bright but there's nodirect light onthe
landscape. 1hat just leaves the0.6
grad, whichis thebest choicefor
general use. f indoubt, takeatest shot
witha0.6grad, checktheinageon
your canera's previewscreen, then
switchtoeither a0.3or, norelikely,
a0.9if theehect isn't right.
F|ters
NDgrads 8exposure Choosetherght densty
Beforenulti-zoneneteringwas
introduced, exposurereadings hadtobe
takenwithalightneter andset nanually
onthecanerabeforeattachingan
gradtothelens inorder toavoidgettingan
overexposedinage. Meteringsystens
thesedays arenuchnoreintelligent, now
youcanconposeyour shot, alignthe
gradreadyfor useandneter withit onthe
lens. 1hereasonfor this is that anulti-
zoneneteringpatterntakes anunber of
exposurereadings frondiherent parts of
theinagearea, thereforethedarkness of
thelter doesn't infuencethenal
exposureinanegativeway. nfact, it helps
your caneraobtainanaccuratereading,
as whenangradis tted, theeutral
ensitypart of thelter darkens thesky
areasothat thecontrast betweenthesky
andforegroundis reduced. eypresto. a
perfectlyexposedlandscape.
eh for th sy
rncIanca
trar cnr an
raatanntaI t
annt antnaI accr
F|trs
A
L
L
A
G
S
.
L
L
L
S
1
|gnngnDgr
ror soft grs?
1hekey tosuccess witha gradis correct
alignnent, soit does its jobwithout leaving
telltalesigns. Many photographers struggle
andassunetherenust bea nagicfornula,
but it's just a caseof takingyour tine.
1
5ItfItr
Mount your
canera ona tripodand
conposethefrane.
Next, placeanNDgrad
lter inthelter holder
onyour lens, andwhile
peeringthroughthe
viewnder, slowly
pushthegraddown
intotheholder.
2
atccarfII
As youslidethe
graddownyoushould
seethetoppart of the
pictureappear toget
darker. t won't be
obvious, evenif you're
usinga strongNDgrad,
sowatchcarefully and
whenyouthink you've
got theNDgradinthe
right position, stop
novingit down.
3
nt tfar
Aconnonnistake
is topushthegradtoo
far intotheholder. 1he
gradwill thenact likea
solidNDlter and
increasetheexposure
but it won't balancethe
diherenceinlight
betweenthesky and
foreground. Younay
alsoseetheline
of thegrad.
Vw
f youstruggleto
alignthegradusingthe
viewnder, try using
Liveview. Younay nd
it sinpler todothis as
you'reseeingthe
exact ehect thelter is
havingontheinage,
nakingit easier to
accurately alignit.
1herearetwotypes of NDgrad. hardandsoft. 1his
refers tothewayinwhichtheNeutral Density(grey)
part of thelter graduates downtoclear. withhard
grads thechangeis quitesudden, whereas with
soft grads it's gentle. Newconers toNDgrads
assunethat soft grads areeasier tousebecauseif
youalignthenincorrectlyit's less likelythat you'll
seethelineof thegradinyour picture. However,
hardgrads arealsoquiteforgivingandgiveanore
denedehect, nakingthenthebest choice.
5ft ar
5ft ar
Po|arser
WHLNLGH1S1RLS sur sono th
rys sttr inll irtions thus oning
polris usingrtions nglrtht
ruolour sturtionprtiulrly on
shiny surs suhs pintwork nolig.
Polrisingltrs prvnt this ronhppning
y only llowinglight rys tontr your lns
tht rtrvllingrononirtion
tivly lokingout polrislight. Doing
this ors thristint vntgs or
lnspphotogrphy.
1hnost ovious nt is tht thluo
sky is pnusit ontins lot o
polrislight. Usingpolrisr llows youto
visul inpt toings y proviing
strong punhy lukrop. nothr
nt is tht glronnon-ntllisurs
is ru sotholours insnppr
rihr nnorsturt. 1hthir
vntgtousingpolrisrs is tht
rtions rlinint soyouns
throughwinows nintorivrs.
Using polrisr is sy usyoun
stht it hs sinply y rottingit
slowly inits nount onyour
lns whillooking
irulr polrisr will your
st rin oostingolour
inpt nruingrtions
throughthnr's viwnr. Blusky
gos rkr nwhitlous stnout
rtions onngo nglr
ispprs. Whnyou'rhppy withwht
yous sinply stoprottingnr.
1ogt thst possilrsults
howvr youshoullsor in
ninrtintors.
lthoughpolrisrs
gnrlly work st inright
sunny wthr whnthr's
norpolrislight roun
thy nusinull
ovrst onitions too in
orr tornovglrn
rtions. utunnl
woolnsns usully look
nuhttr i youshoot thn
through polrisr s glris
ru sothriholours o th
oligrlly onthrough.
Whnusing polrisr topnlu
sky kpthsunt right ngltoth
nr soyou'riningtowrs thr o
sky whrnxinunpolristionours.
1ht wy you'll gt thstrongst t. th
sunis hinyou or you'rshootingintoth
sun polrisr won't nknuhirn.
Polristioninthsky lsotns tottr
whnthsunis lowinthsky sorly
norningnvninggivttr rsults thn
inthnilo thy.
Polristionis unvnross thsky
sotkrwhnusingultr wi-ngl
lnss or zoons with ol lngthwir
thn2nn(InnonPS-snsors) s th
sky inyour ings ny rorrkr onon
sithnthothr. tht nlook vry
o. 1his norrtinPhotoshop
ltr ut it's triky. Youshoullsonottht
glrwill only rnovronnon-ntlli
surs suhs pintwork olign
plsti. 1ornovrtions ronsurs
suhs wtr nglss thngltwn
thrtivsurnthlns xis nust
roun30. Youcanndthis by naking
slight adjustnents toyour positionthen
rotatingthepolariser toseewhat happens.
inally, polarisinglters cangiveyour
pictures a slight bluecolour cast whenused
inbright, sunny weather. 1orenovethis,
either adjust your canera's WhiteBalance
settingor correct thecast whenyouprocess
theRawleonyour conputer.
rcu|ar or |near?
Po|arsers 8exposure
1herearetwotypes of polarisinglters
available. linear andcircular. void
linear. Youneedtousea circular
polariser withyour digital canera as
linear polarisers areusedoncertain
older nanual focus lnSLRs. Bothtypes
doexactly thesanejob, but a circular
polariser is nanufactureddiherently to
ensurecorrect exposurewhenused
withautofocus DSLRs andCSCs.
Whenyouuseapolariser, it reduces the
light enteringyour lens bytwostops. 1his
neans if youhaveanexposureof
IiI25secat fiII without apolarisinglter
inplace, theexposurewoulddropto
Ii30secat fiII onceyouttedit. Your
caneraaccounts for this light loss
autonatically, soyoudon't needto
conpensate, but youneedtobeawareof
it becausetheshutter speedcaneasily
beconeveryslowwhenusingapolariser
-eveninbright sunlight -sotheriskof
canerashakeis increased. 1hat said, this
light loss canbeabenet whenyouwant
touseaslower shutter speed, as the
polariser acts likeatwo-stop(0.6) ND
lter (coveredoverleaf). Whenshooting
waterfalls, for exanple, thepolariser not
onlygives youaslower shutter speedto
blur thewater, but alsorenoves
refections fronwater andglarefronwet
rocks andfoliage, givingabetter result.
oIter
NoIter WithpoIariser
WithpoIariser
F|ters 1HNONGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
ue sky thnkng
upyour usy
vsu mpt toss
yuspors
Co|our casts
ilNlrs soulurl o
youoninfor ir siy
(lor xposur) you'll s
olour ss ppr. is is nos
oilwisopNlrs
.s vrywrnolour
s wililrs ioppr s
ool lus. s
lookof in u if youprfr you
jus olour nprurw
youpross wl.
1.2ND 3.0ND
|ters
1HNONGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
Pcr|ra|| c| a g|r| nr vang v|eng, Lacs.raw
The dawn light is warm and soft. Ash from slash and burn agriculture hangs
in the air fattening distant views, a recipe that is hopeless for landscape
work, but perfect for impromptu travel portraits. Im hanging around by
a ford accosting passers-by. Using a super-fast wide angle lens I shoot
wide open to drop the background out of focus, suggesting the evocative
setting of river and mountains without detracting from the power of the
girls piercing expression. I knew before I came to Laos I wanted this
sort of picture. Wide angle lenses are not normally the tools of choice for
portraiture. Neither are graduated hlters, but here a LEE 0.6 neutral density
grad was crucial to hold on to the detail in the sky. Working quickly hand
held I had to accurately position the hlter, compose and focus.
With a full frame sensor and prime lens the potential quality of my images is
astounding. But unleashing all of that quality demands painstaking attention
to detail. Everything in the equation has to perform to the optimum; not least
the hlter. A lens is only as good as the hlter in front of it. A grad has to be
truly neutral and of searing optical quality. There is only one choice.
0av|d Nc|cn
www.dav|dnc|cn.ccm
Je|. [01264] 338599 www.|ee||||ers.ccm
LLL 0.6 N0 hard
grad ||er
Lancn 10s mk|||,
24mm|ens,
1/800 sec @|1.4
LLL ||||er |c|der
5TNINOLOUR
llytwotypes of relationshipbetween
colours -harnonyandcontrast. Lookingat acolour
wheel helps us tounderstandthis. Colours that arenext
toeachother -for exanple, blueandgreen-are
harnonious, whilethosethat areopposite-for
exanple, blueandyellow-contrast witheachother.
lso, colours that areonthe'warn' sideof thewheel
harnonisewitheachother, whileall thoseonthe'cool'
sidealsoharnonise. Harnonious colours arenore
calningtolookat, andblues andgreens inparticular
areverytranquil. Contrastingcolours arenore
dranaticandcreateatensionthat canchallengethe
eye-blueandyellowis astrongcontrast.
LML, energyandthought has beendevotedto
thestudyof colour, its practical applications andits
psychological ehects. ftenthoseapplications andehects
arelinked. t's not anaccident that stopsigns arered, cool
settings onair conditioningareblueor that the
environnental novenent has adoptedthecolour green.
Muchcanbelearnedabout therelationships between
colours, too. Colours worktogether indiherent ways, with
certainconbinations creatingenergyandtension, while
others harnoniseandcreatecaln. Whenacolour appears
innaturewithagreater thannornal intensity, thestageis
set for great landscapephotography. Learningtheir
relationshipwill reaprewards, helpingyoutoachieve
stunningshots that younever beforethought possible.
UPWHEEL
ContrastingcoIours, suchas
yeIIowandbIueor redand
green, createtensionand
drama. CoIours adjacent to
eachother arecaIming.
o|our
M
B
N
1HNONGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
1HGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
COOANDEMOON
pact, colours cansuggest diherent noods,
evokevarious enotions andcanhavesynbolicsignicancerelatedto
our cultureandbackground. 1hink about theehect a doninant colour
night haveonyour inage. t night beappropriatetosubduea colour, or
enphasiseit. Consider colour intheconposition, thelightingand
throughcareful useof ltration.
G
S
1
P
H
S
S
H
D
D
N
1
1
M
U
L
R
C
R
G
R
B
L
R
1
S
o|our 1HNONGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
G
L
5TUPTION
ky, i wrgoingtostritly thnil out
this, thtrnsturtionrrs tohowpur olour
is. But ovr tin, ndinprtil trns, sturtion
hs ontonnhowintnsor strong olour
pprs inning. roduingsturtdings
involvs northnsinply oostingolours in
hotoshoplthoughnuhndontht wy,
withgrt rsults, thrrnny options t th
pitur-tkingstg. ts onsidr thosrst.
htino dy hs ninpt onolour
sturtion. Lrly norningndlt-vninglight,
withthsunlowinthsky ndlss glr, produs
norintnsolours thnt othr tins, s dos
ront lightingrthr thnsid- or klighting.
polrisingltr, y rduingrtions nd
uttingdownonglr, lsoinprovs sturtion.
polrisr hs thnxinunt whnth
nr is t 0 tothsun. olrisrs rsinpl
touss tht is lrly visilthroughth
nrs viwndr thnost ovious oning
thinrsinsturtiono luskis.
hrr ouplo things towthout or. ts
possiltoovr-polris sn, rsultingin
nr-lk skis, ndlso, whnusingwid-ngl
lnss (widr thn2nnon ull-rnDor
I/nnonn-Csnsor), thdgro
polristionnunvnross thrn.
ours, youwont lwys wnt strong, virnt,
sturtdolours. Mutdpstl tons rnor
sutl, ut njust s tivwiththright
sujt nttr, rtingntnosphro lnnd
trnuility. Lrly norningnist drins olours nd
givs old, luishhuto sn, whihyoun
nhny twkingthhitBlnin-nr,
or ltr, i yourshootingw.
lot ndont thprossingstg.
Lxprinnt withhitBlnsttings to
n-tunthovrll tnosphrndst. vr th
pg, wll showhowvryingthhitBlno
wlngivdrntirsults.
U5INGONLYONEOLOUP
inglolours otngivning prtiulr nood
ndits possiltonksussul onpositions
usingjust onolour or shds o onolour.
Crtinlightingonditions nrtthis t
ndddtnosphrto sn. nintnsly orng
or rdsunst givs vry nutrl olour strongis,
thing snin ry wrnth.
lso, strongklightingndsturtolours,
rtingnlnost nonohrontit, whilt
pr-sunrisndpost-sunst, thris nosingl
stronglight sourndthlight is diusdnd
rtddownronthsky.
htwoings onthright rrlly good
xnpls o nonohrontiings. trtingovr
onthr right younshowklightinghs
drindtholours ronthis sn, rsultinginn
ingtht pprs lnost dvoido olour.
hprdwnlight thingthlknddd
woodinthnr-right pituris diusd, llingon
thsnronvirtully thwholsky. t hs givn
thsn irly oldst, ut thnoodis trnuil.
t suits tholdstillnss o wintr norning.
Predawnmonochrome
Pre-sunrise
Without poIariser
ackIit desaturation
Midday
WithpoIariser
Typs of po|arsr
hrrtwotyps o polrisr irulr nd
linr. his dosnt rr tothphysil shp
thyrothtullyirulr ut thwyth
light is polrisd. Mksuryouuyirulr
polrisr or uswithyour Ds linr typs
intrrwithyour nrs ntring, whih
nt hndllinrlypolrisdlight.
HInixon
Dt t u vt
u ttu tt t t
wt
u t ut t
u ywt w
tutt ty u y yu
wut yu t tBt
tttt t
ty u t uuy t vt
twt But wtt
uu twt tuy wt u
t tBt tty
vyu tu tt
tt t w
tvt t tt uvt u
tty t wy v
t
uttBB tt wyt
tt tBy
u tut wv wyu
tutuyw
u t ut twt yu
tyu u B
vt tu
utt t utt
tt v tBttt tt
tt tttBtt
t tt yuwt t
ttCuy wtu tt
xtwt tt
yw ty wttut
ut Btu y
tu tt
yutL yut t t
tByuwt tuyut
tt t tu wty
tw+JPLG, settingthe
correct WhiteBalanceandthenexperinenting
withtheWhiteBalanceafterwards inpost-
production. 1hefollowingstep-by-stepguide
will showyouhoweasy it is todo.
UsngWhtea|ancepresets
Learnhowtoalter thetoneof your landscapeinages byexperinentingwith
diherent WhiteBalancepresets for creativeehect
WB
Co|our
3
ryout presets s youcansee, WBkeeps thecolours truetothe
scenebut lacks punch. 1owarnupcolours, takethesaneshot using
theDaylight, ShadeandCloudy WBpresets. 1helower theelvin(colour
tenperature), thenoresaturatedtheoranges, yellows andreds. Cloudy is
thebest WBas it boosts thesky's warnthwithout losingtoonuchcoolness.
4
InrsKeIvins thesunfalls just belowthehorizon, try increasingthe
elvinby setting1ungstenandthenluorescent WBtoenhancethe
blueness of twilight. 1oavoidcolours lookingtoounnatural, opt for aWB
settingthat enhances theblues inthescenebut doesn't overpower thewhole
inage. or this scene, luorescent is nuchbetter than1ungsten(seeright).
1
Findyour IocationCoastal sunsets or sunrises work well for this type of
technique due totheir vividcolours. 1ry toarrive at the locationat least
half anhour before the goldenhour begins. 1ry out diherent conpositions
andlook for foregroundinterest. f youhave trouble nding anything, use
the wet sandor a rock pool toadda refectioninthe scene.
2
UseutoWhiteaIancenceyou'veconposedyour scene, select
WB(seeyour canera's nanual if you'renot surewhereit is) andset
aperture-priority nodetoat least fiI3toget adequatedepth-of-eld. f your
autofocus struggles inthelowlight, switchtonanual focus. f youstruggleto
balancetheexposurebetweenthesky andforeground, useanNDgradlter.
5hoot Raw
or addedfexibility, shoot your
inages inRawandadjust the
WhiteBalancepost-capturein
dobeCaneraRaw. ncethe
inageis opened, clickonthe
drop-downnenuat thetopof
theBasictabandscroll downto
select theWhiteBalancepreset
you'dliketoapplytoyour
inage. YoucanchangetheWB
as nanytines as youwant until
youndtheoneyou'rehappy
withandevenadjust the
1enperatureslider for nore
control over acustonWB.
1HCNONGU1LNSPPH1GRPH
W ayIight 5hade Ioudy Tungsten
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frontheequationwithout
conpronisingthequality of thenal result -
nowanyonewitha digital canera cancreate
anazingblack owhiteinages. Putting
yourself intotheright nind-set to'see' the
landscapeinblack owhitecanbetricky, but
it's anobstaclethat caneasily beovercone.
By settingyour canera toblack owhitenode
andusingtheLCDscreeninLiveview, you
canviewthesceneinfront of youinblack o
whiteandquickly pick uponwhichscenes
andcolours work best innonochrone.
Certaincolours whenrenderedblack owhite
look sinilar grey tones, whichcannakeyour
shots look fat. learningwhat colours create
contrastingtones will helpyourecognise
what scenes look goodinblack owhite. You
canevenshoot inbothRawandJPLG-the
inageyouseeonyour canera's preview
screenwill beblack owhite, but you'll also
havea colour Rawleonthenenory card
that youcanwork onlater. 1heother optionis
SWNDLRULas colour photography is, it
canalsobetoofaniliar. t shows us what
things look likeandleaves us feelingreassured
andconfortable. But inart, reality isn't always
thebest solutionbecauseit doesn't
encourageus tolook beyondfaniliarity and
appreciateaninagefor any reasonother than
what it depicts. s soonas yourenovecolour
fronaninage, however, everythingchanges
as it nolonger represents reality.
Black owhiteinages aresinpler, nore
dranatic, noreevocativeandnore
atnosphericthancolour. ur enotional
responsetoa colour landscapeinageis often
renderedsupercial by faniliarity, but cones
frona nuchdeeper placewhenwetakethat
colour away. Light, shade, textureandshape
takecentrestageandwhat's actually inthe
scenebecones alnost irrelevant -it's the
inpact andehect theinagehas onyouthat
counts nuchnore.
Digital technology nakes black owhite
landscapephotography easier thanever
before, nainly becausetheneedfor a
blacked-out roonandsnelly chenicals has
A: Misty, bIurredwater, dramaticIooming
skies andgrittytextures areaII great ingredients
that adduptoanimpressive, aImost other-
worIdIy, monochromeimage.
Pight: Don't beafraidtothrowtheruIebookout
of thewindowandincIudeIots of skyinyour
bIackwhiteIandscapeimages. Anyinteresting
cIoudformations becomethefocaI point.
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Whenyouconvert aninage
toblackowhite, sonecolours
coneout as sinilar greytones.
1hesolutionis touselters to
changethewaycolours translate
togreyandalsocontrol contrast.
ilnphotographers dididothis by
placingoptical lters ontheir lens
(yellow, orange, redor greenfor
landscapes). 1heselters workby
lighteningcolours closetothen
anddarkeningcolours opposite
thenonthecolour wheel, soa
redlter lightens reds andother
warncolours, but darkens blues
andgreens, for exanple. s adigital
shooter youdon't needtousethese
optical lters onyour lens because
youcanaddtheir ehects whenyou
convert aninagetoblackowhite
duringpost-production, using
Photoshop, Lightroon, perture
or plug-ins suchas NikSoftware's
Silver LfexPro2.
nalternativeoptionis to
usetheMonochronePicture
Styleinyour canera toaddlter
ehects toaninageas youtake
it. r youcouldset your canera
toMonochronenodethenuse
optical lters onthelens, though
you'll producebetter inages by
shootinginRaw(colour) then
convertingtoblack owhitelater.
Here's a quick rundownof the
ehect that diherent black owhite
lters will haveonyour inage.
YeIIow: Lightens warncolours
anddarkens cool colours. lso
gives a slight increaseincontrast,
but theehects aresubtle.
Orange: Lightens warn
colours anddarkens cool colours,
enhances skies andgives a
signicant boost tocontrast.
Ped: 1henost dranaticlter of
all -bluesky goes alnost black,
clouds standout starkly and
contrast is signicantly increased.
Darkens greens inthelandscape
andlightens warncolours.
Green: Lightens greens and
blues whiledarkeningwarner
colours. Handy for landscapes as it
separates out shades of green.
Iue: Not a goodchoicefor
landscapes generally as greens and
blues govery light soit tends to
ruindranaticskies.
1herearecertainlters that
youcanuseonyour lens when
shootinginages incolour to
convert toblack owhitelater, and
they includea polariser, neutral
density (ND) grads andNDlters.
POLAPI5EPHas a
sinilar ehect onthesky
toa redlter, darkening
blueandnakingclouds
standout, but it alsoinproves
clarity andincreases contrast,
andall of theseehects will be
seenintheinagewhenyou
convert it toblack owhite.
NDGPAD51heseare
usedtoreducethe
diherenceinbrightness
betweensky andlandso
whenyouexposefor the
landscape, thesky is alsocorrect.
.6NDgradis nefor general
use, but a darker .9NDgradis
better whenthesky is bright or for
dranaticehect.
NDFILTEP5llowyou
toincreasetheexposure
soyoucanrecord
novenent inthe
landscape. 1raditional NDs suchas
a .6, .9andI.2arehandy for
blurringthewater inwaterfalls,
rivers andcoastal views, but in
recent years, extreneNDs suchas
theLeeilters BigStopper have
beconepopular as they allowyou
touseexposures of a ninuteor
longer indaylight tocapture
notioninthelandscape.
h scrs
trsr cht
lthoughyoudon't havetoadhereto
specicrules whencreatingblack owhite
landscapes, therearea fewworth
considering. or exanple.
Useforegroundinterest toadda sense
of depthandscalewhenshootingwitha
wide-anglelens.
Look for lines that cancarry theeyeinto
thescene-walls, fences, rivers, streans,
paths, shadows andother natural or
nan-nadefeatures canbeused.
Usehyperfocal focusingtonaxinise
depth-of-eldsoyoucanrecordthe
scenewithfront-to-back focus without
havingtostopyour lens right downtoits
nininunaperture.
Usetherule-of-thirds topositionthe
scene's focal point -thetop-right thirdis
usually thebest place. Youcanalsodivide
thesceneintothirds -two-thirds sky and
one-thirdforeground, or viceversa.
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-all that natters is theendresult.
1hegreat thingabout nonolandscape
photography is that it ohers endless scopefor
creativeexpressionandexperinentation.
You'vestrippedaway reality by renoving
colour, soafter that it doesn't really natter
what youdo. Youcangodark anddranatic
evenif theoriginal scenewasn't, or soft and
gentle, andcontrol thenoodof thenal
inage. Youcanalsouselter ehects to
changethetonal relationshipintheinage
andboost contrast (seepanel opposite).
Basically, younakeyour ownrules.
Black owhitesuits all types of landscapes,
frongrand, sweepingviews tosnall details
andeverythinginbetween, sononatter
whereyouareyou'll ndnonoinspiration. t's
alsopossibletoproducestunningblack o
whiteinages insituations wherecolour
sinply wouldn't work, suchas onfat, grey
days, soit canoher a creativeescaperoute
that younay not havethought of. 1heinages
usedinthis featureshouldgiveyoua good
idea of what we'retalkingabout. Black o
whitecantakeyour landscapephotography
toa wholenewlevel -all youhavetodois
throwcautiontothewindandgiveit a go.
MNCHRMLLANDSCAPLPH1GRAPH
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ckWhiteode
1oswitchyour Canonto
Monochrone node, press
the Menubuttonandgoto
the secondcanera tab. t
the botton, select Picture
Styles andthenselect
Monochrone.
Does it matter if I shoot inJPEGthen
convert myimages tobIackwhite, or
shouIdI ideaIIyshoot inPaw?
t's always better toshoot inRawas the
Rawleis likea black owhitenegative-
it contains all theinfornationyouneed
but youcaninterpret that infornationin
diherent ways tocontrol thenoodof the
nal inage. WithJPLGs, a lot of that
infornationhas already beendeleted
in-canera soit's a less versatileinage
fornat. 1hat said, youcanstill produce
great black owhiteinages fronJPLGsl
What's thebest softwarefor
convertingimages tobIackwhite?
1henost popular is Nik Software's Silver
Lfex Pro2, part of theNik Collection(see
page89). t ohers lots of presets that give
yougreat ehects at theclick of a nouse,
allows youtotoneyour inages andadd
thecharacteristics of specicblack o
whitelns, but it alsogives youa high
degreeof control over theinagesoyou
canadjust contrast andexposurein
localisedareas. Photoshop, Lightroon
andperturearealsoexcellent options.
I want tobuyaten-stopDIter.
WhichonewouIdyourecommendfor
bIackwhiteimages?
1herearethreenainoptions. theLee
ilters BigStopper (I50), theB+WII03.0
(I25for //nnthread), or theHitechPro
StopI0(/5). Basedonprice, theHitechis
thewinner, but basedoninagequality,
theLeeBigStopper is a better option. n
terns of versatility, theLeeandHitech
options arebetter as theB+Wis screwed
onandthereforetricky tousewithother
lters suchas NDgrads (whichyouwill
needtostopthesky fronoverexposing).
ll things considered, we'dgofor theLee
ilters BigStopper.
I haveaninfrared-modiedD5LP. Can
yougivemeafewtips onusingit for
bIackwhiteIandscapes?
ollowthesesteps for thebest results.
Shoot infull sunandincludefoliageor
grass, whichreally showohtheinfrared
ehect well.
ncludeplenty of sky andcloud
fornations, they look anazingininfrared.
Watchtheexposures -younay needto
dial inexposureconpensationtoget
well-exposedinages.
Wheneditinginages, createa duplicate
layer andadda littledihuseglowtoit
(F//ters>D/stort>D/huseG/ow) toenhance
theinfraredehect. djust thepacity
slider until you'rehappy withtheehect.
Whether youuseit
purely toshoot bowor
alongsideyour DSLRfor
quick analysis of what a
scenelooks likeinbow,
theHueless iPhoneapp
is highly reconnended.
t ohers liveexposure
controls, lters and
nodes. Buy it at the
ppStorefor I.49.
ak8htandsaps
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8LANSAP
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i lkowhiteinages. Leavetheexposure
toyour caneraandany solidshapes will be
recordedas starksilhouettes. lternatively,
dial inacoupleof stops of exposure
conpensationtoblowout thebackground
andcreateanatnospherichigh-key ehect.
Whenthelight is colourful, your gut instinct
will betoshoot incolour. t sunriseand
sunset, for exanple, thewarnthinthelight
andthevividcolours inthesky areusually
what inspireyoutopick upacanera. But don't
assunethat thesaneinagewon't work in
black owhite. Renovethecolour andsee
what youthink. Goldenlight is fantastic, but it
cannask thereal beauty of thesceneandit's
easy toget carriedaway by colour andignore
theshapes andtones that liebehindit. f you
convert acolourful inagetoblack owhite,
noonewill ever knowit was colourful anyway,
but they will seeit inatotally diherent light.
na sense, there's a patternenerginghere
-nanely, whenthelight's not goodfor
colour it's perfect for black owhite, andvice
versa. or this reason, youdon't haveto
pigeonholeyourself as oneor theother, but
sinply bea creativephotographer who
enbraces bothnediuns andswitches
betweenthetwotonakethenost of
whatever conditions youencounter. Purists
nay arguethat by doingsoyou're
conpronisedonbothcounts, but it is
possibletoenbracebothnediuns and
producefantasticwork.
' loveshootinginbadweather, capturingtherawpower of theelenents. 1his shot was taken
onlnnouthBeach, closetonyhoneontheNorthunberlandcoast. Drysandwas being
whippedupbyastrongwindandblowntowards thesea. s thesuncaneout it was as
thoughthesurfaceof thebeachwas alive- couldfeel thesandhittingnylegs as walked. 'd
never triedphotographingthis phenonenonbefore, but decidedtogiveit ago.
experinentedwithdiherent shutter speeds inanattenpt tocapturetheghostlyehect of the
blowingsandandthis one, shot at Ii6sec, provedtobethebest. lovethecontrast between
thelight toneof thesandandthedark, angrysky, which enphasisedusinganNDgradand
alsobyboostingcontrast duringpost-production.
al length: 24mm, tripod, 0.6Nhardgradhlter, xposure: 1!6secat f!22(IS50.
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scapes suit monochrome
photographyreaIIyweII, withstark, baretrees
aImost siIhouettedagainst bright whitesnow
andgreyskies.
1ondout whenthe
best natural light is
goingtohit your
location, download
a neat little
augnented-reality
snartphoneapp
calledSunSeeker.
t uses your phone's
canera andGPS to
showtheprojected
positionof thesunat a
givendateandtine,
allowingyoutoreturn
tothelocationunder optinunlighting
conditions. SunSeeker is availablefron
theppleppStorefor 4.99or the
GooglePlay storefor 3./9.
1HGU1LANSAPPH1GRAPH
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foregroundtoadddepthandscaletoyour
conpositions. 1hesanerules canbeapplied
at sea level, too, whererock slabs extend
downtothewater's edgeandyoucanuse
thentoleadtheeyeintothescene, or ll the
foregroundwithsea without gettingyour feet
wetl By shootinginnonoandrenovingthe
distractionof colour, all enphasis is placedon
shapeandforn-neaninghowyou
conposeyour inageis all-inportant. You'll
ndsinplicity is oftenyour best bet.
Howthesea records depends onhow
roughit is andtheshutter speedyouuse. f
youwant tofreezea crashingsea, you'll need
toshoot at IiI000secor evenIi2000sec.
1his approachworks well if you'reusinga
telezoonlens toll thefranewithpounding
waves, or tocapturethenexplodingagainst
theshoreandsendingspray highintotheair.
1orecordnotioninthesea, you'll needa
slowshutter speed-theslower it is, thesofter
thesea becones. UseIi4sectoonesecond
torecordnotioninthewaves but still retain
texture, thengradually slowit down. nce
youget to20to30seconds, waves turnto
nist andlittletextureonthesurfaceof thesea
is recorded. 1otakethis idea totheextrene,
usea ten-stopNDlter soexposures runinto
ninutes rather thanseconds, turningthesea
tonilk -or wait until light levels aresolow
that youcanachieveexposures of several
ninutes naturally. ncludestaticelenents in
thescenetocontrast withthesoft sea -
jetties, rocks, groynes andposts all work well.
Convertedtoblack owhite, these
long-exposureinages look subline.
Youcanuseripples inthesandtoleadthe
eye, or rock pools refectingthesky toll the
foreground. Seaweed, driftwood,
barnacle-encrustedgroynes, oldlobster pots,
shingnets, rocks andpebbles foundonthe
beachcanalsobeusedas foreground
te
ceateht iethi. Theeai educedta
itybu that give aai f itigue.
bve: Pcyutcp aefataticf addiga
bit f iteet. 5et afat hutte tfeezeti
itheea, ty1l1000ectbegiwith.
Pight: Patte adippe itheeaaea
beigf bwiage. 5et agexpue,
ettigeveythigappea ihuetted.
Pecedigwave
f youwatchwaves washback
downtothesea, they oftenleave
streaks of bubblingfoanthat look
anazinginblack owhite. 1o
capturethis ehect, usea
wide-anglelens anda slow
shutter speed-aroundIi2sec
shouldbene. 1ineyour shot to
catchthewaves receding.
high-contrast bowconversion
will enphasisetheehect.
Pcat
Rocks arenever far away at the
coast andoher lots of potential.
Pebbles andboulders worn
snoothby thesea areideal for
patternshots, whilerocks below
thehightidenark areoftenfull of
graceful curves andcontours. n
rock slabs, look for pebbles
jannedintocracks andcrevices,
or noveinclosetoreveal patterns
andtextures.
5htigad
Ripples insandarebest captured
early or lateintheday withyour
canera whenthesunis low, or
whenstrongsunlight renders
thenas silhouettes -usethenas
lead-inlines inwide-angleshots
or ll thefranefroncloserange.
1akea closer look inshallow
outfowstreans, too, where
grains of sandareseparatedto
createeye-catchingpatterns.
Pief theea
Piers nakegreat seasidesubjects.
Usethenas thefocal point in
wide-angleviews, or as thenain
elenent inlong-exposureshots
that recordnotionintheseaand
sky. Standingunder apier and
lookingout toseawill reveal the
conplex patternof legs, struts and
braces. Shoot theninsilhouette
against therisingor settingsun, or
baskingunder noonlight.
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1HU1LNSPPH1RPH
PLRL11CLURCN1RvL
trt St r trtatt
tt aNDratt
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avtt
avrtta ar
Cata v ta a t t
rtt 1
at a atr aatta,
a r, a at, a tr ar
a a ata t t
trt trtava r
aart r r a
a t at t aatr t
ava avfuenceonthenoodof your
black owhitecoastal inages. 1hegreat thing
about shootinginbowis that it doesn't natter
howbadtheweather gets, especially if you're
usinga ten-stopNDlter. nfact, it's trueto
say that theworsetheweather is, thebetter
your nonochroneinages becauseyoucan
never havetoonuchdrana whenyou're
shootingtheseal Dawnis a great tinefor
atnosphericlight. f thetidehas been
recedingthroughthenight, you'll alsohave
theadvantageof beaches beingdevoidof
footprints anddelicatesandripples will still be
freshandwet. Standingwater onthesandcan
reveal beautiful refections, too.
RossHoddnott
' lovebowphotography. However,
'seeing' inbowcones easier tosone
thanothers and nust adnit 'nnot a
guy whonaturally 'sees' innono. But
over tine, 'vetaught nyself what tolook
for -andthecoast is oneof thebest
places todoso. Sinplicity is inportant.
Renovingcolour places enphasis on
shapeandforn, andconpositionand
light. ftenan'active' sky helps -one
withinterestingcloudanddrana. But
failingthat, useboldfeatures and
foregroundinterest -large, snooth
boulders, piers, lighthouses and
weatheredgroynes. Weather is key. Bad
weather suits bow, as it conveys nood
andatnosphere. alsolovetheehect
createdby usingextreneNDlters.
Personally, usea Leeilters BigStopper.
Withthelter attached, exposures of a
ninuteor longer arepossible, reducing
thesea toanethereal blur.
lter: LeeFilters 8igStopper.
xposure: 91 seconds at f!11 (IS200.
LLLRS1
1LCNONUDL1LNDSCPLP1RP
5CPE5
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Bw u yui
wty it twvtt
y t wt t iu y
t tvi. Cvy
tt ttyu
ttii.
C t twitu
wit ttii
wit. Diit t v
bove: Whenyou'representedwithascene, try
tothinkwhat it might beIikeconvertedtobIack
white-if thereareIots of diherent tones, as
withthis shot, it shouIdworkparticuIarIyweII.
boveright: 5hadows andhighIights arethe
makingof agoodmonoimage, aIongwitha
crackingcomposition. This is aperfect exampIe
of howaII threecombinefor aIoveIybwshot.
N
|a8wh|andap
5hnga hgh5
Weconstntly bngonbout keepingyour
rtinglowwhenshootinglndscpes to
nininisenoise, but whenit cones toblck
white, bit of noisecnbe benet.
Noiseoncolour inges tends tolook nh,
but onceyouconvert tht ingetoblck
whiteit looks nuchlikelngrin, ndthe
strk, gritty feel cnlook fntstic. inple
inges suit thetretnent -nist ndfog,
sescpes, shots tkenonovercst dys.
Youneedplinres of tones torelly see
thenoiseigrin, sovoidshootingcluttered
conpositions t high. Howhighyougo
depends onhowoldyour DLis. he
ltest DLs hndlenoisesowell tht even
t 3200you'll get snoothinges, ndif
youwnt torelly gofor it you'll needto
shoot t 6400or beyond. Witholder
nodels, youny seelots of noiset
I600or 3200. Just experinent. f yound
theingelooks ft inblck white-high
inges oftendo-boost contrst by
djustingLevels or Curves inPhotoshop.
L
L
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Pp: |nxn
'oneof ny fvouritenonochrone
inges resosinple, oftenjust lone
treendbigsky, likethis onetht
spottedwhiledrivinginthecountry.
wlkedroundtheeldtondthebest
view, lookingtoincorportethefenceto
ddinterest. heclouds ddedtexture,
fornndhelpedthetonl rnge. sully
'dopt for ny wide-nglelens, but s the
eldws inccessible hdtouse
telephoto, whichkept theshot
uncluttered. hewingews
processedincolour ndthen pplied
Blck Whitedjustnent lyer in
Photoshoptodjust thetones. inlly,
usedCurves tobringout thecontrst
ndnkeit punchier.
osure: 1!20secat f!13(ISO200.
CNN
black owhitebecauseit's
usually anindicator of blockedshadows
andblownhighlights. But youneedtrue
blacks andwhites innonoinages, otherwise
all you'releft witharevarious shades of grey
andthat's just boringl
Youhavetobebold-don't beafraidto
boost contrast, todarkenthat sky, tonake
localisedadjustnents tocontrast and
exposure(just as they didindarkroondays)
by dodgingandburning. Renenber, you're
nolonger dealingwithreality, sotherulebook
goes out of thewindowl
journeythroughtheimageandtreatingthe
viewer toacertainamount of intrigue.
Far right: 5hootinginbIackwhiterequires youto
thinkdiherentIyabout your picture-taking. Often
your imagewiII beaboveyou, soIookup-here
thecIouds formaframefor thechurch.
L
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1
Myhometown
Wetendtoassociatethe
countrysidewithlandscape
photography, but theurban
landscapeis just as interesting-
andoftenfar noreaccessible. Set
yourself aproject toshoot aseries
of black owhiteinages of your
honetown-not just bigviews,
but details that captureits
character. Younay discover
places youdidn't knowexisted.
MinimaIist images
Blackowhiteis anininal nediun
sousethat toyour advantage
whenselectingscenes. ofor
sinple, stark conpositions such
as trees against thesky or
refectingincalnwater. 1he
winter landscapelends itself to
this treatnent, especially when
coveredinablanket of snow. Dull
days do, too, as they providea
plain, featureless backdrop.
5kyhigh
Whenweshoot landscapes, the
sky usually plays secondddleto
theforeground, but insone
situations thesky will benuch
noreinterestingthanthescene
itself. Don't beafraidtotilt your
caneraupandnakeafeatureof it
-dranaticcloudfornations look
anazingwhenshot witha
wide-anglelens andveryoftenwill
createincrediblepictures.
Movingwater
Waterfalls, rivers andstreans area
favouritesubject anong
landscapephotographers and
nakegreat bowsubjects. 1hey're
alsobest shot indull weather,
whenthelight's soft, soif the
weather worsens, ndyourself
sonenovingwater. 1oachievean
attractiveblurry ehect, experinent
withshutter speeds fronIi4sec
toseveral seconds.
ack8wtandscaps
onvrt aRawto
ippigdpeigef givepie ip d
d. Lehweedige fy we
he igi f phgphy e
edi owhie
depie he iv f
dfe h he dwf he
digi ge owhie
phgphy i ei fvie f
y phgphe. B ihe dy f
phgphe wdhve e
dediedhe ied
wih e e he ge f
pei . hfy whedeig
wihdigi he pe i eie dhe
ie de he
p-peigge. Whie ige
e d vi he he
viewe ei owhie
phgph ey ey he e pe
f phgphy pii expe
ighigdpepeive. he
ige hve ii eege
he evey ige i he
vei. w e wihige h
hve gd ge fd igh
ige piig f id-e
wi edpigf dd whe
veedhe. Yhd
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ieeighpe iy ige. dy
ie digd w ge i
owhie .
Cveig owhie ide
Ce wi ide we i
e ifihpeed
. Hweve if yd hve e
C y ige i ved
peede yge vey ii
e ig B oWhie de
ye ihhp. Whie evig
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e fy owhie ige he
pe i e ivved. Wih i f ie
deh hweve ypde y
ighe ige.
i hig pey
igi we ide Ce wd
ee he rayscae he igh-hd
ide f y ee. Cveig y ige
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Grayscae i x he p fewe
ep wi ee yge he e pie e.
ge he e f y
owhie ige e de he
e i eied. Cwi iy d
e f he eig e y ige we
w e i eve i he wd
Defaut ve he ide whihwi ee
eveyhig e.
andscapeprojects 9I
LN5P
PROJT5
P
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5
NON
Panoranas aresosinpletocreate,
you'll usethis techniqueagainanagain
onceyouknowhow. ll youhaveto
renenber isthat it'sverystraightforwar
proviingyousticktoaconsistent
workingroutineanon't nakeanysillynistakes
alongtheway. ere, 'll showyouhowtocreatea
stitchepanoranausingobePhotoshop3.
irst things rst, grabyour canera.
sttched
panorama
t's soeasytoproucebrilliant
panoranas withthis technique
4
Renove
your hanfroninfront of the
lens antake the rst shot inthe
sequence. nneiately swing the
canera slightly tothe right an
take your seconexposure. Repeat
this until youreachthe other en
of the scene, naking sure you
overlapeachinage by 30-40to
enable easy stitching.
3
ocus the
lens nanually onthe scene an
nake sure the aperture youuse
provies suhcient epth-of-el
torecoreverythinginfocus that
nees tobe sharp-fi8tofiII is
usually ne. olyour left hanin
front of the lens withyour nger
pointing right antake a shot, this
narks the start of the sequence.
6
Downloathe
inages toa conputer. f you
shoot inRaw, openall the les for
the stitchtogether, select an
click , sothey all
receive the sane ajustnents to
exposure, colour tenperature,
contrast ansoon. t's essential
that all the inages are consistent
otherwise the stitchwill look o.
5
olyour
right haninfront of thelens
withyour ngers pointingtotheleft
antakeashot toenotetheenof
thesequence. Whenyouownloa
theles, you'll knowthat all the
inages betweenthetwohanshots
areinthesanesequenceanit will
beobvious whichones neetobe
stitchetocreateyour panorana.
1
Mount your canera ona tripoin
either lanscape or portrait fornat. Make
sure the tripoheais level onthe legs (a
levelling base helps enornously) analso
that the canera is level onthe heaby using
a hotshoe spirit level, sothat whenyourotate
the canera betweenshots it renains level.
2
1akeanexposuretest shot fron
anaveragepart of thescene-not thelightest
or arkest. heck theinageanhistogran, if it
looks okay, set this exposureinnanual noe.
lsoswitchWhiteBalancefronWBtothe
preset that suits theconitions. wingyour
caneratotheleft, reay tocreatetherst shot.
dscapeprojects
9
ttnm he stitchis conplete it
will look sonething like this. f the canera
wasn't level as yourotatedit, youwill needto
cropthe topandbottonedges tostraighten
then. 1he le size will be huge, especially if the
source inages were savedas 1s. 1oreduce it,
gotoF/aenlmage.
10
or sms nlarge the inage on
screento!Xandscroll aroundit to
check that there are noobvious joins where the
inages neet. f there are, use the C/one Samp
Too/ or Hea//ng8rsnToo/ toerase then,
thoughif youoverlappedthe source inages
enough, youshouldndthat the stitchis
seanless andlooks fantastic.
Fna| mage
s tnqu s prt
or nspsots ut
t wors wt ns o
sns. v t o
7
t your yout Put the processedinages
ina folder sothey're inthe sane place. Next,
openPhotoshopandgotoF//e>Aomae>
Pnoomerge. Select the layout style youwant to
use -utousually works ne, but ylindrical and
Perspective are worthtrying. 1henclick onthe
Use tab, select Fo/ders thenclick on8rowse.
8
mpoyotomrlick onthe folder
containing the inages youwant tostitch
andthey'll appear inthe Photonerge dialogue
box. lick OKandlet Photonerge perfornits
nagic. 1his cantake a fewninutes, as a series of
layers are createdandPhotonerge decides
whichbits of eachinage it will blendtogether.
5ttchngsoftware
ootosop
f you'reusingPhotoshop, lenents or
Lightroon, youcanstitchinages
together usingthePhotonergefunction
as describedonthis page. t's quick, easy
andehective. Prior toPhotoshopS3it
wasn't sogood, but fronS3on, it does
anexcellent job. or PandMac.
reewithPhotoshopoLightroon.
www.adobe.con
u
(Panoranic1oolsGraphical User nterface)
vailablefor bothMacandP, P1Gui is far
norecapablethanPhotonerge, allowing
youtostitchnultiplelayers of inages,
create360 cylindrical pans, 360xI80
spherical pans, HRpans, gigapixel pans
fronhundreds of sourceinages and
nore. 1helatest versionohers anlignto
Gridfeaturethat nakes it easytostitch
nultiplelayers, plus youhavenanual
control tone-tuneinages whenthey're
stitched. Great if youplantousethis
techniqueoften.
C/9for P1Gui, CI49for P1Gui Pro
www.ptgui.con
nu mssmr
Sinilar toP1Gui inthat it ohers autonatic
andnanual stitching, corrects lens
distortionandnisalignnent, canhandle
nulti-layer stitches andIxInpixel
stitches, ohers autonaticcropping,
single-step360 inagewrapping, stitches
handheldsequences andcreates
dranaticvertical pans. Ponly. ownload
freetrial fronPanavuewebsite.
S64Stddition, SI29Prodition.
v www.panavue.con
nowvr 8
goodchoiceif youwant tocreate
cylindrical or spherical pans andusethen
for vRviewingusingH1ML5, lashvR,
1vRandother platforns. Youcanalso
useit tocreateLittlePlanet inages, stitch
nultiplerows, handleinages shot with
full-franesheyelenses (for spherical
pans), createHRpans tohandle
exposureicontrast issues andnuch,
nuchnore. or PandMac.
S99.99Stddition.
www.easypano.con
rcsoft PanoramaMaker 7
Relativelyinexpensiveandeasytouse,
it ohers vestitchingnodes. uto, 360,
Horizontal, 1ileandvertical -just select
theoneyouwant thenchooseyour
inages. Youcancreatepanoranas fron
stills andvideo, create360 virtual reality
novies, 3panoranas, export thepans in
arangeof fornats, adjust colour balance,
exposureanddynaniclighting. Ponly.
S/9.99.
www.arcsoft.con
jects
9M11M
L
D
ND
0ND
R
Ceseis echiqe
ND S
hcient depth-of-eldfor your scene( usually
usefiI3) andtheshutter speedgivenby theforegroundneter reading. Adda lter tobalance
thediherencebetweenthesky andland, usually haveLeeilters hardNDgrads 0.3(one
stop), 0./5(2.5stops) and0.9(threestops) tohand. ocus a thirdof theway intothescene,
anduseLiveviewandthedepth-of-eldpreviewbuttontocheck that it's suhciently sharp.
5ummer|andscapes
Wildfower neadows arecryingout for your canera-here's all the
adviceyouneedtocapturethenlookingtheir verybest.
HeIeDix
Poppies aretherst signof sunner for ne. Weeks of rainandheavycloudcover last
year, though, neant all coulddowas keepakeeneyeout for potential poppyelds
andhopefor aclear day. Sowhenthat dayarrived, wantedtonakethenost of it in
casesunner was over beforeit began(whichit usuallyis intheUl). Unfortunately,
poppyelds aren't as connonas theyusedtobeduetofarners sprayingpesticides,
but they'renakingaconebackwithorganicfarning. 1here's nopredictingwhereyounight
ndtheneither. f youcan't ndawholeeldof poppies, lookfor bunches growingalongthe
nargins. Youcanoftenndother wildfowers growingalongsidethen, too.
Poppies start foweringinJuneandthroughout thesunner. 'veevenseenelds as lateas
ctober. 'dbeentothis area-West Pentire, near Newquay-before, so knewthesunwould
set out toseathis tineof year andplannednyday's shootingtoendbytheclihs. f it rains the
daybeforeyouwant tophotographpoppies, wait until theafternoon. Raindanages their
delicatepetals, sogivethentinetorecover. it doesn't takelong, usuallyanorningor adayis
enoughfor newfowers toappear andthebrokenfowers tobehidden. set out latenorningto
start nyshoot, as knewtheeld was visitingwouldlookbetter backlit at sunset thanat sunrise.
NpIise ihpIise
PM-5PMs thesunhas nownoved
overhead, slightly pointingtowards the
canera, changeny viewpoint sothat it is
behindneagainby walkingdowntothe
bottonof theeld. s thecloudhas built up,
thesky isn't as harshintheafternoon, so add
a0./5Ngradtony B+Wpolariser and
lengthentheexposuretobalancethesky
andforeground. usearenotereleasejust to
besurethat don't introducecanerashake
whenpressingtheshutter button. Nornally
it's goodtondafocal point inascenelikea
treeor distant groupingof trees toadddepth,
but havingchangedny viewpoint don't
haveany of this. nstead, gettingcloser and
lower tothepoppies allows netoenphasise
theforegroundnoreandtoenploy asinple
conposition. Later intheafternoonis alsoa
goodtineof day toshoot close-ups as the
light is softer andshadows areless harsh.
nsteadof anacrolens, why not try a
telephotolens like/0-300nnor /0-
200nntoconpress perspectiveandisolate
poppies withawideaperture
nhour or sobeforesunset,
I headtothecIihs toset upmy
equipment again, this time
I takeohthepoIarisingIter and
0.75NDandadda0.9NDgrad,
whichaIIows metorecordthe
foregroundthreestops brighter
thantheskytoretaindetaiI andstop
thehighIights frombIowingout.
NoNDgrad 0.75NDgrad
nspprots
1hrrquitwlvndr
rns inthU. tsto
rovncright hronour
doorstps. But youbttr ct
quickly, thywon't broundor
long. ithsuchspordicwthr inthlst
couplo yrs, lvndr hs bnbit lt
rrivingbut gnrllyis inull bloonbtwn
nid-unndthndo ugust.
visitingcultivtdlvndr rnjust prior
tohrvst is grt wytogt ntstic
picturs s thycnor copious nounts
o rich-lilclvndr inbutiul inpctul
lins. shot thsings ll t thyld
vndr rninSurryspnl onth
right tosi thr's onclostoyou, or do
littlbit o onlinrsrchtondout whr
your locl lvndr ldis loctd.
lthoughwildlvndr lds rrrnd
nynot growinrows, thydohvth
dvntgtht youcnshoot thnt ny
tino dy, whrs rnis rstrictdby
opninghours chckthir wbsitrst
borsttingo. Sonrns lsorquir
youtogt prnissionrst or photogrphy,
sonksuryoudothis. rvst tinvris
sonwht dpndingonthtypo sunnr
wthr whv, so, gin, chckwithth
rnyouplntovisit borhndtonk
surthyhvn't lrdyhrvstdtovoid
younkingwstdtrip.
1hrrnny wys o shootinglvndr
ndnunrous tchniqus totry ron
ld-inlins toslctivocusingtoth
vrious ltrs tht givdirnt cts
soit's worthtkinglong wlnss.
nssntil lns is wid-nglzoon
(I0-20nni youusnS-Csnsor,
I/-35nnfor full-frane) andconsider a
zoonlikea /0-300nnlens toconpress
thefowers, alongwitha nacrolens for
rnowtoktost
of sur'susousvnr
ProHelenDixonshares her secrets for shootinglavender landscapes
andohers tips for nakingthenost of theseheadysunner fowers
extreneclose-ups. 1akingalonga longer
lens neans youwon't conea cropper if you
ndout that thefarn's rules restrict how
closeyoucanget tothelavender.
f youwant stunninglavender landscapes,
youalsoneedtoconsider thelighting
conditions you'll befacedwith. s usual, the
best tineof daytoshoot is duringthegolden
hour, either whenthesunis coningupor
setting. Bear innindduringsunner that the
eveninglight lasts alittlelonger thanit does in
thenorningsoyoucanget afewnoreshots
inbeforetheglow's gone. But if daytineis the
onlytineyoucanventureout, whichis also
nornallytheworkinghours of farns, avoid
visitingbetweenIIan-3pnandhopefor
sonecloudcover toenrichthepurplehues
of thelandscape. Harshsunlight bleaches
lavender, leavinginages paleandfat with
pink-tingedfowers. Makesureyoupacka
polarisinglter tohelpenhancethecolour
inpact of your pictures. Happysnappingl
-ups Useawideaperture
-fi2.8-fi4-andfocus onasectionof
lavender usingsingle-point tothrowthe
rest of theinageout of focus (best done
whenthere's nowindas anynovenent will
becaptured). f youuseanacrolens, you
naybeabletousearefector tobouncelight
ontoit but stopyour lens downtoincrease
depth-of-eld. or this inage, usedaCanon
LI00nnfi2.8nacrolens withtheDSLRset
toIiI25secat fi4.5(SI00).
WithNDgrad Without NDgrad
Yournearest|avenderfarm
Snowshill avender,
nr Broadway, Cotswolds
ongarn, nr Winchester, Hanpshire
itchinavender, nr Hitchin,
Hertfordshire
sleOf Wight avender, slef Wight
astlearm, Shorehan,
nr Sevenoaks, ent
NorfolkLavender,
nr ing's Lynn, Norfolk
ShropshireLavender,
nr Newport, Shropshire
MayheldLavender, Banstead,
nr Sutton, Surrey
LordingtonLavender,
nr Chichester, West Sussex
WoldsWayLavender, Wintringhan,
NorthYorkshire
YorkshireLavender, 1errington, nr York
Millcroft Lavender, rgyll, Scotland
WyeLavender, Rhayader, Powys, Wales
Somerset Lavender, aulkland,
nr Radstock, Sonerset
UsingIters polariser will enhancethecolour andrenoveany
glareandrefections, althoughit isn't necessary inthis exanpledue
totheanount of shadeavailablefrontheclouds. diduseanND
gradlter heretobalancetheexposureas thesky was brighter than
theland. Youwill needtousestronger lters if thesceneis inshade,
havetot a 0.9and0./5toretainthedetail inthesky area, givingne
anexposureof 0.5seconds at fiI3(SI00).
CompositionLavender is usually plantedinrows givingyou
ready-nadelead-inlines, sotry toincorporatetheninyour
inages andadjust your tripodheight for a diherent view.
Lxperinent witha variety of conpositions -portrait fornat nay
work, as well as a lowvantagepoint, or alter thepositionof the
vanishingpoint as central isn't always best. 1henoreyoutry, the
norechanceyou'll haveof gettinga winningshot.
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1HKONPHOTOGRPHR'5GU1LNSPS
Heathernb|oom
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NM11RWRyoucall hone, you're
never far fronheather at this tineof year.
eathlands, noorlands andcoastal paths
aroundtheUarehonetobothvast
blankets andlocalisedclunps of this
colourful perennial. 1hereareseveral diherent types
of heather, but by far thenost connonvarieties
foundintheUarealluna, or lingas it's connonly
known, andbell heather. Lingfowers insunner and
autunn, whilebell heather fowers inbetweenearly
sunner andlateautunn. What does this havetodo
withphotography hear youask Well, it just so
happens that heather, withits vibrant fowers andhabit
of growinginlargeclunps, nakes for excellent
foregroundinterest inlandscapescenes, andknowing
a bit about your subject goes a longway whenit
cones toplanninga successful inagel
s heather is a perennial, you'll likely beabletondit
inthesanelocationyear after year, soit's worth
keepinganeyeout for it whenyou'reout andabout.
s withall landscapephotography, the
tineof day andconditions present
duringyour visit cannakeor break
a shot. 1ypically, thebest inages
canbecreatedat thestart of, or
towards theendof theday,
whenthesunis lowinthesky
andthelight warner and
softer. lunps of heather
undulatesubstantially, soyou
nay havetocontendwithareas
of shadow, nadeworseby
direct, overheadlight. Weather
conditions arealsoinportant, too
-headout whenscatteredshowers are
forecast towards theendof theday inthe
hopeof capturingcloudfornations toaddinterest to
your inage-evenbetter, younight witness a
rainbow, whichalways helps boost a scenel
Renenber totakecarewhenwalkingaroundthe
heather -thebest inages canoftenbefoundohthe
beatentrack sobewary of steppingonandpotentially
danagingtheplants aroundyou.
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HGULNPPHGPH
thcomonnt com
togthr or arct imag
ocan, thr awa
ait o timor rction
g a lowviewpoint,
youwill be able toll the
frane withthe rock pool
andalsoinclude the
refectedsky. Landscape
shots usually work better
thanportraits inthese
situations
f youcan, it
helps tondyour locationin
advance, inthe daylight hours. Midday
is a goodtine todothis for a couple of
reasons. ne is that it's oftendead
tine inthe landscape photographer's
day whenthe light is tooharshfor
shooting. 1he other is that, withthe
suntothe south, shadows will point
northtowards where the stars will be
circling aroundPolaris later. visualising
that will helpyoucreate a good
conposition. You'll needtoensure
that you're a decent distance away
fronnajor light pollution, too.
1he glowfronurbanareas
is knownas light pollution
andcanbe seenfronniles
away ona clear night. 1his
night not be obvious to
the nakedeye but will
showupclearly ona
long exposure
HGULNPPHGPH
Landscapcprojccts
4
henyou'rehappy withtheexposure, set the
caneratoBulbnode. Select SI00andset awideaperture. tendtouse
fi5.6. Nowyoucanusetheexposuretinefronstepthreetowork out thetine
neededfor thenal shot, conpensatingfor thechangeinSandapertureby
increasingthetine. or instance, if youneededa30-secondexposureinstep
three. 30seconds x 2(for aone-stopchangefronfi4tofi5.6) xI6(for the
changefronSI600toSI00) gives aI6-ninuteexposure.
5
1urnall lights out, note the tine andlock the shutter open
withthe renote release. Get out sone cohee andchocolate, have a break
for a while andenjoy staring at the stars. Just don't dowhat didanddiscover
at this point that the cohee's back downthe road, still inthe carl f youneedto
put a light onat any point toreadthe tine, be careful not toilluninate the
foregroundat all, as it will showupinthe nal shot (unless you're deliberately
attenpting light painting, but that's another topic).
na magc
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rder or copdirec fronwww.amazon.co.uk
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rn
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Mist is oneof thoseelusiveelenents that rarely
appears whenyouwant it tobut whenit does it
cantransforntheatnosphereof your landscapes.
Nowthis step-by-stepis nosubstitutefor thereal
thing, but it canbeusedtoinproveyour current
landscapeinages or tooccasionallyrelieveyouhavingto
wakeearlyonawinter norningtosearchfor natural nist.
Deepvalleys androllinghills nakebeautiful scenes for
nistylandscapes, as dofrost-bittenelds. efer tosone
exanpleinages beforeyoutrythis techniquejust toseehow
nist naturallyacts indiherent situations. Mist tends tolook
graduallyheavier thefurther it is awayfronyou, whichis why
you'll noticewehandletheinagetreatnent insections -
background, niddle-distanceandforeground-witheach
havingadiherent intensityof nist.
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WhenusingLayer
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Too/, usetheXkeyto
changebetweenthe
oregroundand
BackgroundColor,
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rnt se Layer>NewLayer.
tocreate a layer above the original. elect
the Grad/ent Too/ andensure it's set toL/near
gradient inthe options bar, andthat the
ForegroundCo/or is set toWn/te andthe
backgroundto8/ack. Click andhold, thendrag
fronthe topof the inage tojust under the
horizontocreate the backgroundlayer of nist.
ous ontstnoaddfog to
theniddle-distance, createanother new
layer viaLayer>New>Layer.setheGrad/ent
Too/ withthesanesettings, anddrawalinefron
thetoptothebottonof theinageandreleaseto
createanevengradient across thefrane. educe
theOpac/ty by changingtheanount to50Xin
theayers palette(circled).
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Wethinkyou'II agree
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adds somemuch
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originaI image.
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ee Mde (www.leefrost.co.uk), takenwith
anactual ten-stopNDlter.
Phooshoechnques
5
I hjNowedit the ayer Mask to
reveal the jetty. irst, click onthe yr s
thunbnail (circled), thenselect they
ss anddrawaselectionaroundtheedge
of thejetty. nceconplete, gotot/y
tr... andaddavalueof ! pixel toavoidaharsh
edgetotheselection. Nowtakethe8rs,
still set to8, andpaint over theselection.
4
Ir hr Switchtothe water layer by
clicking onit. dda / 8r zr,
withall the settings as insteptwo, but reducing
the At downby half, just tonake the cloud
refections nore realistic. 1hengoto/tr8r
ss/8r..., setting the anount tononore
than! pixels. 1his adds a hazy sheentowater,
connonwithnany long-exposure inages.
6
or ooo1oturntheinagenono, go
toAstts8/t... and
click tousethedefault settings. Conversions
froncolour tononooftenleaveaninagelooking
alittlefat, souseAsttss...
toaddcontrast. Usetheblack point andwhite
point sliders (circled) toboost theblacks andwhites
respectively, takingcarenot toburnout any detail.
2
IiI Ir nthesky layer, ensurethe
inagethunbnail is selected(circled), thengo
to/tr8r/ 8r... ntheRadial Blur
window, nakesurethat the8r tis
andOa//ty is set to8est. Next, enter alarge
Amont -noless than5-andnovethe8/r
Center toanareawherethehorizonwould
roughly bepositionedontheinage, andclick OK.
1
rIiIrs irst, create a
duplicate layer fronthe Backgroundlayer
by going toLayer>Dp//cate Layer..., naning the
layer accordingly -here, it's called'Water Blur'.
1henclick onthe Add/ayer mask iconat the
bottonof the ayers palette toadda ayer
Mask. Repeat this process tocreate anadditional
duplicate layer -this one was naned'Sky Blur'.
3
HiorgroIr 1he Radial Blur should
only ahect the sky portionof this layer, so
click onthe Layer Mask thunbnail inthe ayers
palette (circled) and, withthe 8rsnToo/ set toa
large soft-edgedbrushand8/ack colour, paint
across the foregroundarea tohide the blur
across the water andjetty. Switchtoa snaller
brushwhenworking near the horizon.
HNONGULNPPHGPH
OrigiI
Laer Mask
ayer Maskallows
youtohidedetail
fronthelayer it's
appliedto, revealing
theinagebeneath
without erasingit.
Whentheayer
Maskis selected,
sinplyadd8/ack
tothenasktohide
inagedetail and
changetoWn/teto
restorethedetail.
UsetheXkeyto
quicklyswitch
thecolours.
Wtust ewstes yu
udddts eutu
tserehect to
your Iandscapeimages.
oeWso
owhite
scenes inwinter -you'renever short of
opportunities. Whilethereareanillionand
oneways tophotographtheseclassic
scenes, eachas beautiful as theother, it's
goodtondatechniquethat gives these
seasonal scenes afresh, artisticappeal.
Giveyour seasonal landscapes acreativetwist withthis sinplebut strikingnotion-blur technique
Younayhaveconeacross notionscapes
beforewhereyoupanthecaneraacross a
coastal horizontocreatestreaks of colour.
1his techniqueis verysinilar but applies
vertical streaks instead, usinghotoshop. You
candoasinilar techniquein-canerausinga
three-waypanotilt tripodheadtopanthe
caneraupanddowninafuidnovenent,
but it will blur theentireinage, whereas here
onlywant toblur half of it. lus, whilethe
purists naybecursing, theehect is nuch
easier tocontrol, withbetter results, usingthe
MotionBlur lter inhotoshopinstead.
fter sonetrial anderror, it was clear that
toget thebest results for theseasonal
quadtych(series of four inages), 'dneed
inages wheretherewas as nuchinterest in
thetopof thefraneas thebotton,
otherwiseyouwouldn't beabletotell what
was blurredor infocus. foundthat thebest
scenes wereforests or landscapes where
trees ll theheight of thefrane, sowiththis
innindtheD|g|ta| S|PPnotograpny tean
runnagedthroughtheir harddrives for
suitableinages toillustratespring, sunner,
autunnandwinter.
1
3
4
5
6
7
2
HGULNPPHGPH
HGULNPPHGPH
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Howtoreadthe |ens sharpness graphs
ar graphs provideyouwithavisual
representationof lens sharpness. Each
graphshows thecentreandedge
performanceof thelens at full f!stops from
maximumaperturetof!16at dinerent focal
lengths of thezoom. Centresharpness is
showninred, edgeingreen. Thehigher the
bar, thebetter thesharpness, withratings as
follows: 8elow10: Poor, 10-29: Fair, 30-49:
Good, 50-69: Very good, Over 70: Excellent.
All our lens test analysis is performedusing
software.
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HNONGULNPPHGPH
Kt for |andscapes
IT: unhtnyrs g thnn
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FT: Ultrasonic(USM) focusing,
weatherproofedconstruction, andinside
I2elenents inninegroups takecareof the
inaging, includingexoticglass andaspherical
surfaces. anon's L-gradelenses conewith
particularly goodlens hoods, robustly nade
andlinedwithblack fockingfor thebest fare
resistance. t's unusually large, though, whichis
agoodthinginterns of shading, but takes up
norespaceinthebag. ilter sizeis //nn, in
connonwithnany pro-speclenses.
TOFOING: anon's USMrarely
disappoints -always fast, snooth, quiet and
accurate. ull narks.
PFOMN: anon's L I/-40nn
follows a traditional patternfor sharpness.
Unlike other lenses we have testedthat have
very highlevels right fronnaxinunaperture,
onfull-frane this lens neets our very good
ratingat fi4, thenjunps right intothe excellent
zone fronfi5.6andholds ontoit, only starting
todipslightly withthe inevitable ehects of
dihractionat fiI6. Muchthe sane patternis
refectedonPS-, only withthe higher
resolutiondenands of the snaller fornat
pushingthe nunbers down. verall the
standardis very highat nost connonly
usedapertures. f you're lookingfor nicro-
detail, inthe peak resolutiontest at M1 20,
the anonscoredII0lines-per-nnat fi8,
whichrates as excellent.
berrationcontrol is typical of all super-wide
zoons, withsignicant barrel distortionand
vignetting, particularly I/nnat fi4. Whilethis is
very nuchpar for thecoursewithsuper-wide
zoons, conparedtolonger focal lengthlenses
it rates as arelatively poor-to-fair perfornance
onfull-frane. nstoppingdown, however,
andonthesnaller PS-fornat, vignetting
gures aredranatically inprovedas you'd
expect, thoughdistortionstill renains anissue
at wider settings. lsoat thehigher endof the
scaleis chronaticaberration, but thegood
news is that all thesethings canbeeither
substantially inprovedor elininatedin
post-processing, or evenin-canerathese
days, sothereality is not toobadat all.
anonF17-40mm
fl4LM
58
ITOTION ll-frame Poor ITOTION(APS-C Poor
HOMTI(Full-frame Good HOMTI(APS-C Fair
IGNTTING(Full-frame Fair IGNTTING(APS-C Excellent
HIGHLY
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fl fl16 fl11 fl8 fl5.6
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3
HNLING 2l2
FT 18l2
PFOMN 3l
LFOMONY 2l2
OLL 2l1
anonF17-mmflLMP- anonF17-mmflLMfuII-frame
HNONGULNPPHGPH
K o |anapc
IT:
HNLING:
's newer snoothblack surfacenish
that's noreresistant tonarkingthantheolder
natt black. t's noderately heavy, andboth
focus andzoonrings arewell weightedand
silky snooth.
FT: Standout featureis thenega-wide
zoon, whichgoes downtoanincredible
I2nn. 1his is way wider thananythingelse-
infact, it's thewidest rectilinear (non-sheye)
lens of any kindnadefor full-frane. t I22,
theeld-of-viewis incrediblel 1hefipsideof
that is thefocal lengthat thelonger endonly
extends to24nn, andanother downsideis the
bulbous front elenent that prevents theuseof
nornal lters. 1herearespecialist gradlter kits
available(egornatt Hitech), but they'reboth
enornous andcostly, soyou'dbest boneup
onyour HDRtechniqueas analternative-
soneprefer it anyway.
TOFO: Withsonuchdepth-of-eld
available, theHypersonicsystendoesn't
havenuchtodo, but it works very quietly and
ehciently, soyouwon't haveany problens.
PFOMN: Under thehood, there's a
wholestack of exoticglass andaspherical
surfaces, totallingI/elenents inI3groups.
Just as well, as they haveahefty task nanaging
that vast angle-of-view, anddeliveringsharp
inages without toonuchdistortion, vignetting
andfare. Signahas donearenarkablejoband
perfornanceis alot better thanyounight
expect, infact it stands shoulder toshoulder
withthebest, despiteits relatively lowcost.
1henodest naxinunaperture, only fi4.5at
I2nnrisingtofi5.6at 24nn, gives it abit of a
head-start ontheoptical challenge, but evenso
thelens is sharp, very sharp, hittingtheexcellent
standardright across afull-franeinagefron
naxinunaperture. nly theedges lagalittleat
theteleend, whichis aconnoncharacteristic.
1here's plenty of distortion, vignettingand
chronaticaberration, as therealways is with
ultra-wides, but theSigna's not any worsethan
nost others. Peak resolutionis ahighII8
lines-per-nn, recordedat I/nnfi5.6inthe
centre. nareaof cautionis towatchout for
fare. Giventheextensiveeld-of-view, areas of
sky andsunareboundtobeincludedinthe
frane, andtheprotrudingfront elenent
naturally falls victintopickingupspecula
highlights. 1his is nostly inevitable, andnore
sonethingtobeawareof thantoworry about.
5ma12-2mm
l-II DGH5M
65
fl.5 fl16 fl11 fl8 fl5.6
LeareX: 12FF dge etre
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fl.5 fl16 fl11 fl8 fl5.6
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fl.5 fl16 fl11 fl8 fl5.6
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fl.5 fl16 fl11 fl8 fl5.6
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N
l
N
l
HIGHLY
ATD
HNLING 2l2
FT 16l2
PFOMN 36l
LFOMONY 18l2
OLL l1
ga12-2fl.5-5.6II Gfu-frae ga12-2fl.5-5.6II GP-
ITOTION(Full-frame Poor ITOTION(APS-C Fair
HOMTI(Full-frame Good HOMTI(APS-C Fair
IGNTTING(Full-frame Fair IGNTTING(APS-C Excellent
HCANONGULNPPHGPH
's
velvet-natt nishcanshowscuhnarks.
TUP5: I0nnis as wideas they cone, but
20nnis a bit less thanaverage. Maxinun
aperturefi4-5.6is alsonodest. ens hoodand
casesupplied.
UTOFOU5ING: Signa's ypersonicMotor
(SM) autofocus driveis as goodas any, ie
excellent, andthereis full-tinenanual
override, too.
PPFOPMN: Sharpness inthecentreis
always high, well intothe'excellent' zoneupto
fiII beforedihractiontakes hold. s always,
edgesharpness is lower, thoughnever less
than'very good' withtheexceptionof I0nnat
fi4that stands out a bit as beingdisappointing.
owever, it ranps upvery quickly andby fi5.6
it's 'very good' andfronthereonwards
sharpness is unifornly highacross thefrane.
eak resolutionhits I2I lines-per-nn. Barrel
distortionis a high+3.5at I0nn, but falls
quickly andturns to-0.6nildpincushionat
nid-rangeandlonger focal lengths. vignetting
is a littlehigher thanaverage, but still 'very
good' overall, whileCcontrol is a littlebetter
thansone, rating'good'.
VPIT: Noprizes for low-light perfornance,
but fronfi5.6tofiII -probably thenost
useful rangefor anultra-wide-sharpness is
very highat all focal lengths. t only 3/0, the
priceis evensharper.
5gma10-20mmfl4-5.6
XDCH5M
37
I5TOPTION:Severebarrel +3.5at10mm.
verall rating:ood
PKP5OLUTION:121lines-per-mm
atMTF20, 10mmf!5.6centre
HPOMTIPPTION:ighestat
10mm. verall rating:ood
VIGNTTING:Moderate1.3EVat10mmf!4.
verall rating:Veryood
HIGHLY
RTD
Lens5harpness(X): 1mm dge entre
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I I
fl8 fl16 fl5.6 fl11 fl4 Nl
Lens5harpness(X): 14mm dge entre
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fl8 fl16 fl5.6 fl11 fl5 Nl
Lens5harpness(X): 2mm dge entre
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I I I I
fl8 fl16 fl5.6 fl11 Nl Nl
HNLING 18l2
FTUP5 16l2
PPFOPMN 35l4
VLUFOPMONY 2l2
OVPLL 89l1
5igma1-2mmfl4-5.6XH5M
HNLING: Sweet handling, withvery light
weight andlightly weightedzoonand
focusingrings. 1opquality build.
FTUP5: ocal lengthrange is broadand
versatile, andgoodoverlapwitha standard
range zoonneans less lens changing.
Maxinunapertures are nodest though.
UTOFOU5: Canon's Ultrasonic focusingis
fast, positive andquiet andohers full-tine
nanual override.
PPFOPMN: Sharpness is high, especially
inthecentre, whereit kicks ohwell intothe
'excellent' zoneandthis is naintainedat all
focal lengths, only dippingunder at fiII. dge
sharpness is notably lower, but still consistently
aroundthe'very good' level andunlikesone,
there's nodrop-ohat thelonger end. eak
resolutionis thehighest hereat I29lines-per-
nn. berrations control is theusual nixedbag
withultra-wides. Barrel distortionat I0nnis
+2.4, whichrates as 'poor', thoughothers are
worseandit quickly gets nuchbetter at longer
focal lengths. vignettingis relatively high, but
never nuchof a problenevenwideopen, and
chronaticaberration(C) is about average.
VPIT: versatile zoonrange, great ,
anda highstandardof sharpness -very high
inthe centre -is naintainedat all focal
lengths andapertures. t cones ina very light
andconpact package withexcellent build
quality, andbest of all the price has been
reducedby over I00.
CaoF-510-22mm
fl3.5-4.5U5M
49 5T
UY
I5TOPTION:Strongbarrel +2.4at10mm.
verall rating:Verygood
PKP5OLUTION:129lines-per-mm
atMTF20, 15mmf!4centre
HPOMTIPPTION:Reducesat
22mm. verall rating:Fair
VIGNTTING:Moderate1.4EVat10mmf!3.5.
verall rating:Excellent
Lens5harpness(X): 1mm dge entre
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fl8 fl16 fl5.6 fl11 fl4 fl3.5
Lens5harpness(X): 15mm dge entre
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fl8 fl16 fl5.6 fl11 fl4 Nl
Lens5harpness(X): 22mm dge entre
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I I
fl8 fl16 fl5.6 fl11 fl4.5 Nl
anonF-51-22mmfl3.5-4.5U5M
HNLING 18l2
FTUP5 18l2
PPFOPMN 37l4
VLUFOPMONY 18l2
OVPLL 91l1
HCNONGULNPPHGPH
t fo sps
HNLING:
FTUP5:
4.5. Hoodprovided.
UTOFOU5: Noultrasonicfocusing, andthe
nicro-notor is a littleslower as it whirrs along,
but works well enough.
PPFOPMN: Sharpness is lower thanother
conparativenodels. naverage, ultra-wides
tendtobe'excellent' inthecentreand'very
good' towards theedges, whilethe1anron
I-24nnruns onesteplower -'very good' in
thecentre, and'good' at theedges. Peak
resolutionis alsolow, reachingI/lines-per-
nn, recordedat 24nnfi8inthecentre.
Distortionlevels are'fair' overall, withstrong
+3.2barrellingat Inn, rating'poor', steadily
reducingto+I.6barrel at 24nn. vignettingis
well controlled, never norethan.9Lvat
Innfi3.5, rating'excellent', andusually less
thanthat. Cis proninent, higher thanaverage,
rating'poor' overall.
VPIT: 1hefocal lengthrangeis excellent.
1henaxinunapertures arenodest, but
perfectly workable, andthe nechanisn,
whilenot quiteas sophisticatedas theother
ultrasonics, does thejob. t's only theoptics
that disappoint, andtherearebetter buys,
evenat 3/.
o04
f545D D
I5TOPTION:Severebarre +3.2at10.
vera ratn:Far
PKP5OLUTION:107nes-per-
atMTF20, 2!centre
HPOMTIPPTION:estat
10. vera ratn:Poor
VIGNTTING:Md0.9EVat10!3.5.
verall rating:Excellent
Le5hae: dge ee
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fl8 fl fl5 fl fl4 Nl
Le5hae: 24 dge ee
4
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fl8 fl fl5 fl fl45 Nl
Ta5P-24fl5-45i II L
HNLING l2
FTUP5 l2
PPFOPMN 2l4
VLUFOPMONY 5l2
OVPLL 8l
HNLING: Slightly larger andheavier than
nost, thebuildquality is obvious. Switching
fron tonanual focus is by pullingthe
clutch-ring, thoughthis usually noves the
exact distanceslightly.
FTUP5: t's anall-newlens, sitting
alongside the acclained1okina II-I6nn
fi2.8, tradingconstant fi4naxinunaperture
for nuchgreater I2-28nnzoonrange.
Hoodincluded.
UTOFOU5: 1okina's SD-MSilent Drive-
Module works quickly andquietly. 1opnarks.
PPFOPMN: 1okina has a reputationfor
highinage quality, sonosurprises here. nthe
centre, sharpness is well intothe 'excellent'
zone at all focal lengths uptofiII. Ldge
sharpness is lower, but never less than'very
good'. Perfornance is consistent at all settings
-nopeaks, andnonasty surprises either. Peak
resolutionneasureda highI23 lines-per-nn.
Barrel distortionis +3.2at I2nn, rating
'poor', thoughit quickly drops to+.4at
I8nn('excellent') andhovers aroundzeroto
28nn. vignettingis ehectively insignicant
throughout, Cis a little higher thanexpected,
rating'fair' overall.
VPIT: ne lens. t feels goodandworks
great, withconsistently highinage quality at
all settings. 1he extra focal lengthat 28nnis
useful, but at the expense of a couple of nns
less at the wide end. 1he price has droppeda
little since launch, too.
oX12-28mm
fl4ProDX
55
I5TOPTION:Severebarrel +3.2at12mm.
verall rating:ood
PKP5OLUTION:123lines-per-mm
atMTF20, 12mmf!5.6centre
HPOMTIPPTION:Reducesat
28mm. verall rating:Fair
VIGNTTING:Mild0.8EVat12mmf!4.
verall rating:Excellent
Le5hae: 2 dge ee
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fl8 fl fl5 fl fl4 Nl
Le5hae: 8 dge ee
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fl8 fl fl5 fl fl4 Nl
Le5hae: 28 dge ee
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fl8 fl fl5 fl fl4 Nl
5T
UY
HNLING 8l2
FTUP5 8l2
PPFOPMN l4
VLUFOPMONY 8l2
OVPLL l
TiaT-X2-28fl4PX
HCNONGULNPPHGPH
amoso
wan||nss
amrton
-angles arethelens of choicefor thevast
najorityof landscapephotographers for very
goodreason. 1heselenses allowyoutosqueeze
as nuchof alocationintoyour viewnder as
possibleandcaptureasceneabsolutely
brinningwithdetail andinterest. 1his is anadvantagefor
landscapephotographers as it neans youcaninclude
foregroundinterest as well as lots of detail inthefar scene,
givingyour inageplentyof depth. Bychoosinginteresting
foregroundsubjects, youcanalsograbtheviewer's
attentionandpull thenintothepicture.
Usingwide-anglezoons canbesoaddictivethat you
autonaticallyusetheir widest settingat everyopportunity.
But this canposeproblens. Sonelenses canbeset sowide
that theyshowthecorners of your equipnent (lenses, lters
andholders) inthefrane, this is knownas vignetting. nother
issuewithusingextrenewide-anglelenses is barrel distortion,
whichcauses horizons tobendandbuildings tolean.
ll this canbeavoidedbytrainingyourself toset your
wide-anglelens accordingtoyour subject natter. f shooting
astraight horizon, likeaseascape, thenusingthefocal lengtha
fewnillinetres upfronthewidest will reducetheappearance
of abendyhorizon. nountainous terrain, whichalreadyhas
anunevenhorizon, canbeshot as wideas youwant. s well as
focal length, payattentiontotheheight andtheangleof your
canerawhenyouset it uponatripod. 1rees will leanwhen
conposedfronlowtotheground, sotrysettingthecanera
at headheight andyounaynoticeabigdiherence.
1hebenets of shootingwithwide-anglelenses far
outweighthesefewconsiderations. 1heinpact theycangive
onyour photographs is astounding, whichis whyit cones as
nosurprisethat nost prolandscapephotographers wouldn't
shoot without then.
HOO5FOPMT:
Myrst imageastakenina
horizontaI format, hichis
oftenthenatraI orientation
for Iandscapes. Hoeer, a
erticaI format canorkjst
aseII ithide-angIe
shots. It aIIosmoreroom
for foregronddetaiIshiIe
stiII incIdingIotsof sky.
NOTTOOWI:
Usingtheidest endof yor
zoommaycasebarreI
distortion(henthehorizon
cresdonards) and
ignetting(hendarkareas
appear inthecornersof yor
frame). Theider yor focaI
Iength, thegreater the
chancethecamerahasof
incIdingpartsof yor kit (eg
Iter hoIders). oidthese
probIemsbynot settingyor
Ienstoitsidest focaI Iength.
GOLOW:
iepoint cIoser tothe
gronddramaticaIIy
increasestheimpact of the
foregrondsbject matter
andproidesamoredynamic
composition. Nothe
ieer canfocstheir
attentionontherockpooI,
hichIeadstheir eyeintothe
frameandtoardsthe
distant castIe.
Shootingwideensures your shots arefull
of detail andinpact. Here's why.
Vignetting
Format
Loiepoint
o |anscas HOGULNPPHGPH
hectivewhenthere's
someprominent foreground
interest topuII theviewer in
tothescene. Don't beafraid
tocomposesothat your
foregroundis bigandboId!
8-35mm
hepprent distne
etweenthe
foregroundndstIe
retes senseof
depth, withthehiIIs
ndviIIgeehindthe
stIestrethingwy
intothedistne.
50-85mm
vent moderte
teIephotosettings,
theperspetiveseems
muhtter, ndthe
stIeseems toIoom
over thedistnt hiIIs
ndtheviIIge.
105-200mm
s thefoI Iength
inreses, perspetive
seems tottenout,
sotht thestIe
ndthehiIIs ehind
seemtoeImost on
thesmepIne.
120mm 200mm
DIDYOUKNOW?
hile telephotos appear
toconpress perspective,
the truthis that they don't.
Magnify anarea of a shot
takenwitha wide-angle
lens andyou'll see that
it gives a virtually
identical ehectl
Kt or nsps
iltrs hvlongnthsinplst nnost inxpnsivwytoinprovor ltr your ings in-nr.
Lvninthigitl g thyhvthir plinvrylnspphotogrphr's kit g. xplinthnin
typs o ltr systns our ronnnltr typs nthnjor rns toonsir...
1HLR1HL1LRS now
tht whvPhotoshop is topi
tht still ivis opinionnongst
ntur photogrphrs. But or
thostht liktogt it right
in-nr ltrs rstill
invlultools inprtiulr with
outoor photogrphrs.
hilsonltrs ngivn
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populr typs rnutrl in
tonninstnl
photogrphrs tolnright
nrk rs o sn or hv
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ltrs tosuit ll typs o
photogrphy ut inthis gui w
hlpyouiwhihtypo
ltr s wll s wht ltr systn
is thst hoior lnsp
photogrphy.
iltrs onintwonintyps
srw-in whihtthirtlyto
thltr thrt thront o your
lns rrl, nslot-in whihslip
intoholr hlinplonth
ront o your lns yptor rings
srwontothltr thr.
Bothhvthir pros nons
whihyoushoulonsir or
iingwhihtouy. As you'll
noout isovr s youron
onintiono othtyps is
otnthst solutionor nost
photogrphrs.
nsptrs systsntyps
rw-ntrs ot-ntrs
1hsrquik nsy totthn
rnovronyour lns sor vry
onvnint hoi. As thy'rn
ronglss thy ro highoptil
qulity nnoriult tosrth.
Srw-inltrs oninvrious sizs
with2nnto//nningthnost
onnon. youown nunr o
lnss hwithirnt ltr thrs
youwill ithr n ltr inhsiz
or tkthnororloptiono
stppingring(stiplow). Anothr
ngtivpoint worthonsiringis tht
grltrs rn't wll suitor uss
srw-in whihwill o-puttingor
lnspphotogrphrs inprtiulr. oulsontotkrwhn
usingnorthnonsrw-inltr t tin s yourunthrisk o
vigntting(rkningt thingornrs) spilly withwi-ngl
lnss. Anothr isvntgis tht osionlly youny n ltr
won't ug inwhihsyou'll n ltr lnptohlprnovit.
Ahpr optionthnuying
thsntypo ltr invrious sizs is touy th
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whihllows youtot lrgltr on snllr
thr. or instn i youhv /2nnltr n
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or stp-upringor tthingsnllr ltrs to
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iththssystns youonlynto
uyonltr vni youhvsvrl
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lightr thnglss lthoughnorprontosrths. ptilly thyor
xllnt qulity withlittlisrnilirntosrw-ins.
or thultintqulity lookt prorns likL
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ou'll nnost rns
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suit irnt typs o DSLRs. 1hstnr
sizis 6/nnut i youhvwi-ngl
lnss w'ronnnyouonsir th
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sizs rstnr sinilrly sizholrs will
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srssty r ss
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onshootingIandscapes.
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dZipropfront
pockets andtwonoreunder
thelid, all with1anrac's
see-throughWindowpane-
nesh. Whenthebagis set
downandopen, there's good
access toeverything. 1he
standardlayout is tohavetwo
pro-sizeSRs withlenses
attachedacross thetop, though
thedividers canbecustonised. 1hetopis securedby a zip, four clips and
velcrotabs totaketheweight, witha largecentral handle. 1heraincover is
inanaccessory pouchonthesidewheretherearetwinloops at either end.
1anrac's Strapccessory Systenis sinilar toowepro's Slipock and
1hink 1ank Skins -goodfor expandingcapacity.
160
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8Whtea|ancecards
CDgtl LR ephtcteepete ll wg
theepttht thevegef theceetht egetee
f te greytobeexact, ietheaverageof all dark, light
andnid-tones nixedtogether is I8grey. t's thebasis of all netering
patterns andworks surprisinglywell, but whileit's nefor thenajorityof
shootingsituations, it canleadtoincorrect exposures whenthesceneor
subject is considerablylighter or darker intonethanI8grey. or exanple,
verydarkareas canfool theneteringsystenintooverexposure. Sinilarly,
verylight subjects, suchas asnowscene, canfool thecanerainto
underexposingthen-nakingthenappear darker thantheyare-as the
light neter will takeareadingdesignedtorender thenas anid-tone. s a
canerais tryingtorender aninage'grey', it's your jobtoensureyou
conpensatetokeepthetones truetolife. Youcandothis byusingoneof
your DSLR's exposureoverridefacilities, suchas exposureconpensationor
theL-Lockbutton, or byneteringfronanareaof thescenethat has a
nid-tone. ndthat's whereour greycardcones in. Usingit is verysinple
as our step-by-stepguidebelowillustrates. Renenber that youneedto
placethegreycardinsinilar lightingtoyour scene. for instance, don't place
it inashadedareaif your sceneis bathedinsunlight. lsonakesurethat the
cardlls theneteringarea-wereconnendyouusespot or partial
neteringas thecardwon't needtoll theentireinagearea, but anyis
suitable. Youcaneither locktheexposureusingyour canera's L-Lock
facilityor notetheapertureandshutter speed, andthenswitchtonanual
nodeandset these(althoughthis nethodisn't suitabletodays where
lightingis variable). 1hecardhasreferencelines tohelpyour canera's
autofocus lockontoit. However, youdon't necessarilyneedit tobein
focus toworkcorrectly. 1hegreycard(as well as thewhitecard) canalso
beusedtotakeacustonWhiteBalancereadingfron, too.
1heI8greycardcanbeusedtoensureperfect exposures whenshootingintrickylightingconditions. Both
referencecards canalsobeusedtoset acustonWhiteBalance. Dependingonthecanerayouuse, youneedto
takeaWhiteBalancereadingohthegreyor thewhitecard(your canera's instructions will showyouhow)
1
GtttatPlaceyour grey cardonthe
groundangledtowards youandensureit's
locatedinaspot that is bathedinthesanelight
as thenajority of thesceneyouplantoshoot.
2
Taamt aLnsurethat theentire
neteringareais lledby thegrey card(inthis
instancewe'reusingnulti-zonenetering) and
lock theexposurewiththeL-Lock button.
3
Cmt Withthis exposurelocked,
youcanconposeyour sceneandtakeyour
shots. Whenyoucheck it onyour LCDnonitor,
theexposureshouldbeperfect.
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nsureperfect exposures
TOPTIP
tbat
Whether youuse the grey
cardor not, intricky lighting
conditions, bracket your
exposure by +i-I stops
using your canera's
exposure conpensationor
LBfunctions toensure
youget the shot
HCNONGULNPPHGPH
GRLCRD
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LN5P PHOTOGRPHY
www.magbooks.com
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eyourskillsbytryingouttechniques
fromtheK'sleadinglandscapeexperts
Our simplestep-by-stepguideshelpyou
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Expert adviceonthebest outhtstosuit all
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Expertadviceandtutorialsformaximising
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heprofessionalsreveal their secretsto
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