por Making a landscape photograph is about being able to answer the following questions and melt them into one creative intention at a time. What do I want to shoot ? How would I do ? When should I press the shutter ? We need to understand the photographic process at stake. Most of it is based on good planning. It doesn’t mean forecasting the lighting conditions precisely, but planning a series of possible scenari for a given place. Obviously the more you know the place, the better.
Unfortunately, in our world good photography tends to be reduced to technology and gear. Brands usually represent landscape photographers like street photographers, with their camera in hands ready to shoot an event that could happen anytime. Of course, because they need to display their product in a desirable manner. That’s why it is very usual for amateur photographers to have the complete lenses kit with themselves, from wideangle to zoom, and not being able to make a powerful landscape picture. So here are a few tips to help you focusing on what really matters.
Fist thing, use a fixed focal lens and make it your sole instrument. If you have a zoom lens, force yourself to shoot with the same focal length everytime and look for the subjects accordingly. Look at it as a powerful creative tool, not as a restriction. Don’t forget that the most beautiful poems have been written with the rules of the sonnet. After a while its frame will be so naturally associated with your way of viewing the landscape that it will become easier for you to find pictures. You will consider only subjects matching its horizontal and vertical field of view and perspective.
Secondly, going to a location without your camera or leaving it in your backpack is actually the best way to focus your attention on the right place and the subject that matters to you. When you go out, set to yourself the goal of making ONE very good picture only, not two or three, just one. Whether you can possibly shoot the same day, whether you will have to come back, in the end make a clear choice in your mind of the final picture you really want. You have to be self confident to choose a composition. Be honest, have you really tried your best ? It is up to you to convince thanks to a precise and structured composition.
Third tip, find alternatives in case Nature surprises you. That’s what happened to me for the picture above. I decided to go to that pass because it offered a good perspective on the Eastern Massive of Picos de Europa at sunrise. They were forecasting good lighting conditions for the following day too. I wanted a picture of the massive itself, and had found a point of view with a great orientation. Moreover on the other side of the pass, I was attracted by the colourful vegetation which would add to the dryness of the Sierra, but with a complete uncertainty of how the rising sun would hit it. During the afternoon, mist from the ocean wrapped around the mountains, so I spent four hours in a 300 square meter area looking for the perfect composition. I was obssessed with the green arbust, absolutely wanted it in my picture with the rock and couldn’t find anything better. After spending a night in my tent, the following day I already had set my tripod and camera up towards the Eastern Massive before sunrise. I had chosen the most predictable scenario. But a few minutes later the most amazing light happened right on the other side of where I was standing. Seized with both surprise and emotion, all of the sudden I visualized the picture I really wanted and rushed to the alternative spot with the green arbust – 30 meters away. I only had a couple of minutes to set my tripod, compose, measure the exposure values, put the ND filter and press the shutter. The exposure was 7 seconds and I made only 2 shots before the light lost its reddishness. The colourful and fine details I was so much craving for – you can tell by my portfolio – were all in my final picture. If I didn’t spend so much time the day before with ONE obsession, I would never have made it.
Landscape photography offers lots of memorable surprises. Being at the right place at the right time is the ultimate reward and the result of lots of perseverance. My obsession is always the next shot.
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