Use light and composition to create a good landscape

Lead: When encountering natural scenery such as lakes and swamps, how to master the light direction and picture composition, and express the existence of lake water surface with light and wind is the key to taking good photos; All these require keen observation and patient waiting. The wind itself has no shape, but the water surface changes with the wind. When we photograph a lake, we can use the reflection of the water surface to photograph the picturesque scenery of the water surface. Whether it is a clear reflection when there is no wind or a ripple caused by a breeze, it is a good subject under the lens.

Using light and composition to create good landscape composition skills

All the customs of lakes come from water, so it is very important to master the characteristics of water. In addition to mastering the wind direction and light direction, it is also a very important part of shooting to use composition elements such as trees and stones in time to create a sense of space in the front, middle and back scenes, or to increase the richness of the picture.

Taiwan Province Province has a long and towering "backbone"? There are many mountains above 3000 meters above sea level, such as Central Mountain, Yushan Mountain and Snow Mountain, with undulating ridges and steep terrain. Some lakes are hidden in the valley, some are magnificent and some are graceful. The large area is called "lake" and the small area is called "pool", each with its own wonderful charm, which makes people linger.

Due to the high reflectivity of the water surface, it is suggested to use a polarizer to control the reflection when shooting to emphasize the color of lake water or blue sky; If you don't use a polarizer, you can also show the beauty of water and sky.

Grasp the best shooting time

Beautiful water reflection is one of the focuses of lake photography. If the wind blows, you can observe the target scene you want to shoot. Whether shooting with a camera or a tripod, you must press the shutter when the scene is the most suitable. It should be noted that if the wind is too strong, the reflection will be scattered. Therefore, we must grasp the best shooting opportunity when shooting the lake view. For example, when shooting the reflection of dead wood and water, if the wind can't avoid the interference, you can abandon the part of the lake where you can't shoot a clear reflection.

⊙ Canon EOS 30d+ef 70-200mm f4lis USM 96mm end. Aperture F/ 13, shutter113 seconds, ISO 100, aperture priority mode, automatic white balance, RAW to JPEG.

Take a photo suitable for sports.

Under the sunshine, the reflection of dead wood on the lake is more clearly visible, and the calm reflection picture is quite moving. However, it should be noted that the farther away from the obstacles of the shore and trees, the stronger the wind is due to the open terrain, which will cause larger ripples on the water surface and destroy the shape of the reflection.

So when shooting this picture, I put the water ripples in the mirror at the right time as the foreground of composition. Looking further away, the reflection of the forest projected on the shore becomes clearer and clearer, forming a beautiful picture of dynamic and static checks and balances, which makes people feel the existence of the breeze. Therefore, it is a very creative method to photograph the waterscape of the lake.

⊙ canon EOS 30d+ef-s17-85mm F4-5.6 isusm 63mm end. Aperture F/ 1 1, shutter 1/20s, ISO 100, aperture priority mode, automatic white balance, RAW to JPEG.

Make good use of light to express the charm of light and shadow

In the early morning, the warm sunshine shines on the shore of the lake, showing a harmonious aesthetic feeling and forming a beautiful light shadow on the grass slope. In addition, the lake without wind is like a mirror, reflecting the blue sky and grass slopes. The rare images of light, shadow and reflection at the same time make the quiet lake scenery more profound.

⊙ canon EOS 5d mark ii+ef17-33mm 40mm f4l USM bottom. Aperture F/22, shutter110 second, ISO 100, manual exposure mode, automatic white balance, RAW to JPEG.

Daylighting technique

There must be a lakeshore beside the lake and swamp. Taking the scenery on the shore and the water surface together in the picture can better show the feeling of the lake. However, even if the same composition method is adopted, different feelings will be taken because of the different sunshine state (angle or color temperature) on the shore. If you want to express silence and mystery, it is easier to show it in the case of diffuse light, because the picture will be softer without direct light.

Add foreground compressed image to make the image more presentable.

Putting the lake shore and rocks on the lake shore into the picture not only gives the water surface a sense of extension, but also highlights the face of the lake and its surrounding mountains. I used a super wide-angle lens to approach the shore stone beach and focus on the rocks on the shore, so as to exaggerate the foreground and narrow the aperture to more than F8, so that the foreground and background are clear, and the reflections of blue sky, white clouds and hillside grass can be more vivid and saturated when shooting along the light.

Shooting in a relatively empty place and finding the right elements as the foreground is one of the keys to success. This photo is a moment before sunrise. Baishichi, sparkling and mysterious; The near, the middle and the distant view are combined together, just like the geometry of heaven and earth. Choose a small aperture (F9? 1 1), on the one hand, is to reduce the shutter speed and extend the exposure time (using a tripod) to obtain the best color information, on the other hand, it is also to obtain a greater depth of field and ensure that the foreground and background of the picture are clear.

⊙ Canon EOS 30D+TOKINA AT-XPro12-24mm F4DX12mm End. Aperture F/8, shutter 1/60s, ISO 100, aperture priority mode, automatic white balance, RAW to JPEG.

⊙ canon EOS 30d+sigma17-70mm2.8-4.5macro17mm terminal. Aperture F/9, shutter for 30 seconds, ISO 100, manual exposure mode, automatic white balance, RAW to JPEG.

Use decorations to increase the charm and affinity of the lake.

If the water surface in the picture is only the reflection of blue sky and white clouds and hillside grass, it can give people a feeling of tranquility and openness; However, the ingenious combination of Hongshan House and climber's back in this work increases the tension performance of the work. Let's ask, how many times in life can we leave everything behind and enjoy ourselves in this uninhabited world? When shooting the reflection of the lake, sometimes it can be represented by several bisected symmetrical compositions. When composing a composition with embellishment, we should consider whether the positions of the points are coordinated, and we can also exert our keen observation and creativity according to the principle of golden composition points.

⊙ Canon EOS 30D+EF-S17-85mm F4-20mm5.6isusm bottom. Aperture F/7. 1, shutter1/60s, ISO 100, aperture priority mode, automatic white balance, RAW to JPEG.

Conceptual emphasis of foreground and decoration

When shooting lakes and swamps, how to allocate the proportion of lake banks determines whether the shape and extension of lakes can be highlighted. Especially when the scene in front of the position is taken as the foreground, the performance of the super wide-angle lens can increase the sense of extension of the picture and achieve the effect of openness. In addition, with the back decoration of the mountain houses and climbers, the lakes and mountains can be more tense. If a climber is walking, you must consider the harmony of all elements in the picture when you press the shutter, and don't just press the shutter in a hurry.

Guide the line of sight with frame view

If the lake view is too monotonous, the most basic lake view can be integrated into the picture as a composition element, which can increase the variability of photography. For example, this picture was taken from the tent, and taken together with the reflection of the lake, which can naturally form the feeling of a picture frame and increase the interest of the picture.

Flexible polarizer

If you want to photograph the color of the lake itself, you can turn the polarizer moderately to suppress the reflection of the lake. You can find that the color of the lake has turned dark green and the bottom of the lake is clearly visible, but the blue sky originally reflected on the lake has disappeared. Therefore, to show beautiful weather, it is better to leave the sky blue.

⊙ canon EOS 5d mark ii+ef17-40mm f4lusm31mm terminal. Aperture F/9, shutter1160s, ISO 100, aperture prerequisite mode,-1eV, automatic white balance, RAW to JPEG.

How to take a good reflection of the water;

The water surface should be calm, and the smaller the wind, the less it will disturb the water surface, so as to effectively reflect the scenery on the shore.

The best light for shooting reflection is low-angle backlight, followed by side light and diffuse light, and the worst is top light and smooth light. Under ideal lighting conditions, the sky and the scenery will form a strong contrast between light and shade, and the image projected on the water will appear clearer and more distinct.

You must choose a low angle when shooting, and the number of reflections on the screen is closely related to the choice of shooting angle. High shooting angle, less reflection; The shooting angle is low and there are many reflections.

The exposure should be accurate. Reflection often occurs on the water surface, and the reflection of the water surface often makes the photometric system judge too bright. In order to make the backlight scene and the reflection in the water have enough brightness, we can increase about 1eV when shooting to achieve the correct exposure value.

Because the reflection is often on the water bank, if the shooting angle is low, the lens is easily disturbed by the messy reflected light on the water surface, which affects the picture. So when shooting, it is best to use a hood for the camera lens.

You don't need a polarizer to shoot blue reflections.

If you want to shoot the blue reflection of the sky on the lake, you don't need a polarizer, you can also adjust the polarizer to an invalid angle.

⊙ Canon EOS 5DM Mark II+Sigma24-70mm2.8dg macro 36mm end. Aperture F/ 10, shutter 1/40s, ISO 100, manual exposure mode, automatic white balance, RAW to JPEG.

Matters needing attention in shooting lakes and swamps

Make good use of lens characteristics

Wide-angle lens and medium-long focal length can show different characteristics. Because the lake shore and shore rocks are in the foreground, we can use the ultra-wide-angle lens to exaggerate the foreground at a low angle to increase the sense of openness of the lake.

Use of polarizer

Whether to use a polarizer depends on the purpose of suppressing reflection (light) or using reflection (light).

Because the water surface has high reflectivity, the degree of reflection can be controlled by adjusting the amount of light by rotating the polarizer, thus eliminating the reflection of the water surface; If you want to shoot the reflection of the lake, you can turn the CPL to the clearest position of the reflection, or you can shoot directly without CPL.

Pay attention to the sky and adjust the proportion.

If the sky conditions are not good, such as too many clouds (cloudy days) or too few clouds (blue sky), or even the light is too bright and the contrast is too high, it is necessary to avoid or reduce the proportion of the sky when taking pictures, so as not to leave too many blank pictures.

Pay attention to horizontal lines and other sundries.

When taking landscape photos with water as the theme, we should pay attention to the fact that the horizontal plane cannot be skewed. If it is not handled properly, it will seriously affect the beauty of the picture. If there are other obviously indecent sundries (such as garbage) on the water surface, you should pay attention to avoid entering the mirror or removing them easily, so as not to spoil the beautiful picture.