What are the misunderstandings that novice landscape photographers often encounter?

Since Adams' time, landscape photography has changed both in the early shooting concept and the later operation. More and more new technologies are applied to modern landscape photography, and various fancy visual effects are generally accepted by the public. When learning these new ways and means, have we ever thought about whether these technologies and equipment are used properly? Do you know what misunderstandings novice landscape photographers often encounter? Let's have a look!

Myth 1: Do you need long exposure?

I believe that many beginners, especially those who are new to landscape photography, will choose to buy a reduction mirror. The next step is to install the filter for 30 seconds, and no matter what the conditions, the exposure will start in 3 minutes. I will be very excited after seeing the effect, and I can shoot this kind of long exposure slow door myself.

The correct use of long exposure is based on the technology used to create atmosphere under some special conditions, and long exposure is not necessary at all times. For example, when shooting with water element, we often choose atomization or drawing. These two exposures, one may take 30 seconds, and the other may only take 0.5 seconds. Then whether the latter does not belong to the category of long-term exposure compared with the former is also one of the misunderstandings. Many people think that only exposure of more than 30 seconds can be called long exposure, while ignoring that 1/2 and 1/5 seconds are also long exposure. In addition, it is also necessary to consider under what circumstances long exposure is needed. Personally, I think the choice of long exposure shooting should be based on my understanding and imagination of the shooting environment, plus on-site factors. Let's look at the following two examples:

This is the wreck I photographed on Penguin Island in Melbourne, Australia. Before filming, I knew that these sunken ships had sunk here for more than 100 years, and some legends about ghosts and gods made me take "mystery" as the theme in the early and late stages. When I observed the scene, I found that the stone in the foreground was half covered by the tide, and the light of the setting sun hit one side of the stone, and the clouds just paved again that day. Experienced photographers know that this kind of cloud can easily get the perfect drawing shape. Finally, I decided to use 10 step ND exposure for 3 minutes to achieve the ideal effect of painting the sky with atomized water. What needs to be explained here is that up to now, I seldom use 10 step ND reduction mirror, and most of them need long exposure. Six steps is enough, and 10 step nd often needs to be exposed for more than three minutes. You know, three minutes is fleeting in landscape photography, and many wonderful moments may be completely gone after three minutes. The film was made on a single chip, and later, in order to express mystery and sense of the times, it was turned to black and white.

This photo was taken on the boulevard in the South Island of New Zealand, where there are many shooting methods according to the different tide levels, not just slow door painting. This is an exposure of 0.5 seconds. As I said before, 0.5 seconds is also a long exposure to show the drawing effect. Because the tidal level in the scene is very suitable for painting as a foreground performance, different shutter speeds are chosen to show the movement. So how do you shoot when the tide level is not so perfect? The picture below is a work showing the texture of a circular stone beach, which was shot by a photographer of the polar shadow team. It can be seen that in the absence of relatively perfect conditions, shooting can be completed in other ways, rather than only one long exposure.

On the contrary, when we encounter some unexpected lighting conditions, we should try our best to grasp the key elements in a limited time to avoid wasting wonderful moments. Such as rainbow, Jesus light, flaming cloud, Buddha light or some strange natural phenomena, try to make a quick decision.

suggestion

Whether it is necessary to expose for a long time depends on the photographer's effective judgment or imagination and the consideration of the environmental factors at the scene. Only after careful consideration is king, so make good use of long exposure.

Myth 2: Use tripod reasonably.

There is no doubt that rigorous landscape photography must be done on a tripod. But is it really harmless to use a tripod? Everything has two sides, and the use of tripod sometimes greatly limits our composition and thinking development. Often some unexpected perspectives will be locked by the shackles of immediate conditioned reflex, and when you loosen the shackles and take off the camera, I believe that visual aesthetics will open another world.

Nowadays, even many people will not take pictures or refuse to take pictures when they leave the tripod. We know that tripod is used to maximize a stable effect, or to align layers effectively by using the same position in the post-exposure merger. This should be the role of using a tripod in 99% of cases. Although there is only an exception of 65,438+0%, the probability of this one percent is increasing with the development of modern landscape photography. This is what I want to talk about outdoor scenery photography. When we need to explore outdoor scenery photography, it often involves long-distance hiking, high-altitude camping, professional climbing and so on. In these cases, the burden should be considered first, and only a relatively safe and relaxed burden can ensure smooth progress, which is the major premise. The role of tripod is a bit embarrassing at present, and whether it bothers many photographers who can't do it.

There are also some hiking photos of one-day trips, which do not involve overnight camping. I don't recommend taking them. In most daylight conditions, modern digital cameras can ensure that shooting can be completed within a safe shutter speed. During my recent expedition to the North Island of New Zealand, I had to walk 19 kilometers a day to photograph a geothermal volcanic lake in one day. The photographer with me hesitated to bring a tripod. After I analyzed the situation we needed to shoot and the necessity of tripod travel with him, he decided to go into battle lightly. The so-called analysis here is actually in most cases: because it is impossible to stop and take out the tripod to shoot at any time when reloading, as for the reason, we can only understand it by personal experience. If sunrise and sunset are not involved, most daytime adventures can be photographed by hand. As far as I know, many classic works of Max Rive (Marc Adamus) in North America are not shot with tripods.

suggestion

Do what you can, don't get into the habit of not taking pictures when you leave the tripod. You can give the tripod to backpackers or camels for long-term use. Even if there is no third-party service, don't take it out often. It is your duty to walk honestly.

Myth 3: Do we have to make a movie?

During my two years of exposure to landscape photography, I have been to many places. At first, every time I came back from a long trip, I posted many so-called beautiful pictures related to this trip on major social platforms. Even if it is not published publicly, I will still pick out many pictures that I think are good for later adjustment. This is another misunderstanding mentality I want to elaborate. If you go out to take pictures, you must make a movie. Looking back at the previous movies now, many of them should be thrown into the recycling bin, but I regard them as treasures. Later, many friends who traveled with me would ask, "Can you take good photos by walking ten kilometers to this place today?" The other side's answer has already been laid. Since you can't make a good film, it's a waste of energy to make a trip in vain. This is another important shooting concept that I want to extend on this topic; Explore, discover.

Landscape photography is a systematic and complex art, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a science. Digging deep into landscape photography is not how mysterious or shocking the later scenery is, but that we should always keep a heart that respects nature and dares to explore and discover. Landscape photography doesn't hit it off immediately, and it needs to be shot repeatedly in the same scene to gain something. Everything is the first time to exist, especially when we are shooting in a relatively complex terrain or the whole area, exploration and discovery are an essential step. In March this year, I went to kakadu national park in Darwin, the northernmost city in Australia, with zhangyan, a teacher from Australia. During the four-day trip, we didn't even take out our camera. We always switched between our feet and the steering wheel. There was no so-called work for four days, but I got an understanding of the whole Kakadu area and landform, which laid a solid and good foundation for the next shooting.

suggestion

Put aside the mentality of going out to film and leave more time for exploration and discovery. Walk more, see more and think more. I believe it will be better next time.

Myth 4: Galaxy Style

This should be my original intention of writing this article, and it also caused some personal misunderstandings about landscape photography. Landscape photography has developed to this day. With the continuous innovation and improvement of equipment technology, Galaxy film has become the embodiment of high gold content in this carrier. In recent two years, film noir has become the mainstream trend. It seems that there are very few galaxy films that are embarrassed to say that they are shooting scenery. The continuous high temperature of the Milky Way fever allows more and more beginners to shoot the Milky Way in the vast starry sky. Many photographers shoot the Milky Way galaxy endlessly with enthusiasm, but neglect to do the right thing at the right time.

I often see many domestic photographers looking back at the Good Shepherd Church in New Zealand in June+February, 5438, but I don't know that the Galaxy season in the southern hemisphere ended as early as June+February, 5438. The Galaxy season mentioned here is also one of the misunderstandings I want to elaborate. It is the right time to shoot only in the galactic season (note: the galactic season in the northern and southern hemispheres is different. The so-called galactic season refers to the time, the visibility and location of the galactic center, etc. , is the best shooting state). At present, too many people focus on the dry goods in the later stage of the galaxy and ignore the system planning of the early shooting. I once sent a tidbit about sweeping the sea in a circle of friends, also in the Galaxy season. A very good teacher commented and asked me why I didn't shoot the Milky Way under such good conditions. What I want to express is that we don't have to shoot the Milky Way in the Milky Way season. Many of the prospects we want to shoot may not be in the rising position of the Milky Way or simply in the opposite direction, plus other factors, such as the change of tide level. My movie at that time was that the future direction and tide level of the Galaxy were wrong, and even in the cloudless season of the Galaxy in Wan Li, I would not make a good work. This is the key idea of this misunderstanding, and there is no need to shoot for the sake of shooting the Milky Way. Why not try to give up the Milky Way, and it is also a good choice to shoot some stars with dark light as an ornament.

Shooting a good Galaxy work in the early stage must be excellent in time, prospect, light and other factors. However, when the probability of these conditions appearing at the same time is not great, then some people have to work hard to create conditions in order to photograph the Milky Way. Rack one's brains to make up for the dry spots caused by insufficient light (except for some equipment), and look at the sky as a foreground in a strange way. Are these helpless moves really for filming the endless waiting that night? When you have a detailed plan and perfect shooting conditions (weather, galaxy location, moonlight and other factors), you don't need to do so many things. With conventional data, you can simply use two or three photos to complete exposure synthesis, and even one photo can be released.

suggestion

Respect science and be kind to false synthesis. Pay attention to combining work and rest. If it is not the weather, location and people in the high-intensity shooting environment, you can give up the Galaxy shooting appropriately.

Myth 6: The best light is only golden proportion and red clouds all over the sky.

Everyone knows that the softest light at sunrise and sunset, the so-called golden light ratio, is the best time to shoot. Needless to say, it's burning clouds, just red clouds every time. Reality is always capricious. In addition to these best conditions, we have many kinds of weather and shooting methods that are comparable. I prefer extreme or gloomy weather to red clouds now. Western landscape photographers call it "moody". This kind of weather is often full of unknowns and changes, and hongyun is an extreme opposite. Moreover, such weather will add different aesthetic feeling and impact to the visual effect.

There are many subjects that are not necessarily suitable for golden ratio shooting, such as waterfall series. When shooting waterfalls, we often choose to shoot in a specific lighting range. These lighting conditions usually do not appear at sunrise or sunset, but at noon or during the day. In addition, in the third case, when the light ratio is not golden, you can selectively shoot some black and white themes suitable for the later period to improve the film production rate, especially for long-term outdoor hiking.

suggestion

It's safe to shoot. When you see extreme weather, you can try some other lighting styles and encourage you to go out and shoot more.

abstract

The above six categories are common misunderstandings in landscape photography at present, and there are many subtle technical and conceptual misunderstandings that have not been mentioned, such as the abuse of soft focus in the later period. Avoiding these misunderstandings is fundamentally a change in the thinking of landscape photography. Art comes from life and is higher than life. Sometimes you should learn to jump out of the box and not be bound by the so-called rules and regulations.

Myth 5: Popular Shooting Places

Seeing the picture above, you may have guessed what I am going to say. Now more and more friends choose to go to some popular shooting places. This year, Iceland was good, and then everyone flocked to Iceland. Next year, they will say how beautiful Patagonia is, and soon they will all go to South America to continue their reunion. I'm not saying these places are bad. Iceland, New Zealand, Patagonia, these places are beyond reproach, and they are absolutely holy places for landscape photography, which I must admit. But if the photos taken by everyone who has been there are highly similar and the composition angle is 90% the same, then this long trip is meaningless. There is only one straw hat mountain in Iceland, but there is by no means only one seat where you can shoot straw hat mountain.

A thoughtful photographer must have his own unique opinions and ideas. Even if he goes to these crowded seats, he will shoot different things. I don't object to going to these places, and I don't object to using classic compositions on classic seats. Imitation is the only way to grow up, and efficient imitation is to learn the advantages and disadvantages from it and improve it. Recently, I have also seen a lot of works by a photographer. At first glance, everything looks good, but I always feel deja vu. In fact, most of them just mechanically imitate the position and composition adopted by predecessors, and even the later style. This kind of imitation without independence loses the most essential uniqueness of art.

These two waterfalls shot in Tasmania, Australia, have almost two or three identical compositions and perspectives, whether on google or 500px. At first, I took a similar photo, but after repeated exploration, I found other elements, and then through personal understanding, I took a photo that was different from the public.

suggestion

Try to avoid popular scenic spots, try to shoot with your own thoughts and feelings, even if you struggle to establish your own shooting system in repeated mistakes.