Landscape photography from getting started to improving skills

Introduction: This article is an article that "turns you from a photography novice to a landscape photography novice". In other words, you must have some basic knowledge of photography and some shooting experience. If you don’t even have the concept of shutter aperture, I’m sorry this article is not suitable for you. If you are a famous person, then if there is anything I wrote wrong or something you think needs to be added, please feel free to enlighten me.

About the basics

Basics of landscape photography

Find a girl/man who supports you

Landscape photography is very hard, and many times you can only Go alone or with friends. If you have a significant other, her/his support is important, and I'm grateful that I have one.

1. The importance of light

If you think you can’t take good-looking scenery photos, it’s because a. your equipment is not good enough, b. your post-production PS is not good enough, c . If your photography skills are not good enough, then it is very likely that these ideas are wrong. Many people's first reaction when seeing beautiful photos is "Have you ever photoshopped your photos?", "The colors are so good", or "Why can't I get the effect that others took?", "I've never been to that place before." The photos are so beautiful.”

In fact, the biggest difference between landscape photos and ordinary travel photos is not other things, but the light. The most important thing for landscape photography is good light, and good light is generally within an hour before and after sunset, which is the so-called Golden Hour. It can be said that 80 to 90% or more of excellent landscape photography occurs during this time. Completed. No matter how awesome the scenery is, when it encounters the pale sunshine at noon in the National People's Congress, what comes out in the camera is often just a "visit photo".

So next time if you think "Why are those photos more beautiful than what you see?", try to wait for the warm sunshine or the gorgeous sunset at sunset, maybe you will have an answer.

2. Get up early and stay late

If you realize the importance of light, maybe you will say, "I have been there, but I have never encountered good light." Sorry, good light is something you don't encounter but wait for. It is difficult to encounter good light when you go back to the hotel to play cards and watch a movie in broad daylight.

Since the best light is at sunrise and sunset, this means that if you want to take good pictures, you have to get up before sunrise and go home after sunset. Sunset may be okay for many people, but getting up early at sunrise is terrible for many people. If winter is okay, then summer is a painful season for photographers. They have to get up at 4 o'clock when taking pictures at sunrise, and the sun doesn't set until 8 or 9 o'clock in the evening. Whether you can do it or not actually depends on your determination, but this is also a good measure. If you don't have the determination to endure hardships, I can definitely say that you will not be able to make further progress in landscape photography.

3. Depend on the sky

Determination and perseverance alone are not enough. Landscape photography is a job that depends on the sky. Whether the weather is good or bad determines the quality of light and therefore the quality of photos. It’s not uncommon to wait all morning or evening outside for a shoot and get nothing.

Therefore, when is the best time to take photos in a certain place is also a big question. For example, the coastline of the San Francisco Bay Area is foggy in summer. If you run to the beach every day in summer, it may be in vain. Regarding the weather, you may initially think that sunny days are good weather and cloudy days are bad weather. In fact, this is not the case. A purely sunny day means that the light will be yellower and the sky will have no content, which is not a good thing for many subjects such as coast and lake photography. Of course continuous rain is not good, but heavy rain that comes and goes often means changeable clouds. If some of them can be dispersed to let the sun shine through during sunrise and sunset, the glow will be very spectacular. Generally speaking, there will always be glow as long as the clouds are not too thick, which is the best situation for most scenes.

About shooting

1. Where to shoot and where to shoot

Many people have asked me how I know about so many places to shoot. Actually this is not easy to answer. Generally speaking, the shooting location is accumulated slowly. For the big concept of scenic spots, such as a certain park or a certain coast, it is not difficult to find these places. Generally, you can learn about them in the same way as tourist attractions. From the Internet, books, and even friends around you, A lot of information is available.

However, the specific question of where to shoot in a certain park cannot be obtained from many travel-related information websites and books. I usually accumulate information by using the World Map in Flickr Explore and searching for works on 500px. That is, I determine where I want to go and search for excellent works on these online maps or entries. This method may be limited to North America. It should be similar in Europe and Australia. It is not clear whether there are similar resources in China.

Of course I will also read some photography guide books, such as Photographing the Southwest, which is an excellent series that introduces photography locations in Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico in considerable detail.

2. Composition

Compared with other photography subjects, landscape photography is doomed to imitate other people’s compositions many times. There is a reason why a photography spot is classic, and I don’t think there is any need to avoid it.

I have never shied away from classic compositions. In fact, 80% of my photo compositions can be found in other works on the Internet. Sometimes it is a coincidence, and more often it is imitation. On the other hand, imitating first and then innovating is a reasonable way to reduce costs. When you take good photos of some classic places, it is the beginning of moving towards other places that few people go to.

There are many ways to compose a picture, and there are many that can be discussed, such as the rule of thirds, and the method of subtraction in composition. You can generally find them online. However, it is worth mentioning the concept of scenery (seemingly invented by me), because many times it is ignored when you first come into contact with scenery.

Landscape photography is mainly wide-angle. Wide-angle photos can cover a lot of things. Sometimes, to avoid the picture being too monotonous and having too few elements, backgrounds should be used appropriately. If the main subject of a photo is a distant view, it would be good if the distant view has clear layers. However, if the layers are not clear or the elements are relatively monotonous, the foreground is often a necessary background. A cluster of flowers, a stone, and a dead tree can often play a good role in setting off or even adding the finishing touch under wide-angle magnification. Conversely, if the foreground is a photo of the subject, a good distant background is also crucial.

3. Exposure

How to measure light reasonably? The answer in the digital age is quite simple: just look at the histogram, and automatically expose one first to ensure that there will be no dead white or dead white. Damn it, if there is any, you will be compensated accordingly.

Regarding aperture and shutter, I usually use A-speed, set the aperture around F11-F16, ISO100, and then automatically calculate the shutter. Taking pictures of starry sky and water flow is another matter. You need to consider the shutter speed, and adjust the aperture and ISO accordingly. In these cases, you often use the M position.

When bracketing exposures, the spacing is generally more than 1 stop. I rarely use 0.3, 0.7, etc. And if the wind is strong and the object moves during exposure bracketing, then the aperture or ISO must be sacrificed to make the shutter faster. This part is actually very general, and there isn’t much to say. I have put the precautions for shooting various subjects in the last part. Regarding exposure bracketing, I will talk about it in the post-exposure synthesis section.

About equipment

1. Cameras and lenses

I actually pay very little attention to cameras and lenses. The requirements for cameras and lenses for landscape photography are actually very simple (not that they are not expensive, but they don’t allow you to make too many choices).

From the D90 I just got to the full-frame D800 now, I actually had no trouble choosing the machine and lens, and I didn’t ask anyone. For beginners, a mid-range SLR such as the D90 is actually completely sufficient. If you are confident, you can go to full frame when necessary.

As for the lens, in addition to the universal medium focal length, the wide angle is a must, and the telephoto depends on personal shooting habits. As for which lens you should choose for each type of lens, it all depends on you. Cheap ones may not be bad. For example, I use 16-35 for wide angle, which is the cheapest among Nikon wide angles. I also know that Canon’s 17-40 is actually very good and very cost-effective. There is no need to use 16-35 unless it is for starburst and aperture. In general, if you feel that the photo is not good, you should first find fault with yourself, and then find fault with the camera and lens.

2. Filters

Filters are indispensable for taking landscape photos. Generally speaking, there are three types:

1). Polarizer CPL to eliminate reflections on the water surface. , enhancing sky color, etc. are irreplaceable.

2). The neutral density filter ND has a relatively limited effect, but it is usually required when it comes to flowing water on the coast. It is also often used for long exposure of flowing clouds in the sky. Personally, I think 4 stops (1.2) The left and right ones are more practical.

3). The GND gradient filter turns decay into something magical, reducing the contrast between the top and bottom of the picture. It can be said that this thing was the core equipment of landscape photography in the past.

Although the current post-production technology can theoretically completely replace the mid-gray gradient, in fact, in many cases the boundary lines of the composition are not too complicated. It is more convenient to use filters and saves a lot of post-production effort, so I still carry it with me. Generally, gear 2 (0.6) and gear 3 (0.9) are more practical. Different themes have different needs for soft edges and hard edges, so they are generally both available.

According to my own experience, GND and ND must be plug-in type. For CPL, it is best to have both plug-in type and ring-mounted ones. Ring-mounted ones are more convenient, and sometimes only There is no need to put on a filter holder when you need to use CPL. As for filter brands, the best plug-in filters are LEE and Singh-Ray. If financial conditions permit, try to buy these two brands. If you just want to give it a try, you can consider Hitech and Cokins. B+W can be considered for ring-mounted CPL.

3. Tripods and others

Tripods and heads are equally important.

At first you bought a 30 dollar stand, but after using it for a while you thought it was too bad, but you couldn’t bear to buy the expensive one, so you bought a 100 dollar stand. After using it for a while, you felt that the camera would still nod, so you bought another 200 or 300 dollar stand. , finally found that 500 or 600 knives is better. This is a story I have seen too many times online. This is a product where you get what you pay for, so simply go for the best one.

If you have the financial resources, just buy a Gitzo and a gimbal with Markins or Really Right Stuff. If you really don’t want to spend money, the gimbal and gimbal must be at least Manfrotto level. You will eventually replace a $100 rack, trust me. The most important considerations for a shelf are: weight, unfolded height, and folded length. The weight is generally not particularly heavy if you choose carbon fiber. After unfolding, the height of the gimbal and camera should be the same as the viewfinder at eye level. The length after folding is definitely smaller than the four-section one, but the stability is not good. The four-section one can be stored in the boarding luggage, but the three-section one generally cannot (of course I can remove the central axis of my stand and squeeze it in sideways) into the box).

4. Equipment, price and determination

In fact, I encourage everyone to buy all the equipment. In addition to the premise that financial conditions permit, it is also based on this premise: you are determined. Take the time and effort to take good photos of the scenery. Photography products generally get what you pay for. I feel good about Lee's filters, Gitzo's stands and Markins heads now. I go out a lot. These things are very easy to use and I won't have any complaints. And These items last a long time, so I don’t feel like I’m wasting my money. If you feel that you are not determined enough, just make a small fuss and try to take pictures casually, then you don’t have to buy a product line that is too expensive, otherwise it will be a waste of money.

About the later period

I wrote this part in the form of questions and answers. Perhaps for most novices, this is the part that can greatly improve the photos, so I will ink more, but it does not mean that post-production is the most important. As the same saying goes, the most important thing in landscape photography is light.

1. Exposure synthesis

Q: What is exposure synthesis?

A: The general meaning of exposure synthesis is to take multiple pictures of the same frame when shooting ( Usually three to five photos) with different exposure compensation levels, and then combined in Photoshop later.

Q: Why exposure synthesis is needed?

A: In order to solve the problem of large light ratio pictures, that is to say, the light ratio of the picture makes it impossible for a single exposure to accommodate all the information. For example, when you shoot facing the sunset, the resulting photo will either show the sky being white when the ground is bright enough, or the ground being completely dark when the sky is normal. Judging from the histogram, it is out of range, and there is dead black or dead white in the picture.

Q: Can’t I use PS or LR to pull it back with a curve?

A: No, the light sensitivity range of the camera’s sensor is physically limited. If the film comes out, it will die. If it is black or dead white, then the details will be completely lost, and no matter how awesome the curves are, they will not be able to pull it back.

Q: Do most films require exposure synthesis?

A: Generally speaking, It is said that if the single exposure is sufficient, there is no need for exposure synthesis. If you feel that a certain part of the picture is too bright or too dark, you can perform local brightness contrast adjustment (will be discussed later)

Q: How should exposure composition be bracketed?

A: Simple method I use BKT+continuous shooting on the camera, and just select the exposure interval and the number of bracketed shots. I usually use +/-1 for spacing, and I feel like 0.7, 0.3, etc. are not very obvious. The method of manual control is to first expose the dark part of the picture accurately, and then adjust the shutter to reduce it bit by bit. Generally, the distance is 1 stop, until the brightest part of the last picture is not completely white. Anyway, remember the principle is that the brightest picture does not have a dead black part, and the darkest picture does not have a dead white part. Just look at the histogram to see if it's black or white.

Q: What is the difference between exposure synthesis and HDR?

A: Let me correct a concept first, HDR = High Dynamic Range, which means high dynamic range, which is popularly known as Large light ratio, high contrast. It’s just that HDR is commonly used to refer to HDR images automatically generated by post-processing tools. The tool HDR also uses multiple exposures to synthesize, but it affects every pixel. In many cases, it will look ugly, dirty, and distorted (some people like it, well, it can only be said that the aesthetics are not on the same level). Exposure synthesis is actually HDR, but it is selective HDR. People choose the appropriate exposure for different parts of the picture. When the processing is good, the picture will appear natural and realistic, close to what the human eye sees.

Q: How should I synthesize it in the later stage?

A: To put it simply, the previously exposed negatives are superposed as layers in Photoshop, and then each negative is superimposed Erase out the properly exposed parts. That's it, yes, this synthesis is very simple to say, but it can be very complicated to do.

It can be said that the core of synthesis lies in the mask. How to create a reasonable mask for each exposure is a technology and an art. Generally speaking, the mask can be painted out with a brush, but the brush strokes used, the transparency, and the brushing method are all particular. In addition, Luminosity Mask is a very powerful masking technology that has been produced in recent years.

Q: What is depth of field synthesis?

A: If you want to put the foreground very close when composing a picture, then even if the aperture is small, the depth of field may not be enough. Therefore, similar to exposure synthesis, you need to take negatives with different depths of field, foreground, middle ground, and background, and then composite them in post. A friendly reminder that you need to align the layers first when compositing, because the images produced by different depths of field are not consistent.

2. Luminosity Mask

Q: What is Luminosity Mask?

A: To put it simply, it uses the brightness of the picture to create a mask. The mask only Will affect certain brightness parts of the image. This kind of composition and local adjustment allows the mask to act on only the parts it wants to act on. The masks created by combining Luminosity and brushes can be very powerful. For example, in a forest scene with a large light ratio, the backlit side of the tree trunks is very dark and the sunny side is very white. Two negative films are bracketed and exposed. I want to use a brighter film for the backlit side and a darker film for the sunny side. For negatives, since the junction of light and dark in the forest scene is very complex and irregular, such a mask is difficult to process with a brush, but Luminosity Mask can do it very well. Of course, this is just an example. In fact, Luminosity Mask can be used in many ways.

Q: How should I start learning?

A: It is recommended to be proficient in the exposure synthesis technique first. In fact, that is to start this part after brushing the mask.

Q: Where are the relevant resources?

A: I recommend several textbooks/videos from North American landscape photographers: Tony Kuper, Chip Philips, Zack Schnepf and Sean Bagshaw. These are top-notch landscape photographers. You can search their personal homepage and click on the Tutorial or Video column to see it. Let’s briefly talk about the differences between several people’s textbooks. Tony Kuper has a very detailed and basic text description (seems to be the pioneer of this technology), but it is really difficult to read. Sean Bagshaw has a very detailed introduction to Luminosity's video based on Tony Kuper's text description, and there are also various other videos. His videos are relatively complete, but I have not watched them. Zack Schnepf has a video on exposure compositing and Luminosity Mask, I started with his video. His style is very rigorous. The Luminosity Mask is probably not as detailed as what Sean said, but it is enough for people with a basic knowledge of masking. Chip Philips's video is richer in content than Zack's, but it actually doesn't go into detail about Luminosity Mask and synthesis. In addition to Luminosity Mask and synthesis, Zack and Chip also talked about local adjustment of the picture, refining the selection, image sharpening and output, etc. Sean's video was divided into several videos, each with different emphasis.

Q: Why do I have to pay for these videos? Can I borrow them and copy them?

A: I encourage everyone to buy them. After all, these are the hard work of photographers and they are from North America. It’s nothing to spend a little money to learn some techniques from top-notch landscape photographers. If everyone copies it over and over again, it will be no different than piracy. I have introduced them here, and I also hope that everyone will be conscious and do not spread them widely after purchasing them, let alone share them. Landscape photography is a very difficult profession among photographers, and it is not easy to make money. I hope that everyone can empathize with each other and respect the fruits of their labor as landscape lovers.

3. Local adjustment

Q: The effect of my film is still not enough after synthesis/how to adjust the single film?

A: Mask technology In addition to its use in synthesis, another focus is its use in local regulation. That is to say, create adjustment layers such as Curves/Levels/Color Balance on the negative, and then use masks to constrain the scope of these layers. In fact, compared to exposure synthesis, I think this part is more important for improving the picture. Adjustments made in this way are more flexible and powerful than adjustments in Lightroom.

Q: How to make local adjustments?

A: My personal idea is to adjust the contrast of light and dark first, and then adjust the color. The contrast between light and dark depends on the components of the picture. For example, to darken the sky, create a layer and open a mask. To brighten the rocks in the middle ground, create a layer and open a mask. The overall contrast needs to be improved. Create a layer and open a mask. mask, and so on. To adjust the contrast between light and dark, you usually use curves or levels layers.

Color adjustment is similar, I usually use photo filters, color balance and hue/saturation, vibrance layers. In fact, every step of every photo is based on feeling. There is not much to say.

Q: How to adjust it to look good?

A: This actually depends on everyone’s post-production style, there is no fixed method. In fact, I try my best to take photos in the style of Chip and Zack. If you are in China, you can see Hu Yiming and Yan'er on Tuchong. In short, this style is the direction I appreciate and move forward. However, recently I have found more and more that I don’t have enough control over colors. The colors used are too heavy and not natural enough, and the color temperature is too high. You have to keep working hard

4. About Lightroom and Workflow

Q: Most of the work you introduced is in It’s done in PS, but what about Lightroom?

A: I usually use Lightroom for photo management. In addition, I will make fine adjustments to the pictures before entering Photoshop, such as changing the color temperature, eliminating highlights, and removing noise. Color, but these are very small changes, just to lay a good foundation for the film.

Q: In addition to synthesis and local adjustment, what else needs to be done in post-production?

A: My workflow is usually Lightroom fine-tuning -> exposure synthesis (if there are multiple photos) -> Local contrast adjustment -> Overall contrast adjustment -> Local color adjustment -> Overall color adjustment -> Refinement of texture (if necessary) -> Orton effect or other effects (if necessary, I don’t know how to translate this, see Chip’s video )->Change image size and sharpen->Output.

Generally speaking, my synthesis process is more based on Zack’s style, and the whole process is more based on Chip’s style. There is no fixed method for the later stage, especially for contrast and color adjustment. However, everyone should develop good habits in the overall process and establish a stable and reasonable Workflow.

Regarding various themes

Many things in landscape photography are the same, such as small apertures and so on most of the time, but different themes also have different things to pay attention to.

1. Milky Way and star trails:

It is a subject that looks complicated but is not difficult to get started with. Simply shooting stars is very simple. You can do it after reading one or two introductory posts. I took photos of them, like my first time taking photos of star trails and the Milky Way, which were quite successful. But the key is that how to arrange the appropriate scenery in the foreground and achieve the appropriate brightness (moonlight or light painting) requires some experience.

2. Waterfall

Waterfall is easier said than done. It is said to be easy because the effect of water flow needs to be photographed. All you need is a neutral density filter and a polarizing filter. It’s difficult because this subject is best photographed on cloudy days, but generally everyone’s photos look similar. It’s not that easy to encounter interesting light in the woods and control it well.

3. Snowy mountains and high mountains

Because mountains often occupy a large amount of the picture, the weather requirements are not so high. The effect of morning and evening light on the mountains is generally not particularly bad. , the key is that the shape of the mountain itself, the snow, etc. must be special enough to attract attention.

4. Lakes

In fact, lakes are generally not the subject of photos. A simple lake surface has no characteristics. Usually there is a reflection of a mountain peak, or the water is very clear and objects on the bottom are visible, and These lakes are worth taking pictures only if they have special scenery.

5. Wildflowers

It does not refer to the close-up and macro shooting method, but the feeling of patches. Generally, it is best to have a beautiful background such as mountains or cloudy. The sky, and the wildflowers are undoubtedly the foreground. Depending on the situation, you can get closer to highlight a certain cluster, or you can get far away to capture the entire field.

6. City night scene

This is also easy to take, just find the right place. However, although it is a night scene, it is usually bright before sunrise or almost dark after sunset. The light is best at that time, and it is much more vivid than a completely dark sky.

7. Woods

This subject is not easy to photograph. It is easy to photograph on a cloudy day but cannot produce excellent results. On sunny days, the light contrast is very high, which will make it a little more complicated in the later stage, but it is also the most suitable. It is better to wait until about two hours after sunrise and before sunset when the light is better. I personally took few photos, so I won’t say more.

8. Coast

It’s true that I was inspired to take pictures of the coast, but even now I still feel that the coast is the hardest to photograph. First of all, you need to have a suitable stone as the foreground. Secondly, you need to use the shutter to control the water flow. Thirdly, in many cases, the composition needs to be close enough to the sea, which means you have to get wet, and you also need to prevent the lens from getting wet with water vapor. The most important thing is that the sky often takes up a lot of the composition. Up to 1/3 or more, if it is a sunny day, it will be very dull, so you need to wait for good light.