How to take good scenery/landscape pictures?
ch...@csua.berkeley.edu
I often take scenery pictures that looks, boring. Nothing jumps out
like those 'wow' you get when you look at national geographic
pictures. There's nothing wrong with those pictures, its just not
exciting enough for a 'wow'.
Are there any articles online that talks about how to take better
sceneric pictures? I think I need some 'subject' to go with the
scenery, but I am not sure what else...
I am using a 28mm-105mm zoom. Most of scenery pictures are taken at
the wide angle side.
Thanks.
--
Raymond Chi
ch...@csua.Berkeley.EDU
Dilbertdroid
early or very late. (Or both)
ch...@csua.berkeley.edu
> More often than not, it's the lighting that counts. Try working either very
> early or very late. (Or both)
--
Raymond Chi
ch...@csua.Berkeley.EDU
ch...@csua.berkeley.edu
> More often than not, it's the lighting that counts. Try working either very
> early or very late. (Or both)
Lets say I am next to a river, or a lake. My feeling was, wow, that's
a nice lake/river, so I took a picture of the lake. But the picture
developed was quite plain, a lake. How do I make the lake come alive?
Shoot at special angle? Shoot another subject with the lake as
background? What porportion should the sky take in the picture? 1/3?
HJK
serious about photography so let me give you some thoughts based on my
experiences. <p> 1. Join a camera club that has frequent competitions
amongst it members and that brings in outsiders to join. You will learn
more about what's wrong with your photographs, as well as others, than
anything else you can do.<p> 2.since you seem to be taking a lot of wide
angle shots, find something to include in the foreground. when you look
at almost every nature photographers work, they always take care of the
the foreground, middle, and background. <p> 3. have the river or lake
shore act a leading line into the picture. It will make a static shot
more dynamic.
happy shooting
Howard
Andy White
"ch...@csua.Berkeley.EDU" <ch...@csua.Berkeley.EDU> wrote:
>
> I often take scenery pictures that looks, boring. Nothing jumps out
> like those 'wow' you get when you look at national geographic
> pictures. There's nothing wrong with those pictures, its just not
> exciting enough for a 'wow'.
>
> Are there any articles online that talks about how to take better
> sceneric pictures? I think I need some 'subject' to go with the
> scenery, but I am not sure what else...
First your photos will probably never look as good as Nat Geo's. Now on to
your other point. First try a polarizing filter. Not seeing your pics its
hard to know what you are doing
Tony Spadaro
of the scene. No matter what you do, it's going to end up a flat piece of
paper with some colours on it. The size is not going to be impressive unless
you find a way to make it appear impressive while only 8x10 inches. The
depth is not going to show up unless you find a way to make it show up.
Move around, keep looking, keep using your dof preview, keep seeing the
picture instead of the scene.
--
http://home.nc.rr.com/tspadaro/
The Camera-ist's Manifesto
a Radical approach to photography.
Or thrill to sights you've never seen before all that often
Chapel Hill artist Tony Spadaro's Home page
http://tspadaro.homestead.com/Home.html
<ch...@csua.Berkeley.EDU> wrote in message
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Eric Brehm
My suggestion is you try to figure out why it is that you had a feeling that
the lake was 'nice' when you were there, but 'plain' when it was rendered on
film. There must have been some elements in the scene that evoked the
impression in your mind of natural beauty, but that were not communicated in
the picture. A flat body of water is not usually attractive by itself; more
likely it's the combination of this with the mountain ridge behind, the
trees along the shoreline, the wildflowers in the foreground, perhaps
the clouds overhead, or whatever, that makes a pleasing composition,
that you will want to look at as a photograph, that will remind you why
you liked being there. After you come to grips with what you are trying to
accomplish photographically, you can try different shooting positions and
angles, focal lengths, filters, etc., to get your vision recorded on film.
Eric
<ch...@csua.Berkeley.EDU> wrote in message
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MarkTuccillo
something in the 200mm range. Get polarizers for all of your lenses.
Next, get tons of slide film, all different types.
Then use a basic rule, one whole roll per scene. Shoot wide. Shoot wide
with something in the foreground for perspective. Shoot long and use a
tripod. Shoot at sunrise and at sunset. Shoot overcast, foggy, in a
light rain, etc. Shoot at different seasons. Revisit the scene as many
times as it takes to get all of the above, and remember that wild
weather makes for dramatic photographs. Shoot the scene from as many
locations as possible.
Mark
Amund Johansen
Water - use long shutter speed to blur movement.
Amund
--
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon
Shawn Grant
Photographers Field Guide.
<ch...@csua.Berkeley.EDU> wrote in message
news:9ib283$2tjq$1...@agate.berkeley.edu...
Dilbertdroid
a nice lake/river, so I took a picture of the lake. But the picture
developed was quite plain, a lake. How do I make the lake come alive?
Shoot at special angle? Shoot another subject with the lake as
background? What porportion should the sky take in the picture? 1/3?>>>
If you will observe the lake at different times of the day, you will see that
it looks very different at dawn, morning, noon, afternoon, evening, and sunset.
It will also look quite different depending on wind conditions and early
morning mist or fog. The proportions you choose in the relationship between
foreground, background and horizon line are the basic elements of composition
and depend a lot on the lighting and weather conditions-- I'm not sure anyone
can give any meaningful advice without seeing the scene. However, if you
expect to drive up at noon and snap a picture based on a few simple tricks and
create a masterpiece scenic, you will be disappointed. The pros whose work
you admire don't do this-- They research the scene and come back many times
under different conditions. Even hypercolor hacks like David Muench
probably have recorded popular scenes a hundred times under different lighting
and weather conditions. The bottom line: Unless you are very lucky, you
won't get more out than you put in.
Dilbertdroid
I strongly disagree. Anyone can learn to take great landscape photos if they
will just observe what the pros are doing and emulate. Most SLRS are capable
of producing very sharp, well-exposed photos in the midrange aperture settings,
and a tripod is not a hyperexpensive, mysterious object. High quality, fine
grain slide films (most of the pros use Velvia or Kodachrome for scenics) is
very available. What is really lacking is a bit of patience and the
willingness to do some research and learning.
Bob Hickey
frame mat with a 3 1/2 x 5 window, and a hand held meter. Walk around
looking at the scene and frame it with the mat, "till you see the
picture that you want on the wall. Meter it out, the shadows, the
highlites, every thing in the window. Write it down on the mat. Repeat
the process..... I think
photographers are the only group that really, really believes the road
to success lies in never practicing. Everybody else, from chess players
to triathalon runners practice. Photographers just buy stuff. Bob Hickey
Tony Polson
Well said Bob.
Usenet makes it even worse, with people asking dumbass questions like
"Is this <brand> lens I just bought any good?" rather than just shooting
some film with it and finding out for themselves.
Best regards,
--
Tony Polson
E
comments. I suggest that you start posting to www.photocritique.net
It might hurt your ego, but your pictures will improve.
Regards
Dilbertdroid
road to success lies in never practicing. Everybody else, from chess players to
triathalon runners practice. Photographers just buy stuff. Bob Hickey>>
Bob, don't be so general. Real photographers do practice. It's the amateur
hacks like Annika and EOS1VFAN that think the road to great pictures is just
buying equipment. We've seen the results of that path, and they is ugly.
annqlee
Here are some tips that I have gathered from my experience.
1) Don't get discouraged, Nat. Geo. is attainable.
2) Follow your instincts, if it looks wow, take the photograph.
3) Wait for the right light, it could be mid day on a slightly overcast day,
it could be sunset or sunrise. Use a polarizer if you can not wait.
4) Composition is best done looking through the camera and panning around.
5) Use appropriate film, Velvia is punchy.
6) I recommend for you to look at some of these sites:
www.fatali.com
http://www.chipforelli.com/
http://www.radekaphotography.com/
http://www.chiphooper.com/
It is no secret how they get those photographs, it is a matter of patience,
timing and observation.
If you dedicate yourself, you can achieve that level also.
Good Luck,
ann
<ch...@csua.Berkeley.EDU> wrote in message
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>
David Starr
Practice requires work. Buying stuff only requires money.
Today, people would rather look for the "magic button".
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Professional Shop Rat: 36 years in an auto plant.
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Arno Daalder
You are asking a LOT! How to take better scenic/landscape photographs?
You can buy some great and instructive books by John Shaw or B. Moose
Peterson.
You can also take a look at http://www.vividlight.com/articles/101.htm
or at http://www.NaturePhotoGallery.com/
Don't forget http://members.aol.com/elgallery/topphotos.html
Not completely my style (far too much use of filters), but he is very
populair in the US: http://www.mountainlight.com/
Two of my favourite photographers: http://www.moose395.net/ and
http://johnshawphoto.com/default.asp
Buy magazines like http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/ or
http://www.owj.com/nb/
and take every opportunity to look at great photographs and try to find
out why YOU like them.
Hope this helps and good luck out there in the field.
Arno
ch...@csua.Berkeley.EDU wrote:
--
Travel Photography by Arno Daalder
at http://www.photographs.demon.nl
My portfolio can be found at http://www.fotosurf.nl
S. Holmes
is good enough, but rare) and "I like/don't like this shot", so don't expect
too much of it.
--
Best,
SH
(please, remove "nospam" from my address if answering by e-mail)
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