Part 7 Lesson 1: LIGHT ON THE LANDSCAPE
Outdoors, you have minimal control over the light. All you can do is change the time you turn up. It takes longer to reach your viewpoint. Composition requires mental gymnastics to visualise how elements on the horizon will interact with those in the foreground. The weather is never, ever perfect. And this is why landscape photography is the most rewarding of all photography disciplines; when you do get the shot, you really have earned it.
I define landscape photography as outdoor photography where the vista is the subject - no prominent people or wildlife. It doesn't have to be wilderness photography. Urban landscapes are just as legitimate as lakes and mountains. And it doesn't have to be panoramic in scope - intimate landscape photography is a genre all to itself.
Fuji X-T1, 14mm, f22, 1/100 sec, ISO 320, handheld
It is the light that will make or break your landscape image, not the landscape itself. the light brings the landscape alive, and takes your image from nicely composed but uninspiring, to breathtaking. If you want to take breathtaking images, you have to wait for the light.
Direction and quality of light
If you did the introductory Light module earlier in the year, I won't be telling you anything new here: the light source (which will be the sun or the moon once you're outdoors) falls on your subject from a single fixed direction. This direction causes shadows to fall which will have either hard or soft edges, and are as much a part of your image as the subject itself. The colour of sunlight changes throughout the day moving from warm oranges and pinks at sunrise to blues during the middle of the day, and back to warm colours at sunset.
Will your shadows be falling to one side because the sun is low on the horizon? Will they be hard, because there is no cloud cover? Will they add depth and texture, or distractions and contrast?
Midday sun is traditionally not the best light to use for landscape photography. It's high in the sky, casting hard, contrasty shadows. But never say never - I like this shot.
This is at the other extreme - I was almost IN the clouds here. No contrast, very flat light. Again, an unorthodox set up for mainstream landscape photos, but it works here.
Predawn light: no strong shadows, but enough to bring out the texture and depth of the scene. Atmospheric (and unpredictable) pink light: worth getting up at 5am for and waiting in the snow.
Conventional landscape photography takes place with low sun, an hour either side of dawn or sunset, with the sun to the left or right of the frame. The light should cast raking shadows over the prospect, bringing out texture and adding depth. The colour of light will be more atmospheric than at high noon.
If you want to win competitions, or get on the cover of Outdoor Photography magazine, then work within these time frames (or find a stormy sky at any time of day). But don't forget that is only one style of landscape photography. By all means experiment with no sun and high sun. Shoot into the sun, and shoot with the sun behind you. Shoot at night, use streetlights to add something different.
Don't let anyone tell you there's only one way to take a landscape photograph. You won't know what you like until you try it all. And that's what this week's homework sets out to show you.
THIS WEEK'S PROJECT: START A LIGHT ON THE LANDSCAPE COLLECTION
Collect images of the same view in as many different weather conditions as possible, and at as many times throughout the day and year as you can manage. Start this week, but set reminders for the rest of the year to build your collection.
You can't just read about how light affects the landscape - you have to get out there and see it for yourself. And then compare what you saw with how your camera records it.
Pick somewhere local and easy to get to (even the view from your house is fine). Don't forget - the only bad weather for landscape photographers is thick fog. Anything else we can work with.
Look after yourself and your kit. Don't go out with a tripod in a thunderstorm. Stay warm and dry. Tell someone where you're going. Keep the sun off your head, the rain off your lens and the dust off your sensor.
Shot through the windows in the OXO tower at sunset.
If you have the app there is a special interest group dedicated to landscape photography.
If you are using the workbooks the landscape lessons correspond to Part 3 of Book 2. The books are available on Amazon.
If you enjoy the topic and want to take it beyond the absolute basics take a look at my Beginner’s Landscape Photography book: