October 10, 2017
Honored to be featured in this month's Landscape Photography Magazine. Published monthly, LPM and its website has over 300,000 unique visitors in more than 190 countries and is packed with abundant content.
Although my photography has expanded over the years to include diverse subject matter and equipment like drones, remote cameras, and underwater still and motion images, my original photographic passion remains as strong as ever in Landscapes and Wildlife photography composed on my trustworthy DSLRs.
Here are a few of the lessons and tips that I have learned over the years:
- Maximize your depth of field by using a small aperture setting (large f/stop number)
- Have a strong foreground element and unique angle, avoiding horizons in the middle
- Add motion using long exposures with a strong steady tripod
- Use ND and polarizing filters
- Compose with leading lines and patterns when possible
- Use the weather to your advantage to add interest
- Select the right time of day and night to shoot, using apps like PhotoPills to plan
- Always try different points of view and work the scene, scouting days before
- Experiment with different lenses not just wide angles but also zooms to condense
- Be unequivocal about your subject and its placement, e.g., rule of thirds
- Use positive and negative space to add strength to your compositions
- Compose verticals as much as horizontals
- Shoot only in manual raw for maximum file data and white balance options
- Consider how different light options will affect your vision for the image
- Get in very, very tight into foreground elements
- Check the web to see how others have composed the scene so you can do something different
- And, most of all, have fun in composing your artwork! Don't be overwhelmed by all the technical lingo out there. Remember that good photography is more than gear or simply snapping an image, it is about creativity and exploring the art within.
Most importantly, always remember that rules in photography are not meant to stifle creativity so don't feel bound to these; use "rules" freely according to your vision for the landscape in front of you.