My love of photography was inspired by gorgeous, black and white images captured of different landscapes. We all delve into landscape photography on vacation, road trips, or (if you’re like me) when you’re in your back yard.
We drive up to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival each year to capture the colors alongside professional photographers and fellow amateurs.
No matter how excited we are about a capture, sometimes there is something missing and that’s where a great photography book can help. Carl Heilman II’s The Landscape Photography Field Guide is yet another book that will fit inside your camera bag. I’ve been carrying this book around for weeks. Checking out the tips, drooling over the images, and enjoying this easy to read book that teaches us how to capture beautiful outdoor images with our digital cameras.
5 Landscape Photography Tips I Learned from Carl Heilman II
One thing I struggle with is capturing sharp images when there is a slight breeze. Carl reminds us that a higher shutter speed will isolate our subject and capture that gorgeous shot.
Snow scenes should be shot a stop or so over exposed to capture the white color accurately.
Misty days under a clear sky can be shot in auto-white balance, but you can also shoot these in “Cloudy” too. I tend to over think white balance and this tip was helpful, because the corn fields near our home have the gorgeous mist on spring and summer mornings that I love to capture.
Multi-point auto focus is the easiest way to capture spur of the moment shots of wildlife. Deer, coyote, and rabbits wonder onto our property all the time and I would lost the shot if I was dickering with manual focus. It’s nice to know which auto focus option is best in these situations.
Carl Heilman II mentions bracketing many times in the book. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard of the technique; in fact, my boyfriend keeps encouraging me to do the same thing. Bracketing involves taking a picture with three different settings quickly. If I can’t decide on an aperture, instead of taking a picture then adjusting each time, hoping that my subject doesn’t change (or move), I can bracket the shot and my camera will take care of the adjustments automatically.
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11/23/2011
Photography