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If you are a nature lover, your answer to the above question would be “never”. So what exactly is a landscape? Its definition can be varied and can merge into other genres of photography, but for simplicity’s sake, a landscape is a picture showing scenery, mountains, waterfalls within a scene, trees in their natural surroundings etc. So what if your photograph has man-made structures in it? Would you still call it a landscape? I hope I am not starting an unnecessary debate but if the photo has in it an ancient fort for example, surrounded by trees, and the geography of the place is more important than the architecture of the fort, then I would consider the picture as a landscape. On the other hand, if it is a city or street with modern structures, I would consider the picture as a ‘city-scape’.
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| 35mm format |
Medium format |
Large format | Landscapes are found everywhere, all around the world. This would surely make it a very easy subject to photograph, isn’t it? Not so. In my opinion, landscape photography is one of the most difficult, most challenging, and often the most frustrating. How come, you say? The scenery is still there, whether you photograph it today, tomorrow or one year later. All you have to do is go to the place and snap away! Remember, when you photograph a landscape, you are not photographing just the variations in the land forms as you see it, but rather, you are photographing the light! And color and direction of light (and hence the texture) change every hour, every minute, every second! So the same scene photographed at different times of the day, and in different seasons, will appear different. Even the exposure you give to your film/sensor will evoke a different feeling to the final image.
Circular Polarizer (CPL) |
Graduated Neutral
Density Filter |
White Balance Filter | PHOTO EQUIPMENT
Landscapes can be photographed using all types of cameras. The most popular are the 35mm format (we’ll include digital SLRs with smaller sensors in this), though old die-hards may prefer the medium format cameras. At the extreme end, there are those who prefer to use large format (4x5 or even 8x10 inches). These of course, provide the ultimate in image quality, but at a (very high) price! Moreover, large format cameras are troublesome to lug around and set.
The main advantage of 35mm type cameras (and I am talking of D-SLRs) is the interchangeable lenses—from ultra wide to ultra telephoto, though we don’t often use very long focal lenses for landscapes. Another advantage is the Through-The-Lens (TTL) exposure meter, with 3 types of metering systems—Evaluative/Matrix, Center-weighted, and Spot. If your camera accepts a cable release to trigger the shutter, or if you have a wireless remote control shutter triggering unit, that would be ideal. Needless to say, you must consider a stable tripod (I said stable, not flimsy) as a part and parcel of your camera system. Your should carry with you at least two filters: Circular Polarizer, and Graduated Neutral Density. The PL filter will help you to achieve saturated blue skies (when used correctly) and generally improve image clarity by getting rid of stray reflections of light from tree leaves etc. The Graduated ND filter can help us to darken a pale/ toneless sky in a gradation. Another important filter, especially for those who shoot in JPEG, is a White Balance filter. Instead of wasting time and energy correcting color casts on a computer, it is prudent to start with a clean (without color cast) file. |
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