By Robert Keeley
Preparation and slowing down are key elements in making
great landscape images.
The night before a morning shoot check all your kit and clean your lenses.
To take maximum advantage of the conditions at your shooting location, make sure you arrive well before the best lighting. If that’s early morning, you’ll likely be at the site in darkness so take a small torch with you; if it’s a sunset shoot you should be there around an hour-and-a-half before sunset.
These time frames should give you lots of space to set up and observe. Time is your enemy and your friend. Careful preparation beforehand will allow you plenty of time to observe the changing elements. Don’t rush. Take in the scene and think about how you want the different elements to combine. When everything comes together and the light is right, focus and shoot quickly – you’ll usually only have a few moments to get the shots you want.
While there are no set rules, I’d recommend you shoot landscapes with a tripod. There are a couple of important reasons for this. First, a tripod increases the steadiness of the camera dramatically, and thus minimises the possibility of blur adversely affecting your image. Combined with the use of the timer button (which removes your hand from the equation), or a cable release, you’ll have the best chance of shooting a razor-sharp scene which will make people notice.
Second, and more important, using a tripod actually forces you to slow down and think about what you’re doing. The act of setting it up changes your mindset. But it won’t work if you have rushed late to the scene. Sometimes a tripod simply won’t be appropriate, but more often that not it is an essential piece of kit.
Almost all the greats have used this approach, and it works. Value every moment you have at the scene, because if a shot passes you by and you’re not ready, you’ll never get it again.