This week, Derek Muller and Mike Clark gave us some advice on taking better landscape photographs. It could be said that landscape photographs are the purest form of photography, because they are all about capturing light. You can’t control the light on the landscape but you can wait until the lighting is right before capturing your image. Landscape photographs often include something in the foreground to draw you into the picture. Leading lines (such as from a path, the coastline or a line of trees or rocks) are especially good at doing that. Landscape photographers often travel to remote places, but you can also get good landscape images from your own neighbourhood. If you have a local view that you think would look good as a landscape shot, keep visiting the place in different weather conditions and at different times of the day, and keep trying until you get the shot that you think the place deserves. Notice where the light is coming from, think about where you would like it to come from, and come back when the sun is in the right place. There are some apps you can use on your phone to predict where the sun and moon will be at a particular time when viewed from any location (particularly useful if you are planning a sunset or moonrise photo).

The Photographers Ephemeris (TPE): Designed for landscape and night photography.

Sun Surveyor: More detailed info for the sun and moon.

Derek described two kinds of landscape photography:

• Standard landscape photography is where you photograph the landscape in front of you, capturing a stunning composition when the light is at its best.
• Alternative landscape photography is where you do something a little different, such as capturing an unusual subject as if it was a landscape image. You can photograph unusual things (such as a plate of daisies) in a landscape setting. John West’s image of paperclip figures on the beach is a good example. Another possibility would be to get down low with a macro lens and treat all the bumps on the ground as if they were hills.

Mike showed us a collection of landscape shots taken around Scotland. He showed how two shots of the same location (such as the Fairy Pools on the Isle of Skye or the falls at Glencoe) could look very different in different kinds of light. You can produce a dreamy, milky effect from running or splashing water by using a long exposure, although the extreme milky shots used to be more fashionable a few years ago. Nowadays it is better to keep the exposure short enough so there is some dreaminess but you can still see some detail in the water. Neutral density filters can be used to take long exposures in daylight. Their effect is explained on the following web site:

How to Choose the Right ND Filter for Long-Exposure Effects

Landscape photographs often (but not always) need the maximum depth of field, so all the objects from the foreground to the distant background are sharp. There is a “magic” focus distance (known as the hyperfocal distance) that you can set manually for a particular camera, lens and aperture that gives the maximum depth of field. Here are some examples of a web site or app you can use to calculate the hyperfocal distance.

PhotoPills: Hyperfocal Distance Table

HyperFocal Pro app

Finally, we discussed the plans for our Saturday photoshoot to Cramond Island. You can only cross the causeway to the island at low tide. The Queensferry Lifeboat Station web site has downloadable PDFs giving safe crossing times. You can also a phone app such as AnyTide or TidePoint. In the end we had a successful photoshoot, in spite of the cold wind and damp conditions. The misty environment and soft sunlight produced softer shadows and stronger colours that improved a lot of our shots. So, you don’t necessarily need good weather to get good landscape shots, although keeping your hands warm is essential for operating the camera controls! After the photoshoot we all escaped to a nearby cafe for hot chocolate or coffee. Thank you to Derek for organising the photoshoot and giving us some challenges to accomplish.

• On Tuesday, 27th January we will be joining Haddington Camera Club for the Match An Image competition. The competition starts at 7:30pm at the Poldrate Mill, Haddington (also home of the Poldrate Arts and Crafts Centre). Click on the following map for directions:

Haddington Camera Club location: Google Maps

• This Thursday, 29th January, George Todd will be judging the first of our three set subject competitions on the theme of “weather”. Come along to the Fisherrow Centre at the usual time.