Landscape Camera Techniques and Equipment:
By
Kelsey C. Galpin,
In this essay for A2 Unit 3, I will be looking at ideal camera techniques, styles and equipment
for landscape photography.
Figure 1: A comparison between slow
(left) and fast (right) shutter speed.
The first thing to discuss is shutter speed. In order to answer
what the shutter speed is, I will need to define the camera
shutter. The camera shutter is the device that dictates how
much light the camera sensor is exposed to. Imagine it as a
curtain in front of the sensor that opens and closes whenever a
photo is taken. The shutter speed entails just how long the
shutter is open for and how much light is allowed in. It also
affects the appearance of moving objects. A slow shutter speed
will fail to capture sharper images of moving subjects. A faster
shutter speed, on the other hand, will be able to capture moving
objects well.
What is the ideal shutter speed for landscape photography? I have consulted a variety of
different sites and gathered a range of information on this topic. The basics for shutter speed
still stand: if I want to handhold the camera and avoid camera shake then I should make the
shutter speed faster. Should it fall beneath 1/30 seconds, then I will need a tripod. Shutter
speed can affect the way you photograph aspects of the environment. Should I want to
photograph running water, for instance, then a slower shutter speed can be used to generate a
blur, giving the viewer the impression that the water is moving quickly. A faster shutter speed
will be able to completely freeze the water in motion to the point where I’d be able to capture
individual drops of water.
The second priority when taking any photo is setting the
aperture. The aperture is the opening in the camera lens
that controls the amount of light that comes in. It has
direct control over the camera’s depth of field. An
aperture’s size is measured in f-numbers or “f-stops”. A
narrow aperture (small opening, i.e. f/8 – f22) allows all
objects in the foreground and the background to be in
focus. A wide aperture (large opening, i.e. f/1.4 or f/2)
isolates the foreground and the objects within it, blurring
the background in the process.
Figure 2: A comparison between wide (left)
and narrow (right) apertures.
Ideally, I will need a small aperture for landscape photography as this creates depth and
makes objects in the foreground and the background sharp (ExposureGuide, 2015). F/16 is a
good setting for this. A larger aperture will only keep objects in the foreground in focus.
Now that we have discussed shutter speeds and apertures in regards to landscape, I now want
to review the different types of camera lens filters that might be used in landscape
photography.
Figure 3: A brief comparison
between a setting with and
without a Polarizing Filter.
One such filter is the “Polarizing Filter”. This is a very
important filter for landscape photographers to have as its
effects can’t be recreated digitally. When taking pictures of the
environment, you may find that light has a tendency to bounce
and reflect off of different surfaces into the camera sensors.
This may cause problems for the photographer. What a
polarizing filter does is it removes the polarizing light from an
image and reduces the reflection and glares. Additionally, the
filter increases colour saturation and intensity for blue skies by
cutting down on the haze.
The second filter we will be discussing is the Graduated Neutral Density (ND) filter. This
filter has a very unique attribute for a very specific purpose. A Graduated ND filter is shaded
dark at the top and slowly becomes transparent the further down you go. The portion of the
filter that is shaded dark at the top is to artificially darken the sky in a landscape photo. This
may be to give off a more gothic or moodier vibe. The main purpose of a Graduated ND
filter, however, is to help the balance in lighting between a bright sky and a darker
foreground.
There are four main Graduated ND filters that can be
used for precise creative control. Soft neutral density
grads (graduation) have a very soft and gradual border
between the shaded and transparent portions of the filter.
Medium neutral density grads start to have a more
defined line between shades. This type is best used for
environments such as rooftops. We start to see a very
Figure 4: Two Graduated Neutral Density filters,
defined border between shade and transparency with the
one with a soft edge (left) and one with a hard
hard neutral density grad, which is best used for stricter
edge (right).
transitions between land and sky. Finally, we have a
very hard neutral density grad, which is best suited for very well defined horizon lines like
seascapes or deserts.
Figure 5: A brief comparison
between a setting with and without
a skylight filter.
Thirdly, I want to discuss the skylight and UV camera filters.
Both of these filters are useful when wanting to protect the
camera’s lens from damage and for when you want to filter
ultraviolet light. This is beneficial as some sensors in digital
cameras have been known to be sensitive to UV light. One
way in which the skylight filter differs from the UV filter,
however, is that it has a pink/subtle magenta tint. This tint has
been put in place in order to compensate for the overt shades
of blue prominent in most landscape/outdoor settings.
The final filter type I will be discussing in this essay is the broad range of colour filters. A
colour filter is used for regulating the tone of the images taken, changing the camera’s white
balance and for colour correction and subtraction. Depending on the colour of the colour
filter, certain wavelengths of light will be filtered out while others are allowed through. This
creates contrast. Although these filters can be used in digital photography, they are primarily
used in film as the effects of a colour filter can be easily applied to a still image in postprocessing.
This concludes my essay for A2 Unit 3. In researching this essay, I have come to further
understand shutter speeds and apertures and I have learned the definitions and uses for a
range of different camera lenses that work to benefit and enhance digital landscape
photography. This is beneficial to me as I have always struggled with the technical aspect of
photography.
Reference list –
World, D.C. (2013) How to photograph anything: Best camera settings for landscape
photography. Available at: http://www.techradar.com/how-to/photography-videocapture/cameras/how-to-photograph-anything-best-camera-settings-for-landscapephotography-1320899 (Accessed: 21 November 2016).
ExposureGuide (2015) Create depth. Available at:
http://www.exposureguide.com/photographing-landscapes.htm (Accessed: 21 November
2016).
Stubbs, N. (2015) The best camera settings for landscape photography – by Jake Newell.
Available at: http://www.all-things-photography.com/blog/best-camera-settings-forlandscape-photography/ (Accessed: 21 November 2016).
Mansurov, N. (2016) Understanding Aperture – A Beginner’s Guide. Available at:
https://photographylife.com/what-is-aperture-in-photography (Accessed: 28 November
2016).
Mansurov, N. (2016) Understanding Shutter Speed – A Beginner’s Guide. Available at:
https://photographylife.com/what-is-shutter-speed-in-photography (Accessed: 28 November
2016)
Carnathan, B. (2003) 10 stop neutral density filter review. Available at: http://www.thedigital-picture.com/Reviews/10-Stop-Neutral-Density-Filter.aspx (Accessed: 21 November
2016).
Heilman II, C. and Heilman-Cornell, G. (2010). Advanced Digital Landscape Photography.
East Sussex: The Ilex Press Limited, pp.28-30.
Smith, C. (2003) How a Polarizer Filter Works. Available at:
http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/how-a-polarizer-filter-works/ (Accessed: 28 November
2016).
Cornish, J. (2016) Joe Cornish introduces the expanded ND grad range. Available at:
http://www.leefilters.com/index.php/camera/ndgrads (Accessed: 5 December 2016).
Sheard, K. (2014) Filters explained. Available at:
http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/technique/filters-explained-2538 (Accessed: 7
January 2017).
Mansurov, N. (2015) Lenses. Available at: https://photographylife.com/lens-filters-explained
(Accessed: 8 January 2017).
Hammock, A. (2016) ‘Manual Photography: Don’t let your camera control you’,
Uncategorized, 18 March. Available at: https://www.brandetize.com/blog/manualphotography/ (Accessed: 9 January 2017).
Siero, D. (2014) ‘Photography for Bloggers: Getting to know your camera’, 2 August.
Available at: http://www.theofficialblogguide.com/photography-for-bloggers-part-1/
(Accessed: 9 January 2017).
Peterson, D. (2017) Why use A polarizing filter?: Digital photo secrets. Available at:
http://www.digital-photo-secrets.com/tip/4599/use-polarizing-filter/ (Accessed: 9 January
2017).
Brady, B.J. (2014) Using graduated neutral density filters for landscape photography.
Available at: http://digital-photography-school.com/using-graduated-neutral-density-filtersfor-landscape-photography/ (Accessed: 9 January 2017).
Petersen, B. (2013) Available at:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/buying-guide/uv-filters (Accessed: 9
January 2017).