Nature and Landscape Photography Tips - Part 3: Timing
You know what they say: It’s all about timing. And in many cases in landscape photography, that’s true. While we won’t go too in depth into lighting in this article, that’s basically what photography is all about. Capturing the light reflected by objects that hits your camera’s lens. And when you’re taking nature landscape photos, you’re usually relying on natural light - meaning sunlight. And I don’t know if Galileo ever told you, but the earth revolves around the sun and rotates, creating the seasons and night and day.
Okay, enough of that silly science lesson. Let’s get down to business with photography. Really, the best times to take photos are at dawn and at dusk. There’s something special about the angle that light hits objects when the sun is rising or setting. The wide spectrum of colors you can get from the 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after sunrise or sunset is so broad and amazing. During this period of time, you need to be paying special attention to cloud formations, weather, shadows and the color changes in the sky, water and objects you’re taking photos of. Even a difference of even just 30 seconds can create a drastically different photo, so while you don’t want to overdo it, that’s the beauty of digital photography and large memory cards, just keep taking photos and you can review them later. I recommend taking them in RAW format so that you can tweak the white balance in post processing.
How to Catch the Magic Moment
If you’re really looking to catch the right moment, it really helps to know your territory beforehand. I recommend scouting it out the day before if possible, and do it at the same time you plan to take your photos. Of course I know that it’s not always possible. But if you’re traveling in another area and you can at least walk by the area you want to shoot from (even if you do it at noon or another part of the day), you can look at the different angles, landmarks and imagine the way the shadows would fall. Don’t forget to plan accordingly depending on if you want to shoot at sunset or sunrise, and take a compass with you if need be.
Depending on how remote the area is, you’ll want to make sure that you know the path to get there - especially if you plan to take photos at sunrise - be sure to carry a flashlight or headlamp with you. When you arrive at the spot though, before you unpack your gear, especially if you haven’t scouted out the area yet, take a quick walk around and make sure that this is the exact spot you want to shoot from. Once you start shooting, you don’t want to be moving around, as you could miss that one magical moment when the light is “just perfect”. One more tip would be to check online (like weather.com) and see what the projected times for sunrise and sunset are. Be sure to arrive early so that you have ample time to set up before the sun starts demonstrating all its fabulous colors.
Remember that a lot of photography is luck, but you have to be prepared to take advantage of the opportunities when you have the chance to take those unbelievable shots!
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Tags: digital photography tips, landscape photography, lighting, nature photography, timing