Landscape Photography – the most popular genre of photography in the UK!
Well, who would of thought. Actually it’s not surprising really; We have one of the most varied and accessible countrysides in the world and with a coastline that is always within a couple of hours. We also have one of the most varied seasonal changes that ensure nothing is ever ‘constant’. It’s true that we don’t have the grandeur of the USA but the whole country is a days drive away. If you’re just getting into landscape photography, you live in the perfect country and you have a wonderful journey ahead of you.
Volcanic Squib, Tim Parkin – licenced under Creative Commons
What can I do to help you on the way though? Well, I hope I can pass on a few ‘hints’ to keep you creative and help you make an impression.
- Sunset and Sunrise is nice but from 2 hours before sunset and up to 2 hours after sunrise, the light looks normal but on film/digital it looks wonderful – the low light is also low contrast and very warm and complements any subject
- For 30 minutes before sunrise and for 30 minutes after sunset, even though it looks like it’s dark, there is wonderful, glowing colour if you take long exposures and use a tripod.
- Use a tripod – I know it’s a pain but get yourself a lightweight one, search for your pictures with your camera off the tripod and then setup up the tripod for your picture. You’ll get sharper pictures (you paid for all those megabytes, make sure you use them) and you can use smaller apertures (higher f-numbers) for greater sharpness across your whole picture.
- Cloudy weather is still good for photography, as is rainy weather. In fact, the only really bad weather for photography is full, cloudless sunshine with blue skies. When it’s like this, go sunbathing
When it’s 100% cloudy, forget the ‘big view (unless you have epic storm skies) and look for details – stone walls, ferns, tree roots, etc. The subdued light will look dull when you open your pictures but with a bit of contrast and saturation, they’ll glow. - There is nothing wrong with taking pictures of our photographic icons – Dunstanburgh Castle, Saltwick Nab, Glencoe, etc. They are icons because they are beautiful – however, try to create your own new icons too. Mix up the familiar with the new and you can start to create your own style.
- Don’t get obsessed by gear. Joe Cornish has sold pictures in his gallery taken with small consumer digicams which were enlarged to 20” by 24” - it’s all about the picture. Spend that money on a good sturdy tripod (to give you an idea, my tripod coast almost as much as my camera but will last a lot longer).
- Don’t take too many pictures, spend a few minutes looking around for each picture, a few minutes working out the composition and then, when you are learning, spend a few more minutes trying a few different variations. Always try to take less pictures though – one of the great truisms of landscape photography is ‘Get out more, take fewer pictures’
- Share your pictures. I would recommend Flickr as it has a great deal of excellent landscape photographers there who are more than happy to give feedback on pictures. The great advantage of digital photography is the very quick feedback cycle, you can take pictures and assess in the field and then get feedback on those pictures from around the country (or even world) on the same day.
Overall – make sure you are enjoying your photography.
My First Glencoe, Tim Parkin – used under Creative Commons licence
I’d also highly recommend taking a couple of one day workshops with one of the many training companies that operate in the UK. The biggest catalyst for my photography was spending a week in a viking longhouse in the Outer Hebrides with David Ward and a group of photographers who were hugeley passionate about their photography. It was during that time that I realised the potential for landscape photography to be a real creative outlet.
Tim Parkin is a former guest speaker at Exposure Leeds and a massive exponent of both landscape and large format film photography; why not pop over and check out his website?
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