When I asked professional landscape photographer, Erik Gunzil for his top three tips on discovering better landscapes I was a little surprised by his answer.
He said "1.
Trust your own seeing.
2.
Trust your own seeing, and 3.
Trust your own seeing.
" So I guess that's it then.
End of article.
That's your three tips so now you can go and improve your landscapes.
But wait...
there's more! I had a lot more questions for Erik and below are my tips based on Erik's emphasis on passion for photography, together with the information I gained during that very interesting conversation.
1.
Trust Your Own Seeing You must have seen that coming.
If Erik put so much emphasis on this then I feel I must use this as the number one point.
It is so important that you trust your own seeing because how you see things and how the environment around you looks is what you want to portray.
Ultimately you want to produce a photo that is somewhat equivalent to that.
Forget the rules.
Be intuitive and then simply play on that by making a few minor adjustments.
If you love a particular view, but there is an object in the way which can be moved to improve the picture, then move it.
You may want to move around to make sure you are capturing the best angle for the current light.
Later you may want to crop the picture to show a more accurate image of what you have captured and so on, but overall the most important thing it to capture what you love about the moment.
It's not about what others will think about it.
It's what the image means to you.
Learn to love what you're doing and just go with your instincts.
2.
Patience If you are truly serious about discovering better landscapes and not just wanting someone else to tell you how to do it, then you need to use the oldest method in the book.
It's called "Trial and Error".
Therefore you will need a lot of patience.
Erik didn't actually mention this particular word during our conversation; however I have noticed his patience for finding and getting the shot he wants.
I believe this is due to his passion for his photography.
He absolutely loves what he does and for no other reason than to capture what he sees and bring a little piece of that home for others to share.
He tries many things and then writes down what he has done.
He also notes the conditions including weather and lighting.
This way he has a record to look back on to know what settings will give him the best results.
He comments that "As far as shutter speeds and how you get those shutter speeds it's all done through trial and error.
I just shot lots of film and noted down what shutter speeds I used against what apertures and what the light condition was, whether it was full moon or half moon or less than that.
I wrote it down, shot lots of film and some exposures worked, other ones didn't so I've got a list of environmental conditions that combine with shutter speeds and exposure values.
" How clever is that? Why not start your own records of what shots you take and what works and what doesn't and why.
Then, each time you want to do some photography, you simply check the conditions, you will know the best places to go and what settings will work best for you.
A lot less time consuming the next time around! 3.
Stay Close to Home and TAKE PHOTOS! How many times have you found yourself saying that you just don't have the time to go out and get any great shots? You may have seen a great beach scene that you would love to do but you live too far away from the beach.
What about some of those great shots of horses in the morning mist, but you live in the city? We are blessed to live in this beautiful country which has so many varied views, both city and rural.
Why not start close to home and explore what you have close by, rather than what you don't.
Why not start in your own backyard? This can be challenging, but at least you will be taking photos and now that you have read this, there are no excuses.
Erik runs his landscape workshops by starting in his backyard and then (lucky him) ventures into the bush reserve which backs onto his property.
If your geographical area is limited, then you will be forced to try new techniques and you will start to find your own style.
Try night shots, black and white and abstract shapes.
Whatever you find the most comfortable and that you really enjoy, you should keep doing.
Take the best parts out of your photography and keep doing them.
Then you can venture out and about without having to travel the world, but still truly enjoy your photography.
Some of the most famous images are quite simple however the photographer has captured something that has been unique or interested the viewer as well as himself, which is what makes the image work.
Is it the light, the angles, the subject, the composition? It often only has to be one of these things but it is without doubt, practice makes perfect!
He said "1.
Trust your own seeing.
2.
Trust your own seeing, and 3.
Trust your own seeing.
" So I guess that's it then.
End of article.
That's your three tips so now you can go and improve your landscapes.
But wait...
there's more! I had a lot more questions for Erik and below are my tips based on Erik's emphasis on passion for photography, together with the information I gained during that very interesting conversation.
1.
Trust Your Own Seeing You must have seen that coming.
If Erik put so much emphasis on this then I feel I must use this as the number one point.
It is so important that you trust your own seeing because how you see things and how the environment around you looks is what you want to portray.
Ultimately you want to produce a photo that is somewhat equivalent to that.
Forget the rules.
Be intuitive and then simply play on that by making a few minor adjustments.
If you love a particular view, but there is an object in the way which can be moved to improve the picture, then move it.
You may want to move around to make sure you are capturing the best angle for the current light.
Later you may want to crop the picture to show a more accurate image of what you have captured and so on, but overall the most important thing it to capture what you love about the moment.
It's not about what others will think about it.
It's what the image means to you.
Learn to love what you're doing and just go with your instincts.
2.
Patience If you are truly serious about discovering better landscapes and not just wanting someone else to tell you how to do it, then you need to use the oldest method in the book.
It's called "Trial and Error".
Therefore you will need a lot of patience.
Erik didn't actually mention this particular word during our conversation; however I have noticed his patience for finding and getting the shot he wants.
I believe this is due to his passion for his photography.
He absolutely loves what he does and for no other reason than to capture what he sees and bring a little piece of that home for others to share.
He tries many things and then writes down what he has done.
He also notes the conditions including weather and lighting.
This way he has a record to look back on to know what settings will give him the best results.
He comments that "As far as shutter speeds and how you get those shutter speeds it's all done through trial and error.
I just shot lots of film and noted down what shutter speeds I used against what apertures and what the light condition was, whether it was full moon or half moon or less than that.
I wrote it down, shot lots of film and some exposures worked, other ones didn't so I've got a list of environmental conditions that combine with shutter speeds and exposure values.
" How clever is that? Why not start your own records of what shots you take and what works and what doesn't and why.
Then, each time you want to do some photography, you simply check the conditions, you will know the best places to go and what settings will work best for you.
A lot less time consuming the next time around! 3.
Stay Close to Home and TAKE PHOTOS! How many times have you found yourself saying that you just don't have the time to go out and get any great shots? You may have seen a great beach scene that you would love to do but you live too far away from the beach.
What about some of those great shots of horses in the morning mist, but you live in the city? We are blessed to live in this beautiful country which has so many varied views, both city and rural.
Why not start close to home and explore what you have close by, rather than what you don't.
Why not start in your own backyard? This can be challenging, but at least you will be taking photos and now that you have read this, there are no excuses.
Erik runs his landscape workshops by starting in his backyard and then (lucky him) ventures into the bush reserve which backs onto his property.
If your geographical area is limited, then you will be forced to try new techniques and you will start to find your own style.
Try night shots, black and white and abstract shapes.
Whatever you find the most comfortable and that you really enjoy, you should keep doing.
Take the best parts out of your photography and keep doing them.
Then you can venture out and about without having to travel the world, but still truly enjoy your photography.
Some of the most famous images are quite simple however the photographer has captured something that has been unique or interested the viewer as well as himself, which is what makes the image work.
Is it the light, the angles, the subject, the composition? It often only has to be one of these things but it is without doubt, practice makes perfect!
Source...