how to take nice landscape photos?

[catchlights]

sunrise is nicer than sunset.

different direction lar.

 

[ortega]

it all depends on the location, foreground and background.

The composition comes first, the light will add the final touch to a great composition.
A picture with no composition and great light will only be a snapshot.

 

[Hitman]

can i ask how to take nice landscape photos?

i notice those poster one is very nice, with very dramatic sky and ambience.

what time is the best? (know noon makes things flat and dull)

any other tips?

thanks!

Landscape, my favourite...

Here're my 2 cents:

1. Try using a wide angle lens.
2. Try to use a smaller aperture for greater DOF.
3. Try to use a tripod.
4. Try using a graduated neutral density filter if you want to avoid the problem of contrasting sky/land.
5. Try bracketing your shots.
6. Try adding a person to your landscape for scale and creating some foreground interest.

That's about the guidelines and technical stuff I'll apply when I take landscapes, the rest depends on your eye.

 

[litefoot]

hehehhe... yup.... large format ROCKS for scenic shots..

Care to elaborate? Other than you are shooting on bigger film plane capable of bigger blown ups?

 

[litefoot]

i always got the back lighting problem. the sky is very bright and the faraway landscape is dark, and thus, either the landscape will be underexposed or the sky will be overexposed. :embrass:

Get a gradual density filter. I am assuming you are shooting slow ASA slide film which usually has extremely narrow latitude. Its a good investment to have. For all pix, the basic principle stays. Watch out for your subject which you have to expose correctly. The tough part in landscape is your subject may fall into different zone, this is where your experience counts. Digital has in fact made things a lot easier. Wide latitude tolerance and instance display which you will realise your mistakes that you may not know until the film is processed.

 

[Paul_Yeo]

this is a pic i took recently, but somehow i felt that this pic is not really nice.

i did not put on any filter.

can tell me what's wrong with it?

Nikon D70
2005/04/03 18:30:54.7
JPEG (8-bit) Normal
Image Size: Large (3008 x 2000)
Lens: 12-24mm F/4.5-5.6 G
Focal Length: 16mm
Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority
Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern
1/640 sec - F/6.3
Exposure Comp.: +0.3 EV
Sensitivity: ISO 400
Optimize Image: Custom
White Balance: Direct sunlight
AF Mode: AF-S
Flash Sync Mode: Not Attached
Color Mode: Mode Ia (sRGB)
Tone Comp: Medium low
Hue Adjustment: 0°
Saturation: Enhanced
Sharpening: High
Image Comment:
Noise Reduction: OFF

 

[AReality]

different direction lar.

No lar...
Sunrise is less red...

 

[catchlights]

No lar...
Sunrise is less red...

Some place is you only can get sunset, some place only can get sunrise. Anyway sunrise or sunset without and interesting foregound, what good is this picture?

 

[Splutter]

this is a pic i took recently, but somehow i felt that this pic is not really nice.

i did not put on any filter.

can tell me what's wrong with it?

What usually makes a good landscape pic is one with a good foreground,mid and background interest. You have to compose them such that one leads to another. What is presented here is only the background, here there are no lines or subject to lead the viewer's eyes in and keep them there.

 

[AReality]

Some place is you only can get sunset, some place only can get sunrise. Anyway sunrise or sunset without and interesting foregound, what good is this picture?

which picture?

ehhhh... i think miscommunication liao..

what i mean is generally, sunrise are less red than sunset. & too red pics wun look so nice...

 

[catchlights]

What kind of color tone is personal preference, I can’t make the sunrises from the west, just for me to take a sunrise picture at particular location with particular viewpoint.