My First Landscapes

[EyeFellOva]

Hi All,

I recently bought a Nikon D3000 to take pictures of my baby girl. I'm also interested in other forms of photography and decided to take some landscape shots in a field that I drive past on the way to work. There's no particular subject, I was just trying different things.

I shot in the camera's landscape mode, and after the first few shots realised that I was only shooting in JPEG, for shots 3-7 I shot in RAW+JPEG Basic.

What I want to know is:

1) Are any of the shots any good, I mean in a broad sense of composition.
2) What settings, if any, would provide me with better landscape shots
3) What techniques in photoshop would make these pictures look better?

Here is my favourite from the set:


Here is the entire set

Please be as harsh as you like, I can take it

[LeeR]

It's a start, but keep some things in mind; great landscapes are created when great lighting meets great scenes. Very often the most important element in landscape photography is atmospheric and not under your control. Many of us have waited for hours, even days and weeks, for the right light to meet the scene. I would encourage you to get familiar with "The Photographers Ephemeris" a free software tool that allows you to predict where the sun and moon will rise and set in relation to a specific spot on the map.

[Michael_2010]

It is true that lighting makes the difference between good and great, but you still have to get out there and use your camera frequently just to get the feel for its capabilities. If you don't, it won't much matter about the lighting because you will miss the opportunity.

The sidewalk gives a nice sense of perspective along with the row of trees. If you had a character sitting on that bench, you might have something. Show us your exif data. The picture looks way overexposed to me and the horizon is splitting the frame. Two things that can ruin an otherwise good shot.

[Michael_2010]

Originally Posted by LeeR

It's a start, but keep some things in mind; great landscapes are created when great lighting meets great scenes. Very often the most important element in landscape photography is atmospheric and not under your control. Many of us have waited for hours, even days and weeks, for the right light to meet the scene. I would encourage you to get familiar with "The Photographers Ephemeris" a free software tool that allows you to predict where the sun and moon will rise and set in relation to a specific spot on the map.

Thanks so much for posting that link! I've been searching for something exactly like this and I am lovin' it! I'm planning my weekend with it right now. lol

[NicoleScraps]

Originally Posted by LeeR

I would encourage you to get familiar with "The Photographers Ephemeris" a free software tool that allows you to predict where the sun and moon will rise and set in relation to a specific spot on the map.

That is so cool! Thanks for sharing!

To the OP, I think that 06 and 07 could be quite good if maybe you did a reshoot with a tripod at a different time of day when the light is more subtle.

[KansaiGreenie]

Hi EyeFellOva,

You've gotten some great advice here. The one thing that I would add is this:

One of the best ways to learn about any kind of photography, but especially landscape photography is to shoot and re-shoot the same scene again and again. More than anything else this has helped me improve and expand my abilities.

The image that you posted here is quite lovely. I really like the lines and repeating patterns of the tress and the sidewalk. As nice as this image is, I think that it would look even better on a cloudy day so that it is less contrasty without the distracting shadows. And I think that it would be nice first thing in the morning without any traffic on the road. And I think that it would be even better in the fall when the leaves have changed color. And I think that it might be really nice in winter with snow covering everything (assuming that it snows where you are). My point is that this is some place the you drive by often, so pay attention to the light and seasons and take lots of pictures.

This is a great start.

KG

[KansaiGreenie]

Hi again,

I realized that you had some questions:

1) Are any of the shots any good, I mean in a broad sense of composition.

Yes I think so. My favorites are number 2, number 6 and number 7.

2) What settings, if any, would provide me with better landscape shots

I would shoot in Aperture priority or manual instead of the landscape scene mode (although scene modes are a great place to start). I would also underexpose by 2/3 to 1 stop. Definitely want to protect your highlights.

3) What techniques in photoshop would make these pictures look better?

One thing I would try with image 6 and 7 (shot in RAW) would be to use the recovery slider in Adobe Camera RAW to bring some detail back into the sky.

I hope that helps

KG

[EyeFellOva]

Wow, thanks for all of your replies!

LeeR: That is a great tool, thanks! This is going to sound like a simple question but what times of day provide the best light for landscapes with lots of green? I really want to keep the vivid colours without too much post-processing.

Michael_2010: Is this enough EXIF data?
Model : NIKON D3000
ISOSpeedRatings : 200
ShutterSpeedValue : 1/125Sec
ApertureValue : F9.0
FocalLength : 55.00(mm)

I am planning to take my partner and baby to that bench and retake with better light. Where would you place the horizin in the shot to keep both the bench and perspective?

NicoleScraps: Thanks for your comments, I'm just waiting for a tripod to arrive in the post! I'll do some reshoots in the late evening and see how they come out.

KansaiGreenie: Those are great suggestions, thanks! As fall (autumn over here) is coming I'll take some more when the leaves start to change. We do get plenty of snow here, are there any specific settings to use when shooting snow?

Thanks again for all of your advice! I will take it all in and hopefully get some new shots soon.

[Michael_2010]

Those settings don’t look bad. As KG said, underexposing the shot would probably decrease the blowout of the sky and intensify the colors. I would have probably gone with an ISO speed of 100 and closed down the aperture to at least f/11 and more probably f/16 (Sunny 16). Of course that changes with the light.

Moving Toward Manual Settings: Understanding Basic Daylight Exposure and Equivalent Exposure

With landscapes the Rule of Thirds consistently renders better than average compositional qualities. Of course, that rule can be broken on occasion, but it is definitely the correct starting point. In this specific frame, if you had tilted your camera upward a little, you would have captured more of the first tree’s canopy and brought the horizon down into the lower third.

Only you know what you were seeing at this location, so it is a little difficult to second guess your choice of composition. However, always take several shots of the same subject from various angles…… high, low, left, right, etc. Then you will have something to compare and contrast when you get back home in front of a much larger screen. If it were me, I might have moved in a little closer to that first tree and let its branches naturally frame the shot. Now if you have subjects on the bench, I might want to move to the left and drop down low. It may, or may not, be interesting to have your subjects at the far end of that bench and take the shot in a way to capture the wooden slats leading into the rest of the scene. Experiment with what you have and see if you can bump it up a couple of notches.

Also, I noticed in your set that you have one of the shaded side of those trees along with a very nice green space. Take along a colorful blanket and put it up under those trees. Then make that baby the focal point of a few shots.