Golden Rule of Landscape Photography

[SueB]

Sunrise



I used a beanbag and a reflector and had my nose in the dirt! Light was to the side. It is this soft, golden light that is so sought after.

Sunset



....and again from the side.

[Maverick007]

The time you describe are very good for pictures and I went into Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire, England. I have taken some really good shots in the trees and along the river. As dusk arrived and the sun went lower the light was fantastic with deep blue sky tinged with pink clouds.

I started to take pictures with my circular polariser fitted but no matter what apeture or shutter speed was used I had either to much under exposure or a blown out sky. How do you stop the sky from blowing??

[Maverick007]

Originally Posted by SueB

Sunrise



I used a beanbag and a reflector and had my nose in the dirt! Light was to the side. It is this soft, golden light that is so sought after.

Sunset



....and again from the side.

Wow,

Great shots.

[Mtik]

Originally Posted by Rommel

One thing I am wondering about taking landscape shots right around sunrise and sunset is shadows. With the sun so low in the sky, it seems like taller objects may cast dominating shadows. Are there ways people deal with this (presuming that they do not want these long shadows)? Do you tend to take pictures with the sun to your back at these ours, or to the side? (both in the cases where you want the shadows and in the case you do not)

You can ditch the shadows by changing your perspective. E.g., if you get down low and shoot up at a house that directly faces the sun, you won't see any shadows. It's also a lot like taking a picture of a person, with a flash, in front of a wall. If they are a few inches from the wall you'll get harsh shadows. If you shoot the other direction ( with your back to the wall ) they probably won't have a sillouette behind them and may even stand out better against the background.

And shadows aren't something to fear either. They can produce great contrast.

-Tim

[Merlyn]

Originally Posted by Maverick007

The time you describe are very good for pictures and I went into Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire, England. I have taken some really good shots in the trees and along the river. As dusk arrived and the sun went lower the light was fantastic with deep blue sky tinged with pink clouds.

I started to take pictures with my circular polariser fitted but no matter what apeture or shutter speed was used I had either to much under exposure or a blown out sky. How do you stop the sky from blowing??

Filter: Neutral Density Gradient Filter

It will allow you to balance the exposure between the ground and the sky.
The filter is dark at the top and graduates down to transparent at the bottom. The top of the sky is dark and as the sky approaches the ground it becomes lighter. Gel filters are also a choice. This from the film days. An attachment on the end of the lens holds one or several gel(plastic) filters in an assortment of colors.

[ron.richardson]

another great time to take photos is the blue hour(s). it's the 15 minutes or so after the sun goes down. the blues in the sky are fantastic. here's some examples:

this was taken at 5:54pm EST in november:


this was taken at 6:33pm EST in january:


my favorite times to shoot are during the golden hours and blue hour... if i wasn't so lazy, i'd shoot more first thing in the morning after the sun comes up.

not really sure why they call them the golden/blue hour when the time period is usually less than a full hour.

[ny156uk]

I agree with the idea that certain times of the day will lend themselves better for photographing landscapes - shadows/good light angle always help, but personally I tend to take photos when out walking and thus don't so much 'choose' the time I take photos.

If you are like me and just carry the camera about on walks here's what I try to do to make my landscape photos fantastic:

[I]Have a foreground/background feature. I find it often adds some more distance to the shot.

Get down low/up high. I can't remember who told me this (maybe the DPS blog) but I find that just kneeling on standing on something really can bring out a new angle/view of what would otherwise be a normal shot

If the sky has a few clouds try to get them in the shot instead of just blue skies. Entirely personal preference but I do like a few clouds in the sky to give it a little more life (especially if you have a lot of sky in the shot)

Some efforts of mine that I quite like...

[z999]

another time related tip especially if you're shooting a panorama is to wait till the moment the sun is in one of the sides of your photo (only if you shoot the sky too)