Basics of fine-art photography/Creating landscape photographs

Landscape is a genre of photography, where the main subject is virgin nature, — usually water bodies or earth surface.

Aq Qaya (White Rock), Crimea

A little bit of theory

Sometimes details not related (or indirectly related) to nature may be present in the frame, supplementing the content. For example: an African hut against a savannah background; a boat (floating on an Asian river) with a fisherman in asian conical hat; a wild animal against a jungle background, etc. But, in any case, these elements should not overlap a significant part of the backdrop.

Where to begin?

Creating works in this genre of photography is the easiest and most accessible way to gain first experience for beginners, as it does not require special skills required for studio shooting; another advantage is that no special accessories and additional equipment are required: tripod, flash, etc. Moreover, in our time of digital technology, a beginner will not face such difficulty as setting the exact shutter speed and aperture in difficult weather conditions, for example: snow-covered space combined with an overcast sky. In the recent past, when there was no alternative to analog photography, an inexperienced practitioner could ruin film in one session.

About lighting

Front and side sunlight should be used. Don't take pictures in the midday light. Perhaps with the advent of experience you will learn to get around this problem, or even adapt it to your goals, but this will be later.

Personally, I like time before sunset , when the sun's rays seem to glide along the surface of the ground. But with such a shooting, the photo turns out to be yellowish, which not everyone appreciates positively.

To prevent side light from entering the lens (resulting in glare in the image), you need to use a lens hood.

Small errors can be corrected later with the help of graphic editors on a computer; big mistakes are uncorrectable.

Gallery

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  Lake Khövsgöl (Mongolia)
  Photo taken in Creative trip to Mongolia
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  El Sillar (Bolivia)
  Photo taken on a Latin American expedition
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  Cunene River (Namibia)
  Photo taken on a Third creative trip to Africa
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  Bamyan (Afghanistan)
  Photo taken on an Afghan expedition
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  Tufuvai Beach ('Eua, Tonga)
  Photo taken on the Expedition to Oceania