Photography - landcapes

 These two images are two from the set of four images by Russian photographer Oleg Ershov who has just been awarded first place in the International Landscape photographer of the Year 2019. The top image is of a scene in England, the bottom is in Iceland. The images are very different, one seems a close up landscape and the other a more traditional landscape.
 So what makes a good landscape photograph?
Most of the really impressive landscape photos you see have a few common elements - a foreground element, some type of framing element and they comply with the rule of thirds in some way.
The foreground element is needed to allow the viewer to distinguish distances and sizes. Now this would appear to not always be necessary as I would suggest these award winning photos above don't have features which make it easy for the viewer to distinguish the size of the landscape. But rules are just for guidance and it is often the rulebreakers that are the innovative ones. To make sure everything is in focus (foreground and background) there needs to be a narrow aperture i.e. high f number.
Framing elements e.g. bushes, tress, window frame, can allow the viewer to direct their gaze at the main subject. You need to focus on the main subject but also use a high f number to achieve a high depth of field. Having a dark frame also works so focus your light meter on the subject.
For the rule of thirds the frame can be divided into 3 horizontal sections and three vertical sections and where the horizontal and vertical sections intersect makes an ideal locations for the more important parts of the photo. These imaginary lines also help you frame your picture as e.g. only a third should be foreground. Ershov hasn't seemed to have followed this rule for his top picture although the stone is situated on the horizontal top line. His second photo does have an interesting feature at one of the intersections.
I took this photo of one of the Eildons last week and I do have a foreground - the grasses, I do have a frame - the trees, and Eildon itself is sitting on one of the intersections! However I don't think I will win any awards with it. (NB This photo hasn't been altered in any way)

Other useful pointers for a good landscape photo are:-
- lines e.g. piers, paths , roads can transport the viewer further into the scene
- consider what makes the scene interesting, consider how you can get a unique perspective
- my favourite - level the scene i.e. make sure the horizon is flat as you lose a lot of photo trying to straighten it up in photoshop!

And a final point to remember - the smaller the aperture (high f number) the less light so you will need a longer shutter speed. So it is recommended in low light conditions to reduce camera shake, use a tripod and cable release.

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