Calling all landscape shooters!!!!!!!!!

[Tyson L. Sparks]

To All,
I am going on a trip to the wonderful state of Maine this August and I need some advice. First off Maine is full of wonderful images worthy of display. I am looking to print and hang 10 large photos that I come back with. I have the subjects and the camera (E500) but I lack the talent. I need any and all advice to help me reach my goal, I stink at landscape photography. Please guys, lets make a list of tips and hints I can take with me so I can get these dynamic shots I am looking for. I want to hear from everyone even if you are repeating what someone else says or just telling the basics.

Thank You for your help
Tyson L. Sparks

[walterick]

1) Stop pressuring yourself to take 10 hangeable prints Going in expecting brilliance with every push of the shutter might just result in disappointment which might just result in you putting down your hobby which might just mean you stopping coming to our website, and we can't have that ;)

2) Shoot within 2 hours of sunset/sunrise, use a tripod, prime lenses, mirror lockup, a cable release/self timer, stop your lens down appropriately, hyper focus when necessary, critique your pictures through your viewfinder before you push the button, have the rule of thirds in mind, don't break your horizons in the center of your frame, and have fun!

[Tyson L. Sparks]

What is hyper focus?

[Mr Yuck]

Definitions of hyperfocus on the Web:

* Hyperfocus has been suggested to be a mental state often associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a human psychiatric disorder often diagnosed in childhood which is thought to continue into adulthood for about 30% of individuals, and is then commonly known as adult attention-deficit disorder (AADD).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperfocus

My suggestion is use a tripod and bracket your shots with huge margins, or shoot in RAW, even if you dont have photomatix, you may want to HDR them later.

[walterick]

As you decrease your aperature, you increase your depth of field. As your depth of field increases, you are able to focus your lens closer to the camera and still have infinity be in focus. Make sense? In other words, it's a way to insure that everything in your scene, from foreground to background is in focus. You do this buy stopping your lens down and then focusing the lens closer to the camera rather than at infinity. I think this is easier with DSLR's as they naturally have more depth of field anyway.

Some lenses still have a hyperfocal scale on them. They give you an idea of how close to your camera you can focus your lens and still have your infinity be in focus, for each f-stop. If your lens doesn't have a hyperfocal scale, most photogs will focus about one-thrid of the way into the scene and use their depth-of-field preview button to make sure infinity is still in focus.

Oh, and yes bracketing is another great idea. Set your camera to auto-bracket and let it fire fire 3 shots with every shutter push to save you time.

Rick

[Greg McCary]

I think Rick has summed it up. 10 "keepers" in a week is a very high goal. I am always setting goals but never include time or amounts. It takes the fun out of it if I do.
You might try finding a local photo club and try and hook up with a couple of members when you get there. They will probably have a better idea of when to shoot what.
Take your laptop and stay some where with internet and post a couple here in the critique forums early on and maybe you can get some advise from here.
Remember, family/fun first.........

[Speed]

After your camera, the single most important piece of equipment to take with you is a stable tripod.

Have fun and enjoy your trip!

[swmdrayfan]

I might add that you take a few minutes to visually take in the surroundings, and make sure there aren't any distracting elements (telephone wires, etc) in the scene you want to shoot. I'd also consider different angles and perspectives. Have a good and safe trip, Tyson. We're looking forward to seeing what you bring back.

[Xia_Ke]

Coming up this way? Where abouts are you heading in Maine? Wish I could give more advice upon what others have said but, to be honest with you there isn't anything in particular I look for when I shoot a landscapes. A spot either appeals to me or it doesn't. I dunno Personally I like wide open areas with a focal point somewhere, whether it's an oddball tree or if at the beach, then maybe a bench or a house along the water. From personal experience, out of all my favorite landscapes that I have shot, only 1 was ever taken with a tripod. I generally stop down to f/16 or f/22 for the most detail. When in doubt lately I try to follow the Sunny 16 Rule . Wish I could offer more help. If you want to get some good ideas on Maine landscapes, check out the gallery of Donald Verger, he is one of my favorites when it comes to Maine scenes. Have fun and I'm really looking forward to seeing hat you come back with for shots

Aaron

BTW, let me be the first to say "Welcome to Maine, ayuh" ;)

[Tyson L. Sparks]

I still have 10 weeks before we leave, our first night out we are going to stay around Mt. Washington in NH. Then we will be staying at the Carolina Hotel in Old Orchard Beach. I love it there, I want to move to Maine but the wife well...........

To me Maine is the best coastal area in the east. Maine's coast is by far the most colorful and just plain neat. I am going to try to get a ride on the Portland Fire Boat for my brother and I.We are both firefighters, I want to surprise him.

[Tyson L. Sparks]

Coming up this way? Where abouts are you heading in Maine? Wish I could give more advice upon what others have said but, to be honest with you there isn't anything in particular I look for when I shoot a landscapes. A spot either appeals to me or it doesn't. I dunno Personally I like wide open areas with a focal point somewhere, whether it's an oddball tree or if at the beach, then maybe a bench or a house along the water. From personal experience, out of all my favorite landscapes that I have shot, only 1 was ever taken with a tripod. I generally stop down to f/16 or f/22 for the most detail. When in doubt lately I try to follow the Sunny 16 Rule . Wish I could offer more help. If you want to get some good ideas on Maine landscapes, check out the gallery of Donald Verger, he is one of my favorites when it comes to Maine scenes. Have fun and I'm really looking forward to seeing hat you come back with for shots

Aaron

BTW, let me be the first to say "Welcome to Maine, ayuh" ;)

Wow you were right, his gallery rocks. That is what I am looking for.

[Xia_Ke]

Nice Tyson My dad LOVES shooting that area. You'll probably bump into him shooting some night shots at the OOB pier. Here's a list of some of my favorite places that you might want to check out:

Mt. Washington are:
Kangamangus Highway
Sabbaday Falls
Flume Gorge
Glen Boulder

Southern Maine:
Portland Headlight/Fort Williams
SMCC Campus (in South Portland on the water. Some cool old forts and other sights)
Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge
Wells and Kennebunk Beaches (great jetties)
Ogunquit Beach
Old Port in Portland
Ogunquit Beach/Marginal Way/Perkins Cove
Nubble Lighthouse
Mount Agamenticus

This is just a few of the good sites. All are within an hour drive at most of where you'll be staying. If you need other recommendations, let me know

[Frog]

Try to avoid wide open spaces with nothing but space in them. Try to get something in for a focal point or to lend depth to the scene. There are zillions of sunsets out there with nothing but pretty clouds.
I shot a sunset on Washington coast that was unusually beautiful because of the shape of the clouds and soft colors. It was ok. A couple of minutes later a couple wandered into the lower left third of the frame and their presence on the beach made all the difference.

[another view]

I agree about not pressuring yourself to get 10 great prints out of one trip. I also agree that a tripod - and a hot-shoe mounted bubble level - are important. B&H sells a couple different varieties, and will keep you from having a great shot other than a crooked horizon...

Hyperfocal focusing is a great technique to use, but be careful with what aperture you use. Stopping down to f22 just to get the most DOF can give you an overall soft shot because of something called diffraction. Go out and practice this technique, shooting at a lot of different apertures and study the results. Some lenses work better than others stopped all the way down. I usually try not to close down more than one stop below the minimum (f16 on a lens that goes to f22) which can be a big improvement.

Most important point - practice before you go! And have a great trip...

[mtbbrian]

Arcadia National Park.
Say Hi to Rockport for me!
I was there last summer for a week at the Maine Photographic Workshops.
I LOVE Maine.
Good Luck!
Brian

[another view]

Arcadia National Park

Beautiful place, but there's no "R" in it... Apparently that's a common misspelling/pronunciation and a bit of a pet peeve to them. Check out Jordan Pond if you make it out there.

Make sure to eat plenty of lobstah!

[mtbbrian]

Beautiful place, but there's no "R" in it... Apparently that's a common misspelling/pronunciation and a bit of a pet peeve to them. Check out Jordan Pond if you make it out there.

Make sure to eat plenty of lobstah!

DOH!
Yes, if you are there 1-5 August make sure and hit Rockland for the "60th Annual Lobster Festival"
There will be more lobster there than you can shake your tail at.

Brian

[Xia_Ke]

Acadia is DEFINITELY worth the drive, though it is going to be a few hour drive from OOB. Another fun place, that you really wouldn't expect in Maine, but is fun to visit, is the Desert of Maine in Freeport. And while you're in Freeport, don't forget to stop by LL Bean. No visit to that area is complete with out visiting Bean's

[Photo-John]

Another View mentioned practice. That's very important. Shoot lots and work out the kinks now. Look at National Geographic, photo books, onlime galleries, and take note of what you like and what you don't. Try to identify why you like some photos and not others. The more you can articulate these things, the more you can incorporate them into your own photography. And use the Photo Critique forum! Get feedback from other photographers and tune it up before your tip.

Most important - try to really see what's in front of you and what's in the viewfinder. We have all kinds of unconscious filters and icons in our brain that make it hard for us to see what's really in front of us. Learning to slow down and see what's really there and not what you think is there will make a huge difference in all of your photography.

[photophorous]

Hi Tyson,

My best advice is to listen to Rick. Read up on Hyperfocal distance. Look up depth of field calculators on the web and print out a chart if your lens doesn't have a scale on it. Since you have some time, you should practice before your trip. Hyperfocus can be practiced anywhere, so don't worry if you have no good scenery near by. Compare your hyperfocus shots at several of your higher apertures (f8 and up) to make sure you're using the best aperture to get the best compromise between the sweet spot for your lens and adequate depth of field. Sharpness and detail are essential in landscape photos.

I'll go ahead and repeat some other things that I think are important:

1. Sturdy tripod!!!
2. Rule of thirds.
3. Try to place an interesting object in your foreground. Don't just rely on a pretty background.
4. Go out before the sun rises and shoot for a couple of hours, then go out again a couple of hours before the sun sets and continue shooting until it's too dark to see. Then shoot a little more. Try to scope out these spots in advance, anticipating the direction of the light.
5. Circular polarizers can do wonders to the sky and may help water shots too.
6. Use prime lenses, if you have them.
7. Neutral density filter for blurry water shots.
8. A graduated neutral density filter can save some time in photoshop.
9. Look at lots of other landscape photos.

Good luck.

Paul

[WesternGuy]

Tyson, I gree with what has been said here. Good luck. Two suggestions...if you have access to the Internet, Google using the key words, landscapes, photography, tips and techniques. You will get a pile of references to followup on...second, take an extra memory card. I use a 4Gb in my 5D, but carry a 2 Gb as a spare, just in case something happens and I cannot purchase one easily. HTH

Cheers,

WesternGuy

[freygr]

To get good landscapes it takes time. You have to go back when you feel the sun will give you the lighting you wish.

If you going to shoot seascapes get a tide table and talk to the locals about when the best time during the tide that the ocean is the best to get the type of photos you wish smooth or braking waves. I've have a little Palm program for tide which I down loaded from the WEB at http://www.toolworks.com/ Tide Tool and it's freeware. You may have shoot into the sun because you can't come back another time. Landscapes are so much easier than seascapes.

[Tyson L. Sparks]

Holy cow, you guys are really on top of this. I guess I should be happy if I come back with a half a dozen keeper/printers. I know I am going to hit the portland headlight, I plan to be there before sunrise. Also the OOB pier, we are staying within walking distance of the pier. I'll have the hole week to get a good shot of it.

One of the things I love about this forum is the info avalible here so that I may learn. You guys have said a few things here I don't under stand like hyper focus, so please come back to see if I have posted any questions. I have a lot to learn before Augast.We leave the 16th and will be ther until the 24th or 25th.

[walterick]

I guess I should be happy if I come back with a half a dozen keeper/printers.

Tyson, I'm happy when I get one printer per trip

[EOSThree]

"Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer - and often the supreme disappointment." Ansel Adams

"Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop." Ansel Adams

Have fun with it Tyson, don't expect too much. And as far as taking a landscape photo: Light, Light, Light. Get up early and go to bed late, and expect nothing between 8am and 7pm.