I have been thinking, what is that ONE good tip in landscape photography. That ultimate secret that many greats have that you don’t have. Use a good tripod? Well, that a good tip but I don’t think it is the ONE. What about aperture, shutter speed or ISO? No. There’s no one setting that is the “ultimate”. In fact, I’ve used many varied settings, so that’s not it. So what is it? Well, in my opinion, the only thing that makes a landscape photo great is to be there at the right time and in the right condition. Let me explain.
A good landscape image normally involves good lighting conditions and good sky conditions. As you know, conditions varies daily. You might get great light today but grey out the next. So the ONE good tip in capturing a great landscape is to go to the same spot, at the appropriate time (normally at dawn or dusk) and WAIT for the right condition to turn up. It may never happen but if you go often, you might just get lucky. This is nature, it is unpredictable. You have to be in the right time and place to get lucky.
Today’s image (HDR) is by the Singapore River, looking at the Marina Bay Sands and the Flyer (Ferris Wheel), a scene I have captured many times, made interesting only by the sky.
Thank you ..
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Hey Ken, yeah you got to have good light. And if you got that to start with and use other important elements your bound to get a winner!
You’re right. And it sometimes takes a while to find good light, most probably after many visits later. The problem is when we make a trip to photograph a place, we only usually have a few days, if not less, and if the light and weather condition is not good, we’re basically screwed. I heard of a photographer who went to Angkor Watt hoping to get some shots, unfortunately throughout his stay there (he was only there for about 2 days), the sky was grey throughout and he didn’t get the shot he wanted, which was the sunrise over the Angkor towers.