A Landscape Photographer's Point of View

Have you wondered how it looks when a landscape photographer gets up early in the morning and hikes to the top of a mountain to photograph a sunrise?

In the latest video from Thomas Heaton, he shares his first person perspective on how he photographs a sunrise in the beautiful Mt. Reiner National Park. With an action cam attached to his head, he guides us through his thinking process. He starts by scouting the area for possible compositions. Leading lines, focal points, repeating patterns, and a potential change in the landscape when the sun rises.

After a few different takes on composition, he dives into the technical aspects. He uses a graduated neutral density filter and manual bracketing of his exposures to ensure he gets the full dynamic range of his photographs. He also shares a tip on how to control the lens flare as he is photographing directly into the sun.

I really like the second photo he got in the video. Great control of tones and colors and a beautiful composition showing the sunrise and light on the mountainsides. A very calm and beautiful photo.

Check out the video above and let me hear your thoughts. Do you recognize some of Heaton’s thoughts?

Mads Peter Iversen's picture

Danish Fine Art Landscape Photographer and YouTuber. He is taking photos all over the world but the main focus is the cold, rough, northern part of Europe. His style is somewhere in between dramatic and colorful fantasy and Scandinavian minimalism. Be sure to check out his YouTube channel for epic landscape photography videos from around the world.

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5 Comments

He does seem a bit of a gas bag. I quit before one minute went by. Enough is enough.

"A sunrise in the beautiful Mt. Reiner National Park ... " Over here it is known as "Mt. Rainier National Park".

There is even a beer named after it. And cherries.

https://rainierbeer.com/

https://rainierfruit.com/cherries/

The mountain is spelled Rainier. And in my point of view that's a critical error for any photographer to make.

I have missed my calling, I need to make and post videos, this is me walking, this is me setting my bag on the ground and unzipping my bag and pulling a lens out, this is me closing my bag, and ...............................

Oh well he's got to make a living :)