Are you wondering what makes some landscape photographers' photos stand out more than others? It all begins with how you make the photograph in the field, but it doesn't stop there. Understanding the editing process helps carry the vision through to the final photograph.
Making a good landscape photograph starts from the moment you head out into nature to make photographs. In this video, we start with William Patino heading out into the field to capture an image.
Patino walks us through his approach to photographing the scene. This includes discussing elements he chooses to include in the scene and ones he leaves out. One important element was a form of edge control as he worked to compose the photograph with the viewer in mind.
Patino then returns to the office with a number of images to start the editing process. He goes beyond just talking about what sliders in Adobe Lightroom he uses and into the importance of tonal separation and how adjusting things like shadows, whites, blacks, and contrast helps draw out the tonal separation.
This video offers more than a superficial understanding of adjusting sliders in Lightroom. It delves into the "why" behind these adjustments, providing insight into the actual art of landscape photography. It also reinforces the idea that a successful photograph is made in the field with the initial composition.
For an alternative approach to landscape photography, see Josef Koudelka's book of B&W panoramas, titled "Chaos".
Thanks for the recommendation!
No matter what I found the photo with the bright ferns to the front right totally dominated and kept my attention no matter what. Guess I see things differently.
It is definitely a dominant object in the scene!