Woodland photography can be one of the more challenging environments for landscape photography. The trees and undergrowth create scenes of chaos that can be hard to organize into compelling images. Follow along as two landscape photographers wander through a rainforest, making photographs.
In this video, William Patino and his friend Dylan Fox meander through a rainforest in Fiordland, New Zealand, during late-afternoon light in search of interesting landscape photos. We follow Patino and Fox through the forest as they actively talk through their compositions, learning several tips along the way as they put them into practice.
Patino and Fox both take a reactionary approach to finding scenes, following the light and looking for subjects that help bring some sense of focus to otherwise chaotic scenes of ferns and moss-covered trees. Patino takes many photographs along the way, using the back of his camera to gauge what makes a scene interesting or ordinary. He uses that as his guide for more deliberate compositions.
I found following Patino and Fox during the video helpful. We not only get a great series of tips for photographing these scenes but also see them work the scenes. Seeing them in action and the resulting images helped bridge the gap from hearing a tip to seeing it in practice.
