There is a hidden force that can elevate your photography massively. I know about it because, after 35 years in photography, I stumbled upon it accidentally. And I get goosebumps just thinking about it.
We’ve all been there: a stunning landscape, but the weather forecast was wrong again. Traditional weather forecasts are simply not designed for photographers. But there is a new tool that changes the game.
Here comes the shock: you can get extremely sharp photos with cheap gear. Let’s have a look at what sharpness is and how we can improve it.
Take a nice subject, awesome conditions, build up a pleasing composition, and you will get a great photograph. But there is still something important missing for getting it to world class. Therefore, we have to go even one step further.
For more than 30 years, I tried different camera settings for my landscape photography. With the settings I use today, I don’t only feel more flexible, but they allow me to nail each of my photographs technically.
There is nothing better than being out in nature, inhaling all the mood out there, deciding on the best possible camera position, and enjoying landscape photography. But what if there are 25 other photographers beside you so that it becomes difficult to move just 20 inches to the left or right without disturbing another photographer?
One of the biggest mistakes in landscape photography is to think that the best light appears just around sunset or sunrise. You could get the best light you have ever seen in your life straight around noon, as well. This is what you have to consider.
We are used to traveling to the most beautiful places with the aim of getting outstanding photographs. But when we import our images to Lightroom, we have often to accept that our photos are no more than the same old story that was photographed there already by thousands of others before. How can we get photographs that stand out?
Sometimes, we try hard to find a composition, but sometimes, we get distracted by too many, and it gets hard to choose the best one. At home then, we have often to accept that all our images are just average. How can we avoid situations like that and come home with a masterpiece instead?
The light is amazing. There are dozens of compositions waiting out there. But where are you? Sitting in your office, working eagerly for your boss or for your clients? I found a solution to combine my job with my landscape photography, to photograph wherever and whenever I want.
There are a couple of things you can do to get sharper photos with your long lens. But what if we want to go even further? This lens hack might be a bit crazy, but it is the best I have ever seen because it really works, and it is feasible on location. Find out how to get sharper telephoto shots.
On some days, we can see one composition beside another, but on other days, it is hard to find just a single one. What is the difference between those days, and how can we increase our chances to find outstanding compositions all the time?
Modern cameras support fantastic image stabilization, and ISO noise is not a problem anymore. We can shoot freehand in dusk conditions and get stunning, sharp photos. So, have tripods become obsolete?
Morning red needs some special requirements to appear. Find out how to plan and photograph red sky to get a masterpiece.
Seven years ago, I have stopped using photography rules, which massively improved my photography. But there is one rule that makes the difference between an average shot and a masterpiece. And it is something different than you might think.
Have you ever struggled with getting creative in your photography, but whatever you have tried, it didn’t solve the problem? Artists think in a very special way. Knowing how can massively change your photography.
I love when a plan works in landscape photography and this was the way I was doing for more than 30 years now: planning and going to the spot, for "harvesting" the photographs. This led to fantastic results though, but there is one more way to get outstanding photographs, you had maybe never thought about before.
You have checked the weather maps, you have a clear idea of what you could photograph to get a masterpiece, and then, things are different, and you have no idea what to photograph? That’s fantastic, because this is the best starting point to become a better photographer.
As landscape photographers, we are used to leaving our warm bed in the early morning, being on location, and also having a composition before the sun starts to rise. But what if we arrive after the sun has come up? Is there still a way to go home with strong photographs?
Do you struggle with finding compositions in woodland? Over the years, I have developed a strategy that helped me to succeed. Sometimes, I even see one composition beside the other without even looking.
Landscape photography brings us to the most beautiful places all over the world and there are so many of them out there, that it is impossible to visit them all in one lifetime. There is no obvious reason to return to places we have visited already, but as a pro landscape photographer with more than 30 years of experience, I do it again and again, returning to places for photography.
How many megapixels do we need? What do we have to consider already out on location, that we are able to print big afterward? How do we choose the right printing material, and how can we be sure to get the best possible printing result in the end?
Have you ever been out for landscape photography and didn’t get weather conditions that would support your compositions? Here are a couple of ideas you can try.
Would you like to hang up a boring picture on your wall? Properly not. But what can we do to turn boring weather conditions into interesting photographs?
It is the story that makes a photo special, and it is one of the base requirements for fine art photography. But it is also that area where landscape photographers seem to struggle most.
You got up early in the morning, you hiked up a steep mountain to photograph a sunrise vista, you are exhausted, and then, you can’t see anything, as there is just tight fog instead of a vista. Is there a way to succeed if there were some more and even bigger problems?
Join a professional landscape photographer while he is planning the weather for his next photo tour.
Rain, fog, red sky, hoar frost, and clouds: all these things are predictable with using apps. The only problem is that the probability that forecasts match reality is embarrassing low. I found a much better solution than I have used for some years now. With this, I’m nearly always fantastically prepared for the weather.
They hold you down in landscape photography, they bring you to make wrong decisions out in the field, they make you blind for finding compositions, and they even kill your creativity. Knowing about them and avoiding them makes you a better photographer.
Photographing in a winter wonderland offers us so many advantages, as all the distracting elements on the ground get hidden by snow. But then there comes the photographer, who wants to get out the best possible photograph. And exactly this leads to one of the problems.
There is a different sort of light and weather needed for these three sub-genres of landscape photography. Photographing them all within a few hours only is possible, but it leads to some big obstacles we have to overcome.
If no one takes notice or takes time to engage more deeply with an image, what does it matter?? Getting control over the viewer’s eyes can be a big game-changer for your fine art photography.
It is not difficult to get an okay shot as an advanced photographer. The problem is not seeing the things that would bring your photography even up to a world-class level. What if I would tell you that there exists a tiny subgenre in photography that makes not only most of the things you have to improve visible for you but also makes you a better photographer in all genres of photography?
Creating something new is the most important ingredient for making art. But we can’t create something new when we just capture a scene in reality. The trick is bringing an artistic concept to your photographs.
