Little Known Natural Lighting Techniques In Landscape Photography

Landscape is one of the most favorite subjects of seasoned and amateur photographers alike.  Landscape photography is a photography style that captures the beauty of nature in all its glory.  Photographers who dabble in landscape photography use tools like pinhole camera or a large format camera and tripod, using wide angle lens.

When doing landscape photography, correct lighting is very important.  Correct lighting can make a seemingly lifeless landscape be brought to life.  In landscape photography, photographers recognize that natural lighting is the best.    If you want to know how to take advantage of the natural lighting that nature gives you, here are some little-known natural lighting techniques that you can use in landscape photography:

Take Bad Weather To Your Advantage

If you think that taking pictures of landscape during a bad weather is not a good idea, think again.  Cloudy conditions and overcast skies need not spoil your shot.  In fact, bad weather can give you stunning photographs as long as you use the right lighting technique.  If you are taking pictures of dark thunderstorms and dramatic scenes, use a graduated neutral density filter.  This will help darken the bright clouds and bring the scene into perfect exposure.  If you want evenly-lit and moody shots, the woodlands will be a good place to go to especially during bad weather.  For this kind of photograph, remove the unwanted glare on wet ground and leaves by using a polarizing filter.  When taking pictures during bad weather, remember that softer light, as opposed to direct sunlight, is available during really cloudy weather and this can reduce loss of detail in highlights and shadows so bring the necessary equipments and act accordingly.

Get Your Shadows Right

To make sure that shadows appear as you desire, pay close attention to the light direction when you are composing your shot.  If the sun is to the side of the scene you are taking picture of, use the shadows to pick out the details and texture in the landscape.  Avoid incorrect foreground lighting to prevent the appearance of flat images, though with the sun behind the camera, color saturation is usually at its best.  If you backlight large foreground objects or trees, they will silhouette subjects and will cast long dramatic shadows.

Enhance Dark Shadows With Reflections

For dimly lit scenes, use waterscapes to provide balance by mirroring natural light.  You can use this technique to boost the available light when shooting at sunset or sunrise.  It would be wise to use a tripod for steady shoot if you are using long shutter speeds.  Use a polarizing filter to remove polarized light in order to enhance reflection and maintain color saturation.

The Importance Of Getting Up Early

Early sunrise can give you magical lighting conditions.  You can take great photos with light from the early morning sun.  if you are planning to travel to a certain place to take pictures, plan it your trip and location and check the weather forecast.  You should also find out the sunrise times so that you can be in location at least 30 minutes before sunrise.  This will give you time to perfect your composition and allow you to configure your white balance and exposure.  in misty conditions, use manual mode in your digital camera as its auto mode may underexpose the shot.

Plan Your Photo Shoots

Plan your location and decide on the optimum lighting conditions if you want to get stunning shots.  Consider the season and remember that visibility is best in autumn and spring.  In summer, you can have better color saturation with the sun as your foreground light but you will need a UV filter to maintain the field of view and to reduce haze.  It is during the winter season when you will have unpredictable weather, long shadows, and low sun.

You can get more mind-blowing, clever guidance on Landscape Photography tips here.

I hope you can use this,

Ray Baker