LIVING LANDSCAPES

Capture natural colour and a sense of motion in your scenic images

- Peter Fenech

Landscapes can play tricks on you. Seeing an incredible vista, capturing it as best you can and then being disappointed by the results later in the review process is a common phenomenon for landscape photographers. Part of the reason is the variety of colours present in the scene and the limitations of your camera to perceive all of these, compared with your eyes. When we look at a landscape, we're also capturing a lot of peripheral information that goes into creating the overall emotional reaction we have when standing there on location. This is missing in a still image, as only a single moment has been captured.

The strength of a high shutter speed to freeze time works against the landscape photographer, as the resulting images will seem static and somewhat lifeless. In this workshop, we'll take a look at the main steps we can follow to breathe some life into a summery landscape scene, making the most of the characteristic light while adding energetic movement and retaining natural colour. You don't need lots of kit, just a tripod and an ND filter, some patience and careful positioning, so let's get started.

Shooting steps

1 Watch your foreground With a carpet of seasonal flowers or the feeling the colour rolls on beyond the frame, place yourself so that you can control the foreground detail through careful composition.

2 Set elevation Control the horizon by experimenting with camera Seit elevation Control the horizon by experimenting with camera the top of the rapeseed plants, which created engaging depth-of-field fall-off while removing a housing estate behind the distant hillside.