CAPTURE PERFECT LIGHT

Mike Harris explains how a little planning and lot of patience can boost your chances of capturing stunning landscape lighting

- Mike Harris

There are plenty of technical skills that you can master to help you improve your landscape photography, but ultimately a good landscape hinges on three things: subject, composition and light. And while we have complete control over the first two, the latter is the element that can quickly send even the most promising shoot into disarray.

Planning is a key factor when it comes to finding perfect lighting. Using a weather app is a good place to start, but what can you do to improve your chances of capturing stunning light once you’re out in the field? The answer is you wait and wait… and then wait some more.

People who don’t take photographs might assume that a good landscape is down to being in the right place at the right time, and while that’s partially true, you also make your own luck to some extent. Sometimes you should keep waiting even if the light conditions seem ideal, because they could always get even better, and our image of a lone tree at Rydal Water in England’s Lake District is a prime example.