Today I took photos of the nature around me. I love getting out after a very procrastinated day and get the chance to admire what God created. And I am always awed at how beautiful the Ruhr area can be! Those who say otherwise just have not been to the right places!
The best time of day for lanscape photos is the so-called "Golden Hour", which is right after the sun has risen or right before it sets. The light is very soft and, yes, golden during this time. But it is usually very short lived and not really an hour long.
Concerning camera settings, landscape usually works best with a narrow aperture (Blende in German) because you get a very nice depth of field (small lens opening = a sharp image through and through). F/11-f/22 are best, says Josh. Here you usually do not want a bokeh (remember Day 9?). But, again, photography rules are more guidelines, really.
When you are looking for a nice composition or see a pretty landscape you want to capture, you should always try to include some kind of foreground, midground and background. If you simply shoot a tree line with nothing interesting in the foreground, the photo will look boring. Josh's examples are incredible!
Compare the two following photos:
Exp. 1/60; f/16; ISO 125.
Exp. 1/60; f/11; ISO 100.
The second image is much more interesting than the first one even though it only has some brown grass in the foreground. But because of this you actually have a foreground, the field and trees are in the midground and the university buildings in the back. I am a sucker for blurry backgrounds so I did keep the arperture on f/16. Not too narrow but also not too wide so that you can still make out the buildings.
My favorite of today is this one, though:
Exp. 1/400; f/7.1; ISO 100. The berries create a colorful contrast to the blue and green background. The university buildings (I am usually in the second from the left by the way ;)) are still visible and most importantly, recognizable.
And to make clear, what I mean by wide and narrow aperture for those who do not know, compare the image above and the following. (When you click on the picture it'll show up bigger for better comparison.)
Exp. 1/60; f/22; IS0 200. For the first one I used a fairly wide aperture (f/7.1; the wider the aperture, the smaller the number) so that the background is a little fuzzy. For the lower picture, I used the narrowest aperture (f/22). In this photo the berries in the front, the house and the RUB buildings are all sharp.
I hope you learned a bit about foreground, midground and background composition and how to use your aperture depending on what you want to put your focus on. If you shoot with a compact camera and cannot manually set your aperture, you can still use the portrait- (blurry background) or landscape (sharp everything) settings accordingly. Of course you can also make your midground the focus, as I did in my title photo, the mossy plant thingies on the bridge pillar.
So next time you are out in the open and want to take photos try to really take your time and move around to see what frame works best, when the composition is just right and wait for the sun to shine through the clouds or to set. It will be well worth it and you will notice a huge difference! But don't forget to also take IN what you are taking photos OF! It is always a bummer when you come home and realize that you don't even remember what you photographed!
If anything is unclear or if you are having trouble understanding the whole camera settings, etc. just leave a comment or message me on FB or wherever. I'll be happy to help. :)
Lot's of love and God bless,
Eileen
