Person on the Landscape

When I am out and about with my camera looking for landscape photographs, I often like to include a person in the shot. The reason for this is that a well placed figure can add drama, impact, depth and scale to an otherwise ordinary photograph.

The photo on the mountain features my youngest son looking out over the countryside. On this occasion, he was posed. I asked him to stand in that spot because I was keen to add scale and depth. When taking landscapes, it is easy to end up disappointed with the final print, which, in two dimensions, can look very flat and uninteresting compared to the awesome three dimensional spectacle experienced at the moment of exposure. Adding a well placed person immediately changes the whole dynamic of the image. One is drawn much more into the scene, because the person adds a sense of empathy. You become more aware of size and distance, as well as being invited to ponder the view with figure in the photograph. The man on the mountain adds humanity to what would otherwise be just another nice view for the album.

The photo of the sand dunes was transformed by the addition of the dark rider. This shot was definitely not posed. I was out walking on the dunes – as you do - looking for a “nice shot”. Up until this point I felt I had captured some pretty good images. And then the horseman appeared. Suddenly, I had something starkly different to shoot, but I had to act fast. The rider was not hanging around, and there was not a moment to lose. I quickly fired off three shots before the mystery rider vanished behind a dune, never to re-appear. Again, a much better sense of scale was added to the shot. But more than that, what started out as a group of Scottish sand dunes was immediately transformed to the bad lands of Montana! It was pure luck on my part as I could never have predicted the shot. The lesson here I suppose, is always carry a camera if you want to capture the unexpected. Dark riders do not come to order!

Photo Tips - Light on Landcsape

We all see beautiful landscapes around us if we care to look. However, it often happens that when we try to photograph it, the resulting print looks rather bland and flat compared to what we remember seeing at the time.

The RAF (then Joint, now Defence) School of Photography had a motto (maybe it still has) which translated from the foreign language in which it was written means “We write with light”. This is a true saying and worthy of remembering, particularly where landscape photography is concerned. While the subject matter might look attractive, without good lighting the resulting photograph will be disappointing. It therefore follows that if you want to take some memorable landscapes which stand out by their own merits, then pay close attention to the lighting.

The two photographs featured here were taken in Scotland – I bet you would never have guessed! They both show Eilean Donan Castle, but from two very different view points and in very different lighting conditions.

If the photograph showing the rainbow over the distant castle had been taken a minute or so earlier, it would have looked extremely drab. Through the viewfinder, the shot looked OK, but it needed that extra “something” to bring it to life. There had just been a storm, and I noticed a break in the clouds and realised that if I hung around a bit, the scene might look more attractive in the encroaching sunlight, contrasting with the dark brooding clouds overhead. Well, the light washed its way across the landscape, and I could hardly believe my luck when this gorgeous rainbow appeared. The result speaks for itself.

The second shot of the castle, from much closer in, was taken in the evening shortly after sunset. In the daytime, the castle looks quite dramatic by virtue of its own architectural merits, but in the evening, it takes on a different life altogether, and in the right lighting makes for a much more attractive photograph. Apart from the clarity of the evening sky, the silhouetting of the castle itself, the hint of artificial light on the castle stonework, the reflections in the still water of the Loch put the final cherry on the cake.

Finally, I would suggest that you need to take a lot of landscapes and exercise a lot of patience to come up with the odd “cracker”, but he – or she who perseveres will be rewarded.