Landscape photography - less is more

How many times have you been out with your camera, looked at the landscape and thought how nice it looks? If only I could capture the scene on film. After some deliberation, you search for your camera and within seconds the moment is captured for ever.
You arrive home and eagerly await your prints only to be disappointed when they arrive. The scene you originally saw looks different in the photograph. The cascading vista with light bouncing from one mountain to another has changed to a small section of the landscape which looks so different from the original scene we photographed.

Unless you're using a panorama camera or a wide-angle lens, you will only capture a small amount of what you will see with the human eye. The eye can see a lot more than the lenses on most cameras. Unfortunately, panoramic cameras can be very expensive and unless you intend selling your work or have unlimited funds, most people will opt for conventional cameras.

Wide-angle lenses will present a different problem, one where perspective alters. Objects appear further away as the angle alters. Whereas telephoto lenses make distant objects appear closer as the angle alters.

Try to isolate the objects by using a telephoto or zoom lens. If you're using a standard lens, go in close to the subject and fill the frame, use a tripod to accurately frame the subject and remember to use a small aperture to ensure good depth of field. Obviously, this type of approach can be done in conjunction with photographs you would normally take.

When you get your photographs back, compare the difference between one image and another. You may find that you still prefer the photographs you would normally take, but at the end of the day, there is nothing to stop you producing other types of images as well as your normal photographs.

Check out George Standon's Web site here.