3 lessons about struggeling in landscape photography

May 5, 2011 in Essay

In the beginning of the last winter I planned a small trip to Denmark. I visited a region in the north knowing that there is a good place to stay with the van. As usual I was really good prepared for the trip.

I don‘t know why but I misinterpreted the sun position of my sun calculator app. I thought the sun should be north but it was south while setting. Of course it was winter… 😉

What a luck this region has a coastline southwards not far away. So I tried to take pictures there not to waste precious traveling time.

Arriving on the alternate spot I was very disappointed seeing this boring coastline:

First there was the idea to go back to the van and read an ebook. But because I was there I gave the coastline a try and walked along the beach.

After a while I found this tiny stones closed in the ice. And decided to work on this objects.

Especially with the sun going down and the reflexions of the ice, these little objects worked quite well. You can see one photo of this serie on my main homepage in the travel gallery.

I had some great time laying down on the ice in minus 10 degrease Celsius. Loved that…

The lessons are not to complicated and obvious. There are 3 things you can learn from this trip:

Don‘t give up. When you couldn‘t get a better chance give the not so perfect situation a try.
Small things could matter. Sometimes the interesting object couldn‘t be seen on your first sight.
Always try to be prepared! Only if you are prepared you could struggle and make great pictures. 😉

By the way. These photos were made with my iPhone. I was quite impressed by the quality.

As you can see on the display of the Canon 5D it is all about light and not much about retouching…

15 Comments

November 12, 2012 at 04:28

Ammar

Reply

Thanks for sharing your experiance and information
March 29, 2012 at 04:16

Richard Boe

Reply

There is always something to photo, Jordan is right, opportunity lurks everywhere, if we slow down and look for it. Recently I discovered if I sat down and made myself stay for at least five minutes I could find all kinds of things to photo. Bugs, birds, moss, lichen, rocks, leaves, all manner of beauty. If I slow down enough it is revealed.
1. March 29, 2012 at 04:50
  
  Olaf Bathke
  
  Reply
  
  Richard you must buy the app of jim brandenburg, chased by the light. Jim talks about tzhe little people that can be found in his photos and everywhere.
July 30, 2011 at 18:44

Carsten Kießler

Reply

Hey Olaf,

thanks for this interesting article! May I ask: What kind of filter do you use for the pic with the stone in the ice?

Carsten
1. July 30, 2011 at 22:03
  
  olaf
  
  Reply
  
  Carsten: A ND Filter, 2 stop hard. This was a Singh Ray Filter….
July 26, 2011 at 18:56

Jordan Oram aka Maplemusketeer

Reply

Yes! Thank you so much for writing and sharing this 😀 Opportunity lurks everywhere 🙂
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