Planning and anticipating bad weather
TECHNIQUE LOCATION
ALL PICTURES © RICHARD
The cloudscape of a passing storm provides a good contrast to the calm water in the foreground
inexperienced landscape photographers get excited by it. As fog tends to reduce colour saturation considerably, a much stronger emphasis is placed on the image’ s tonal values. Consequently, images taken in fog can often be very successfully converted to black & white. If, however, you choose to retain the colour, the hues will appear wonderfully subtle. When photographing in fog, you can explore a visual phenomenon known as tonal recession What this means is that distant objects appear considerably lighter than those closer to the camera; this is especially apparent when photographing a cluster of trees. The tonal interplay between the trees in the distance and those nearer the camera can prove particularly transformational. Because of the reduced visibility, images tend to be simpler and more graphic in nature.
Wind
Wind is a contradictory phenomenon insofar as it is invisible, and yet you can see the evidence all around you.
Shooting in the wind certainly has its drawbacks. For example, if you are using a tripod and aren’ t sufficiently sheltered, the buffeting can cause camera shake, especially when using a long telephoto lens. On a more positive note, wind also introduces drama to the landscape and is capable of transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary. From a technical standpoint, remember you do have a variety of shutter speeds to play with.
Landscape photographers often prefer to use the AV rather than the TV option as they consider controlling depth of field to be more important than shutter speed. When photographing in the wind, however, it’ s a good idea to make the shutter speed your priority. It could be that you want to capture some object being blown in the wind that requires a fast shutter speed. Alternatively, capturing the moving clouds might be another way of illustrating wind, which then requires using an extended shutter speed.
Planning and anticipating bad weather
TO GET the best out of landscape photography, you need to recognise you cannot change the weather, but you can change your location. You may have spotted a beautiful field of red poppies and decided to shoot them under a blue sky. Days pass and the conditions are never right, but when they finally are, the poppies are well past their best. A much better way is to celebrate the weather conditions each day offers. When you look out in the morning and it is pouring with rain, that’ s a real cause for celebration. When you arrive at a location and it is shrouded in thick mist, ponder on your good fortune. As you familiarise yourself with a given place, ask yourself what weatherconditions would be suitable. It certainly helps to be aware of forthcoming weather. While the media can give us a good overall picture, sometimes it is not specific enough. What you need is a service that gives you an hour-by-hour forecast. There are numerous websites which are more targeted. Moreover, there are many excellent apps you can use, even as you travel. All will help you be in the right place at the right time.
‘ Fog tends to reduce colour saturation considerably. Images taken in fog can ofen be successfully converted to black & white’
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Trees in mist. At home, the cloud was low and featureless, but I remembered a wonderful wood about 20 miles away, which is located on higher ground. Acting on a hunch, I guessed it would be shrouded in a gentle mist, as indeed it was. Being able to anticipate the weather certainly helps
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