In the field - a practical approach to a landscape photography field trip
In this article we will look at a landscape photography field trip, describing each stage from initial preparation to the final image; some is obvious, some less so.
Preparation Generally I start by selecting a location, (if this is a new area I like to contact the local Tourist Info Centres for leaflets, etc). I then use the 1:25000 Ordnance Survey map of the location to target a particular area. Consider what time of day to be there, check sunrise / sunset times and the suns position at sunrise, midday and sunset. Also, if applicable, refer to the local tide table. Inform someone of your intended field trip destination and time frame and stick to it. Record the Grid Reference for future use.
For this trip I chose the small village of Croggan, located at the mouth of Loch Spelve on the Isle of Mull in Scotland. Looking at the map I could see that the sun would set behind the mountains to the west at this time of the year and I could include part of the coastline with a rising tide in the foreground to lead into the picture. Access to my chosen area was relatively easy with only a little walking from the road.
If your chosen area is less accessible then it is essential that further preparation be done, venturing into remote areas requires fitness and additional skills, the ability to map read and navigate for example.
Check the weather forecast I use the BBC 5 Day Local Forecast, use this link to enter the destination postcode or nearest town. Local knowledge is a bonus; certainly here on Mull the weather can often vary from one end of the island to the other so having a network of contacts can be of enormous benefit.
Prepare Kit & Equipment This will depend on the chosen destination, its ease of accessibility or its remoteness. Typically for landscape work, I always carry the following as a minimum.
- Camera Rucsac
- 2 Camera bodies
- Wide angle zoom 17-40 mm lens
- Fixed 24 mm lens
- Mid range zoom 24 - 105 mm lens
- Short telephoto zoom 70-200 mm lens
- Hand held Sekonic lightmeter with a one degree spot
- Electronic Cable release
- Memory cards, Spare batteries
- Polariser and ND Graduated filters
- Tripod, karabiner, canvas bag (to fill with stones for adding extra weight and stability to the tripod)
- Camera cleaning kit and minor repair kit
- GPS, compass, map and whistle
- Note book & pen
- First Aid Kit including Space Blanket
- Plastic bags for protecting gear etc
- Waterproofs, hat and fingerless gloves
- Food and drink
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Arrive at location On arriving at the location in plenty of time I find somewhere safe and convenient to park giving due consideration to local residents, farmers etc.
Assess area visually - general risk assessment Before leaving the car I have a look around, make sure all is secure and nothing left behind sitting on the car roof for example, trust me it does happen. I know Croggan to be a very safe place to work, but other places are less so. Remember you are carrying a lot of expensive equipment.
Assess chosen spot visually - specific risk assessment Having decided on the general area to take my photographs from I do a quick risk assessment, again this will vary depending on where you are, it helps concentrate the mind and become more aware of immediate surroundings. As Croggan is a coastal location with a very rocky coastline the obvious risks are a rising tide and slippy rocks.
Assess scene visually - photographically This is now a crucial moment as having selected a preferred area we now need to identify the exact position from where to compose the image. Taking time to look around and visualise what I want I hand hold the camera to view the scene with different lenses from different angles, low down and high up, trying both vertical and horizontal formats. Doing it this way allows freedom of movement without the constraints of a tripod. After a while deciding upon a spot a few metres from the waters edge with some prominent rocks in the foreground. Combining this in my mind with a setting sun and a rising tide I am happy with my choice.
Assess lighting - just to get a feel Take a little time to assess the lighting, it may be that the whole exercise is better left to another time.
Position tripod Location of the tripod is crucial, not only photographically but from a stability point of view; it needs to be positioned securely. I use a karabiner attached to the tripod to hang my camera bag from or alternatively you could use a bag of stones collected from nearby. Only when I am confident of its stability do I attach the camera, lens & cable release.
Compose the image Ensure that all the elements in your final view are what you want in the scene. Check all around the frame, it is surprising just how often something creeps into the image, remember also that the coverage of some camera viewfinders is typically about 96% of the final image.
Selecting the f Stop and setting Hyperfocal Distance (Hyperfocal Distance is point of focus needed to ensure sharpness from half that distance to infinity. It is determined by both aperture selection and lens focal length). For the image and composition I have in mind I decide to use a 24mm lens and aim to achieve maximum depth of field (depth of field is the distance from the nearest to furthest part of an image that appears to be sharply focused. It will change with lens selection and point of focus). More often than not these days lenses do not have a hyperfocal scale on them, so referring to prepared Hyperfocal & Depth of Field Tables (that I have for all of my lenses) I select an aperture of f11 which will ensure sharpness from 1.2m to infinity when set to focus at 2.4m The minimum focus is always half of the Hyperfocal Distance.
Having set the point of focus, looking through the viewfinder the image looks out of focus, to actually see what will appear in our image we need to use the Depth of Field preview. This takes a little getting used to as the preview with the lens stopped down to f11 will look very dark indeed. Here we need to be patient and allow our eye to adjust to the reduced light in the viewfinder. After time our eyes will adjust making the view appear brighter, then we can visually inspect and confirm that the f stop selected does actually provide the depth of field we require.
Setting exposure I usually use the Evaluative metering mode setting on the camera. For the majority of instances this works just fine. However, there are times when a high contrast scene will require a little more effort and I will the use either the spot meter on the camera or a 1 degree hand held lightmeter to check the exposure difference between the highlight and shadow areas.
If the difference extends beyond 6 stops I will add a Neutral Density graduated filter to reduce the intensity of the highlights, the choice of filter being determined by the amount of brightness above the acceptable 6 stop difference.
I may also add a polarising filter, I always use these filters with care, yes they help to increase saturation and reduce glare but they can also darken skies too much. Using them with ultra wide angle lenses can cause a significant fall off in sky tone that I find unpleasant.
During this particular shoot I had no need for a ND grad filter as the sun had set behind the horizon and the contrast range was less than 6 stops. However, I did add a polariser, in this instance to slightly reduce reflection on the water. It also had another benefit, a polarising filter set to maximum will darken the image by about 2 stops which meant a 2 stop decrease in shutter speed. For this particular image I wanted the incoming tide to appear silky as it flowed around the rocks, reducing the shutter speed ensured that this would be the case.
Wait for the ideal moment All we need now is that right moment, I waited for the afterglow of sunset combined with an incoming wave to maximise the amount of water in the foreground.
Final Check of everything else Before tripping the shutter via the cable release I had a quick last look all around the viewfinder and at that perfect moment took the shot.
© Phil McDermott
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Articles by Phil McDermott Isle of Mull Photographer for commercial and wedding photography.
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