The definitive guide to capturing beautiful and compelling images
outdoors
Landscape photography can be a solitary experience, but award-winning
landscape photographer David Taylor believes creativity requires a
certain amount of peaceful contemplation to flourish. What skills or
requirements, therefore, does a successful landscape photographer need?
An ability not to mind getting cold or wet is one that springs to
immediately to mind, but a landscape photographer also has to understand
how the weather and the seasons affect the landscape. Navigational
skills are useful to find potential subjects. Above all, empathy for the
natural world is a prerequisite. Beginning with a comprehensive guide to
the choice of cameras, lenses, and other equipment and accessories,
Taylor goes on to discuss the fundamentals of exposure--aperture,
shutter speed, ISO, dynamic range--and an appreciation of the effects of
light on the landscape, at various times of the day and in all types of
weather. Practical advice on planning for an outdoor shoot covers the
basics of assembling a travel kit, using maps and choosing a location,
consulting sunrise and sunset times, weather forecasts, and predicting
tides. The author's own stunning photography transports the reader from
coastal regions to hills and mountains, through woodland and moorland,
in all seasons and weather, in the light of day and the dark of night.
Authoritative text explains the theories and "rules" of composition: the
importance of balance, harmony and symmetry, the power of leading lines,
visual weight, and the ability to create depth in an image. A final
instructive chapter details the practical techniques of postproduction
workflow, from the processing of images to proofing, to displaying or
printing the final results.
