Photographing Landscape Whatever the Weather

Tony Worobiec

Description

Once you realise that the defining quality of any landscape is the weather then you are truly able to master landscape photography. The weather governs the two most important features of landscape images, notably lighting and mood. Tony Worobiec, as a master of landscape photography, provides us with a guide that is both practical and inspiring for amateur photographers. 'Photographing Landscape Whatever the Weather' is comprehensive in its coverage of photography in all types of weather, from the familiar rain and sunshine to the more unusual and dramatic like dust storms and drought. If you want to know how to take the best images of rainbows or snow then this is the book for you. Tony also offers practical advice on suitable clothing, equipment care and understanding weather forecasts so that you can achieve the best images whatever the weather. This book covers all the angles when it comes to landscape and weather photography.This PhotoActive book is designed for those beginners who want to achieve more with their landscape photography. With the many wonderful photos taken by Tony providing motivation, you can't help but don your wellies or sun hat in order to get outside to take photographs after reading this book.

Informations

• Publié par: RHE Media Limited
• Date de parution: 13 octobre 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781910226391
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

PHOTOGRAPHING LANDSCAPE
WHATEVER THE WEATHER
By
TONY WOROBIEC
www.RHEMediaPhotography.co.uk
RHE Media Photography Titles
Series Editor: T ony Worobiec
Photographing Landscape Whatever the Weather by T ony
Worobiec
Using Free Image Manipulation Software by Peter Cope
Camera Kids: Photography Projects for Children by Paul
Sanders and Rachel Riley
MASTERCLASS TITLES:
Developing a Photographic Style by David Penprase
Exploring Black and White Photography : by Paul Gallagher
For more information about our PhotoActive and PhotoWise
series please visit our Photography website at
www.RHEMediaPhotography.co.uk
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
1. UNDERSTANDING WEATHER: GETTING STARTED
Adopting the right mental attitude
Suitable outdoor clothing for photographers
Useful filters
Getting a reliable weather forecast
Making sense of a weather forecast
The beauty of clouds
2. EVERY CLOUD HAS A SILVER LINING
Celebrate the drama of a stormy sky
Capture the unique beauty o f mammatus clouds
Photographing dust storms
Celebrating grey skies
Exploiting the potential of broken cloud
Photographing a landscape with a single cloud
A cloudy sky at night
A featureless sky
Cut out the sky
The thinly veiled sun
3. LET IT RAIN, LET IT RAIN, LET IT RAIN!
Photographing rain
Capturing lightning
Photographing the alluring beauty of rainbows
The flooded landscape
After rain
Copyright © T ony Worobiec 2015
This book was first published in 2015 by:
RHE Media Ltd
5 Pennsylvania Crescent
Exeter
EX4 4SF
www.RHEMediaPhotography.co.uk
ISBN 978-1-910226-39-1 (fixed-layout ebook)
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from RHE Media Ltd.
The copyright in all the photographs in this book belongs to the author T ony
Worobiec. For permission to use any of the images included here please
pass your request to the publisher, who will then forward the request on to
the author.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
T rademark notice: corporate or product names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks. They are used in this book only for identification
and explanation and without intent to infringe.
This is a fixed-layout ebook designed using the Merryweather typeface
from Google fonts. eBook formatted by: www.BluewavePublishing.co.uk
www.RHEMediaPhotography.co.uk
4. IN FAIR WEATHER OR IN FOUL
Gales and wind – turning a negative into a positive
Becalmed
Photographing in mist and fog
Hoar frost
Snow and ice
Photographing landscape in full sunshine
A dry and barren landscape
SUMMARY
The importance of weather in defining a landscape
Celebrate the weather, whatever it offers
Make taking photographs a daily pursuit
Get to know your area
Learn to understand weather
Introduction

In the mind of some, a great ‘landscape’ needs to conform to some ideal paradigm - a sun-kissed Caribbean beach bathed in rich sunlight, or a snow-capped Alpine shot with a cluster of conifers in the foreground – and they are seemingly unaware that the moment we step outside we are entering ‘landscape’.
needs to conform to some ideal paradigm
- a sun-kissed Caribbean beach ba thed in
rich sunlight, or a snow-capped Alpine shot
with a cluster of conifers in the foreground
– and they are seemingly unaware that the
moment we step outside we are entering
‘landscape’. -->

The first thing we need to appreciate is that landscape photography is an extremely wide-ranging genre. While of course there will always be a place for the bucolic scene, we need to appreciate that ‘industrial landscape’, ‘coastal landscape’ and of course ‘urban landscape’ are also worthy subjects. It helps to understand that every location will have its golden moment and it is simply a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Moreover, photographers can often be quite disappointed when visiting a photographic ‘honey pot’ because it does not appear quite as they had expected. It is only when we understand that the defining quality of any landscape is the weather, as it governs the two most important features notably lighting and mood, that we are truly able to master landscape photography.

Figure 1 (Left) Bluewater Restaurant. This wrecked and abandoned sign, photographed on old Route 66, conveys a sense of pathos and sadness consistent with the dark and threatening sky. While this is a subject that would have been just as easily photographed under sunny skies, that all important sense of mood would have been lost.
Figure 2 (Above) After the storm, near Havre, Montana. Many photographers are discouraged by rain, but the lighting we see, often after a heavy storm, can be spectacularly beautiful. When this shot was taken the area had been afflicted by passing tornadoes, although shortly afterwards the sky was filled with a magnificent display of mammatus clouds. The old adage that ‘there is a silver lining under every dark cloud’ certainly applied. first thing we need to appreciate is that landscape
photography is an extremely wide-ranging genre.
While of course there will always be a place for the
bucolic scene, we need to appreciate that ‘industrial
landscape’, ‘coastal landscape’ and of course ‘urban
landscape’ are also worthy subjects. It helps to
understand that every location will ha ve its golden
moment and it is simply a matter of being in the right
place at the right time. Moreover, photographers
can often be quite disappointed when visiting a
photographic ‘honey pot’ because it does not appear
quite as they had expected. It is only when we
understand that the defining quality of any landscape
is the weather, as it governs the two most important
features notably lighting and mood, that we are truly
able to master landscape photography. --> Bluewater Restaurant . This wrecked and
abandoned sign, photographed on old Route 66, conveys a sense
of pathos and sadness consistent with the dark and threatening
sky. While this is a subject that would have been just as easily
photographed under sunny skies, that all important sense of mood
would have been lost.
Figure 2 (Above) After the storm, near Ha vre, Montana . Many
photographers are discouraged by rain, but the lighting we see,
often after a heavy storm, can be spectacularly beautiful. When this
shot was taken the area had been afflicted by passing tornadoes,
although shortly afterwards the sky was filled with a magnificent
display of mammatus clouds. The old adage that ‘there is a silver
lining under every dark cloud’ certainly applied. -->

While we have some control over where we visit, we have no control over the weather. I am often saddened when I listen to some photographers complain that the weather was not kind to them. Rather than determine where you wish to photograph on any specific day, it is often far better to assess the weather, then choose a location that best suits. For example, while strong sunshine might benefit a field of sunflowers, it will prove less advantageous when trying to capture that lovely silky effect one can achieve when photographing waterfalls using a slow exposure. Some urban or industrial landscapes convey a sense of pathos that is more suitably photographed under dark or thunderous skies.

Figure 3 Swanage Pier in heavy rain . It is all too easy to convince yourself that there is no point in venturing out when it is raining, but to do so is to miss a wonderful opportunity. The mood you are able capture in these conditions just about surpasses all others. Obviously you do need to take certain precautions to ensure that water doesn’t get into your camera, but these can be very easily overcome. In this example, I had already anticipated the aperture and ISO rating required prior to walking out onto the pier and only took my camera out of my bag at the last moment.

Some of the most interesting examples of photography feature the same landscape taken on different days, with each shot revealing the unique climatic characteristics of that day. The great American photographer J oel Meyerowitz is a personal hero. In one of his publications, Bay/Sky , he focused on a single stretch of shore and photographed it repeatedly, capturing the subtle nuances of the changing weather day by day. What Meyerowitz understood with this remarkable project was that it is not just the location but the weather that truly defines the landscape.
While I have made every attempt to keep all the illustrations free of manipulation, there are occasions when a little help ve
no control over the weather. I am often saddened when I
listen to some photographers complain that the weather
was not kind to them. Rather than determine where you
wish to photograph on any specific day, it is often far better
to assess the weather, then choose a location that best
suits. For example, while strong sunshine might benefit a
field of sunflowers, it will prove less advantageous when
trying to capture that lovely silky effect one can achieve
when photographing waterfalls using a slow exposure.
Some urban or industrial landscapes convey a sense of
pathos that is more suitably photographed under dark or
thunderous skies. -->
feature the same landscape taken on different days, with
each shot revealing the unique climatic characteristics of
that day. The great American photographer Joel Meyerowitz
is a personal hero. In one of his publications, Bay/Sky , he
focused on a single stretch of shore and photographed it
repeatedly, capturing the subtle nuances of the changing
weather day by day. What Meyerowitz understood with this
remarkable project was th