Tag Archives: Landscape

October 2024 Theme Challenge – “Landscapes, Waterfalls & Fall Colour”

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For this month’s challenge it’s a more general approach to provide you with more possibilities of creating an image allowing for lots of subject options. Hopefully, you’ll be able to create an image you may want to print and hang on your wall. I encourage you to get outdoors taking advantage of the most colourful time of year experiencing the fresh cool air while creating an image that you will be proud of. Whether your final image is a Landscape, or Waterfall you will have the fall colour to add that extra punch to your image. Spend the time to enjoy nature, put in the time, be patient, and you will be rewarded with not only great images but inspiring experiences.

Landscapes

Fall can be a bit windy as a result the main tip for shooting a successful image is to use a high enough shutter speed to minimize the motion of the trees and leaves. If the conditions are less windy, as with the images below, you can see the water is calm providing reflections, therefore your shutter speed can be a bit slower allowing for a lower ISO for a higher quality result.

While checking your images on location, review your RGB histogram, it’s easy to over expose the Red channel because of the vivid colour. An overcast damp day provides perfect conditions, plus using a circular polarizer can help minimize the light reflection from the leaves to get a more saturated colour with better contrast.

Don’t limit yourself by just using a wide angle lens, use a longer focal length (zoom lens) to isolate the scene which can help reach places you are not able to physically get closer to.

Waterfalls

Fall is also a great time to photograph waterfalls as well. Use your polarizing filter to minimize reflections and select a shutter speed enough to smooth the water but still maintain texture in the water. To get slower shutter speeds, go earlier in the morning or later in the day when there is less light, or try using a 2 stop or 3 stop neutral density filter. Work the location, take the wide angle shots but also get those intimate shots as well by using a longer focal length or getting closer to the subject.

As an additional challenge, after a storm or a bit later in October you’ll find lots of leaves on the ground, take the opportunity to shoot a closeup (macro) of a leaf back-lit you will be amazed at all the things you’ll see that you may not have noticed before. The first image of the leaf (full size) was placed on a frosted diffuser on a 7″ reflector just using the modelling light of a Godox AD600 to light the leaf. With the same setup get closer, use a macro lens to reveal all the detail which looks like an areal view of a town.

As always check the result on the camera display by zooming in and around the image to make sure it’s sharp, review the RGB histogram, and check the composition for minimal distractions to make sure everything is just right before you leave the location or consider being finished taking your image(s).

Additional Resources

As always with our monthly theme challenges we try to seek out an instructional resource, below are some YouTube video links to help with some important tips, hints and ideas.
Fall Colour Photography instructional aids:
■ 7 Photo Ideas to instantly Improve your Autumn photography: by Nigel Danson (15min 17sec)
■ 5 photography Tips to ensure your Autumn Photos are Amazing: by Nigel Danson (10min 44sec)
■ Photography in the Woods | Autumn Colour: by Thomas Heaton (21min 16sec)
■ Autumn Landscape Photography Tips and Techniques: by Landscape Photography iQ (5min 36sec)

You’re encouraged to develop the ability to “tell a story or invoke an emotion“, as well as learn to plan and troubleshoot while creating images.

  • It’s important to not only create an image but to also include a “Title”, this process helps with; determining your subject or story, and composition.
  • Try writing a short paragraph about; how you came up with the idea, any interesting back ground that compelled you to make the image, and describe any techniques how you overcame any obstacles.
  • Do some research and include any relevant information behind the subject of your image. This helps with planning and your approach for a story

An important part of improving your photography is practice, practice, practice which is one important aspect of the monthly theme challenge, in addition you have an opportunity to learn about different genres, techniques and tips that you are not familiar with.

Share your images and stories experienced this month

Even though this website is not setup to directly upload your images, you can achieve something similar by commenting on this post; firstly pasting your social media link to your image in the comment, then type any additional message you’d like to share. Everyone who visits will be able to visit your link. Note comments are moderated so it will not show up right away. We do get notifications when any comment is posted, so it won’t take long to get approved and subsequently show up. By pasting your social media link in your comment, it gives everyone visiting the bog a chance to click the link to see your image for the challenge and also the ability to look at your other work by viewing your social media through your pasted link. We want sharing to be a positive experience and we hope you have fun with this month’s dual photo challenge.

May Theme Challenge – Rocks

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For this month, May 2024, the theme challenge is “Rocks“. This month’s challenge is almost an open category except the subject of your image needs to be a rock(s) or your subject needs to be supported by rock(s). This is another challenge that requires you to get outdoors and search for a location that supports this broad theme. This challenge is intended for you to concentrate on presenting a clear subject in your photographs. Similar to last month, continue to learn to reduce your composition to make your subject stand out mainly by excluding elements that you do not want within the frame. You can choose to present your images in either Colour or Monochrome. The above image of the stacked rocks at sunset is typically referred to as an Inuksuk taken at Bayswater, Beach Nova Scotia. Bayswater Provincial Park is nearby one of the Swiss Air flight 111 Memorial Sites which many family members have built Inuksuk’s in memory of their loved ones.

Imagine a Title for Your Image: Think about a title for your image while you are creating your composition, it forces you to think about what is your subject. With this image I titled “The Lonely Rock”, I wanted to make the story of the image about the shale rock that stood out from all the other granite rocks. This larger shale rock is like the lonely odd person out in a crowd who sometimes feels out of place. That being said this rock shows its beauty in the light, no matter how quirky or out of place one feels each of us is beautiful in our own way. Be careful when out on rocks when they are wet and/or covered by moss or seaweed, it can be extremely slippery.

Observation: Notice what stands out in the image and why you are drawn to it. My first trip to the American Southwest was an amazing adventure, there was so much to see in such a short period of time. The first image is a panorama of Red Rock Canyon, Nevada, showing the different colour of the rock in the mountains. While on the trail walk to Mirror Lake in Yosemite National Park, California, you can observe in the distance rock climbers on the face of El Capitan. Using a 400mm lens I was able to capture two climbers scaling the face of the mountain. The rock formation in the last image was taken in The Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, on an extremely hot day, which looks like a person on their knees praying hoping for cooler days to come.

Supported by Rocks: Lighthouses make a great subject and are typically located on rocky rugged coastlines and the Lighthouse at Peggy’s Cove Nova Scotia is no exception. Whether its’ a sunset or stormy day with the ocean waves crashing on the rocks it is always possible to walk a way with an image you’ll be happy with. Other possibilities of subjects supported by rocks are shown in the example image of the small tree growing through the cracks in the rocks, which showcases a very resilient tree, then there is the image captured of a lone sea shell along a shoreline found while while out looking for sea glass.

Travel: While on our visit to The Gaspé peninsula, Quebec Canada, we visited the town of Percé. This is the location of an amazing rock formation called Percé Rock which is also located close to Bonaventure Island National Park the home of a large Northern Gannet bird colony. The enormous rock is an amazing sight to see and the boat trip to Bonaventure Island takes you around the rock and also around the back of the island as well. This is a location that has been photographed by many so if you happen to be there or a similar location take some time to try to come up with some different images.

By The Ocean: There are so many possibilities to capture images with the ocean swirling or crashing around the rocks on the shoreline or sandy beach during stormy, sunrise, or sunset conditions. Just get out there and experience what nature has to offer you will be glad you did.

Textures: There are so many rock faces that can provide interesting textures which you could use to create your own texture to include in other images, just let your imagination lead you to something interesting. The best time to shoot these types of images is with soft light provided by some cloud or on an overcast day.

Share with us the images you create this month.

We try with our monthly theme challenges to seek out additional instructional resources, below are a number of YouTube video links to help with some hints and ideas. Landscape Photography instructional aids:
■ 7 Easy Tips that will Improve your Landscape Photography: by Nigel Danson (19min 37sec)
■ 5 Simple tips to improve Your seascape photography: by Nigel Danson (20min 55sec)
■ Seascape Photography – A Real World Tutorial: by First Man Photography (10min 6sec)
■ Focal Length Tips to help your Landscape Photography: by Ian Worth (6min 31sec)

Students are encouraged to develop their ability to tell a story or invoke an emotion, as well as how to plan and troubleshoot while creating their images. As such it’s important to not only create the image but to also include a “title”, and write a short paragraph about; how they came up with the idea, any interesting back ground that compelled them to make the image, and describe any techniques on how they overcame any obstacles. Also do some research and include the story behind your iconic location.

An important part of improving your photography is practice, which is one aspect of the monthly theme challenge, in addition you have an opportunity to learn about different genres, techniques and tips.