So, many people have asked: How to take a nice landscape photo? Or in other words: what do I need to make my landscape photo looks different from a phone snapshot?
Here are some equipment that I will use at a landscape shoot:
A good glass
Oops, sorry, I do not mean a wine glass – of course you can bring a wine glass to enjoy some wine during the shoot – a good glass here refers to the lens. A good lens can most likely get you the effect that you want; it can be a wide angle, fisheye, telephoto zoom etc.
However, notice that I am talking about “getting the effect” you want, not the quality. Yes, a PRO grade lens can get you better quality, but it is not a must have to produce good photos!
Tripod
Very important! To get the most out of the photo, you will definitely want the lowest ISO for less noise, smaller aperture for more details (unless you are intended to do some bokeh trick) and this setup results in relatively longer shutter speed as it needs to compensate for the light amount.
Therefore a tripod is very important to ensure your photo has no shake at all and stay sharp!
Remote shutter release
Everytime when you press the shutter button on the camera – even when it is on a tripod, there is a chance to cause vibration/shake to the camera and hence blurry image. Using a shutter release eliminates this problem. Alternative, some people use the self timer if they do not have a shutter release.
Filter
Many people has UV filter on their lens, and some of them even have a CPL filter to get that “polarized” feel of the blue sky – but in my opinion, the ND filter can really lift the game up here. Ever wondered how to take a photo of the sea that looks like silky cloud?
Yes – longer shutter speed! The problem is, no matter how low your ISO and small your aperture is, you can only slow down the shutter speed so much before the photo becomes overexposed. Using a ND filter can block a lot of light and hence allowing you to slow down the shutter even more without overexposing your photo.
Camera
Of course! What was I thinking?
What do you normally bring with you for scenery shoot? Share with us! :)