Adding Depth

Greetings,

Another compositional tool that is available to the landscape photographer is to be able to add depth to an image. Adding depth can be as simple as including something close to the front of the camera or foreground element. Then I would look for some sort of lead in line pulling the viewer into the image and finishing things off by adding something of interest or my main subject. For this image I used the log as a foreground element and a lead in line. Notice how the log starts in the lower right of my frame and lead you towards the the waterfalls which immediately pulls you up into the image, creating a strong diagonal line.

Metadata:

Nikon D800
Tamron Lens SP 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 46mm
Gitzo Tripod
Aperture – f/8
Exposure – 8 seconds
Singh Ray LB Color Combo Polarizer
Cable Release

Best of Light,
Ed

Inside the Mind of a Landscape Photographer

 

Good Sunday morning,

I hope you’re having a great weekend!

I wanted to share an image that I created during our New River Gorge Photography Workshop a few weeks ago. We stopped at one of our locations and I set a shot up for the group. I focused on composition to show everyone what I was seeing at this location. I have three things happening in this image:

• A hint of foreground leaves
• The nice “C” curve of the falls
• And the brilliant fall colors of the tress in the background.

I always ask people where’s “the magic” (as I like to call it) or what attracted them to this scene. Because this dictates where you place your horizon line. When on location I determine “what is the most important element” and for me it’s the falls. So when I compose this image I will allow more weight to the falls. Two thirds foreground / falls and one third to the autumn colors in the background.  I also like how the foreground leave complement the autumn colors in the background.

I hope this little tip helps and want to thank you for stopping by and reading!

Metadata:

• Nikon D800
• Tamron Lens SP 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm
• Gitzo Tripod
• Aperture – f/16
• Exposure – 3 seconds
• Singh Ray LB Color Combo Polarizer
• Cable Release

Best of Light,

Ed

Mohawk Falls

During our last visit to Ricketts Glen the excitement of seeing the falls always gets me not matter how many times I’ve been there. I normally hike in from the bottom, but this time we decided to start from the top and of course I had to stop to shoot the first falls we came upon which is Mohawk Falls. As a waterfall and creek addict I was sure to get my fill on this adventure!

Best of Light,

Ed

Ricketts Glen

Yesterday Zach and I made a quick trip up to Ricketts Glen to shoot some autumn colors and to do a little aerial work of the falls and Lake Jean. Although sunrise was completely fogged in, it was perfect light for shooting waterfalls. We met with Dave Blinder a photographer from New Jersey and spent the morning shooting along the falls trail. While there we also ran into two other friends and photographer, Steve Sattler & Tony Ricciardi.

I still have a few images to edit of the falls but this aerial image truly shows how colorful the area around Lake Jean can be.

Best of Light,

Ed