closest. So, if I was close to you
and took a picture your nose
would look huge. (Editor’s note:
It isn’t.) It’s like those big convex,
security mirrors you see in the
store. That’s the kind of image
you get if you were taking a
picture of a person.
ZOOM, THE OLD-FASHIONED
WAY
I recently returned from
Turkey where I only took one
camera, Fujifilm's X-100 series.
It looks like an old-fashioned
Leica, and it has a fixed lens. You
can't put any other lens on it; it’s
got no zoom whatsoever; it’s a
23mm fixed. I never once was
wanting for another lens. It’s a
great travel camera because it’s
small enough to throw into a
backpack. People ask "don’t you
miss a zoom?" and I say “well,
you can just walk closer.” I’m not
all that concerned with zoom,
certainly not for landscapes
because you can walk to about
everything in the picture.
WHAT’S IN YOUR BAG?
If it’s for a job, I will scout
the location first so that I know
what I need. I know that if it’s
a landscape, I’m pretty much
covered with the 23mm lens.
THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT
When I’m shooting at night
I will absolutely go to a website
that shows me the moon phases.
If I want to shoot stars I do
not want to shoot when the
moon is full because there is
too much light. I was showing
my students pictures the other
day at Humber College. "Isn’t
this a nice picture? Look at the
shadows of these chairs on the
beach." And everybody said,
"that’s lovely. Look at the sun!"
The problem here is that it’s 2:30
in the morning and they couldn’t
believe me. I purposely shot on
a night where it was full moon.
In that situation, I'm consulting
a moon phase website, and I'm
taking a fast lens; I don’t need
my shutter open quite as long.
Usually I take a small array of
lenses. Like 14mm, 16mm, 23mm.
(Bingo!) And that will pretty
much do for all your landscape
needs.
WHAT IF IT RAINS?!?!?
I do like to go out in the rain.
Most people like to stay where
it’s dry. You get some beautiful
images in the rain, so you do
have to prepare for the weather.
At night you have to prepare for
security and safety, so take a
flashlight and be aware of your
surroundings. You want to make
sure you scope out the place first.
Maybe you need to take a tripod.
Check to see if there are vantage
points that are much higher that
you can shoot down from to
get a different point of view. If
you take a tripod or small bendy
gorilla pods, you can get your
camera right down to the ground
and slow the shutter speed down
to get some nice flowing rivers or
waterfalls.
GET UP, GET UP AND GET
DOWN
There are so many pictures
taken from a 5-foot elevation
because that’s how we typically
stand but, my wife can certainly
attest to this, I’ll see a shot and
I’ll lie right down on the ground
because it gives you a unique
perspective. I was once in China
and came across a lake. I got
down on my stomach to get
Camera: Fujifilm X-T1
Lens: 35mm
Info: 2.5 sec; f10; ISO 400
Notes: Used a tripod and the 35mm here as this area fit nicely into the field of view of this lens.
A wider lens may have distorted the edges a bit too much.
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