Common mistakes for Beginner landscape photographers

As you stop down you get more and more diffraction, once you pass a certain aperture, (Depending on the sensor resolution and size) it causes the image to become soft as the light isn't diffracting into a sharp point on the pixel and is becoming diffused causing the light to spill onto adjacent pixels.

Some sensors can stop down to f16 before any diffraction effects are seen but some can only go to f8 or 9 before they start to soften.

Excuse the punctuation, I'm typing from my phone
 
robhooley167 said:
As you stop down you get more and more diffraction, once you pass a certain aperture, (Depending on the sensor resolution and size) it causes the image to become soft as the light isn't diffracting into a sharp point on the pixel and is becoming diffused causing the light to spill onto adjacent pixels.

Some sensors can stop down to f16 before any diffraction effects are seen but some can only go to f8 or 9 before they start to soften.

Excuse the punctuation, I'm typing from my phone
Click to expand...

How far can a 5d3 go?
 
About f14, but that's when the first signs of softening appear, you may be able to push it to 16 and just add a bit of sharpening to compensate in PP
 
robhooley167 said:
About f14, but that's when the first signs of softening appear, you may be able to push it to 16 and just add a bit of sharpening to compensate in PP
Click to expand...

It depends on sensor size and the desired print size.
The rule of thumb to avoid softening by diffraction on a critically sharp 8x10 print is f22 (full frame) and f16 (APSC).
If you are using a compact camera, check your sensor size in the table :)
See http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/technical/diffraction.html

Also....
Best practice is that sharpening should only be done twice.
Once when the RAW is converted. This is done in-camera for JPEGs and automatically by RAW converters like ACR. So pretty much can be ignored as it is usually left alone.
The second sharpening is the last thing that ever gets done to an image - after all the edits, resizing, and you know what media the image is being used in.

Sharpening followed by resizing is not a good idea as it can introduce artefacts, hence resize first.
Sharpening also depends on the output format - there's a reason the Lightroom Export dialogue has a picker for Screen / Print Gloss / Print Matt in the sharpening box :)
 
Last edited:
Eye-catching objects near the edge of frame, *just* clipping the top of trees or some important feature that needs space or more decisive cropping out.

Lack of any real subject or foreground feature, in a desire to show a sweeping scene = rather dull image as a rule.
 
I'm enjoying this thread, keep posting guys n' gals..!

I've ALWAYS thought you need an expensive super-wide (must have, latest & greatest) lens, but now know that's not always the case.
 
Shooting everything at 10mm and ending up with no clear focal point.

Does my nut in when i see it on here.
 
I'm looking forward to using my 20mm on my OMD (40mm @35mm) as I get plenty of the shot in with that.
 
personally im guily or not taking enough time to think about a shot (hard when its sunrise) which is why i dont get very good results. and also accurate DOF.

i think the main issue amongst newbies (and not so newbies) is HDR which actually hurts my eyes. and MORE COLOUR!!!! the shots crap so bang up the contrast and saturation in PP thinking it will help

but its all about the end game and well get there with time
 
Last edited:
Definitely sloping horizons for me. I never knew about them when I started a few months ago trying landscapes.
I have had to remove or straighten most of mine as you could have skied down them. :)
Not only that a lot of my family pics taken at the seaside have nice portraits of the kids with deep sloping horizons behind them lol!

Right now as a beginner I am out most nights trying to capture a sunset but still not getting it right. I think sometimes as a beginner we go out with too much information and ways to capture a particular shot then it becomes overwhelming and we end up moving dials this way and that instead of enjoying the moment we are trying to capture and taking time to relax and maybe try a couple of suggestions at a time and finding one that works for us. Last night I used my tripod and set my camera to f11 iso 100 just using my kit lens
Did a few under and over exposures but nothing nice really so I keep with it and one day soon with all my practice I will pop on a nice shot that needs no PP.
I did come home with a very nice shot of a crow :)
Cathy
 
Seajay said:
Did a few under and over exposures but nothing nice really so I keep with it and one day soon with all my practice I will pop on a nice shot that needs no PP.
Click to expand...

Don't worry about PP, there is nothing wrong with PPing a shot, it is best to do as much as possible in camera but to make the most of any shot it will need some PP. Look back at Ansel Adams work, even though he was using film he was the master of PP. He used a darkroom rather than lightroom but the principles are the same.
 
Mark thank you,
Ha! I have been trying really hard to capture a sunset with something that looks good straight out of my camera or would only need a little exposure change or brightness.

They are always too dark or too light or too orange etc! I did try layering to get something from three copies a dark a light and a medium one but when I finish they always look really false.

I have deleted most of them but I will have a go with this last lot.
I will keep at it as I am off to Lewis in a few weeks and want to be able to come home with something I can share.
Cathy
 
If you're shooting into the sun whilst it is still above the horizon and not using filters you've got two options, expose for the sky and everything else will be silhouetted out, or do some kind of exposure blending / HDR. There is simply too much dynamic range for the camera to capture in one frame.

Alternatives are using filters, which I do, or not shooting with the sun in the shot, look at the long shadows the sun creates as it sets, or the golden light it casts, next time you're looking at a sunset just turn 180 degrees, there is sometimes an even nicer shot behind you.
 
Might not be the best place to ask (in this thread) but has anyone got a reliable hyperfocal distance chart/calculator (for 7d) - as every app I use, chart I see seems to differ from the calcs I do myself either on my calculator or in excel and I'm just left confused as to which value is right and which is wrong.

For example today, on the chart I have printed out, for F11 at 10mm says 93cm (CoC 0.019) (http://jamestysonphotography.files....perfocal-distance-charts-2013-0-019-large.pdf) where as photobuddy app on iphone are saying 48.8cm (not calced that one myself)

P.s its not rounding differences, more significant than that.

edit: I've just realised there are 2 charts on his website, one for large prints and one for standards, it seems I had the one for large and the one for standard tallies back closer to the values in the other apps). I originally got it from another message board so that may have been lost in translation from the site to the place I downloaded (I think DPreview if memory serves)
 
Last edited:
The biggestvthing for me after hyperfocal distances was to keep thinking, what is my subject, how will I frame it, how can I remove distractions.

F8 or f11 work best, histogram is your best friend. Tripod and remote release all good tools for landscape.
 
Good advice above, but one other mistake is not allowing enough time. The weather, cloud, light(especially at sunrise and set) will not wait for you. You have to be there good time.

Dave
 
Well I can now add to this list as a beginner lol!
Just home from Hebrides and the weather was not great most of the week but my worst mistake was not noting down where I was, duh!
I am not going to be able to tell where I took some of my pictures and will just have to give them a title of some kind
Another valuable lesson for me!
Cathy
 
Seajay said:
Well I can now add to this list as a beginner lol!
Just home from Hebrides and the weather was not great most of the week but my worst mistake was not noting down where I was, duh!
I am not going to be able to tell where I took some of my pictures and will just have to give them a title of some kind
Another valuable lesson for me!
Cathy
Click to expand...

The use of gps smartphone technology is useful in these circumstances. Quite a few apps that let you sync your photos with gps data collected via smartphone.

No good for your recent trip, but may prove useful, in the future.
 
The trouble with using the GPS in your phone is it hammers battery life.

I use an external GPS logger, it clips on my bag, logs every second, connects via USB as an external drive and then Houdah Geo software marries up the raw files with the location by comparing the timestamp. Once the raw is geotagged then any resulting file (usually a TIFF to work on in PS) is geotagged too, then the web jpeg is tagged too. One of my loggers takes 3xAAA batteries, the other takes 1xAA battery so they're easily replaceable in the field.
 
markmullen said:
The trouble with using the GPS in your phone is it hammers battery life.

I use an external GPS logger, it clips on my bag, logs every second, connects via USB as an external drive and then Houdah Geo software marries up the raw files with the location by comparing the timestamp. Once the raw is geotagged then any resulting file (usually a TIFF to work on in PS) is geotagged too, then the web jpeg is tagged too. One of my loggers takes 3xAAA batteries, the other takes 1xAA battery so they're easily replaceable in the field.
Click to expand...

A map and a notepad requires no batteries and is a lot cheaper, and will save on weight.

I have no problem with GPS devices, but surely those venturing well of the beaten track should have the nav skills up to scratch, so expensive electronics will not be required.

I love gps, and use it all the time in cars! Even going to places I know I will use it, as mine tells me about mobile speed traps. However there is no way I'd trust my life on it somewhere remote.
 
supersammy said:
A map and a notepad requires no batteries and is a lot cheaper, and will save on weight.

I have no problem with GPS devices, but surely those venturing well of the beaten track should have the nav skills up to scratch, so expensive electronics will not be required.

I love gps, and use it all the time in cars! Even going to places I know I will use it, as mine tells me about mobile speed traps. However there is no way I'd trust my life on it somewhere remote.
Click to expand...

I think you're mistaking using a logger with replacing a map. I'm talking being able to tag your photos with the location back at base.

My loggers are about the size of a box of matches and weigh a few grams, lighter than the OS maps I carry for navigation.

In terms of risking my life I carry a satellite locator beacon which will put me in contact with an emergency centre 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, from anywhere on the surface of the earth.
 
markmullen said:
I think you're mistaking using a logger with replacing a map. I'm talking being able to tag your photos with the location back at base.

My loggers are about the size of a box of matches and weigh a few grams, lighter than the OS maps I carry for navigation.

In terms of risking my life I carry a satellite locator beacon which will put me in contact with an emergency centre 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, from anywhere on the surface of the earth.
Click to expand...

That's fair enough. I'm more used to griffin gps devices which can eat through batteries and leave you stranded. And I wasn't really referring to you, as I've seen your photos and you clearly know what you are doing, more as a warning to someone very inexperienced not to rely solely on a gps.

That might sound basic... But I've made the mistake once. Spending a night without a tent or a sleeping bag in minus conditions made me vow to never do it again.
 
if you can't fit all the scene in one shot , do a panoramic sweep and stitch together , there are a few programs out there to do it. Then crop it to suit.
A tripod is useful, but I've managed hand-held and got good results.
I've even managed a panorama using a 200m lens, stitching 15 images. Unbelievable zoom-ability on the monitor!
 
vizzair said:
if you can't fit all the scene in one shot , do a panoramic sweep and stitch together , there are a few programs out there to do it. Then crop it to suit.
A tripod is useful, but I've managed hand-held and got good results.
I've even managed a panorama using a 200m lens, stitching 15 images. Unbelievable zoom-ability on the monitor!
Click to expand...

Panos are good but as your rotating around a s8ngle point and not shifting left to right you can get some perspective issues.
 
markmullen said:
You can indeed, parallax issues generally only raise their head with objects very close to the camera, strong foreground interests etc.
Click to expand...

Yer its very annoying lol. But theres nothing better than a nice pano lol
 
markmullen said:
I do like a nice stitched panorama, it is nice having so many pixels to play with.

One of mine got to nearly 2Gb in size though, that took some computing power to edit!
Click to expand...

Yes when I stitched my last one my pc just laughed at me ..
 
Great topic, I have also always used as narrow an aperture as I can get away with and had never even heard or read of the diffusion problem. Looking forward to experimenting some more ASAP. :)
 
ChrisGilbert said:
It's always a good idea to know the limits of your kit but if you never get further than shooting stuff for the internet then it isn't really an issue.
Click to expand...

Indeed, but its the technical side of subjects that interest some of us, not necessarily the end result. For example, I often build race engines for a living, but I couldn't necessarily win a race with one of them.
 
Just posting to say thanks for all of the advice on here. This is one of the most useful threads I've read on here to date and i'm now subscribed...
 
jonnyb123 said:
What are the mistakes you see most often in beginners landscape photos?
Click to expand...
Putting a rock in the foreground and calling it "foreground interest". It's not interesting, it's just a rock.

I see this all the time, and mostly it's not beginners who are guilty of it.
 
Woodsy said:
Ahh yes, just like a tree is "just a tree" or a hill is "just a hill".

:shrug:
Click to expand...
You've just demonstrated the difference between photographers and other members of the species. For most people, trees and hills are things to look at when they're outdoors, and rocks on the ground are just things to avoid tripping over.:p
 
someone needs to tell Joe Cornish where he's going wrong
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top