Tips for capturing Landsape with 18-55mm

[d_n_a]

1. Is it possible to capture panoramic view with 550D 18-5mm ? if so please can anyone tell me which mode shall i put the camera and wht settings will it be ?

2. Which mode and at what setting shall i make my camera while there is lots of sunlight to capture best landscape ?

I will appreciate a reply

 

[huxleypiggles]

Set the mode dial to 18mm. Set the lens at the widest aperture. Fire.

 

[nickjohnwatson]

I found f8 - f11 to be sharpest with my kit lens, set it to 18mm, use a tripod and remote release. Turn off is, use live view to focus. If its daytime then use AV (aperture priority) or if its night time use manual with bulb mode, Jobs a goodun then crop to correct ratio in PP!

 

[d_n_a]

Ah thanks… Um going to Niagra this 20th i dnt think i'll be able to carry a tripod there :/

 

[cowboy]

Find a good flat spot to use as a support or use handheld but just be steady and try not to move too much.

 

[nickjohnwatson]

I would use IS as well if shooting handheld if its good light. I would say av mode, f8 and is on

 

[markmullen]

Ah thanks… Um going to Niagra this 20th i dnt think i'll be able to carry a tripod there :/

I used to live just a few miles from Niagara in Buffalo, make sure you visit the Canadian side of the falls, much better than the US side.

For panoramas you can do one of two things, one is just crop a 16:7 (or whatever ratio you prefer) out of an existing landscape shot. The downside with that is you're throwing away a lot of pixels, not ideal if you're planning on printing it big any time. The other way is to set the tripod up in portrait (upwards) orientation, then rotate the camera across the scene, making sure to overlap each shot by quite a bit (up to 1/3rd) and then stitch the resulting frames into one long thin frame.

As a guide this used the first method, cropping a shot, it was bitterly cold and I didn't want my girlfriend to freeze whilst I took a stitched panorama.


Cologne Night Panorama by mark_mullen, on Flickr

This is a stitched panorama, 13 shots and over 15,000 pixels longest edge.

Loch Leven Sunrise Panorama - Please View On Black by mark_mullen, on Flickr

 

[mousemat]

You don't always have to use a tripod. In fact, all of my panoramas are hand held and usually consist of two or three rows of anything from 5 to 10 images, all stitched together in photoshop

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/ianelmes/4992020701/] Buttertubbs Pass by Ian Elmes, on Flickr[/URL]



Yorkshire Dales View by Ian Elmes, on Flickr

 

[Colin44]

I find I'm really struggling with landscapes, what looks good in my eyes and the view finder doesn't always make a great photo when I get it out the camera.

 

[Tringa]

Colin, the problem is the eye and brain combination is stunningly good at extracting information from and homing in on interesting parts of a scene and ignoring other parts. It is also good at moving about when viewing a landscape to concentrate on relatively small areas and often we don't notice it happening. What we see is a great looking view.

Unfortunately the camera cannot do this.

When using a wide angle, to make sure all of a huge landscape is included, it is very easy to end up with a photo with a very small image of distance mountains (which looked fantastic at the time) and a huge amount of empty foreground (which has been largely ignored by the brain); I have done this many times.

Look for foreground interest and lines to lead the eye into the view and towards the focal point. While wide angle lenses are possibly used for landscapes more than other lenses, longer focal lengths should not be ignored to pick out an interesting image. An hour or so before sunrise and sunset can provide excellent light and while the sunrise or set can give good photos, shots taken at 90 degrees either side of the sun can give some great shadows.

Dave

 

[markmullen]

Colin, the problem is the eye and brain combination is stunningly good at extracting information from and homing in on interesting parts of a scene and ignoring other parts. It is also good at moving about when viewing a landscape to concentrate on relatively small areas and often we don't notice it happening. What we see is a great looking view.

Unfortunately the camera cannot do this.

When using a wide angle, to make sure all of a huge landscape is included, it is very easy to end up with a photo with a very small image of distance mountains (which looked fantastic at the time) and a huge amount of empty foreground (which has been largely ignored by the brain); I have done this many times.

Look for foreground interest and lines to lead the eye into the view and towards the focal point. While wide angle lenses are possibly used for landscapes more than other lenses, longer focal lengths should not be ignored to pick out an interesting image. An hour or so before sunrise and sunset can provide excellent light and while the sunrise or set can give good photos, shots taken at 90 degrees either side of the sun can give some great shadows.

Dave

Good advice that.

Basically you're capturing light, good light will make a shot, bad light will break it. Be up early, and out late.

As Dave says if you're using a wide angle lens you need a strong foreground, another use of a telephoto lens is that it compresses a scene, a range of mountains from near to far for example, make a really striking shot with a long lens.

Don't be afraid to write a day off if the light is against you though, sometimes there is little you can do, even in somewhere with an amazing view, and it is just a case of enjoying being there, even if you're not photographing it.

 

[johnsy]

I shot this last week using a 18-55mm lens, 75mp in total so yes you can. Another tip is to shoot in manual mode so the exposure is the same across the stiched image.

http://gigapan.com/gigapans/126638