Alicia Carlson is a professional food and family portrait photographer based in Boston, MA.To check out her photography, gain some tips and inspiration, and to pick up the occasional tasty recipe, check out her Boston photography website!
You can also find her online @alicia_carlson, on Pinterest at AliciaACarlson, and through Facebook!
With a little practice, landscape photography is something that anyone can become excellent at. What sets beautiful, artistic landscape images apart from the rest?
Here are some tips to help your photo stand out when you compete in Onward Healthcare’s photography contest:
1. Take Advantage Of The Best Times Of Day
When photographing landscapes, the time of day you photograph your surroundings will make a huge difference in the quality of your photos. Try to avoid midday sun – the angle of the sun during that time can make a landscape look “flat”, and can create harsh shadows.
Shooting during “golden hours” – around sunrise and sunset – creates more dramatic images. A photograph taken earlier in the morning will have softer, cooler color tones, and photographs taken slightly before and during sunset will create warmer images.
Don’t be afraid of the weather. Clouds add moodiness, cast shadows, and create beautiful textures in the sky. If you’re photographing a sunset, pay attention to how the sunlight reflects off the clouds.
Brave The Elements!
Here’s a tip I once got from a professional travel photographer: if it’s raining and you’re afraid of your camera getting wet, use a plastic bag to protect it. It will be worth it if you capture a beautiful rainbow!
2. Pay Attention To Detail
There are plenty of “postcard” style skyline shots out there. You’ve seen them – wide angle, everything is in focus, at eye-level, and typically beautiful. But what about the details?
Think about your image in layers – what will be in the foreground? How about the background? A stained glass window, an old door, a bee sitting on a beautiful flower, or someone selling produce at an outdoor market could all make beautiful background or foreground subjects.
Which Characteristics Make Your Surroundings Special?
Take time to look for colors, textures, and patterns in landscapes – and tell a story through your images!
3. Follow The Rule of Thirds – And Use Your Feet!
The “Rule of Thirds” is a basic technique used in visual arts to help compose a picture. Look through your camera’s viewfinder and imagine a grid splitting your image into thirds, like a tic-tac-toe board. When framing your photograph, pay attention to where the horizon falls on the grid! If you have an interesting-looking sky, frame your image so that the sky takes up the top two-thirds of the frame.
If you have an interesting foreground, you want it to take up the bottom two-thirds. (Avoid placing the horizon in the dead center of the photograph.) What if you’re photographing a skyscraper or a beautiful tree? Try lining them up with what would be the two vertical lines on the grid instead of placing your subject in the center of the frame.
Never Stop Experimenting!
Get closer, back up, crouch down, stand on a bench, or rock – do something to physically adjust the angle at which you’re shooting your subject. Adjusting your angle will give your subject more character. You may be able to capture more scenery, or provide a totally different perspective than an eye-level shot.
Good luck in the contest!
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