Landscape Photography In Natural Light

Landscape Photography In Natural Light

Along with composition, the quality of light is perhaps the most important factor affecting the success of a landscape photograph. Whilst composition can be completely controlled, good quality light on the other hand cannot. We can however control the direction of the light and therefore use the optimum angle of light to enhance the appearance of our main subject and ultimately the success of our landscape photograph. There are four main types of lighting; top, side, front and back lighting. Consider how your envisaged scene will appear under each type of lighting and then choose which type of lighting will best portray your subject and shoot at the specific time and in the specific position to capture your subject in this light.

Occurring during the middle hours of the day:

Top Lighting

Generally speaking for landscape photography, top lighting is to be avoided as it does not cast any shadows and therefore does not convey texture, form and shape which are so important to emulate dimension in a landscape photograph. The only exception to using top lighting is when you wish to capture water at its most turquoise colour which occurs when the sun is positioned directly above.

Occurring leading-up to sunset and a short time after sunrise:

Front Lighting

Similar to top lighting front light also does not produce texture, form and shape and even worse your shadow will more than likely appear in the scene. Try and avoid this lighting in any situation.

Back-lighting

Composite Portraits with a Mythical Creature

Composite photography, layering together multiple images to make one, has long been used in the world of commercial photography as a way to produce perfectly composed photographs that would be too difficult to create in one shot. As more and more people are beginning to see the benefits of composite photography, the technique is finding it’s way into other styles of photography as well including portraiture. Composite photography opens up the door to creativity for many photographers, including this one who went so far as to build his own mythical creature to add to a young boy’s portraits. Take a look.

Bakster, the friendly mythical creature featured in the photoshoot was built using spray foam and faux fur. In real life, Bakster is only 3-feet tall; however, thanks to composite photography, Bakster appears to be much, much larger. In the video we see him towering over a building, an effect made possible by photographing him in studio then layering that image into the alley scene.

Winter Lifestyle Fashion Photography

Ever wonder what it was like to take a fashion photoshoot outside on a blustery, winter day? Below, you can take a behind the scenes look at a shoot that has done just that. Join photographer, Chris Lambeth, and his crew as they take to the snow covered streets with their model for the day, Mary. Take a look below and enjoy the outdoor photoshoot from the warmth of your home.

Lambeth captured a plethora of stunning portraits during the shoot. The following images are just a small sampling of the winter fashion shoot goodness: