When was the last attempt you made to learn something new about photography? When was the last time you pushed yourself past what you thought possible?
Even if I’m not doing landscape photography, comfort is important to me. It could be ordering the same cup of coffee every morning at the same café. (A strong flat-white, please.) Or by listening to the bands that I loved as a student.
Once we have a good grasp of exposure and composition as landscape photographers, it is easy to go through the motions. It’s easy to fall into the trap of using tried-and-true techniques or returning to familiar locations. It’s low-risk and safe.
The power of slow and steady refinement is immense, especially when compounded with time. When we follow our craft in autopilot mode, we run the risk of becoming stagnant. You can settle for mediocrity.
Now and again, I give my photography an extra push to counteract this and learn new ways to see. Last year, I tried street photography. I grabbed a Fujifilm X100V camera and started shooting in Melbourne. Then I froze. I had no idea what I was doing.
Yes, I was aware of exposure and how not to blow out highlights. I also knew how to use shutter speeds and depth of field, as well as how to freeze (or blur) pedestrians moving by with the correct shutter speed.
It was a bit overwhelming. I felt like I had become a beginner again. It was both rewarding and humbling to expand my toolkit for photography and take on new challenges.
I spent hours watching YouTube vlogs of the streets of London and Malta, as well as Istanbul. I tried out new compositions, like window reflections or embracing the harsh contrast of direct sunlight. For the first time in eight years, I shot in jpeg.
I had to work hard at times. There were many missed shots and soft ones. But I kept at it. Each time I went out, my skills and eyes improved. When I visited Vietnam recently, I took some pictures of the streets that I am proud of.
I am a landscape photographer by heart. Over the years, I have learned many lessons and acquired skills that I can apply to my landscape photography. You might be able to.
Let’s get started.
1) Adapting to the conditions as they unfold
We travel to places, both new and familiar, with preconceived notions about what we’d like to shoot. Maybe we’ve been tracking the clouds for the entire day, and the sunset will explode with color. Recent rains may have boosted the flow of the waterfall.
Then we arrive. Too many low clouds are rolling in and blocking the evening’s light. The sheer volume of rainfall has turned the river into rapids.
It’s very easy to get frustrated. It’s easy to get frustrated, especially if you’ve traveled a lot. This is our last chance to film the scene before returning home.
Expectations in photography can be a real limitation.
Street photography has taught me to take a new approach. Conditions are always changing on the sidewalk. The experience is highly dynamic and fast-paced.
You have no choice but to adapt. You can wait until the subject walks by and then use a captivating frame. (I have done this.) The best way to balance is to adapt to the situation and to follow your nose.
For example, rain might momentarily dampen my spirits. When it passes, however, it will provide colorful reflections and darker blacks. It will also clear out tourists from scenic areas and give me more frames to work with.
We have little control over the weather and light. As creatives, we have to work within the external environment.
Landscape lesson: Go with the flow. Don’t leave if the sunset is a flop. Instead, look for patterns and textures in the rocks to eliminate the sky. Look for abstract patterns in the water flowing or pay attention to the trees and ferns surrounding the river if it is flooded. It’s possible that you won’t always get what you envisioned, but it might be something even better.
2) LEARNING HIGH SHARPNESS IS BETTER than LOW NOISE
Clean images and noise-free are overrated. This might sound heretical. It’s the most important lesson I’ve learned through street photography.
Moments pass by on the street. They often appear and disappear as quickly as they arise. In a dimly lit storefront, you might catch a glimpse of a smile. You might hear a classic vehicle zipping along the street.
To capture these fleeting moments, I push my ISO up to 2000 or even higher. Street photography is a fast-paced activity, so having a higher shutter speed on hand allows me to freeze the moment before it disappears.
Likewise, I will also use smaller apertures regularly. To ensure that my moving subject is in the depth of field, I may choose to use f/5.6 instead of the X100V’s f/2. This will let less light into the camera.
Hold up, young whippersnapper. On a tripod, I take pictures of quiet scenes in the natural world. I never use ISO 200.
Fair point. Consider two examples.
Scenario A: you’re photographing a waterfall. You’re shooting a waterfall in overcast conditions. The light is soft, and you are happy with an exposure of one second for the smoothness of the water. What about the ferns in the foreground that are swaying with the wind? To avoid blurring, you’ll need to take a faster shot. You can try to widen your aperture, but you will run into issues with depth of field. I would rather bump up my ISO in order to get a faster frame that has my foliage in focus and avoid any unnecessary post-processing.
Scenario B – You are shooting a seascape in the dawn light. You’re shooting a seascape at dawn, and the sky explodes well before sunrise. To retain the texture of the water moving, you will need a shutter speed closer to one-quarter of a second. So, I will bump my ISO up to 640 in order to capture the speed and force of the crashing wave.
Landscape Lesson: You will sometimes have to compromise. It is better to have a sharp image with a higher ISO than a blurry one at ISO 100. The fear of noisy pictures can be a greater obstacle to good photos than the noise itself.
3) DO NOT LET IMPERFECTION AFFECT YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY
Once, I thought that the goal of landscape photography was to achieve perfection. The perfect sunrise. The perfect waterfall. The perfect wave.
Street photography has, amongst other things, shattered this falsehood.
While walking down the sidewalk, I would look at interesting features such as colorful doors and historic buildings on cobbled streets. Then, I would notice the parked cars or signs, as well as rubbish bins and garish signage that took away from the scene.
I would often not take a picture because I thought that one flaw could ruin the whole photo. Over time, however, I began to decide to take the shot, even if only as a frame of reference to return to later. Over time, I learned to accept these distractions and learn how to work with them.
Maybe I can blur out the bin using a large aperture. You can also move a little to change the composition of the photo without the car. You can also hide the sign behind an object. Darken distracting colors and darken distractions in Lightroom.
It’s not about perfection. You can use your creativity to overcome any challenges.
Landscape lesson: The world we live in, both natural and urban, is often chaotic and unscripted. When distractions arise, you can use them to your advantage. Use wider apertures to blur the messy foreground. Switch to a zoom to isolate the subject from other elements.
4) LISTENING IS FREE
City environments can be chaotic and are often so.
You need to pay attention not only to the sensory overload but also to pedestrians, driveways, and any trip hazards that may be present on the sidewalk. Before you start taking pictures or looking for them, there are still a few things to consider.
To help me pay attention to what’s happening around me, I have been approaching street photography by avoiding my phone and headphones. It’s only until I get lost and have to use Google Maps as my local guide that I can stop.
By being present, I am able to notice things that I would have otherwise walked right past. Colour contrasts. Patterns and reflections. Light and shadow. Without a tripod and a single lens, I can take more pictures as I see fit.
When you are taking landscape photos, put your phone in your bag when you get out of the car and start down the trail. Allow yourself to enjoy the solitude and mental space necessary to absorb your surroundings fully.
You’ll be surprised at what you see. Maybe it’s how backlight illuminates mossy branches. Or perhaps the interaction between flowing water and solid rocks.
Take handheld shots of the features and forms you want to capture before expanding your tripod. Once you have tried the trial-and-error method, you can then be more systematic. You can use your technical workflow to fine-tune your focal length and set the shutter speed and aperture.
Landscape lesson: Be present when entering an environment. Remove all external distractions, and take pictures as you see new scenes. Your ideas may not always work. Sometimes, however, your ideas will be an excellent way to capture the essence of what you experienced.
5) Seeing BEYOND SIGHTS
Imagine you are planning a photography trip to a new location. You may have seen some sights on social media, and perhaps you will search online for nearby hikes.
Photography is more than just a way to recreate the past.
Please don’t misunderstand me. When I’m researching new places, I find Instagram tags, as well as Google Street View, to be incredibly useful. In 2016, I was just as guilty of taking a sunrise photo at Yosemite Tunnel View as any other photographer.
Street photography has only reinforced the idea that there are equally compelling images to be found off the beaten track.
I recently explored some of the most popular sights in Ho Chi Minh City. These included the old opera house and post office. Then, I took time to explore the narrow lanes. I also sought out cafes in the suburbs, where I would walk to get a better understanding of the city.
In my wanderings, I did not always come across a good portfolio photo. This approach is prone to more failures than successes due to the inherent uncertainty. When I finally found a frame that I liked, my effort was rewarded with a memorable photograph.
Landscape lesson: Take a look at the main sights. Make sure you take time to explore beyond the main sights. Explore forests or less-traveled trails near your accommodation. It’s not necessary to have a huge sea stack or a thunderous waterfall in order to create a powerful image.
FINAL CONCLUSIONS
I’m no street photographer. I would rather escape into my natural comfort zone than the chaos of the cities. I also have a lot of respect for professionals who have honed the art over time. It’s amazing how they can capture stunning images in unfamiliar cities.
Street photography has been a challenge that I’ve enjoyed. It’s all about learning and starting over. It’s pushing me beyond what I already know. It’s all about trying and sometimes succeeding.
If you are a landscape photographer who wants to improve your skills, I recommend that you start from scratch.
You might want to try out woodland photography even if you are more comfortable with open landscapes. You might want to start with portraits of your family or friends and then move on.
I can’t promise you’ll be the next Henri Cartier Bresson or Helen Levitt. You’ll become a better landscape photographer by trying, failing, and improving.
