Did you ever experience something like this; You see a beautiful scene while you’re traveling or driving to somewhere, you stop and take pictures of this beautiful scene. But when you get home you find that pictures boring and flat. Are you familiar with this? Well, i experienced it a couple of times.

But why this beautiful landscape turns in to a boring picture when we get home? Actually answer is human brain. We don’t see with our eyes but we see with our brain. So when we are in a beautiful scene, our brain eliminates all unnecessary elements and focuses on the most impressive points elements of the scene. But unfortunately our lenses, films and cameras are unable to do so. That’s why they still need us photographers.

So how to get the scene that impresses us in real life, look good even better in the picture? Simply do what your brain do when you are looking that scene with your eyes, eliminate unnecessary elements. Ask your self what makes me want to take this picture, what is fascinating in this scene. And try to capture those.

Landscape photography requires scouting to get good results. Walk, hike or drive in the place and try to find different points, positions and angles to shoot. Another important element of landscape photography is daylight. If you have time, watch the changes of the view, in different times of the day to find out is it looking better in the morning light or afternoon? If you don’t have time to wait all day long, figure out where sun rises and sets in the scene. If you know the effects of light in the different times of the day on the landscape, you can find out when to come back and take the picture. Photographers mostly prefer to take pictures in golden hours, first lights of the morning and low angled lights of afternoon. A little information about temperature of the light and daylight from my previous posts;

Color Temperature

This term defines color quality of light sources in K° (Kelvin). Redness increase and blueness decrease as Kelvin value of the light decrease, vice versa. So low Kelvin values create a warmer picture, and high Kelvin values create cooler pictures. You can make your pictures cooler or warmer on purpose, to create certain feelings. As an example; a mother hugging her baby look better in a warmer light. Average Kelvin values of some light sources;

  • 1700K : Match Flame
  • 1850K : Candle Flame
  • 2800-3300K : Incandescent Light Bulb
  • 3350K : Studio (CP) Light
  • 3400K : Studio Lights, Lightfloods, etc.
  • 4100K : Moonlight, Xenon Arc Lamp
  • 5000K : Horizon Daylight
  • 5500 - 6000K : Typical Daylight, Electronic Flash
  • 6500K : Noon Daylight
  • 9300K : CRT Screen

Colors of Daylight

  • Daylight contains more blue in winter comparing to summer, also in a day with cloudy sky the light is cooler than a light in a day with a clear sky.
  • Direct sunlight is a warm light.
  • Light in afternoon is reddish and early morning light is more yellowish.
  • Color of light gets close to blue as climb up to higher grounds like mountains or skyscrapers.