green trees

“LEARN BY PICTURES” – SCENERY!

seaside
Photo by Fabian Wiktor on Pexels.com
AS YOU MIGHT BE AWARE, 123PHOTOGO HAS 2 WEBSITES NOW! THIS ONE HERE IS THE MAIN ONE THAT HAS BEEN USED NOW FOR AROUND 6 YEARS. BUT NOW 123PHOTOGO HAS A NEW “PREMIUM” WEBSITE, ONE THAT REQUIRES A VERY MINIMAL SUBSCRIPTION ($1.00 IS ALL TO SUBSCRIBE TO BASIC TIER). WE WANTED TO GIVE YOU THE OPTION TO UPGRADE YOUR OWN KNOWLEDGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY WITH A DSLR CAMERA AND A CELL PHONE CAMERA. HERE ARE SOME MORE DETAILS:
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TODAY, WE ARE GIVING YOU A SNEAK PEAK OF HOW WE DO THE “LEARN BY PICTURES” SESSION, CURRENTLY ONLY AVAILABLE ON THE PREMIUM SITE. WE HAVE ALREADY DONE SEVERAL VERSIONS OF “LEARN BY PICTURES”. TODAY’S “LEARN BY PICTURES” SUBJECT IS “SCENERY” AND HOW TO RECOGNIZE THE BEST SCENERY PHOTOS FOR YOU TO DO. ENJOY!

“LEARN BY PICTURES” – How to take better scenery photos:

photo lavender flower field under pink sky
Photo by David Bartus on Pexels.com

We live in a beautiful world. I don’t know how many times I have, or maybe you have said: “oh I wish I had my camera ” to capture this beautiful view. Well there’s number one on the list: HAVE YOUR CAMERA WITH YOU ALL THE TIME. And here is something to think about: will I be alright with my cell phone camera, or should I take my regular DSLR or Mirrorless camera? That choice is yours, but you know which one REALLY takes a better photo. I am going to share just 2 photos that I have taken with my cell phone so you can see it is possible to get great photos from your cell phone.

1-

Photo taken with Samsung S20Ultra by Lanny Cottrell Photography.

2-

Photo taken by Lanny Cottrell Photography

As you can see, photos taken with a cell phone don’t turn out too bad. But still the rules of composition should be done at all times. Both of the above photos have “leading lines” which helps you draw your eyes to a certain point in the picture. The trail leads you to look down the trail first thing, and the second photo has clouds that lead your eyes down deep into the picture.

large body of water stream during dawn
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

The first thing to decide as you take scenery photos is: should I take it vertically or horizontally. Some of you might be saying: Well it is obvious isn’t it? It is NOT always obvious. But look at your framing of the photos and try to fill the frame with what is most interesting in photos. The above photo is obviously very interesting in a horizontal format because of what is filling the frame. But if you are taking photos of sunsets, sometimes vertical is better, like this:

woman standing on cliff beside trees during sunset
Photo by Tobias Bjørkli on Pexels.com

Notice the clouds in the sky that adds to the vertical picture, and what is located in the foreground. Just take a look at what is of most interest in your frame and then fill it up.

LEADING LINES:
silhouette of bridge during sunset
Photo by Griffin Wooldridge on Pexels.com
landscape photography of landmark mountain
Photo by Tobias Bjørkli on Pexels.com

Notice how you can do “leading lines” on either horizontal or vertical photos….. remembering to just fill your frame.

WATCH YOUR HORIZON LINE:
red canoes on sea dock near calm body of water
Photo by James Wheeler on Pexels.com

The “Horizon line” is a straight line (generally) that divides the picture. So in this photo above, the water and the background scenery is joined together in the UPPER THIRD part of the photo. Here again, as you take the picture, look and see which would be most interesting in the majority of the photo. In this photo, it was done by putting the horizon line in the UPPER THIRD OF THE FRAME. And look at the great reflections in the water. Absolutely beautiful.

Here’s a big mistake some people make with sunsets:

lighthouse during sunset
Photo by Ray Bilcliff on Pexels.com

This is a beautiful sunset photo. But the horizon line is right down the middle. This is natural for us to do that. But there is something more interesting in the sky than what this photo shows. I don’t have a photo of the sky with this one, but watch your sunsets and check out what has more to offer: the water or the sky. Like this:

flock of birds flying above the mountain during sunset
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

What a beautiful sky.

seashore
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Now in this case, there was something in the sand that made this photo special. The sky is pretty, but you have a big interest in the beach carving.

silhouette of woman standing
Photo by Harrison Candlin on Pexels.com

I also love when photographers take a sunset photo and have a subject looking out at the sunset. It’s not leading lines, but it does make you want to look and see what they are seeing.

boats on water during golden hour
Photo by Lena Khrupina on Pexels.com

This type of photo is one that hangs on the wall. Not only is it a beautiful sunset, but it has some stories being told in the photo.

Winter scenery:
Photo by Lanny Cottrell photography

Sometimes you get winter to do just a few interesting things for you. Adding a coating to the trees and surroundings. And in this case the river is leading lines through the photo.

A NOTE OF INTEREST WITH WINTER PHOTOS:

I’ll give you a link that talks about the issues with snow photography: 23photogo.wpcomstaging.com/2018/12/17/5-tips-for-photographing-in-the-snow/

Sometimes your snow just does not turn out white. Editing may need to be done to bring the snow white like it should be. The above link will explain all the pitfalls in winter. But winter photos can be breathtaking. Try it out so you get good at it. Here are a couple of amazing winter photos:

photo of snow field near trees
Photo by Burak The Weekender on Pexels.com
green trees
Photo by James Wheeler on Pexels.com

As you can see, with the above 2 photos, winter is absolutely beautiful.

Rule of thirds in composition is important too:
scenic view of waterfalls
Photo by James Wheeler on Pexels.com

This is a wonderful example of composition using the rule of thirds. I actually have seen photographers, and me included, try to find something in one section of the frame that we can put a subject of some kind in the quadrant of thirds.

Here is another link to show you how the rule of thirds will work: 23photogo.wpcomstaging.com/2021/05/03/day-6-learning-basic-photo-skills-solitude-rule-of-thirds/

The above photo has this beautiful rock in the lower third of the photo, and then to make it even better, that waterfall in the upper third is just a perfect photo.

Photo by Lanny Cottrell Photography

I tried this myself, trying to break up the picture a bit by looking for these colorful boulders in the photo.

I have done a couple of posts or blogs on this subject before. For more information go to: 23photogo.wpcomstaging.com/2022/06/22/in-search-of-great-beauty-in-nature/

And this is interesting learning as well: 23photogo.wpcomstaging.com/2021/04/19/day-6-of-10-developing-your-eye-landscapes/

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