Part four of the book is entitled "Light on the Land". The first section talks about finding photogenic landscapes. The author suggests putting color first. If there is red in the landscape, it will draw even more attention than any other color. Making sure these vibrant colors/attention grabbers are in sharp focus is very important. Shooting pictures while there are clouds is a great approach because they act as natural filters for harsh natural light, while not detracting from the colorful accents and detail in your frame.
For landscape photographers, shooting in calm conditions ensures more sharpness throughout the picture. If wind is not causing trees and grass to move around, you can use longer exposure times and maximize your depth of field with a larger f-stop. Keep in mind that weather such as fog, snow, mist, and haze can add to the drama of the scene.
Looking for north/south camera angles are great for capturing detailed pictures with natural sidelight. This approach shows off the contours, shapes, and textures of the landscape better than any other camera angle. Making sure there are no light-obstructing landforms in the way when shooting is an important consideration. Especially keep this in mind when shooting in mountainous areas. If you are in these areas, make sure you are west of the landscape at sunset and east of the landscape at sunrise.
You can get some really cool effects while shooting when the moon is out or shooting beside still pools of water. If you are looking to shoot while a full moon is out, check your calendar. The author states that, "you will want to employ multiple captures and computer manipulation to achieve natural lunar luminosity and detail." Getting both the sun and the moon in the same shot is also a neat effect, but usually requires multiple shots and blending on a computer to avoid contrast problems. Shooting beside beaver ponds, vernal pools, lakes, lagoons, river backwaters and tide pools all can yield some great photos. These usually still bodies of water act like mirrors, reflecting the surrounding scenery and give almost a split image reflection. Using waders and getting into the water allows for you to get even more dramatic shots.
Paying attention to perspective allows you to give the viewer of you photos more of a three dimensional impression. The author first talks about the use of size cues. If you are looking at a picture, objects that were close to the camera appear to be bigger than objects that were far away from the camera. Components such as trees, shrubs , and wild flowers of the same species can be placed in the foreground to give a better perspective of size on the background. A good placement of the camera shows the size cues arranged at regular intervals from largest to smallest on a diagonal plane, or some variation of it. A great example of this is taking an up-close picture of a winding stream; the bottom of the frame will show the closeness of the stream (larger span) in comparison with the top of the frame which shows that upstream is further away (smaller span).
Citations:
Fitzharris, Tim. National Audubon Society Guide to Nature Photography Digital Edition. Buffalo: Firefly, 2008.
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