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Article by
George Standen. © 2006.
Visit George's Website.
People often ask me, why do I get up before 5am throughout
the year, drive for miles in all weather, trek around the
countryside and generally return home shattered. I could give
many answers (peace, tranquillity, beauty, isolation to name
but a few) or the real reason, the search of the ultimate
Landscape shot.
I suppose anyone interested in landscape photography must
have a love of the countryside, otherwise how are we to get
the best from our photography. You also need an understanding
of the landscape, and also how light affects it. How changes
occur throughout the year depending on the season. A particular
location in the depths of winter will look quite different
in the middle of June. The same can be said for different
times of the day, and in particular, how urban landscapes
take on a new meaning as the sun sets. The only way to understand
and appreciate these changes is to visit a number of locations
at different times of the year, and at various times of the
day.
When planning a trip I rarely begin more than 24 hours in
advance and will often go on impulse if the weather seems
promising. January is one of my favourite times of the year,
and if the weather's right I will be out most weekends.
After deciding on a location, I normally rise early and leave
before the sun rises. I suppose I'm lucky, living in Cheshire,
England - I can be in Wales in less than an hour, my favourite
locations being Llangollen, Bala, and surrounding area. I
have on a number of occasions, ventured into Yorkshire and
Derbyshire and have been rewarded with some good landscapes.
However, I normally return to Wales again soon after. After
deciding on the location, I will map out a route in a circle
of approximately ten miles and if time permits I will cover
the route before 11am.
As 11am approaches, I'm normally on my way home as I find
the light very flat and uninteresting later in the day. Some
exceptions are made especially in the winter months when the
sun's low or there is a promise of a good winter sunset.
After driving to the location I normally park the car and
will walk to fully explore the area. On occasions you may
notice scenes from the car, and even be lucky enough to stop
and capture them on film. Unfortunately I find this is the
exception rather than the rule and in order to fully understand
the landscape you have to become part of it, which means walking.
My equipment consists of a Canon EOS 600 body, Canon 50mm
standard lens, 28-70 and 70-210 zoom lenses, various Cokin
filters, and a Manfrotto tripod. My 28-70 zoom lens is the
workhorse of the outfit, and is constantly attached to my
camera. The quality of this lens is amazing. I've had cibachromes
printed up to 20"x 16" and the quality is superb. My Manfrotto
tripod is used for every shot, and like any tripod although
it's heavy, cumbersome, and awkward. I feel the benefits of
using this piece of equipment outweighs other disadvantages.
It does slow you down, makes you stand back and evaluate the
scene, and most important of all, prevents camera shake.
I regularly use filters and in particular grey and blue grad's
to balance the contrast between the sky and the foreground
and a polarising filter to reduce glare and deepen blue skies.
To determine exposure, I normally use the camera in aperture
priority and rely on the camera's six zone evaluative metering
system, which is brilliant. I've found with experience, that
using the camera's metering system and a graduated filter
gives near perfect exposures in the majority of situations.
I do from time to time bracket my exposures either side of
the suggested reading, but find in the majority of cases that
the first reading was the correct one.
In situation's of high contrast, I also use the camera's spot
metering and take a reading of a mid tone, or my hand held
meter for an incident reading. The spot meter is also very
handy to determine exposure for various parts of the landscape
I may want to expose for.
Over the years I have tried many films and always return to
Kodachrome 64. I do use Fujichrome 50 and 100 on dull days
during the winter months, to give the colours a bit more punch,
but this can have it's drawbacks if you are using grey graduated
filters. You get a pink cast, which you either love or hate.
Film stock is a personal preference and each film has it's
own characteristics. The only way anyone will understand how
various films react is to try them and analyse the results.
For the last few weeks I have not had a chance to take any
photographs (perhaps it's all the writing). However I hope
to change this over the next few months' as autumn approaches
and the landscape takes on yet another new meaning.
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