Chapter 6. THE GRAND SCENIC PHOTOGRAPH

Choosing a Location

Point-and-Shoot Versus Personal Interpretations

Creating Visual Relationships

Depth of Field for Landscapes

Exposure for Landscapes

Panoramic Images

Reflections

Weather

The Grand Scenic at Night

The grand scenic photograph is one of the most common types of nature images. It's usually the first kind of outdoor photos people begin making (this ties in with those ever-popular vacation pictures mentioned in Chapter 1). Usually, the wide-open, breathtaking vista is the most obvious photograph you want to capture.

So how do you make something so obvious into something special?

Making a compelling landscape photo showing a grand vista is one of the more difficult types of nature photography — straight landscape images are often the least interesting nature photos. Why? Because the photo fails to (1) envelop the viewer in the scene and (2) express the photographer's unique vision through effective design.

With these types of photos, you want viewers to feel as though they are standing at the same spot you were and become immersed in the picture. You must communicate what this special place means to you in an intellectual and emotional sense.

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