Introduction to Landscape Photography

Our final project title before the exam is landscape photography. I am looking forward to undertaking this project as I am interested to learn more about the technical aspects of photography and actually go out and explore places in order to take my photographs. Which is what I used to do when I first bought my DSLR so I really feel like I'm going to get to build on my own skills in this topic. 

Landscape photography is any photography that shows spaces within the world, often determined by their aesthetic appeal. However landscape photography can also be taken in urban environments despite being most commonly recognised as a genre by famous black and white photographs of the countryside and stock photos online. 

Landscape photography is well know for being one of the most difficult areas of photography, not only because it requires so much technical skill but also due to massive factors out of your control such as weather conditions. There are two fundamentals of photography that are hugely important to consider when taking landscape photos which are composition and light. In terms of composition it is important to consider vantage point, rule of thirds, the key elements in a photograph, framing and much more that I will be taking into consideration when taking my photos. Light is also so important to understand and consider when taking landscape photography, in terms of when is the best time of day to take your photographs and the best exposures to use to get the best amount of quality in an image from your subject matter. Whether this means using HDR to get an equal amount of detail from a bright sky and dark landscape, or using longer exposures when it is dark to get more detail in your photograph.

I will also be using my tripod for a lot of my photographs, as it will allow me to compose my photographs better and work more with with different exposures as it will keep my camera completely still. 

My outcomes of this project will be the production of a variety of different landscape photographs, taking into account technical information I learn about and the contextual research I will undertake, gathering both contemporary and historical references to influence my work.