Understanding Light in Landscape Photography
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- Опубліковано 29 кві 2018
- In this video I take a look at how understanding the quality of light at different times of day and in different weather conditions, and the way it interacts with a scene can help us when we making landscape images.
If you’d like to join me for a landscape photography workshop I’ll be co-leading groups in Tuscany, Iceland, the Dolomites and Norway throughout 2018 and 2019.
Check my website for more information www.andymumford.com/workshops/
If you're interested in purchasing any of the gear I use in this video, and you enjoy my videos, please support my work by clicking on the affiliate links below. The US Amazon links are on the left, the UK ones are on the right.
Thanks so much.
Gear I used in this film:
Cameras
Fuji X-T2 amzn.to/2x8mgwX (UK: amzn.to/2gRFH78)
Fuji X-T20 amzn.to/2yzFoHq (UK: amzn.to/2yB0s0G)
Lenses
Fujinon XF10-24mm amzn.to/2veZzXI (UK: amzn.to/2xoHA4M)
Fujinon XF55-200mm amzn.to/2vxSEMa (UK: amzn.to/2xsWPqZ)
Fuji XF16-55mm amzn.to/2HEt2Eg (UK: amzn.to/2HY3lOg)
Microphone = Røde VMGO amzn.to/2lyggrZ (UK: amzn.to/2xpkXgx)
Gitzo Traveller Series 1 Tripod amzn.to/2qxKZYq (UK: amzn.to/2jVdNeo)
Drone = DJI Mavic Pro amzn.to/2zlZlil (UK: amzn.to/2kZVpBD)
Website: www.andymumford.com
Instagram: / andymumfordphotography
Facebook: / andymumfordphotography
Music licensed via Epidemic Sound
Thank you, such good photography, such a comprehensive video. And such a relaxed way of explaining things. Not that usual over- excited YT- style.
Thanks Bernhard, glad you liked the video
Best explanation of light for photography Ive ever heard. Thanks
Thanks so much for the comment, glad you enjoyed the video
I have really no idea how it's taken me so long to find your channel. It is such a pleasure (and honor really) to hear you so seamlessly speak on gear, style, narrative and personal tastes, all the while visually dazzled by your breathtaking work. It's a bit rare to see know-how and artistic expression so wonderfully wed. Thank you! I look forward to watching and learning more.
Thanks so much for the comment. Glad you enjoy the channel
I have literally watched at least 100 landscape photography videos and this was one of the most beneficial. Thank you.
Thanks so much Chris, glad you found it useful
Great images and content, Andy. Thanks for explaining the quality of light with lovely images you shot at different times of the day .
Thanks for the comment, glad you liked the video
Thanks very much for this clear explanation of the different lighting conditions, Andy. I found it really instructive.
Thanks Chris, glad you found it useful
Great job. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks for taking the time, putting yourself out there and sharing your excitement and knowledge.
Thanks for the comment,glad you found the video useful
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience! It´s really inspiring.
Thanks fo the comment, glad you found it useful
Thank you for the video! It was so detailed with examples. It helped me understand a light a lot.
Thanks Anika, glad you liked the video
this is the best light video i ever seen
Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it
Excellent video Andy. Yet another illustration of what marks you out as a professional and I will only ever be a hobby shooter. In awe of your knowledge and envious of your thought processes you use to create wonderful images. Thank you.
Thanks, glad you like the video
Thanks a lot. Just one more of your great videos which I absolutely adore!!!
Cheers Andreas
Extremely informative, Andy. One of the most useful videos on the subject that I have seen - and wonderful images as well.
Thanks Mylan, glad you found it useful
Amazingggg. These tips are gold!!!!!!!!! Had to share this with my landscape buddys
Thanks so much, glad you found it useful
Amazing photos! Thanks for taking the time to not only share the photos, but (more importantly) the experience and emotion that comes with taking the photos.
Thanks so much, really glad you found it useful
Another informative vlog. Very inspirational seeing all of those beautiful images. Thank you Andy.....
Thanks Gary, glad you liked the video
Love your sharings, thank you 3000.
Very nice Andy. This was most helpful I thought.
Thanks Philip
These are the rare kind of videos I’ve been fishing for in the ocean of gear-reviews that you get stranded in when you search on the topic of photography.
Thanks Jesse, glad you found it useful
Another quality video, many thanks Andy.
Cheers Kevin
Besides the golden light brilliance we love to shoot during flat lights but under shades. Particularly under a garden with lots of trees that gives us great bokeh as well.
Fantastic video Andy!
Thank you
Bravo! I enjoyed watching it.
Thanks Tracy
A superb video, with all the concepts backed up with extraordinary images - well done!
Thanks Grant
Excellent - Lucid and informative as ever.
Thanks man.
WOW, WOW & WOW. This was a Master Class. Thanks so much for this amazing video.
Thanks so much for watching
Bravo! And thanks for putting this up in 4K.
Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it
Even though this video is nearly 6 years old, thanks for the explanation. I went to Tuscany last September, but never managed to find that particular spot in Val'Dorcia, nor managed such good photos. Never really managed good golden hour photos on that trip. Fantastic landscape though (and your photos are fantastic too).
Thanks for the comment, glad you enjoyed the video
Thanks a lot, Andy.
If you want to take your landscape photography to the next level then go here now: HootLand.xyz
Fantastic description about the different light moments. A very refined , artistic and pleasant explanation as usual. Thank you so much Andy. From Bogota, Colombia
Thanks again Tomas
Masterclass! So many thanks.
Thankyou
stunning landscape images
Thanks you Hendra
Andy, não sabia que você era português. Bom saber que existem pessoas que falam português no UA-cam. Ótimo vídeo.
Really nice tips, Much appreciated.
I think that the unusual weather can let you have a unique image and if the weather is dull, well then its the test of your creativity. Like you did with the Scotland and Sahara image.
Thanks Hamza. Yes, dull weather can really work sometimes. Iceland is another place which often has overcast weather, and the landscape there really works with grey cloudy skies.
Brilliant, thanks.
Thanks so much
Great video. Excellent pictures and very professional comments.
Thanks so much, glad you liked it
Dear Sir,
Wonderful Thank You.
Thanks so much, really glad it was useful
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Absolutely brilliant photography and so well explained :-)
Cheers, glad you liked it
Well done Andy. Informative and well made videos like this are sought after in the youtube photography community!
Thanks Graeme
That was so well explained, thank you.
Thanks Brenda, glad you found it useful
Very informative, well paced and honest advise.....as always I may add. Thank you 😊
Thanks so much, really glad you found it useful
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Great advice here!
Thanks so much for watching, really glad you found it useful
Great video, well put and educational, thank you
Thanks Alexandre, glad you enjoyed the video
A great vlog brilliant images
Thanks Paul
I really like your photography style, I like the fact that you don't push too much the colors, this is soft and true, I am very interested to see more videos about your workflow ;)
Thanks, glad you like the video. My next video will be my complete workflow, from shooting to processing. I should have it ready early next week
a lot of great tips and really makes me want to do landscape shoot !
Thanks so much, glad you found it useful
Loved this. Thx!!
Thanks Bethany
Great explanation about light in landscape photography. Now I know the importance of light in landscape photography. Keep it up ...👍Andy!
Thanks so much for watching, glad you enjoyed the video
Brilliant video, very educational and different....
Thanks, glad you found it useful
great explanation of everything really enjoyed the video
Thanks so much, glad you found it useful
Again a great exposition, clearly explained. One of the aspects of photography/beauty that I've been pondering is how we associate beauty with something being different to normal - whether's it's sidelight, light from the blue hour, snow on a dark mountain making it suddenly light, autumn foliage etc. I wonder if we would find autumn as attractive as we do if leaves were always yellow or brown. It's the small changes from what we're used to that sometimes make the mundane pop. Just my 2c.
Thanks again for the comment Mike.
Excellent teacher and well explained topic. Very often young photographers skip this important things, focusing more on post-processing and not on the most important things ...quality of light and composition. Very nice video my friend, accompanied by gorgeous images as always. Horns up! :)
Thanks loads for the comment mate, as ever. I'll drop you a message when I've got some time, I've got an idea I'd like to discuss .-)
Whenever you want! cheers Andy :)
Great one.
Cheers
A really useful video Andy. As an Australian I would have liked your take on strong, overhead, harsh, contrasty lighting. At the end of this video you touched on my dilemma. I am a traveller and have to make the most of what I find when I arrive. In fact, will be passing through the Lofotens July 2019 and it will be a push to even get to the couple of locations I have in mind let alone thinking golden or blue. I do envy your lifestyle which gives you the ability to be where you want, when you want, even if the weather does not always play ball. The images in this video were all wonderful! Thanks!
Hi Robin, thanks for the comment and I'm glad you liked the video. Where I live in Portugal, we get a lot of harsh, contrasty overhead light all year round, and to be honest it's not light I find I can work in when shooting landscapes. You lose too much in the deep black of the shadows, and the highlights are too strong...I couldn't find an image that would serve as a good example when making this video, it's just something I can't make work beyond "postcard" style shots.
However, in Lofoten you'll be at a much higher latitude with the sun lower in the sky, so you should have a very long golden hour and blue hour. The sun is also a lot less strong there, so even in the middle of the day the light won't be anything like as harsh as you're used to in Australia, which makes it much easier to work with. I think the thing to do is be aware of shadows in any images, and try to limit them as much as possible.
Thanks again Andy. Comforting to know that you too find that harsh light a challenge.
Hi Robin, someone else asked the same question and after I'd replied to you a did a little more thinking about it. I'll copy/paste what I said to him here in case it's any help.
"As I thought about it though, I realised that you can certainly shoot in that weather, but the kind of images you'll get will be very much "postcard" or "guidebook" style, rather than fine art landscapes. I've shot a couple of books with a friend who runs hiking tours, and all of the images in those books were taking in mid morning light. The only examples I can show are the covers of the books www.andymumford.com/alemlisboa and for me these images were taken with the purpose of illustrating what a place looks like, which is very different from my approach to the kind of landscape images I was speaking about in this video, where I attempt to communicate mood or feeling with the images. What I learned when shooting those images was to avoid areas of deep shadow because you lose too much detail, so it's often better to shoot with the sun behind you - because you're shooting at midday the light is above you and you don't get your own shadow in the image. This gives you more even light through the scene and avoids blocky shadows, but the image will always look a little flat. Black and white may well give the image a little more mood, but I would think it depends on the scene. Scattered cloud also helps as it'll give you patches of shadow and light, which will help give the image more depth."
Brilliant phoyography!!!
Thanks Alfredo, glad you liked the video
Amazing tips that I am going to use for my next landscape shootings!
Thanks so much, glad you found it useful
HI Andy, your videos are not only one of the most useful about photography on youtube, but also are a very high aesthetic pleasure to watch. I know it costs a lot of time and effort to maintain such channel, so thank you. Could you maybe tell us about your post-shooting workflow organisation? What happens when you get home: how do you import photos, selection process, where do you store them, how is the catalog in Lightroom organised, etc.
Thanks, glad you like the videos. I should have a video up next week with my processing workflow on it, although it's more about editing rather than how I import and catalogue images. For that I just import them into LR and then they are organised into files according to country, then location, then year. After I've edited the images they are all moved to a mirrored external hard drive and also cloud storage (with the catalogues also in Lightroom)
Best tutorial!
Thanks Kristof
Hi Andy, great explanation of golden & blue hours & overcast light and how best to use whichever light you have. Also beautiful photo's that make you want to go out and explore our world and take more pics, thank you Andy. #escapetheofficejob
Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed the video
Great vid! Thanks!
Thanks Jason
This is extremely useful for CGI landscapes as well.
Glad you found it useful, thanks for watching
Hey Andy, I really love your videos and am learning things that I was never taught whilst studying. As you shoot in a wide variety of locations it'd be great if you could do a video on the various challenges that they each bring. For example, I'd love to know your routine for cleaning your gear at the end of a shoot in the desert. Thanks again for the videos, can't wait to see more.
Thanks for the comment Denzil. I'm travelling a lot this year and planning more videos in the field, so hopefully the videos will cover that
@@AndyMumford Excellent, I look forward to seeing them. Safe travels,
You have excellent videos.
Thanks a lot
Cannot wait until I make it to Lofoten next month, I'd be happy to get an image a fraction as good as yours. Thanks for the knowledge share and inspiration.
You'll love it, it's a wonderful place to visit
Wow, fantastic video Andy. Would be great to hear your thinking process around where to focus and how your are exposing(apologies if you have already covered that previously). Keep up the great work and I hope you're still enjoying my beautiful country, Portugal.
Generally the focus is done using focus peaking, which gives me a clear idea of what's in focus and what isn't, so I don't worry about hyperlocal distances or anything like that. For exposure I'm always in manual, and just use the live histogram. As for still enjoying Portugal.... I've been here more than 20 years and my wife and family are all Portuguese...I consider it my home.
@@AndyMumford Fantastic thank you Andy. That explains a lot. Obrigado pela resposta completa! 😊
Very interesting.
Thanks, glad you found it useful
Awesome Video! I really like your examples and how you describe them. Would be awesome if you show your camera settings with each photo to get a sense of that.
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Hi Andy.Thank you for sharing. I like your videos very much. It’s always helpful to me. Could you add the information of camera settings to videos when you show the photos. I think it’s useful for beginner like me. Thank you again.
Thanks for the comment, glad you enjoy the videos.
Wish there was exif data for every image for every situation explained. Excellent video and very well explained.
Thankyou
tks for your good vidéo very intresting
Thanks for the comment
Very good explanations and examples. Like fellow Australian Robin Page, I'd also like to see another section describing how to handle scenes at midday in harsh, direct sunlight! (I guess one approach is to look for strong shadows and convert to black & white, but there must be others.)
Oh, you've answered this below. Thanks.
Hi Rodney
I've just replied to Robin and explained that I left out harsh midday light because I don't find that kind of light conducive to landscape photography. Where I live in Portugal we get that kind of light most of the time, I don't have any shots in my library which I felt I could use as examples in the video of how to make that kind of light work. As I thought about it though, I realised that you can certainly shoot in that weather, but the kind of images you'll get will be very much "postcard" or "guidebook" style, rather than fine art landscapes. I've shot a couple of books with a friend who runs hiking tours, and all of the images in those books were taking in mid morning light. The only examples I can show are the covers of the books www.andymumford.com/alemlisboa and for me these images were taken with the purpose of illustrating what a place looks like, which is very different from my approach to the kind of landscape images I was speaking about in this video, where I attempt to communicate mood or feeling with the images. What I learned when shooting those images was to avoid areas of deep shadow because you lose too much detail, so it's often better to shoot with the sun behind you - because you're shooting at midday the light is above you and you don't get your own shadow in the image. This gives you more even light through the scene and avoids blocky shadows, but the image will always look a little flat. Black and white may well give the image a little more mood, but I would think it depends on the scene. Scattered cloud also helps as it'll give you patches of shadow and light, which will help give the image more depth.
Excellent vídeo. Very educational.
Could you speak a bit to where in the landscape do you expose to, for each specific type of light? And, which type of exposure you usually use in your camera (spot, área, etc)?
Hi Paulo
Generally I use area to expose for the whole scene and always expose manually. I'll use the live histogram to ensure I'm not losing any detail and in a scene with a high dynamic range I'll expose for the ground first, and then either use filters to bring the brightness of the sky, or bracket to get a range of exposures I can blend later. If I'm trying to get it in one shot (for example a long exposure) I'll always expose to ensure the highlights are captured as it's easier to bring back shadow detail. This is mostly for shooting into the light in the golden hour. In the blue hour or overcast light the dynamic range is greatly reduced and it's generally relatively easy to capture the whole scene in one shot.
Hi Andy! Your videos are incredible. Though I travel rarely, these videos have given me a lot of inspiration for local landscapes I shoot with my Fuji gear. I was wondering how you deal with bad weather like rain and snow. I know you use the 10-24, and this lens is not weather sealed. Do you have a cover or something that you bring with you to protect your equipment? Thanks!
Hi Simon. I've never had a problem with the Fuji cameras or the 10-24mm in rain or waterfall spray, and I've been using that particular lens for 3 years.
As a new subscriber I would like to say - smashing photos, and very pleasant videos!
Thanks Adam. Glad you enjoy the videos
Do you see any reason changing to the Fuji X-H1? I would really like hear your ideas on the X-H1 vs the X-T2! I'm in the process of selling my Canon 5dIII and four lensen, and going over to the Fuji X-system, but I am a bit hesitant as to what of the cameras I will choose. I shoot mainly landscape.
I'll be borrowing an X-H1 next week to take to Tuscany, and should hopefully have a review ready sometime in the next month or so. I can say right now though that I see no reason to swap my X-T2 for the X-H1. In terms of their image making capacity they are identical using the same sensor and the same processor. In camera stabilisation is useful for me in shooting video, but not a game changer and not enough to make me want to switch to a larger camera (I find the size and balance of the X-T2 perfect) and lose the exposure compensation dial, something I use an awful lot in my photography. In my shooting I don't have any use for IBIS in still photography, so I can't see any reason to switch.
Interesting, looking forward to that review, and thanks for your reply Andy!
Hi I have the X-H1 But am only learning photography atm. I was wondering how you get the sky and foreground so perfectly exposed together in your shots? I usually end up with a nice foreground and a blown out sky or vice versa is there some trick that I'm not applying? Any tips for someone who's learning would be greatly appreciated. Your shots are incredible!
Thanks so much for the comment, I'm glad you enjoy my work.
For balancing the exposures of skies and foregrounds, there are essential two different ways you can do it. By bracketing shots (one for the foreground, one for the background) and then merging them in Lightroom (Select both images, right click, Photomerge, then HDR) This will give you one file with the data from both of the images you took, so you'll have the shadow detail from the foreground image and the highlight detail from the sky image, which allows you to create one image with all the dynamic range of the scene.
The more traditional way is to use graduated neutral density filters. I've spoken about them in various videos here:
ua-cam.com/video/aG8bf0gXo6Q/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/mNkx1KOP9gc/v-deo.html
Thank u
Cheers
Really nice images, Hamnoy is my favourite. Fuji images are quite distinctive, lots of contrast but sometimes seem a little dark?
Glad you liked the video. The images in this video were taken with different cameras, and things like the level of contrast and how dark they are because of the way I exposed and then processed the RAW files.
Thank you so much for this video! Extremely helpful. Did you choose to put the man standing in the photo in Skagsanden or was he just there? I was wondering if he was there to generate a deeper image.
Thank you!
Thanks, glad you liked the video. Which image from Skagsanden do you mean...I don’t remember including an image with a persons standing on Skagsanden beach in this video. Usually though when I include a person it’s either for scale or because the image needs a focal point.
@@AndyMumford Thanks for answering! The one that appears in the minute 24:23... Right in front of the mountain. I guess it was for scale. Anyway, I've discovered your videos recently and I love them! Thank you for everything
Ah, I see. No, that person's inclusion is an accident. It's a popular beach and I couldn't shoot it without having someone else in the shot. I guess I could have cloned them out.
Thanks for the comment, glad you like the videos.
Extremely helpful tutorial Andy, thank you. My question is regarding the long exposure shots where it looks like the wave is hitting the tripod. How do you do that without the waves shaking or even knocking the tripod over?
Thanks for the comment. With the waves, I try to get the tripod legs on rock if possible (there are occasionally rocks and stones buried in the sand) and if I can't then I push the tripod down into the sand as much as possible. There will always be images that you lose because the water moves the tripod, but you can usually get some sharp. Then of course, as soon as you get home, take the tripod apart and wash all the sand and salt out with warm soapy water.
@@AndyMumford Thank you for the speedy reply! pushing it deep into the sand makes a lot of sense, I will try putting plastic bags on the legs and put a rubber band around it before doing that.
The salt lines photo... :O How many seconds did you had to take that photo? Thats a very very small window of opportunity!
Hahaha, thanks so much. I actually set up a half an hour in advance and just waited.
Are you using multiple exposures to capture the dynamic range between the shadows and highlights?
It really depends on the image. I sometimes bracket exposures, yes
Hi Andy may I know what filter do you use?
I use Polar Pro Quartzline
The picture on the thumbnail 😮
Thanks so much
How often do you shoot handheld and with tripod?
It's mostly with a tripod, but occasionally handheld
So, in day light, its better to have clouds to use it as a giant softbox, right?!
Absolutely, cloudy days give you a really even light and plenty of mood
Nice video, but your explanation of the 'warmth' of the light in the golden hour is not quite right: it is indeed the longer path the light takes, but it's not the 'picking up of dust and particles', it's the _scattering_ of the light (because of molecules and small particles) that affects the color: blue light is scattered much more, leaving mostly only the warm light.
Awesome video Andy. You covered this topic in wonderful detail. I think some of your insights here will prove extremely useful. I've subbed your channel and will keep my eyes open for more from you. If you get a chance I'd massively appreciate any feedback on my channel. Keep up the great work 👍
Thanks for the sub James, glad you liked the video
I love your videos, but please slow down- you speak too fast at times, than a normal rate other times. I have to put on the captions when I watch you, and it deprives me of enjoying your pictures.
Want some pro tips for landscape photography? Then go here now: HootLand.xyz
Wow, for a 30min video of great tips from a pro and this is your feedback. The delivery of the video was fine, your delivery was below average.
I can’t stand first world complaints mate. But hey, it seems to be the norm these days.
Thank you Andy. This was a very informative video.
Thanks for watching