CRACKING Landscape Photography's CODE in the Woodland - Composition Tips

Summary

In this engaging video, the host embarks on a Woodland photography adventure, guiding viewers through the process of capturing balanced and uncluttered scenes in the forest. With a focus on composition and lighting, the host shares practical tips, such as using a polarizing filter to enhance color saturation and employing a telephoto lens to compress scenes and emphasize subjects. The video encourages viewers to explore their surroundings with a camera, experiment with different angles, and return to perfect compositions under ideal conditions, such as misty mornings with sunlight filtering through the trees. Additionally, the host recommends Simon Baxter's YouTube channel for further inspiration and learning in Woodland photography.

Takeaways

• 📸 The video is a tutorial on woodland photography, focusing on lighting and composition.
• 🌲 The presenter emphasizes the importance of simplifying scenes and capturing balanced, uncluttered images in woodland photography.
• 👣 The presenter shares their thought process and tips while walking through the forest, encouraging viewers to stick until the end for the best shot.
• 🔍 The process of finding the right composition involves walking around the subject to find a clean background and avoiding clutter.
• 📷 A 15-35 millimeter lens is used to explore different angles and perspectives for the initial composition.
• 🌳 The presenter discusses the challenges of dealing with distracting elements like tree trunks and how to work around them.
• 🎨 The use of a polarizer filter is highlighted to improve color saturation and reduce reflections in the scene.
• 👀 The importance of focusing on the main subject and using a shallow depth of field (f8) to separate the subject from the background is explained.
• 🌟 Simon Baxter's YouTube channel is recommended for those interested in woodland photography for more composition tips and techniques.
• 🌲 The presenter suggests using a telephoto lens (70-200mm F4) to compress the scene and make the subject stand out.
• 📚 A technique of taking multiple shots with different focus points and blending them in post-processing is mentioned to ensure the entire subject is in focus.

Q & A

What is the main theme of the video?

The main theme of the video is Woodland photography, focusing on capturing scenes in a balanced and uncluttered way.

What is the challenge the video creator is undertaking?

The challenge the video creator is undertaking is to do Woodland photography and guide viewers through the thought process of lighting and composition.

What is the significance of the last shot in the video?

The significance of the last shot is that it is often considered the best shot, which encourages viewers to watch the video until the end.

What is the key to capturing scenes in Woodland photography according to the video?

The key to capturing scenes in Woodland photography is to simplify things and focus on what truly matters, aiming for a balanced and uncluttered composition.

What is the first composition the video creator considers?

The first composition the video creator considers is a scene involving a tree, where they aim to get a clean background without too many distracting elements.

What equipment is used to take the first shot?

The equipment used for the first shot includes a 15 to 35 millimeter lens, a polarizer filter, and settings of f8 aperture, 1600 ISO, and a 10-second timer.

Who is Simon Baxter and why is he mentioned in the video?

Simon Baxter is a photographer known for his Woodland photography skills. He is mentioned because the video creator recommends his YouTube channel for more tips and insights on composition.

What is the issue with the white spot in the sky in one of the compositions?

The white spot in the sky is problematic because it detracts from the composition, making the scene look cluttered and unbalanced.

Why does the video creator use a telephoto lens for a particular shot?

The video creator uses a telephoto lens to compress the scene and make the main subject stand out more, which is important for creating a striking photograph.

What technique does the video creator use to ensure sharp focus on multiple subjects in a scene?

The video creator uses a technique called focus stacking, where they take multiple shots with different focus points and then blend them in post-processing to ensure all subjects are in focus.

Why does the video creator mention mushrooms in the script?

The video creator mentions mushrooms as an example of the many distractions one might encounter in the forest, and as a segue to promote a previous video they made about mushroom photography.

Outlines

00:00

📸 Woodland Photography Challenge

The video begins with the host introducing a woodland photography challenge in the FRS, aiming to guide viewers through the thought process of lighting and composition with helpful tips. The host emphasizes the importance of capturing balanced and uncluttered scenes and shares the first composition idea, which involves finding a clean background and dealing with a distracting tree trunk. The host also suggests using a polarizer filter to enhance colors and discusses the technical aspects of the shot, including focusing, ISO settings, and using a timer to avoid camera shake.

05:01

🌲 Exploring Composition and Gear

In this paragraph, the host continues to explore different compositions in the forest, focusing on a particular tree and experimenting with various angles to minimize clutter and distractions. The host recommends Simon Baxter's YouTube channel for further woodland photography tips. The discussion then shifts to the importance of subject selection and lighting, with the host choosing a well-lit tree as the next subject. The host also explains the choice of a telephoto lens to compress the scene and make the subject stand out, while also providing tips on safely changing lenses to avoid sensor damage.

10:01

🏞 Fine-Tuning Compositions and Focus Techniques

The host is now fine-tuning a composition with a focus on a tree and the surrounding environment, imagining how the scene would look with added fog and sunlight. To achieve a depth of field that keeps the subject sharp while slightly blurring the background, the host uses an aperture of f/5.6 and takes multiple shots with different focus points to ensure the entire subject is in focus. This approach may require post-processing to blend the images for optimal clarity. The host also mentions the abundance of mushroom species in the area and plugs a previous video on mushroom photography, before moving on to discover the next subject for the video.

Keywords

💡Woodland photography

Woodland photography refers to the art of capturing images within forested areas, focusing on the natural beauty and elements found within such environments. In the video's context, it is the main theme and the activity the speaker is engaging in, as they explore the forest and discuss techniques for taking high-quality photographs in such settings.

💡FRS

FRS likely stands for 'Forestry Recreation Site' or a similar term indicating a specific location within a forest where the video is being filmed. It is used to set the scene for the video, showing that the speaker is in a natural environment suitable for woodland photography.

💡Lighting

Lighting refers to the way in which natural or artificial light interacts with a subject or scene in photography. In the video, lighting is an essential aspect of the thought process behind composing woodland photographs, as it can affect the mood and clarity of the images captured.

💡Composition

Composition is a key concept in photography that involves arranging the visual elements of a photograph to create a balanced and aesthetically pleasing image. The speaker discusses the importance of composition in woodland photography, emphasizing the need to simplify scenes and focus on what truly matters.

💡Polarizer filter

A polarizer filter is a type of lens filter used in photography to reduce reflections, enhance colors, and manage the intensity of light. In the video, the speaker uses a polarizer filter to improve the color saturation in their woodland photographs, demonstrating its practical application in enhancing the final image.

💡15-35 millimeter lens

A 15-35 millimeter lens is a type of wide-angle lens used in photography, which allows for a broader field of view. The speaker mentions using this lens to walk around a tree and find the best angle for a clean background, illustrating the lens's utility in capturing expansive woodland scenes.

💡70-200 millimeter F4 lens

The 70-200 millimeter F4 lens is a telephoto lens that enables photographers to capture distant subjects with clarity. The speaker chooses this lens to compress the scene and make a particular tree stand out, demonstrating how different lenses can be used to achieve specific visual effects in woodland photography.

💡Focus

Focus in photography refers to the area of the image that is sharp and clear. The speaker discusses the importance of focus in creating separation between the subject and the background, and mentions using techniques like focus tagging to ensure different parts of the image are in focus.

💡ISO

ISO in photography is a setting that determines the camera's sensitivity to light. A higher ISO value allows for faster shutter speeds in low light conditions but can introduce noise into the image. The speaker mentions using an ISO of 1600, indicating that they are working in a setting with sufficient light or are willing to accept some noise for faster shutter speeds.

💡Simon Baxter

Simon Baxter is a photographer mentioned in the video as an expert in woodland photography. The speaker recommends checking out his YouTube channel for more tips and insights into the genre, suggesting that his work is a valuable resource for those interested in improving their woodland photography skills.

💡Mushroom photography

Mushroom photography is a niche within nature photography that focuses on capturing images of fungi. The speaker briefly mentions this as a separate interest and provides a link to a video they made on the subject, indicating that there are many specialized areas within the broader field of nature and woodland photography.

Highlights

The speaker is challenging themselves to do Woodland photography within the FRS, aiming to guide viewers through their thought process on lighting and composition.

Emphasis on the importance of sticking until the end of the video, as the last shot is often the best.

The challenge in Woodland photography is to simplify scenes and focus on what truly matters for a balanced and uncluttered capture.

The speaker uses a 15 to 35 millimeter lens to find the best composition and clean background.

Mention of using a polarizer filter to enhance color saturation and reduce reflections in the scene.

Focusing on a tree at f8, with a 10-second timer to avoid camera shake for a sharp image.

Recommendation to check out Simon Baxter's YouTube channel for more advanced Woodland photography tips.

The importance of not disturbing the natural environment, such as small branches, before taking a shot.

The use of a telephoto lens, specifically a 70-200 millimeter F4, to compress the scene and make the subject stand out.

The process of changing lenses carefully to avoid dust or damage to the camera sensor.

The impact of moving just a few inches can make a significant difference in the composition of the shot.

Taking multiple shots at different focus points to ensure the main subject is in focus and the background is slightly blurred for separation.

The consideration of environmental factors like fog and sunlight when planning a shot for optimal conditions.

The value of walking with a camera before setting up a tripod to explore different angles and compositions.

The decision to focus on the intended subject despite the temptation to photograph other interesting elements like mushrooms.

A call to action for viewers to like and subscribe to the channel for more content.

The final composition is chosen with an emphasis on the main subject and the removal of distracting elements from the background.

Transcripts

hello everyone welcome to another video

today I'm in the FRS and I'm challenging

myself to do some Woodland photography

I'll be guiding you through my thought

process in terms of lighting and

composition and try to give you tips

along the way now make sure you stick

until the end because the last shot is

always the best shot come with me

[Music]

just like the world we live in the

forest is full of opportunities however

the real challenge lies in simplifying

things and focusing on what truly

matters

when it comes to Woodland photography

the key is to capture scenes in a

balanced and uncluttered way and today

that's exactly what I'll try to do while

enjoying this walk in the forest

yeah this looks like the first

composition right here

[Music]

all right so basically what I'll do here

is I'm going to take my 15 to 35

millimeter lens and walk around this

tree to see what's the best possible in

goal to get a nice clean background

without too much thing going on

foreign

but the only things bugging me is

the tree trunk right there

so I'm gonna try to move a little bit to

the right this is better but now

I think the most important part of the

of the shot which is probably the top

part of the tree is probably too

cluttered I'm Gonna Keep moving around

again too much going on on the back of

this tree I kind of like what's going on

in the bottom right here so I'll try to

get something around these lines I think

not a fan of this three trunk right

there yeah this start to seems like an

interesting point of view here these are

not the perfect conditions for this shot

right now but I'm not doing it because

it's going to be the best shot I ever

did I'm doing it because I want to work

around the composition and come back

when the conditions are perfect I mean

probably with a little bit more Mist

maybe the sun peeking through the

background let's fine-tune this

composition

so I think I'm gonna get my polarizer

filter out just to see the difference it

makes

we added a little bit of

a little bit of moisture in the air so

it's probably going to help with the

colors anyways so I'm going to focus

right on the tree at f8 and it's going

to give me a half a second uh half a

second shot at the 1600 ISO with a 10

second timer to make sure I'm away from

the camera long enough to remove any

vibrations

so let's get the shot

thank you

all right so now before moving to

another shot I wanted to say that if you

really enjoy Woodland photography go out

and check Simon Baxter's YouTube channel

because this guy is really amazing with

Woodland photography I think that's

pretty much the only thing he does as

far as his YouTube channel he has a lot

of videos about composition and shares a

lot of tips so if you want some value be

sure to to check out this work so let's

get to another shot

I don't want to disturb too much

too much of the ground because there's a

lot of small branches

that I don't want to move or Crush

before taking the shot

all right again before leaving this

location I want to try another

composition on this three and actually

this might be the one I like the most

for now so obviously this is the main

subject

something that buggings me again is this

tree but I think it's going to be hard

to remove I actually like going a little

bit

lower

but now the problem is definitely

the white spot in the sky so the three

on the right hand side here is framing

the shot nicely you know if I move a

little bit more this way there's too

much clutter behind the top part of the

tree but if I'm moving you know a few

inches right there I think the

composition start to look good again

with the polarizer filter off

if we can say off

but this is off and this is

on right there

and it makes a ton of different as far

as the color saturation in the scene

I'm going to focus on the tree

10 second timer again because this is

not the sturdiest setup possible it's

going to be one fifth of the second f8

ISO 1600. here's a shot

thank you

that's not too bad now I think I had

enough of this tree for now so let's try

to find something else

[Music]

all right

so I think we found our next subject

which is this tree right here now

there's nothing particularly special

about this tree other than it's pretty

well lit right now so that's enough of

your subject and that's really important

in photography to have something that

stands out so here I'm probably going to

be using a telephoto lens because I want

to compress this scene a little bit more

to make that three stand out

here basically I'm going to use my

70-200 millimeter F4 lens because I'm

traveling with a lot of gear making

these videos so that's the main reason

why I choose the F4 lens over the F 2.6

weight and size

so I always have to be careful when I

change my lens

and you should be too in my case I make

sure to close my camera so the curtain

in front of the sensor is closed before

swapping the lens

obviously you do it with your body

pointing down and you do it quick

I'm gonna make sure it's nice and clean

just just to show you an example how

much of a different it makes moving a

couple of inches look how better

this looks the incorporation of this

branches right there makes all the

difference

all right so now I'm ready to take the

shower but before if you want to help my

Channel please go hit this like button

and subscribe to the channel it would

help a lot so this shot is going to be

taken at uh F 5.6 one tenth of a second

and ISO 1600 again I'm not worried about

the noise at this point so yeah I think

I'm happy about this one let me know

what you think

here's the shot

[Music]

all right

now let's try to find another subject

[Music]

[Music]

all right look what we found here

this one is a nice one so I'll leave the

tripod here

and we're going to try to find some

composition here

look at this angle this angle is pretty

nice

just forget the tripod in the background

but I really do love this angle the only

thing I don't like about this

is this three right there

so you see how valuable it is

to walk with your camera before even

considering putting your camera on a

tripod because on the tripod you're kind

of stuck and you cannot move freely so

yeah so this three is kind of in the way

but

if I move closer I think I can work

something out from this angle

not sure if you can see

the bottom of the tree here

and these three kind of a line and keeps

you in the image

and maybe I can yeah maybe I can put

another three this one

over here it's going to do the same

thing and keep the eye in the shot

so if I move this way a little bit more

I don't like this tree behind the main

subject

so I'm probably going to be fine tuning

my shot

from this angle

right so

I'm trying to imagine this one with

again with fog a little bit more fog and

maybe the sun peeking through right on

top of the image okay so now that I'm

happy with this composition I'm gonna

take about three shots to make sure I

have all the subject in Focus since I

don't want the background to be as sharp

because I won't create a separation here

because there's a lot of clutter in the

background so I'm going to be using a uh

probably A 5.6 aperture and I'm going to

focus tag the image so the first point

of focus is going to be right here at

the bottom of the tree which is a little

bit closer to uh to the camera then I'm

gonna take one other shot over here

and maybe one other shot on top

to make sure I have three good Focus

points and if I need to blend them in

post-processing well I'll add the shot

so again 10 second timer to make sure I

don't introduce any vibration

so

here's the shot

foreign

around here

I probably sell like 20 or 30 different

species of mushroom

so I kind of had to pinch myself to not

stop and take photos of these and keep

focusing on what I want to do today it's

kind of a Shameless plug here but

if you want to see more about mushroom

photography

I'm gonna put it right there I did a

whole video about it

but for now

let's

move this way

and see what we can find