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rinder99 · Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 5:05 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDsx3-FWfwk

greenfield54 · Joined: 21 Jun 2009 Posts: 2617 Location: Philippines

mikenorton · Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 1:15 am

Well since I once visited Karlsruhe, Germany and photographed at an oil refinery there you're gonna get all 6 of Mike Norton's first rule of landscape photography. The English isn't off, there are 6 of them and none is more important than the others so they are all Mike Norton's first rule of landscape photography.

Mike's Norton’s First Rule of Landscape Photography: If you are hungry and it's not lunchtime then you should be out shooting pictures.

Mike's Norton’s First Rule of Landscape Photography: No clouds? No pictures!

Mike's Norton’s First Rule of Landscape Photography: Always turn around and go back.

Mike's Norton’s First Rule of Landscape Photography: When you find repeating patterns, either man made or in nature, you have hit the compositional jackpot.

Mike's Norton’s First Rule of Landscape Photography: Don’t get tunnel vision; always turn around to see what is going on behind you.

Mike's Norton’s First Rule of Landscape Photography: There is always one too many or one too few trees.

Now as to landscapes being sharp, the answer is like Dave said, YES.

This is how I would have focused on your "Rake" shot, by the way your not in a sand trap so next time move the rake. First I would not have been photographing at noon, I would have been eating lunch. Second if the boat was still there in the evening I would have moved my tripod a few feet to the right so that the tree did not bisect the boat. ;) I would then frame the composition and select the f-stop and shutter speed. Ok now the focusing part I promised. I would have manually focused on the boat and paid attention to where the lens was focused. Then I would have manually focused on the tree and again paid attention to where the lens was focused. Then I would have moved the focus about 1/3 of the way between the focus spot of the tree and the focus spot of the boat. Next I would have pressed the depth of field (dof) preview button and checked to see if the tree and the boat were both in focus at the f stop that I had chosen. If both were in focus I would shoot the picture. If they were not both in focus I would move the focus a little toward the tree if it was still soft or toward the boat if it was the object that was soft, and press the dof preview again. I would do this till both the tree and the boat were in focus then I would shoot.

If you focus this way when you look through the lens before you press the dof preview button nothing will be in focus, but when you press the dof button everything will be in focus.

That is the exact way I focused this image of Half Dome. My camera was actually focused on a point of air somewhere between the tree and Half Dome.

http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/51753/51753,1237156297,1/stock-photo-half-dome-photographed-from-glacier-point-in-yosemite-national-park-california-26719693.jpg

chbaum · Joined: 19 Sep 2010 Posts: 387 Location: Karlsruhe, Germany

Hey Mike,

thanks very much, those are great tips! Of course, they're still a challenge for me, because I still rely on my AF and try to get my exposure right (after focus, this'll be the next big thing for me). Apart from that, I'm gonna take my tripod for a landscape session now... And in summer, I'll be in Canada to practice real hard. Just hope I can squeeze that tripod into my suitcase.

The oil refinery by the way is still here. I can see it from my kitchen window and always think of taking photos when another big red sun goes down between colorful clouds. But I'm not into industrial images yet... Maybe I should just try for once...

Best regards,

Christian

copidosoma · Joined: 17 Nov 2009 Posts: 3789 Location: Canada

chbaum · Joined: 19 Sep 2010 Posts: 387 Location: Karlsruhe, Germany

So I heard. Time is sparse (2 weeks only), it'll only be Vancouver, Banff and a bit of Vancouver Island OR Vancouver, Banff and a bit of Jasper. I just can't imagine the distances yet... Europe's locations are so small, I really could get a good impression of Iceland or Norway in two weeks, for instance. Canada will be a change, I guess... :)

Best regards,

Christian

cpaulfell · Joined: 07 Dec 2011 Posts: 2431

copidosoma · Joined: 17 Nov 2009 Posts: 3789 Location: Canada

semmickphoto · Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 3:23 pm

mikenorton · Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 5:09 pm

Lake Louise is nice but be sure to go the 14 or so kilometers from Lake Louise to Moraine Lake, it makes Lake Louise look like Galveston Bay.
This is Moraine Lake on a cloudy morning, I used the same focus technique on this image.

http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/51753/51753,1217964937,1/stock-photo-moraine-lake-in-banff-national-park-located-in-alberta-canada-15785989.jpg

This is Moraine Lake on a nicer morning, I most likely focused on the mountains in this one.

http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/51753/51753,1193023308,1/stock-photo-moraine-lake-in-banff-national-park-alberta-canada-6291733.jpg

kellythorson · Joined: 22 Sep 2011 Posts: 697 Location: Canada

rinder99 · Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 6:44 pm