Creative Landscape Photography using the Pyramid Method
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About this ebook
Using a brand new teaching approach, the author takes the reader on a step-by-step walkthrough of every task needed to take outstanding landscape photographs, using a pyramid of workflow steps.
This book takes a different approach to other photography ‘how to’ guides. It's a practical guide that firstly gives you the knowledge that helps you be more perceptive, resourceful, and creative. Secondly, it provides a systematic methodology in which to apply that knowledge.
Clearly mapped out are the steps performed by professional landscape photographers, from the very start of a project through to the finishing touches to the chosen image on the computer, and captured them in a step-by-step framework called the Pyramid Method.
The Pyramid breaks down these essential tasks into easy to follow, foolproof steps that anyone can apply—even beginners. All that the Pyramid Method assumes is that the reader has a camera system that uses interchangeable lenses (either a digital SLR, or a mirrorless camera system) and some camera accessories.
In this extensive book's 23,000 words and 36 example photographs and illustrations, you will:
- Discover the importance of planning and preparation
- Understand the reasons for performing each step
- Learn the practical techniques involved
- Find foolproof methods and settings to use to virtually guarantee success
- See checklists that quickly help you understand what’s required
- View diagrams and examples illustrating the different steps
- Follow detailed case studies for each level
- Get links to useful resources
See how quickly you'll improve your photography.
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Creative Landscape Photography using the Pyramid Method - Andrew Lilley
Creative Landscape Photography
Using the Pyramid Method
By Andrew Lilley
www.andrewlilley.com
Copyright © 2015 Andrew Lilley
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.
First edition
Contents
Cover
About the author
Preface
Illustration of the Pyramid
Level 1: Envisage
Step 1[a] Identify picture
Case study
Level 2: Plan
Step 2[a] Find a great location
Step 2[b] Plan when to shoot
Case study
Level 3: Find
Step 3[a] Find a good background
Step 3[b] Find a good foreground
Step 3[c] Compose roughly
Case study
Level 4: Prepare
Step 4[a] Connect attachments
Step 4[b] Select settings
Step 4[c] Fine-tune composition
Step 4[d] Clean up foreground
Case study
Level 5: Take
Step 5[a] Take a quick shot
Step 5[b] Review and adjust
Step 5[c] Wait for best moment
Step 5[d] Expose sensor
Step 5[e] Refine until satisfied
Case study
Level 6: Complete
Step 6[a] Choose best image
Step 6[b] Refine exposure
Step 6[c] Refine colour
Step 6[d] Fix flaws
Step 6[e] Refine crop
Step 6[f] Export photo
Case study
About the author
Although landscape and nature photography his passion, Andrew Lilley's full-time job is an interaction designer. As part of this job, he designs better products by systematically mapping out the things people do when using them, and then reassembling these steps into an optimised workflow. These work tasks are recorded in a hierarchy, much like this book's Pyramid Method!
Andrew has been taking landscape and nature photographs for over twenty years, and markets his photos through a number of agencies. Being a perfectionist, he enjoys refining his work past what many consider acceptable, whether they're e-books, photographs or computer interfaces.
For this e-book, he combined his professional skills—documenting the steps people do as part of their job and designing an optimised system—with his experience and knowledge of landscape photography.
Creative Landscape Photography Using the Pyramid Method is the outcome of 18 months of interviewing, researching, analysing, brainstorming, head-scratching, distilling, scribbling, sketching, frowning, refining and tweaking.
Although English, Andrew lives in beautiful Norway, along with his Norwegian partner Ingvild, two smiley children, Nicholas and Maia, and one crazy cat.
Preface
As a keen landscape photographer, you probably have a passion for nature and the outdoors, and have a strong desire to capture its beauty. You want to convert the landscape you see with your own eyes into an evocative image that stimulates the viewer’s imagination. Maybe lacking slightly is the insight into how best to convert the landscape into this wonderful image.
This book takes a different approach to other photography ‘how to’ guides. It aims to be a highly usable guide that firstly gives you the knowledge that helps you be more perceptive, resourceful, and creative. Secondly, it provides a systematic methodology in which to apply that knowledge.
I’ve mapped out the steps performed by many professional landscape photographers, from the very start of a project through to the finishing touches to the chosen image on the computer, and captured them in a step-by-step framework I call the Pyramid Method.
The Pyramid breaks down these essential tasks into easy to follow, foolproof steps that anyone can apply—even beginners. All that the Pyramid Method assumes is that the reader has a camera system that uses interchangeable lenses (either a digital SLR, or a mirrorless camera system) and some camera accessories.
From idea to image
It may or may not come as a surprise to you that the best landscape photographs are born from being researched and planned, long before the photographer leaves the house. He or she identifies the general subject of the photo and the feelings it should convey. They also identify exactly where to go to get the shot, and when. These preparation and planning steps take away much of the risk of coming back empty-handed, and I explain how best to do this in the first two levels of the Pyramid.
In levels three and four, the Pyramid begins to describe what to do while ‘out in the field’. I include how to find and use the most suitable foreground and background elements of the photo, which camera settings you should select, and how best to compose the photo. Foolproof techniques are described that should guarantee you end up with a beautifully framed scene, suitably matching the criteria you identified from the earlier steps of the Pyramid.
The penultimate level of the Pyramid shows you what you should do in order to actually capture a well-exposed, pin-sharp image. It explains what you should look for when evaluating the stored image on the camera, and how to improve on it in successive shots.
The final level of the Pyramid covers the six essential steps you should take when you return home with your magical shot, before you even think about showing it off. The importance of refining the image on the computer (the ‘digital darkroom’) is often overlooked, and I outline why it’s as important as any other part of the process. I also show in clear steps what must be done as a minimum to turn a mere image of a landscape into a picture that’s ready to be exhibited, whether displayed on a screen or hung on a wall.
In this book, you will:
Discover the importance of planning and preparation
Understand the background and reasons for each step
Learn the practical techniques involved
Find foolproof methods and settings to use to virtually guarantee success
See checklists that quickly help you understand what’s required
View diagrams and examples illustrating the different steps
Follow detailed case studies for each level
Get links to useful resources
I believe that by following the Pyramid Method from top to bottom, you are guaranteed to greatly improve your landscape photography and gain an extremely strong foundation from which to further develop your creative and technical photography skills. Many of these skills will also be useful for other photography genres.
How to use the Pyramid Method
Throughout the book I will be talking about ‘the photo’, rather than ‘the photos’. The Pyramid is formulated to create one great picture, not many. This is because it’s common for a landscape photographer to aim to create just one outstanding image per outing, with any more being bonuses. The duration of good light can be limited, and the need to move from location to location takes time. Focusing your time and effort on just one image at a time pays off.
However, the same steps of the Pyramid still apply when taking multiple photos, if this is possible and desired. In this case, there is of course no need to repeat the high level Envisage and Plan steps for each new image.
I don’t