Author: David Huffman
While traveling in Ireland, we drove thorough many cities and small villages on our search for history, beautiful landscapes and friendly people. This blog shows two examples of how timing is important, even if your subjects aren’t high-speed sports.Landscapes and timing are legendary. Often, you’ll find a great scene and realize that the direction of the sunlight, or cloud cover don’t make the most dramatic image. Many good landscapes are justifiably taken within 30 minutes or so of sunrise or sunset for this reason.
Sometimes, this means scouting a location and returning at another time. But if your time is limited during travel, you have to use your best creativity to make the most of the scene in front of you.The first photo shows a classical Irish landscape. What made this one successful was the modulation of the sunlight using movement of the clouds. I waited until the land was partially covered by clouds and shot several images as the clouds moved. I think this one is the best of the series. (Nikon D810, Nikon 24-120mm f/4 lens.)
The second photo is the Castle at Cahir, Ireland. Although there were many tourists and signs around the castle, I managed to find a location that included foreground, middle ground and framing elements to add interest. Then, just as I was about to leave, a mother goose and goslings paddled into the frame and I got just one image with all the elements in the right place. (Nikon D810, Nikon 24-120mm f/4 lens.)
The key to good landscapes and travel images is to pause before you click and consider the opportunities to improve your original idea. And keep shooting, even after you think you’ve captured a good image, something might float into the frame for an even more interesting image.
Happy shooting. If you wish to share ideas and learn more, try an Arizona Photo Highways Photo Workshop, www.AHPW.org. You can see more of my images at www.HuffmanPhotoArt.com.