Page 38 - Australian Photography - September 2017

OPI N ION: L A N DSCAPE PHOTOGR A PH Y

It’s through this process of trial and error that you
will come to develop your own style.

PERSEVERANCE, FIRST HAND
For me, a good example of perseverence paying off in
photography is the shot of the Opera House on this
page. This photo was years in the making. I knew I
wanted to capture the structure side-on, which meant
waiting until the sun rose almost due east over the
sails. In the winter months, the morning sun was too
far north, and too far south in summer.
Also key to this photo – which I pre-visualised in my
mind – was a vibrant sky behind, to contrast against
the plain white sails.
Daily, over the past three years, I’ve paid close at-
tention to the variations in cloud cover. From dark
imposing thunderstorms to wispy dreamlike sun-
rises, this has allowed me to better predict the type
of sunrise each formation produces. I established
what was needed for this particular photo – a band
of medium-high clouds passing overhead on sun-
rise out to the east, with no low-lying cloud. These
conditions would leave a small gap on the horizon
for the rising sun to shine through, illuminating
the clouds from below.
And with cloud cover forecasts looking promising
the night before, I ventured out to the location on
four occasions before this one, hoping for the per-
fect light. But, it didn’t arrive. In fact on two of those
mornings I didn’t take a single photo. But I knew
what I was after, and examined why the light wasn’t
right. Either low clouds had rolled in to block the
morning light, or the higher clouds had been swept
away too quickly overnight.
But then on the fifth occasion, the stars – or rath-
er, the clouds – aligned. I could see the ideal cloud
cover on my way out to location, and knew this was
the morning I had been waiting for. Behind the strik-
ing outline of the sails, the clouds were illuminated in
Sydney Opera House: This was one of those moments where everything came together.
I ventured into the city in the wee hours of the morning as the clouds were already shades of vibrant pink. I was ecstatic with the result.
beginning to glow neon pink. I aligned myself with the iconic sails, and set up my telephoto But it wasn’t by luck I captured the image. It was
lens to compress the scene. Then I simply waited for the clouds to explode in colour. Sony years observing and understanding the effect of dif-
a7R2, FE 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 G OSS lens, 1/60s @ f7.1, ISO 320.
ferent cloud conditions. It was countless hours of trial
and error in post-processing, discovering how to get
the most out of an image. It was getting out of bed in
Did a certain photo fail to grab your attention? Did it the wee hours of the morning on four previous out-
lack that ‘wow’ factor? Then stop, and take the time to cri- ings with nothing to show for it.
tique your work. What can be learnt from it, and what can If there’s one message I want to share for aspiring
you do differently on the next outing? What new tech- landscape photographers, this is it. Landscape pho-
niques and considerations can you apply moving forward? tography takes time. It takes practice and it takes con-
Was a particular waterfall scene not as picturesque tinual refinement. It takes self-critique and it takes
as you anticipated? Perhaps it might be better photo- grit when things don’t quite go as planned. You need
graphed on a cloudy day with even lighting. Or try re- to sacrifice sleep, and – at times – your social life.
turning after heavy rains in the area for stronger water But it’s worth it. We are rewarded with images that
flows. What about a polarising filter to reduce the glare capture our emotions and encourage us to get out-
off wet foliage and rocks? side and experience firsthand the natural beauty and
Experiment to include interest in the foreground or wonder of this world. Images that inspire and awe.
frame the scene with an overhanging tree. Or consider And for me, that makes persevering with landscape
revisiting the scene under different lighting conditions. photography entirely worth it. ❂

| 38 | SEPTEMBER 2017 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM