The first step in taking interesting abstract landscape photos is to move your attention away from the big landscape and focus only on the details. The photographer can spend a minute observing the surrounding environment, looking for outstanding points, such as cracks in the mud, colorful flower fields, or rivers flowing in a special way, which can produce interesting images. The above picture was taken with a focal length of 400mm, and the focus of the picture is on the ice and snow on the mountainside, rather than the iceberg itself.
2. Use a telephoto lens
It is a common misunderstanding that only macro lenses can be used to shoot abstract landscapes. When shooting abstract scenes, using a lens with a focal length of 500mm is very helpful in searching for interesting details in the landscape and can make abstract photography easy.
3. Looking for light and shadow
Light is especially important in abstract photography. Photographers can try to find scenes with interaction of light and shadow, such as the shadow of a mountain, a hill with both light and dark sides, a pattern of light spots or the shadow of a lone tree under the sun.
4. Hard light is better
While the soft light of sunset or sunrise is suitable for any type of photo, photographers should not limit themselves to shooting at a certain time of the day. In fact, harsh light can produce excellent shadows, combined with some interesting textures, have the opportunity to take unique photos.
5. Use Leading Lines or Repeating Lines
The composition technique using guide lines is very common in landscape photography. It is more challenging to find these lines when doing abstract photography. Photographers can use the lines of hillsides, mountains or rivers to guide the viewing from the corners towards the center.
6. Taking water as the subject of shooting
The fast-moving water produces lines and shapes that are invisible to the naked eye. It is one of the best elements for taking abstract landscape photos. Use a low shutter between 1/20 sec and 1 sec to capture the flow, and then switch to different exposure times and shutter speeds to repeatedly shoot the same scene until a satisfactory interesting pattern and shape are obtained.
7. Shoot blurry feeling
When the photographer only focuses on shooting a small part of the scene, Ling Doodle can easily distract the viewer from the subject. For example, when shooting forests and trees, sometimes the photographer will choose a tree or branch as the subject, but other surrounding trees and bushes will cause interference. To highlight the subject, unnecessary elements can be blurred.
8. Eliminate interfering elements
A good abstract landscape photo tends to be simple, and the photographer needs to clearly understand what constitutes an "important part of the picture". If the element is not important, there is no need to include it in the picture.
9. Use slow shutter
By using a slower shutter and deliberately tilting or rotating the camera (ICM), it can effectively eliminate the realism of the picture and give the viewer unique personal feelings and opinions. However, this technique requires a combination of different shutter speeds and camera movement methods. Try to get satisfactory photos.
10. Use camera built-in double exposure
This technology allows two or more images taken in the camera to be merged into one photo. The photographer can better control the image fusion method by adjusting the shutter speed, ISO, aperture between the images, etc. .
The demonstration photo below is composed of two slow-exposure images merged in the camera. The first one focuses on a cold forest, and the second one is shot at the bushes.
11. Stack focus images to increase sharpness
When focusing on a small part of the landscape, due to the compression of the focal length, certain areas in the photo will inevitably appear soft, and this situation will be more noticeable at close-ups. In order to make all the subjects appear clear, you should separate the focus shots several times until there is a clear image in each area, and then superimpose the photos into one in the retouching software.
Although the ice layers are only a few centimeters apart in the picture below, when the focus is in the center, the front and back ice layers will become slightly blurred.
12. Explore the world from a high angle
Sometimes, a small change in perspective can make a huge difference in the picture. Through aerial photography or climbing a mountain, you can get a higher perspective, and there are more possibilities under the bird's eye view. Shooting the beach from the mountain down with a long focal length lens is completely different from simply standing on the beach.
The photographer reminds you that you don’t need to forcefully add all the above techniques when shooting, just choose the appropriate method according to the situation. All skills need to be practiced more in order to use them more easily.
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