Getting Exposures right while Photographing Birds in Flight

Before we get to setting the exposure part let us first discuss a few situations that lets you capture beautifully lit pictures of birds in flight.

Photo by: Allan Hopkins

As a general rule pictures of birds in flight turn out great when shooting on sunny days than when shooting when there’s lot of cloud cover (read cloudy days).

Select days with bright blue skies for shooting. Ideal conditions for shooting birds in flight are when there is a bright blue sky; the sun is behind you and is low in the sky (during early mornings and late evenings).

During those times the birds are lit from sunlight coming more from the side than directly from the top which somewhat silhouettes the birds. Sun being low in the sky also cures one another problem; of having not enough light on the underside of the birds wings. Try to shoot your birds with wings up which allow the sun to illuminate the underside of the bird beautifully.

Photo by: Pat Gaines

Another important thing to remember is that birds look great when they are illuminated from the front. Pictures in which the tail of the bird is brighter than its head are rather unappealing. In some cases the wings even cast a shadow on the head completely ruining the shot. Therefore whenever possible photograph the bird when it is illuminated from the front.

For example.

If a bird is flying from left to right of your frame the sun should be behind you and more towards the back of your right shoulder.

Tips for Setting Exposure for Shooting Birds in Flight

Photo by: Ken Slade

When photographing birds flying fast against varied background elements, exposure settings could change dramatically and it could easily confuse your camera. Best solution is to use spot metering mode to take your reading off the bird and shoot in Manual Mode. This allows you to expose your birds correctly every time irrespective of the changing backgrounds. Remember the illumination on the bird actually does not change much with changing backgrounds.

Now for those of you who primarily shoot in semi automatic metering modes; you will need to set adequate exposure compensation settings depending upon the scene in front of you. Here we will discuss some of the most commonly encountered situations.

Photographing Birds flying against a Bright Sky

Photo by: Ken Slade

When photographing birds against a bright sky, you will need to set a positive (+) exposure compensation of 1 or 2 stops to prevent the bird getting underexposed. The amount of exposure compensation needed will vary depending on many factors.

 First consideration is how large is the bird in your frame, is the bird almost filling your frame or is it just a tiny dot. If it mostly fills the frame then you need only make minor adjustments to the exposure that your camera suggests and if it is only fills a small percentage then you need to dial in more compensation.

Second consideration is the color of the bird; if you are photographing a white bird against a bright sky you will need more corrections than when photographing a black (or any dark shade) bird. Also take into consideration the first point (How much of your frame is occupied by the bird).

Photographing Birds Flying against a Blue Sky

Photo by: Isidro Vila Verde

When photographing white birds flying against a blue sky (which is a mid tone value) you will need to dial in some negative (-) exposure compensation to prevent blowing highlights on the bird.

Breaking all Rules

Photo by: Nathan Rupert

Photography is an art and as artists photographers have full creative freedom. Feel free to experiment, break all the rules, try capturing your birds backlit (shoot towards the sun) you could get some very interesting pictures of backlit birds or going further silhouetted bird images against colorful skies.

Related Reading

1. Bird Photography Tips - Using Monopods, Tripods and other types of supports
2. Photographing Birds in Flight – Master Focusing Technique
3. Photographing Birds in Flight – Master Focusing Technique Part II
4. Tips for Photographing Shorebirds
5. How to Photograph Birds in Flight Using Manual Focus Lenses

Read more »

Bird Photography Tips - Using Monopods, Tripods and other types of supports

Bird photography more often than not involves very long focal length lenses which by their very nature are very heavy. And this is where the use of various accessories for stabilizing the camera comes into play.

Photo by: Pedro Szekely

Before we proceed any further let me make it clear that shooting handheld is the best technique to capture birds (especially in flight). But there are situations when you could use accessories like monopods, bean bags, tripods etc to get better pictures. As a general rule these accessories come in handy when photographing birds that are stationary (like a perched bird).

Bean Bags

Photo by: Valerie

Bean bags are especially useful if you shoot from your vehicle (using your car as a mobile hide) simply attaching the bean bag on the door will give a solid surface to rest your lens (remember to turn off the engine, else chances are the vibration from the engine will spoil your shots). One other situation when they come in handy is when you are shooting birds lying flat on the ground (to get shots of birds on the ground from the bird’s eye level).

Tripods

Photo by: Umang Dutt

Many of us would not be physically able to wield the heavy, long focal length lenses needed to capture the birds for long periods. If that’s the case with you, a viable alternative is to choose a strategic viewpoint and photograph them from a relatively static position.

Tripods are the most difficult accessories to set up; it takes time and effort to properly set up the tripod for shooting birds. And this significantly decreases your chances of getting the shot at all, but if you manage to get them then there is no comparing the image quality, especially so in low light conditions. Tripods are simply the most stable platforms for your camera. However you will find yourselves in trouble if the bird suddenly shifts positions. To make the most out of tripods get a Gimbal Head which will let overcome the difficulties of shooting with a tripod to a great extent.

Photo by: Vishal Patel

Tripods could even be used when you are shooting from a vehicle (it requires placing your tripod legs in some funny angles though. They could be very helpful if you need to watch the bird for a really long time to capture action/behavior/expression etc. (simple set your focus right and wait for the bird to strike an interesting pose). One other situation when tripods could be used is when you know in advance where the bird is going to be, for example when you know that the bird is going to come to a perch using a tripod will give you stunning shots as the bird flies in and then takes off.

Using tripod for bird photography

Tripod is also essential if you intend to set up remote cameras, triggers, flash units etc and capture the birds to get really stunning (staged) images.

Monopods

Monopods are much easier to carry around and use than tripods, but they are not that stable, however they could be help you support the weight of your equipment when you need to hold the bird in focus for a long duration. One significant disadvantage of monopod is that they force your camera to move in arcs that does not match either the birds flight pattern or the natural body movements of humans.

Photo by: Koshy koshy

The choice whether to shoot handheld or use any support is totally dependent upon the conditions and the photographer.

camera stabilization techniques for bird photography

Sometimes simple techniques like leaning against a wall or a post will help stabilize the shot, or you can use any element already present in the vicinity as support.

Happy Shooting

Related Reading

1. Photographing Birds in Flight – Master Focusing Technique
2. Photographing Birds in Flight – Master Focusing Technique Part II
3. Tips for Photographing Shorebirds
4. How to Photograph Birds in Flight Using Manual Focus Lenses
5. How to Photograph Birds of Prey

Read more »

Tips for Photographing Shorebirds

Article by: Biju PB

Shorebirds are mostly long and slender birds with large flat feet, thin long legs and elongated beaks. The Oxford dictionary defines shorebirds as those birds that frequent the shore. Their diet consists of fish, crustaceans, insects and other small organisms found along a shore, in mud or shallow water. So they are mainly confined to the narrow strips of shore that lines the dams, lakes, rivers, wetlands and oceans where their food is plentiful.

shore bird photography

Shorebirds irrespective of the species; and regardless of whether they're alone or in massive groups, make excellent photographic subjects. Photographing shorebirds going about their business of running back and forth with the waves, rummaging through seaside debris searching for food, just sitting in a group asleep with their heads tucked in and a leg pulled up etc is very rewarding and could give you some wonderful shots.

In this article we will discuss how to photograph shore birds, like any other wild subject photographing shore birds also has some challenges and knowing the right method could help you skip most of the mistakes beginners make in their first few unsuccessful attempts to photograph them.

Tips for Photographing Shorebirds

shore bird photography tips

They are typically larger birds, are easier to find and are often found in large groups.

Unlike many other wildlife subjects, shorebirds are very predictable and thus knowing a bit about them will help you get much better shots.

Find the direction the wind is coming from, as birds tend to take off and land into the wind.

The toughest part in shorebird photography is to get close enough to them to have them large in the frame and not appear as a mere dot in a vast landscape.

Only include the full reflection of a bird in the water in your photo when the water is clear and when you have a perfect reflection.

bird photography tips

 It is better to get into position before the break of dawn. The angle and quality of light makes a huge difference in your photographs. The beautiful palettes of colors of any bird are best appreciated in soft light, when the sun is at a low angle, and with the sun directly behind the photographer. The soft light will reveal subtle detail in all the color tones while the front lit light will illuminate every part of the bird visible in the photo. Also during that time, there is less chance of strong winds and currents.

Try to isolate a single bird or group of birds from the rest. This will create a strong focal point in your photo.

Avoid having other birds in the background behind the bird you are shooting. This might be difficult when there are many birds like is often the case along a shore, but if you wait patiently you will be able to get individual shots as the birds move in and out of the group.

coastal bird photography tips

Capture Action/Behavior shots. Wait for the bird to do something interesting. They often stretch their wings, or indicate that they will take to flight.

Only include the full reflection of a bird in the water in your photo when the water is clear and when you have a perfect reflection.

Don't photograph birds facing away from you. It's best when the bird is tilted slightly towards you.

You generally want to arrive when the tide is out (and the birds are off feeding) this will cause less stress if you are in position and waiting for the birds to return as the tide starts to come in than arriving when the birds are already at the roost.

Tips for Approaching Shorebirds

how to photograph shore birds

For a bird photographer, approaching the subject poses the greatest challenge. At the same time, he has also to keep the background in mind. While photographing the shore-birds, it is not that difficult to spot the birds, as there is virtually no hindrance between the photographer and the birds. But, this in turn creates another awkward situation. The birds too detect us easily and feel quite threatened as we approach them. The birds are quite wary about the height of the approaching threat. The taller the object, the greater will be their uneasiness.

Wear clothes that camouflage you well with the landscape.

Wear clothing that you can afford to get dirty :-).

The birds are more wary of camera equipment, especially large / long lenses than the humans.

bird photography tutorial

Instead of walking straight to them, try getting down on one's belly and kind of crawling towards the birds. This not only makes approaching the birds easier but also lets you shoot from the bird’s eye level producing much more pleasing compositions.

Approach slowly, don’t make any sudden or jerky movements, move few feet at a time, rest and then move.

When you get close to the birds say approximately 30 feet or so, you could sense the first wave of uneasiness in some of the birds. If this happens, stop all movement, stay low and wait till the birds settle down, it might take 5 to 15 minutes for this to happen. But if you wait patiently you will gain the birds confidence and they won’t fly off when you approach closer. The closer you get the greater will be the waiting time it takes the birds to settle down.

shore bird photography tutorial

Shorebirds are more leery of creatures approaching from the shore than those which might approach from the water. Photographers have had success actually getting into the (shallow) water and approaching shorebirds from that side.

Once you manage to get close enough to them to shoot, slowly set up your camera, compose your shots and take pictures, there is no need to hurry, if nothing unnatural happens the birds are going to be at the same spot the whole day.

tips for photographing shore birds

If you gain the confidence of the birds they will always return and land near you even if they are disturbed by a passing person a jogger or a cyclist. Also in some cases the birds might even move closer to you during the natural course of their feeding.

The best advice would be to have fun and be patient. Enjoy creating beautiful pieces of art!

Related Reading

1. Photographing Birds in Flight – Master Focusing Technique
2. How to Photograph Birds in Flight Using Manual Focus Lenses
3. How to Photograph Birds of Prey
4. Bird Photography Tips
5. Tips for Photographing Birds in Flight

Read more »

How to Photograph Birds of Prey

Birds of prey ranks among the most exciting subjects in wildlife photography. They are fierce, powerful, aggressive, fast, agile and very precise.

How to Photograph Birds of Prey

Photographing them is quite a challenge; first one needs to get close enough to get them large enough in the frame, they are wary of humans and take off at the slightest hint of trouble. One requires a lot of understanding about the birds themselves, a lot of patience, should be good at stealth and possess long lenses in order to photograph them in their natural habitat.

Equipment Recommendations

To capture wonderful photographs of birds of prey, one requires a telephoto lens, at least of 400mm focal length. The longer the focal length the better as your chances of getting the shot are directly proportional to the distance from which you can shoot. The further away you are from the bird the comfortable it will be with your presence and vice versa.

Photo by: Jeff S. PhotoArt

Image stabilization / Vibration reduction is a very useful feature to have when shooting with long lenses. A tripod with a gimbal head, camouflage clothing for both you and your equipment etc could also be very useful.

Recommended Settings for Bird Photography

1. Shutter Speed

First and foremost consideration when shooting birds of prey should be the choice of shutter speed. Firstly a shutter speed fast enough is necessary when shooting handheld to prevent camera shake. Then comes how you wish to capture the movement of birds, you can either choose to shoot them with fast shutter speeds of say 1/500, 1/1000 or even 1/2000 to completely freeze any movement and capture the bird sharply. Or choose slower shutter speeds in the range of 1/60 to 1/200 to capture movement especially in the wings.

2. Aperture priority Mode

Photo by: Eric Begin

Aperture priority mode is the best mode for shooting birds as it lets you control the depth of field and let the camera choose the appropriate shutter speed to properly expose the shot. One commonly used technique is to set the aperture at the maximum of the lens, for eg. f/5.6 for a lens that has maximum aperture of f/5.6. The longer working distance ensures sufficient depth of field to render the bird sharply where as the background will be a smooth blur. Choosing the widest aperture will also make sure the camera chooses the fastest possible shutter speed possible for the prevailing lighting conditions thus helping you keep up with a very active subject.

3. Continuous Autofocus

Photo by: Koshy Koshy

Use the continuous auto focus mode in your camera to make sure the camera continuously tracks the subject and stays focused, this will let you capture them even if they suddenly shifts position or takes off without warning.

4. Use Back Button Focusing

Photo by: Tambako The Jaguar

Back button focusing is one technique that is very useful for photographing birds, read more about this technique here:- Back Button Focusing.

5. Use Single Point Auto Focus

Photo by: Steve Garvie

Switch to single point auto focus and choose the center auto focus point in your camera. This ensures faster and more precise focusing.

6. Use Continuous Drive Mode

Photo by: Tambako The Jaguar

Continuous drive mode enables one to take multiple shots in quick succession by keeping the shutter button pressed. Doing so will enable you to capture a sequence of images when the bird moves or flies away.

7. Get Over Your Fear of Using High ISO Settings

When it comes to photographing birds of prey one will realize that high ISO settings are not just for low light conditions. You will find life to be much easier using an ISO of 400 or 800 even in relatively bright situations as it gives you faster shutter speeds to work with.

Bird of Prey Photography Tips

1. Focus on the Eyes

This is perhaps the most important tip when photographing living animals (including humans). Make sure you set your focus on the eye that is closest to the camera. if it is not in focus the entire image is perceived as out of focus by the human mind.

2. Get To Know Your Birds

Photo by: Shutter Fotos

Do a quick research and find out as much as possible about the birds you intend to shoot. You can refer books or do a quick search online to find information like the birds that you are likely to encounter in the area you plan to visit, their feeding habits, a bit about their habitat and lifestyle etc.

3. Familiarize Yourselves with Birds Sounds

The easiest way to know the presence of a bird of prey is by its distinct cry. Birds make many distinct noises and knowing which bird is making the sound and under what circumstance will help you locate your subject very easily. This is how experienced bird watchers know the presence of the birds even before they see it. There are many websites that explains about the birds of prey and the many sounds they make. You can also purchase field guides for your Android Phone, iPhone, iPod, or iPad.

4. Find Young Ones to Photograph

By young ones I am not referring to the ones that are still in the nest and have not fledged. It is better not to disturb them as your presence near the nest will certainly agitate the parents and chances are they might abandon the chicks.

Photo by: Martin Teschner

But fledglings and older birds are more co-operative than adult birds of prey. Younger birds that have just learned the art of flying are often very curious and will let you get much closer to them. Some might even show off enabling you to get great shots.

5. Direction of Flight

When photographing large birds of prey it is a good strategy to stand downwind from them as they like to take off into the wind to make most of the uplift it provides. By staying downwind you will get shots of the bird flying towards you if they take off.

6. Watch Your Background

Photo by: Bill Gracey

One of the most common problems when shooting birds of prey is the bright sky in the background. Always watch what constitutes the background of your picture. Often a slight change of shooting angle could get you a completely different background. Another important point is the distance from the bird to the background. The more the distance the better as it will render the background as a smooth blur making the bird stand out.

7. Use a Blind / Hide

Photo by: Holley And Chris Melton

It is not much fun to sit and wait in a hide especially during hot humid days. But the strategy pays off well if you are close to a breeding area or some spot where the birds of prey frequently hang out (like a favorite perch).  Undoubtedly the best hide for bird photograph is your car as most birds are used to seeing vehicles all the time and they know it is not a threat to them. But the major limitation of using your car as a hide is that you will be limited to photographing birds of prey perched on trees or poles that are close to the roads.

8. Approach Slowly

Photo by: Brendan Lally 

When approaching a perched bird on a vehicle, make sure you have rolled down your window completely before you reach near the bird. Approach slowly, do not make a sudden stop if you suddenly notice a bird instead drive by and make a second pass, this time slower and gently stop the vehicle where you have a good view and also a nice background.

9. Tell Tale Signs – Bird Raises Its Tail

taking photos of birds of prey

If a bird raises its tail it means they are getting ready to take off. It often happens when you get near the bird and have breached its comfort zone. So if the bird raises its tail slow down your approach or better stop and wait a few second for the bird to calm down.

10. Tell Tale Signs – Bird Poops

Birds of prey almost always defecate before flying away when they are bothered by humans. If you see the bird pooping it means that the bird is agitated with your presence and thus it is giving you a visual “warning”. Stop immediately and wait a few minutes, take your eyes off the bird and pretend not to pay attention to its presence and chances are the bird will calm down.

11. Best Time to Photograph Birds of Prey

Photo by: MalNino

The best time to photograph diurnal predators is during early mornings and late evenings when the birds are out hunting.

12. Photographing Nocturnal Birds of Prey

Photo by: Steve Wilson

Nocturnal predators are extremely tough to find and photograph, most only start appearing an hour or so after sunset and disappear before sunrise.  This brings with it a lot of different variables and so we will cover the topic in a detailed article on a later date.

Related Reading

1. Bird Photography Tips
2. Tips for Photographing Hummingbirds
3. Tips for Photographing Birds in Flight
4. Zoo Photography Tips - Photographing Wildlife in Captivity 
5. Bird Photography Tips - Getting Close to Birds

Read more »

The Trick to Find Dust Spots in Your Digital Camera Sensor

There is a simple trick to find dust spots in your digital cameras sensor. Just take a picture of a grey object, eg. a grey sky or a solid grey wall. Make sure you use an aperture of f/16 or narrower for the shot. Now open the picture in Adobe Photoshop and then press Command-I (Apple) or Ctrl-I on PC to invert the photo.

Photo by: Yohmi

When a picture is inverted any dust on sensor really stands out. Given below is the inverted version of the above picture.

how to find dust spots in dslr sensors

Now that you have identified the problem areas, you could either move on to the process of cleaning your sensor or if you are not comfortable doing it yourselves give it to an authorized service center.

Related Reading

1. Is your camera up to date? Make Sure You Have the Latest Firmware
2. Why You Should Download The Electronic (PDF) Version of Your Camera’s Users Manual
3. How to Control Aperture and Shutter Speed on an Entry Level Point and Shoot Digital Camera
4. 12 Most Common Exposure Problems Faced by Photographers and How to Fix Them
5. 20 Tips to Improve Focusing Accuracy and Sharpness in your Images

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Introduction To Tethered Photography

What is Tethered Photography?

Tethered photography is the process of shooting with your camera connected to your laptop or desktop via Firewire, USB or Wirelessly. It is mainly used for studio photography and other indoor shooting by advertising, fashion, product and architecture photographers.

Photo by: CoDiFi

To do tethered shooting you must first install the appropriate software on your computer / laptop running either Windows or Mac. Canon users can use the bundled software that came with the camera for tethered shooting, but Nikon users should buy it separately. There are many other softwares that could do it including Adobe Light room.

Once the appropriate software is installed, connect your camera to your computer via the supplied USB cable (better get a USB Extender - Belkin USB Extension Cable (10-Feet)) or via a wireless transmitter if your camera has this feature. Tethering wirelessly is expensive but helps avoid the problems created by trailing wires.

The simplest method is to plug one end of your USB camera cable into the USB slot on your computer and then the other end into the USB slot on your camera.

Depending upon the settings, images captured could either be saved directly on to the computer / laptop bypassing the cameras memory cards or could be saved in both. The software then displays the image in the laptop / computer screen.

Being able to see the image on the much larger and properly calibrated monitor has many advantages. You can easily see details you might have missed, how the lighting looks,  see distracting elements in your composition, correct depth of field and focusing errors, sensor dust, unwanted reflections or shadows etc.

Evaluate your picture, make changes, shoot another one, evaluate the result and keep doing this until you get it right. Tethered shooting thus helps get every fine detail right in camera and save a lot of time and effort while post processing.

Warning:

Once you shoot tethered, and get accustomed to seeing everything so detailed, you're going to have a hard time going back to viewing your images on that tiny LCD screen in your camera.

Related Reading

1. Why You Should Download The Electronic (PDF) Version of Your Camera’s Users Manual
2. Relationship Between F-Stop Numbers and the Size of the Diaphragm Opening Explained
3. Understanding Live View
4. Why and How to Use the Diopter Adjustment on Your DSLR Camera
5. Making Sense of the Odd Progression of the F-Stop Scale?

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RAW Shooters - Don't Cram Too Much on Your Memory Cards

One very important point photographers should know about shooting in RAW format is that, when you shoot in RAW format some pictures take up a lot more space on the memory card than others. File size depends on various factors in the scene you capture including light levels, tones, the amount of contrast, dominant colors etc. The amount of information needed to be stored is different for different subjects/scenes.

Sandisk Extreme Pro CF Memory Card For DSLR Cameras

But when digital cameras calculate the number of shots that could be shot of a card, (number of shots left) they do it based on average file size. So trying to fill up every last bit of space on that memory card with data could potentially corrupt the card and make you lose all your shots in that card.

Better switch to a new memory card when there is still space left for at least a couple of shots to be on the safer side.

Related Reading

1.  20 Common DSLR Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
2. 12 Most Common Exposure Problems Faced by Photographers and How to Fix Them
3. Infinity Focusing – What is it? How does it work? How to manually set a lens without a distance scale to Focus on Infinity?
4. Relationship Between F-Stop Numbers and the Size of the Diaphragm Opening Explained
5. Professional Techniques to Take Sharp Digital Images

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Professional Landscape Photography Tips - Shooting Landscapes in Vertical / Portrait Format

Talking about formats, let’s first clear the air about what do we mean when we say vertical/portrait or horizontal/landscape. In photography, 'portrait' is a vertical rectangle and 'landscape' is a horizontal rectangle period.

Most novice photographers shoot majority of their pictures in landscape format for the simple reason that they are used to holding the camera horizontally. But as is the case with many other forms of ART; in photography there are no hard and fast rules regarding composition. There is no reason why a landscape should not be shot in portrait format or a portrait should not be shot in landscape format.  It’s all about choices; in fact photography is all about choices, right from the start you have to make many choices regarding the focal length, shooting angle, aperture/depth of field, shutter speed/motion etc.

Photo by: Kenny Teo

Deciding whether to shoot in vertical or horizontal orientation is yet another choice, a rather important one. It has much to do with your composition technique; the orientation chosen should be able to frame the subject/scene at hand in a visually interesting way, including elements that add to the value of the picture and excluding ones that do not. When you choose between either one of the format you are making a decision as to what is best for your subject/scene and what you want to keep in the photo and what you don’t.

Shooting in Both Vertical and Horizontal Formats

You can shoot the same subject in both orientations; but you can never shoot the exact same picture in vertical and horizontal formats. They need to be composed differently. Deliberately shooting a subject/scene in both vertical and horizontal formats can be a very useful exercise in simulating your creative talents especially in situations where one format seems a very obvious choice than the other.

Tips For Shooting Landscapes in Vertical / Portrait Format

Photo by: Sergiu Bacioiu

Sometimes Landscapes look better in vertical format than in horizontal format, it could be due to the unique characteristics of the various elements that make up the landscape or due to the unique characteristics of the vertical image format. Here are some quick tips to get you started in vertical landscape photography.

1. Break Down Your Composition Into Three Quarters

One trick to make sure your vertical landscape pictures work is to divide the entire frame into three equal quarters, the foreground, midground and the background (just like the rule of thirds grid) and make sure you have some interesting element present in all three quarters.

2. Get Close to the foreground element and Shoot from a Low Angle

Photo by: Dave Toussaint

In the previous tip we have mentioned the importance of having one interesting element in all three quarters. Now when you compose your frame, get as close to the foreground element of interest as possible and shoot from a very low angle. This accentuates the visual weight of foreground element and any leading lines present in the composition thus making your picture interesting. You should set the focus at the foreground element (which should ideally be at the hyper focal distance) and use a narrow aperture so as to get a large enough depth of field to render everything in the frame acceptably sharp.  A tripod which can be set to very low angles (preferably one without a center column) could come in handy during such situations.

3. Shoot from a High Angle with Camera Tilted Down

Photo by: Pavel P

This technique works well when shooting vertical landscapes with an ultra wide angle lens. Raise your tripod high above the subject and tilt the camera downwards, the perspective distortion thus caused gives more emphasis to the foreground elements all the while including a full sweep of the vast landscape in the frame.

4. Use Rule of Thirds as a guide to Place the Horizon

Photo by: Jens Ceder

The rule of thirds gird could be used as a guideline to place your horizon while shooting landscapes in vertical format. In most cases better results are achieved by placing the horizon in line with either the top or bottom grid line. The choice of which one to choose should be based purely on what works well for the scene, the mood you wish to covey to the viewer and whether you have an interesting sky or not in your scene. In majority cases it works better than placing the horizon dead in the center of the frame. But if you are looking for symmetry (trying to capture reflections in water etc.) then placing the horizon line in the center such that it divides the frame into two equal parts could work well.

5. Make Use of Negative Space

Photo by: H Matthew Howarth

Leaving some empty space on the top of your picture (usually the area covered by the sky) could work well to simplify your composition and to direct the viewers’ attention directly to the lower part of the image. It could also work well in a commercial point of view as graphic designers love empty spaces which allows them the flexibility to pop a photo caption onto an image, reverse out a headline, run body copy around an interesting shape, or even drop in a text box.

6. Shoot Vertical Landscapes with a Telephoto Lens

Photo by: Johan J.Ingles-Le Nobel

A telephoto lens makes background elements appear larger in comparison to the foreground elements. Thus it compresses the perspective, making objects that are in reality far apart from each other appearing as if they are closely stacked together. This compression of perspective makes them ideal tool for capturing vertical landscapes especially scenes that comprise of subjects at different distances and heights like mountains. Read more on this here - Using Telephoto Lenses for Shooting Landscapes.

7. Use the Tripod Mount on your Lens

If you are shooting landscapes using a telephoto lens, chances are the telephoto lens will feature a tripod mount. If so use it to attach the lens and camera to the tripod, this way you have the flexibility to keep the tripod head in normal position and just loosen and turn the camera to shoot vertical. Thus making sure the center of gravity stays where it is supposed to be.

8. Invest in an L-Bracket

Photo by: Iñaki Bolumburu

If you shoot frequently in vertical orientation, it is a good idea to invest in an L Bracket. An L bracket is an L shaped plate used to mount the camera on a tripod. It allows easy switching from horizontal to vertical format without tilting the tripod head ensuring better stability.

9. Invest in a Battery Grip

Battery grip also known as vertical grips is a very useful accessory if you shoot a lot of vertical shots.  Battery Grips have a lot of advantages. It allows you to load a choice of one or two battery packs thus doubling the battery life. This is especially useful when shooting videos or using Live View mode that use more power. In addition, with the included battery magazine, you can also run the camera off six AA batteries. It also provides full vertical shooting controls to enhance camera handling, especially for shooting vertical pictures. It has a large number of operating controls as well: shutter button, Main Dial, multi-controller, AF point selection button, AE lock/FE lock button, AF start button, and multi-function button.

10. Shoot Vertical Panoramas

Photo by: Bossi

Yes panoramas could also be vertical; you shoot a vertical panorama by shooting a series of shots in the landscape orientation starting from low to high and stitching them together in software during post production.

If you are not already doing so, make a habit of shooting scenes in both vertical and horizontal formats. And do post some of your interesting verticals in the comments below.

Related Reading

1. Professional Landscape Photography Tips - Using Telephoto Lenses for Shooting Landscapes
2. The Golden Rule of Landscape Photography
3. 20 Common Mistakes Beginners Make in Landscape Photography and How to Avoid Them
4. Professional secrets of Night Photography for Capturing Stunning Star Trails and Moonlit Landscapes
5. 41 Beautiful Examples of Landscape Photography

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